Sony Reader WiFi PRS-T1 review: It can't quite catch Kindle

The $149.99 Sony Reader WiFi is very lightweight and has a touch-screen interface (click to enlarge).
(Credit:
Sony)

It's hard for some people to imagine, but Sony was the first major brand to offer an e-book reader back in 2006--beating the original Amazon Kindle to market by at least 14 months. Since then, however, the company's e-book strategy has been one step forward and two steps back as it plays catch-up with upstart competitors Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Consider the 2010 Sony Readers: the models pioneered e-ink touch screens months before the Nook and Kobo, but they inexplicably omitted Wi-Fi from most models--instead requiring readers to tether to a PC and download new e-books. Those Sony Readers were also priced far above competing Kindle and Nook models at the time.

A year later, Sony has now updated its Reader line, and this time the company is more in tune with current e-reader features. Instead of three Reader models with various pricing and feature sets, Sony now has one $149 model, the Sony Reader Wi-Fi PRS-T1. It does, however, come in three colors (black, red, or white). The Reader Wi-Fi retains the responsive touch screen of its predecessors and (as the name suggests) adds Wi-Fi. And unlike the Nook Touch, the Sony has support for audio--though not audiobooks, apparentl... [Read more]