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Specs:

Our Analysis:

With all the fresh competition in the eReader market heating up on nearly a daily basis, for a while it appeared that Sony might be taking a bit of a backseat.  This was true despite the fact that Sony was a pioneer in the modern eReader race, having launched the Sony Reader a full year ahead of formidable competition like the Kindle line from Amazon.  But with the ever-expanding interest in all things gadget-related, the competition has thickened – which has had a distinct thinning effect on Sony’s eReader market share of late.  Between the iPad, the new Nook Color, the latest Kindle and a host of late up and comers, Sony has apparently recognized the challenges ahead and has made a worthy attempt at an answer.  Enter the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350 – and watch the eyebrows of business travelers like me stretch to the sky.  If you’re considering buying a new eReader, have a look at our observations about this latest Pocket Edition offering by Sony.

How I conducted my analysis of the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350 :

This was my first “hands off” review, so to speak.  I was unable to get to a store for a close up look at the device in person, which for me was a real downer because the Sony Pocket 350 is on my eReader short list.  Still, I was able to consult the opinion of eight online expert reviews, as well as over 140 end-user comment posts courtesy of four major online retailers.

What I thought of the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350:

The number one feature of this little unit is just that – it’s little.  Small enough, in fact, that it will comfortably fit in your shirt pocket, just as advertised by the name.  Can you say, “PORTABLE?” At just 4.13 X 5.75 inches, the outside dimensions are remarkably tight.  It’s also less than 3/8 of an inch thick, and it weighs a mere 5.3 ounces. 

That’s just half an ounce heavier than the iPhone 4, for the record. 

But for all the love of small, thin, and light, there will nevertheless be those who say the Sony Pocket 350 is flawed.  Well, of course it is, just as any electronic device tends to be.  If there were a perfect smartphone, laptop or eReader out there, it’d be the only one anybody would  ever buy.  What we have instead is competition, which means that eReader manufacturers like Sony will continue to fight the battle of balancing one feature against the next, in the hopeful pursuit of market subsections that value one attribute over another.

Once you get past ogling the raw smallness this unit exudes, you’re going to notice it’s also very well built.  Several of the sites I researched pointed out that the aluminum construction gives the new Sony Pocket 350 a very solid look and feel.  However, the EnGadget review in particular mentioned a bit of trepidation over what would happen of the device fell off a table, citing a more robust feel to the latest Kindle and Nook offerings. 

Construction-wise, the rest of the new Pocket reader is basic and straightforward.  There’s a simple power switch on the top of the unit and a mini-USB port on the bottom.  Besides a stylus that is stowed on the right side of the device, that’s all there is to it.  The Spartan construction and lack of things like headphone jacks and SD slots might well be “strike one” in the eyes of some eReader fans.  Not for me, quite frankly.  I’ll explain later.

Navigation is next up.  We’ll mix it in with display, because Sony listened to the feedback it solicited from the marketplace – which indicated it would really like to see a touch screen on the ultra-portable Pocket series.  And as touch screens go, this one is good – real good – according to the reviews I researched.   That’s a welcome development for past users of Sony’s touch screen products, which were widely criticized as being less than remarkable in terms of display quality.  This time around, with the Pocket 350, the navigation via touch screen is optimized through use of infrared beams that detect your fingers, thus allowing Sony to ditch older technology (resistive touch) that magnified glare while reducing contrast. 

You’ll find moving around through menus and pages to be simple and intuitive with the Pocket 350’s touch screen navigation.  You turn pages just like you would on an iPhone or a real paperback: by swiping your finger across the screen.   Most of the reviews I consulted online indicated that the response was plenty reliable, especially for a device with eInk architecture. 

One particularly neat trick that sort of falls under navigation is the double-tap, word lookup feature that Sony installed.  It permits the user to instantly look up a word in the onboard dictionary, and better yet, the device keeps track of your dictionary use so you can access frequently looked-up words quickly and easily.  There is also the option to jot down notes or mark up text using the stylus we mentioned earlier.  And rather than a hardware keyboard like the one you’ll find on the Kindle, the PRS-350’s keyboard is a virtual one, which of course is a big contributor to its diminutive size.

