The Amazon Kindle Reader 2 is supposed to be the device that delivers the soul of the e-reader by coming in the form of a highly portable electronic device which is able to store thousands of reading materials, all the while retaining the pleasures of reading from a printed book. It has already been available from the online retailer since February 23 this year, retailing for $359 a pop alongside a power adapter, USB 2.0 cable and rechargeable battery. As with any other device worth its salt, you can always opt to fork out more dough for additional accessories including a leather book cover and protective skin. In this day and age, extended warranties are always a good thing to purchase just in case the unexpected happens – the optional 2 year warranty can be picked up by throwing in another $65.

As expected with a newer release of any gizmo worth its salt, there will be a bunch of improvements to greet you, and the same goes with the Kindle Reader 2. It beats out on the original by being lighter at 10.2 ounces as well as having gone to the fat house, slimming down to just 0.36″ thin. This makes it easy to move it around, while packing is a snap although we’d recommend against doing that in your huge luggage as the pressure might just cause the screen to give way. Design-wise has also improved – you get page turn buttons, a 5-way controller and a paper-like display that boasts higher image and text resolution.

The 5-way button makes for easy navigation, allowing you to go to four directions and select. This allows you to highlight as well as skip pages and articles as and when required, reading in 16 shades of gray that will be much easier on your eyes compared to its predecessor.

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