Kindle Touch 3G Review

Hey, Mark here,

Welcome to my Kindle Touch 3G Review. In this review you will find out my honest opinion on the new Kindle Touch 3G.

Before going any further, I should mention that this is an unbiased Kindle Touch 3G review and you will find both the good and bad side of the Kindle Touch 3G. This review will tell you everything you need to know about Kindle Touch 3G which includes the new multi-touch display, X-Ray feature, free high speed 3G connectivity, storage size, playing mp3 music, surfing the internet, email checking, special offers and the best place to buy Kindle Touch 3G.

Watch this video first to take a closer look at Kindle Touch 3G and then continue reading my Kindle Touch 3G review.

 

The most noticeable feature in the Kindle Touch 3G is the 6″ multi-touch E Ink Pearl display. This has given users a whole new way of navigating the Kindle. Kindle users can control everything on their Kindle using their fingertips – browsing through pages, typing, looking up word meanings, changing settings etc.

The touch screen is powered by Infrared and does not have any additional layer over the E Ink display. E Ink Pearl touch screen is truly the best paper-like display I have seen but I would have been more happy if it was a color display. Plus, I would like a version with much bigger screen – e.g 10 inches like Kindle DX (9.7″ screen).

The Kindle Touch 3G has no physical keyboard or a 5-way controller, the page turn buttons are gone as well. You can type using the on-screen virtual keyboard and it will pop-up at the right place.

Page turns are easier than ever – tapping on most of the page area will take you to the next page, tapping on the narrow space on the left will take you back to previous page. Simple as that. Tapping on the top will bring on the options toolbar.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Design & Color

The Kindle Touch 3G has a ergonomic design which means it is easier to hold, read and user. Amazon has designed it so you can read for longer sessions comfortably. You can hold the Kindle Touch 3G with either hands and easily navigate through the pages. This makes reading on Kindle more enjoyable.

The Kindle Touch 3G has a dimension of 6.8″ x 4.7″ x 0.40″ and weighs only 7.8 ounces. It is about 30% lighter and 18% lighter than previous models which proves that Amazon did a good job designing it. With the new smaller size you can even carry your Kindle in your back pocket.

Kindle Touch 3G comes in metallic gray color which looks much better than the previous black/white models. Currently, this is the only color available for the Kindle Touch models.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – X-Ray Feature

X-Ray is a new feature to the Kindle Touch 3G, it lets you look at the bones of a book. It tells you about interesting characters, topics, places etc. on the page and shows you how often they are mentioned throughout the book. The video below explains the X-Ray feature clearly (click the bottom play button).

 

For this Kindle Touch 3G review I have investigated the X-Ray feature in details. When you are reading a book, tap on a word that you find interesting. At the bottom right corner you will see a button called “X-Ray”, hit the button and Kindle will X-Ray the page. You will see a list of interesting phases found on the page with a horizontal bar with black stripes beside each word phase.

This horizontal bar actually represents the entire book and the black stripes tells you how that particular phase is sprinkled throughout the book. Furthermore, you can touch any of the phases and it will instantly pull up information on that phase from Wikipedia and Shelfari.

Yes, I said “instantly”. X-Ray doesn’t connect to internet to retrieve information from Wikipedia.com. Amazon now packs each book with a small file which holds relevant Wikipedia and other information. When you try to access some outside information on a word, Kindle will access that file and therefore does not need to connect to the internet.

Amazon have further improved your reading experience by eliminating the delay in pulling information from the internet. Kindle Touch 3G & Kindle Touch certainly comes with the X-Ray feature and I hope the other models will have this too.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Free 3G & Wi-Fi

The 3G internet on Kindle Touch 3G is really free, no annual contracts, no fees at all. However, there is a catch on the Kindle Touch 3G when it comes to surfing the web. Please refer to the “Internet Browsing” section below for more information.

The Kindle Touch 3G also have support for Wi-Fi so you can utilize that at any hotspots. These powerful features will always keep you connected to internet and you can download ebooks anytime.

Based on reports from users I came to know that while 3G coverage is great in the US, but it is not so smooth everywhere in Europe. In Europe, it’s been reported that 3G works great in major cities but not so well in other cities.