Back to display for a minute.  The screen size (five inches) is listed as a downside within several reviews.  But let’s be honest – this unit is designed to appeal to the well-traveled among eReader users.  You simply can’t have it all, so it’s unrealistic to expect an iPad-sized viewing area and still have the thing weigh less than some smartphones do.  All that aside, the 16-level grayscale eInk Pearl screen, at 800 X 600 resolution, should be abundantly clear and readable according to most of what I read.  One review, in fact, indicated that the fonts actually appeared darker and crisper than the Kindle 2 or the Nook.  Others said the Pocket’s display is easily as good as any other eInk reader on the market.

Now for the number one complaint I read regarding the newest Sony Pocket eReader: connectivity.  Plainly speaking, there isn’t any.  No Wi-Fi.  No 3g. 

Now for my response.  So what?

As I mentioned earlier, you can’t have it all.  Once again, this unit is unapologetically designed to attract eReader fans who want small, light and portable.  So for me, the bottom line is this: if I want to bring an eReader on a one-week vacation or a two-week business trip, I have no issue with the “inconvenience” of having to download my 1,200 books from my laptop before I head to the airport.  It’s a trade off, pure and simple!  And I am willing to trade the hassles of USB file transfer for the delights of heading out without packing the wall charger I’d need after draining my eReader battery using Wi-Fi or browsing the web.

Everything I saw review-wise on the PRS-350 gave very high marks for battery life, as expected.  One reviewer pointed out that he couldn’t comment on the battery life because after two weeks of testing, it still hadn’t drained.

On release (September, 2010) the PRS-350 was listed at $179, but with new competition from Nook Color and the latest Kindle release, you can get your hands on the latest Sony Pocket for $149 at a variety of web retailers.  That puts the machine at an accessible price point for the features it comes with, including the comfort that Sony’s name generally carries with it. 

Online experts’ opinions of the Sony Pocket PRS-350 eReader:

My observations were assisted by reviews from eight online resources, from the usual suspects like PC World, PCMag, and Cnet, to a few new ones for me like Wired.com, SonyStyle (obviously biased) and ZD Net.   The PRS-350 didn’t manage to extract an editor’s choice award from Cnet, and in fact their review gave the device just 3.5 stars.  Their main gripe was the lack of wireless connectivity despite a higher price point than 3G and Wi-Fi equipped offerings from Kindle and Nook. 

EnGadget really liked the extreme portability and the “incredibly responsive touch screen navigation.”  PC World and PCMag both mentioned the expansive file formats the Pocket 350 supports, which include ePub, PDF, MS Word, and txt extensions.

Overall, the online experts felt as I did that the number one reason to buy the unit lies in its tremendously small and portable package.

What customers who bought the Sony Pocket PRS-350 eReader thought about it:

I consulted over 140 online end user reviews, which included the forums at Best Buy, Cnet and PC Advisor and PC World.  Here are a few highlights:

“For a small-screen eReader, the new Sony Reader Pocket Edition is one of the best you can buy – but you’ll pay extra for Sony’s unique touch screen design” – Melissa Perenson

“Small, beautiful screen, easy to use.” – Vinster

“Light weight, nice screen, love the touch feature, but no wifi?”  - Bookie

“Great portable size, awesome screen, contrast adjustability and a lot more.  Still a little pricey.” – HuronLakeGirl

“It freezes up; have to push the reset button.  Easy to read and change font size.” – SuzeHP

The Verdict:

With a universally respected touch screen, virtual keyboard and onboard stylus note-taking, multi-language dictionary, excellent battery life and optimized portability, I really like what the Sony PRS-350 has to offer.  As a business traveler that wants a no-nonsense, easy to carry machine, this would clearly be my eReader.  And if I wasn’t going to buy it direct from Sony for $179, I could find it online for $30 less and be proud to tuck it into my jacket pocket for and take it along on my next trip.

For those that value portability above WiFi or 3G, or flashy color screens, this eReader makes for an exceptional choice.

Our Sources:

As part of eReader Central's review process, aside from examining the product ourselves, we review various websites in order to get addiditonal information about this specific eBook reader. For this review we have used information gathered from

               

 

*Prices are only estimates and may vary from time to time, eReader central does not guarantee the stated prices.