Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

Amazon.com Inc’s new e-reader, the Voyage, is their best offering yet, but comes with a hefty price tag. At $199 or, $219 without ads and with 3G, it is a big jump from the $119 backlit Kindle Paperwhite and sits in the same price range as the lowest end tablets.

Amazon has defended the price tag based on the features that the Kindle Voyage offers. The device is 7.6mm thick and is no longer made out of plastic, but rather magnesium. It comes with a higher resolution screen, a 300-pixel e-ink display and like the Kindle Paperwhite; the Voyage is front-lit with the display adjusting depending on the amount of light in your surroundings.

Amazon, with no track record in hardware, launched its first Kindle back in 2007. No one expected this device to survive; its only purpose was to allow you to read books that you purchased from Amazon’s online store. However, Amazon’s Kindle has thrived with roughly 43.7 million Kindle devices been sold by the end of 2013. Each year they slightly improve the hardware and software and increase the price tag and people keep buying them.

If you are an avid reader then the Kindle Voyage is for you, and you can pre-order your device now with stock being available on 22 November for the $199 version. If you are more of a casual reader, then you would probably opt for the cheaper Paperwhite, Barns & Noble Glowlight or the Kobo.