Nook Vs Kindle — Which Is the Better Ereader?
In a Nook vs Kindle comparison, only one ebook reader could come out on top. The big question mark is — which one? While Amazon’s Kindle is undoubtedly the dominant ereader in the market today, there are consumers and tech reviewers saying that the Nook has what it takes to give the Kindle a run for its money. Is it a close call? Let’s put the two devices side by side.
Size, Weight and Design
Measuring 7.7 inches in length and 4.9 inches in width, the Nook is somewhat smaller than the Kindle which is 8 inches long and 5.3 inches wide. But on the other hand, at 0.3-inch in depth, the Kindle is thinner than the Nook at half an inch thick. The Barnes & Noble device also weighs a bit heavier at 11.2 ounces compared to the Kindle’s 10.2-oz mass.
Unlike the Kindle, the back cover of the Nook is designed to be removable, providing easy access to its replaceable lithium ion battery pack. But what actually puts the Nook on an entirely new level is the 3.5-inch LCD color touchscreen which takes the place of a standard keyboard for navigation. The distinction between the color LCD and the grayscale e-ink screen provides an interesting dynamics to the device that few other ereaders can take pride in.
Other Features
The two ebook readers are equipped with 2GB of internal memory, but while that’s the most storage the Kindle can manage, the Nook gives the user the choice of adding more memory via its memory card expansion slot. The two devices are also connected through AT&T’s 3G wireless network but only the Nook offers WiFi connectivity. Visit a Barnes & Noble store and you get instant free access to WiFi.
The Haves and Have-Nots
Now comes the more interesting Nook vs Kindle facts. So what features are present on the Nook that can’t be found on the Kindle and vice versa? For starters, the Barnes and Noble ereader offers two innovative services – book lending (having the ability to loan your ebook to another Nook owner) and in-store browsing (being able to look over complete ebooks for free inside Barnes and Noble outlets).
For its part, Kindle does come with text-to-speech option which lets the reader become just a hearer and listen to the book read to him. Also, the Kindle permits web browsing, while the Nook doesn’t. Finally, the Nook’s battery life of 7 to 10 days (more like 4-5 days according to users) is a far cry from the Kindle’s up to 14 days battery power (users say 10 days). These are battery life estimates with the Wifi turned off.
The Decision
As expected, finding a clear winner between the Nook vs Kindle is just not that easy. But while both have great features, Amazon’s gadget gets the edge in overall use as it has virtually perfected the technology, having o up with several Kindle versions. On the other hand, the Nook’s numerous issues, like delayed page turns and sluggish startup will likely be addressed in succeeding versions, after which it can really give the Kindle a good fight.