Sony has new ebook readers - the Reader Pocket (£180) designed with commuters in mind, and the Reader Touch (£250) that’s packed with features and navigation tools.

The Pocket fits comfortably into a jacket rather than jeans pocket but, with a 4-inch screen, it’s about as small as you can co with such a device. If you need to zoom in fully, you won’t fit many words on a page. But, with good eyesight, text is as clear as any reader we’ve seen.

Content is uploaded via a micro USB connection (cable is provided) - you get up to 350 standard eBooks, according to Sony, and up to two weeks of reading time per battery charge.

Handy for commuting, many controls are laid out for single-handled operation. However, scrolling through pages on the Pocket is slower than on the Touch, and turning to a page with an illustration can cause quite a delay.

It has a connection for a wrist strap and this model comes in silver or pink.

The slightly larger Touch - in silver or black - has a 6-inch screen and also shows text as clearly as any other eBook reader.

Navigated using buttons, or via the touch screen for most functions, this reader is one of the quickest we’ve seen. You may need to apply a little more pressure when swiping than you think, however. There is also a stylus in the spine, which can be used to handwrite notes of highlight text - but you can use the touch screen keyboard for this if you prefer.

Other features include the ability to bookmark, add sticky notes and find out the meaning of words with the Oxford Dictionary.

In addition to a micro USB port and cable, there is a Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo slot and a standard SD card slot. It also features a 3.5mm headphone socket, so you can listen to music and audio files when reading.

Verdict: Both (Pocket and Touch) models have useful features and are more compact than previous Sony versions.

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