10 best ebook readers for the UK

Is it time to burn your books? Hyped by the tech press, the ebook reader is yet to become a 'must have' gadget, but dropping prices, web browsing and the genre's eco-friendly credentials could be about to spark genuine literary interest.

Presenting a six to ten-inch screen, the ebook reader's primary skill is capacity. They're able to hold around 1,000 books, and most are expandable using SD cards, though it's important to understand how the market is divided.

There's basically two choices. The first is to buy one of Amazon.co.uk's Kindle devices, which can cleverly download from the online retailers 307,000-strong ebook library. Expensive but an absolute cinch to use, the casual reader will love the Kindle, though being locked into a single retailer's catalogue and pricing structure won't be comfortable for many.

Although we expect other retailers and consumer electronics brands to copy this idea, all other ebook readers at present represent the other side of the market. These devices, from the likes of Sony and iRiver, are more free and easy.

The primary way of getting ebooks onto them is by purchasing EPUB files online, typically for best sellers and newer titles, and manually transfer them using a PC or Mac. Classic and often obscure material can usually be found for free, as PDF, RTF or TXT files, from sites such as ProjectGutenberg. The non-Kindle models often support a myriad of filetypes, including MP3.

Ebooks can seem rather pricey; a new release will cost the same as a hardback, and older books similar to the price of a paperback. Publishers argue that the editing and production costs are still high but when you're paying a few hundred for your own reader, you might expect cheaper ebooks to make up for your initial investment.

Where ebook readers do represent efficiency is with battery life. The devices only uses power when a page is turned, so a full charge can last for a week or more of reading.

1. iRiver Story £195

Stylistically a Kindle copy, iRiver's Story does have something to say that's all its own. Lighter than a Kindle, the Story is almost identical in looks, right down to the Qwerty keyboard and six-inch screen.

Able to handle more file types than the Kindle (including PDF, TXT, RTF, JPEG, BMP, GIF, EPub – and even a basic interpretation of Word, Excel and Powerpoint files), the Story doesn't flirt with WiFi. Instead, a SD card slot takes the memory up to a maximum of 32GB, though its built-in 2GB capacity is decent.

One reason for that memory is music. The Story is able to play MP3, OGG and WMA files through a couple of teeny speakers, while you read. Equipped with a tiny Mic, the Story can also record voice as MP3s.

Recently reduced by £30, the well-designed Story is a nice alternative to a Kindle with some innovative extra features.

2. Amazon Kindle International £250

Amazon's ebook reader is a bit special. It has a 3G connection built in so that, without having to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot or even muck about downloading books on your Mac then sideloading them to another device, you can shop directly from Amazon.

Read our Amazon Kindle review

There's no contract – Amazon pays the data fees. You shop for DRM-protected books and newspapers from Amazon.com too, but sadly, though there are many tens of thousands of books available, it's still a subset of the range available to the US.

As deals are made with UK publishers, more books will appear, but there are glaring omissions at present with both the book choice, and the service. The Kindle contains a web browser, but it doesn't work in the UK. The Kindle also lacks support for photographs, which does lessen the power of newspapers, especially.

Well built and so easy to use, the success – or otherwise – of the Kindle will most probably define the ebook reader genre as a whole.

3. Interead Cool-er £189

There a few gadgets that divide opinion in the TechRadar office more ebooks, and none more so than this pink British one.

One of the cheapest, smallest and lightest of such devices to date, the Cool-er also boasts one of the funkiest designs, though it looks very much like an over-sized iPod nano.

Read our Interead Cool-er review

Its six-inch screen isn't touchsensitive, and nor does it deal in Wi-Fi or 3G, but as an entry-level electronic reader it works perfectly fine; if it was priced around the £99 mark it would be a five-star, must-get device. At £189, it is let down by a few minor design flaws that make it feel a little bit too cheap and flimsy.

4. Elonex ebook reader £180

Despite having teamed-up with the now bankrupt Borders book shop, this Elonex ebook reader shouldn't be left on the shelf. With a six-inch screen, SD card slot and 8mm depth, the Elonex is just 180g – lighter than the Kindle, or Sony's ebook readers.

Capable of 8,000 page turns on a full charge, the Elonex does struggle with image-heavy PDFs when page turn can be slow (around 4-5 seconds); text, HTML and purchased ePub books are much faster, though there is some 'ghosting' when the page is turned.

Read our Elonex ebook reader review

The Elonex is a much simpler device than the Amazon Kindle; no keyboard, no wireless connection and no automatically connected ebook account, but it does have 512Mb of storage – enough for about 1,000 books.

Beyond the slow page turn and slightly clunky interface, this versatile ebook reader is a convenient way to put hundreds of them in your bag without weighing yourself down.

5. Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 £170

Small, light and very good looking are three ways to accurately describe Sony's gorgeous device. It's just one centimetre thick and the screen is a pleasure to behold.

It measures five inches diagonally, and despite the low sounding resolution of 800x600, text displays much more crisply than it does on the finest LCD.

Read our Sony Reader PRS-300 review

Sony claims the battery lasts around 6,800 page turns, but although the eInk screen is initially spectacular, after a while it becomes clear that it doesn't have the high contrast of a normal paper page, and you need more ambient light to read it. Navigating a book is also tricky – texts can't be searched, and flicking back a few pages is impractical.

You don't have to buy books, though. The Pocket Edition is compatible with PDF, RTF, TXT and Microsoft Word files, and has 512MB of internal memory.

Assuming 400kb per book, you could easily fit a few years' worth of reading on, and its compatibility with non-DRM formats means it could serve a few other practical purposes, such as being a highly portable reference device.