Sony is currently at the IFA tech show in Berlin, Germany showing off a new range of products including the 20.7MP Xperia Z1 and a range of camera add-ons for smartphones called the QX100 and QX10. However, Sony isn’t solely focused on cameras at this year’s event as the company has also announced a new refresh to its Reader range of eReader devices.
The actual IFA event doesn’t start until Friday but Sony is holding its official press event now and announcing its new products nice and early.
Sony has announced a newly updated version of its eReader, officially called the PRS-T3, with the new sell-out feature being that the devices now have “Quick Charge” functionality which will allow the device to be charged in just three minutes, giving the reader enough power to read a whole book.
The T3 will also come with an “integrated snap cover” which is a built in casing/cover for the device, snapping on to the back and providing a flip cover to protect the screen.
The 6-inch Pearl E-Ink display has also been given a resolution upgrade to 1024 x 758 (the PRS-T2 was just 800 x 600) and dpi has been raised up to 212. This puts the screen specs much higher than the current range of Amazon Kindle devices rival Kobo readers, but unlike these two rivals the PRS-T3 devices do not have any backlight capabilities for reading in low light.
In regards to this lack of feature, Sony’s Stephanie Lang said in an interview with Clubic, “We believe that the integration of a lighting system on the sides is not necessarily useful, and may even degrade the reading experience.”
Now we don’t agree with this and would argue that the ability to charge a device in 3 minutes is less useful than a light source to read in low light! After all, eReaders are designed to last for weeks upon end from a single charge, so the user tends to be accepting of charging it up for a few hours when the battery does eventually drain.
The devices also come with 2GB of internal storage which will hold about 1,200 books plus the addition of a micro SD card slot which allows the memory to be expanded yet further.
You can pick up the new PRS-T3 Sony Readers for £99 from Sony online.