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The Amazon Kindle Touch 3G seems to present as many small advantages as it does minor disadvantages when compared to the £89 Kindle.
Like its cheaper brother, the Kindle Touch represents excellent value for money, particularly in its £109 Wi-Fi only version. Whether the 3G access is worth £60 is really up to personal preference (though do remember that, unlike most 3G-enabled devices, it requires no monthly cost).
We liked
The Kindle Touch's interface works really well for general reading. There are weaker parts of the interface, but for the most part it's natural and convenient.
Though it's slightly heavier and larger than the £89 Kindle, it's by such a small amount in real terms that it seems a fair trade-off for extra storage and larger battery life. And the slightly improved screen is great as well.
And Amazon's suite of services that power the Kindle are rock solid – Whispersync works great, the Kindle Store is excellent and the devices themselves are brilliantly reliable.
We disliked
The Kindle Touch doesn't really seem to offer much outright to make it worth more money than the £89 Kindle. There are useful features, certainly, but whether they're worth the extra is another personal choice.
And there are parts of the interface that don't work as well as a touch interface, particularly lists, and it's a shame that the screen is set back, reducing the 'invisible' nature of the device.
Verdict
There's no doubt that the Kindle Touch 3G is a great device. It's not a question of whether we recommend it or not – we do – but whether it's the right Kindle model for you.
For academic use, we recommend the Kindle Touch over its £89 sibling. It's so much easier to search, highlight and annotate using the touch interface that it's no competition. Similarly, if you like to buy a lot of books on your device on the go, the fact that there's a 3G option could sway you.
However, if you just want a simple high-quality ebook reader for taking everywhere in your bag and reading your library, the cheaper, smaller, lighter £89 Kindle might be the way to go. You won't be disappointed with either.