There has been the some controversial rumors floating around regarding the Kindle Touch 3G web browsing capabilities. This news was created around the sentence “Experimental web browsing is available via Wi-Fi” found on the Kindle Touch product pages. Some people were saying there will be no web browsing with 3G and some were saying Amazon wrote that by mistake and soon to be corrected.

While carrying out this Kindle Touch 3G review I was struck hard by this rumor and I have really looked into it and have contacted a few people who actually talked with Amazon’s customer service reps regarding this matter. And it is clear now that the Kindle Touch readers does not support general web browsing via the 3G. On Kindle Touch 3G you will be able to ONLY browse Amazon, Wikipedia, Kindle Store, Download ebooks and periodicals using the 3G service. You can of course browse other external sites (Google, Engadget etc.) but that has to be using the Wi-Fi feature.

However, Amazon will continue to provide unrestricted 3G web browsing for the Kindle Keyboard 3G model as before. So, if you really want the unrestricted 3G surfing, then you should consider the Kindle Keyboard 3G.

Since Kindle Touch 3G is using the same experimental web-kit bowser, you will be able to check you Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter accounts. These are just a few tested services we previously tested, you should be able to access many other services as well.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Storage Capacity, Cloud Backup & Bookmarking

4GB of storage space is available on the Kindle Touch 3G, which allows you to store about 3000 books on the device itself. Plus note that all your Kindle ebooks are safely backed up in the Amazon cloud storage for free. So, you have no fear of losing a book, you can always re-download a book from the Cloud.

When it comes to bookmarking, Kindle automatically marks the last page you were reading and your annotations. When you re-open your Kindle you can pickup exactly from your left off. This synchronization is handled by the Kindle Whispersync technology.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Kindle Applications

Kindle has developed apps for reading Kindle books on iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android powered devices, PC & Mac computers. This gives you the option to read Kindle books anywhere you want.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Playing Mp3 & Kindle “Read to Me”

Kindle Touch 3G has a built-in Mp3 player for listening to music. You can play a background music while reading a book. The player is very simple with basically the play, stop, pause options. However, to me this is a very nice addition.

The Kindle “Read to Me” feature is same as it was in the other models. It can read out your books, magazines or blogs while you are doing something else.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Battery Life

Amazon claims 2 month battery life on the Kindle, well they claim it based on “half-hour” reading time every day. This is a marketing scheme of sounding better than it really is. In their terms I can say Kindle can go for 4 months with single charge based on “15 minute” read time each day.

I think a more realistic comparison would be to consider at least 2 hours reading time a day which would result in 15 days usage on a single charge. This is not bad at all, in fact this is great compared to other similar devices on the market.

Difference between Kindle Touch 3G & Kindle Touch

Yes, of course you have this question in mind before choosing your Kindle. The major difference is the Kindle Touch only have Wi-Fi support and no 3G connectivity. And it is slightly lighter (7.5 ounces) than Kindle Touch 3G (7.8 ounces). Apart for that, the features are same.

Kindle Touch 3G Review – Special Offers & The Best Place to Buy

In my Kindle 3G Review I have mentioned about people selling fake Kindles, mostly cheap Chinese replicas. The new Kindle Touch 3G has just been released, yet you should be careful where you buy from.

I always feel comfortable ordering online from Amazon. Amazon owns the Kindle brand, they have earned the trust of millions of users worldwide and they provide safe and secure transactions.

Next I am going to clear up any confusion about the Kindle pricing. The Kindle Touch 3G and other Kindles (except DX) have two prices, one with special offers at a discounted price and the other is the regular price without special offers. In either case you get the same device except in the special offers Kindle you will see ads in screensaver and bottom of home page.

Tough the ads do not interfere while reading, I still don’t like to see ads and would happily pay the extra bucks to get the ad-free version. Another reason for this choice is once you buy the special offer version you cannot upgrade to ad-free version. The available offers of Kindle Touch as below -

1. Kindle Touch 3G (Regular)
   Kindle Touch 3G (with Special Offers)
   Click HERE to Buy Kindle Touch 3G
2. Kindle Touch (Regular)
   Kindle Touch (with Special Offers)
   Click HERE to Buy Kindle Touch

This pretty much covers all important aspects of the Kindle Touch models. I hope my Kindle Touch 3G review has helped you to learn all you need to know about the Kindle Touch 3G and to choose your favorite Kindle.

CLICK HERE to Order your Kindle Touch 3G Securely from Amazon