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This first look review is for the newest version of the Barnes and Noble nook electronic book reader. This review is based on first impressions and will be updated as more testing is done.
Recently announced, the newest addition of the nook family is here! The new nook is an awesome little reader, far ahead of the original nook in terms of usability, design as well as the software interface.
We were never a fan of the small color LCD on the bottom of the first generation nook, it was was distracting and was a bit slow for our taste. Luckily, B&N felt the same way and completely removed it from the new nook.
Hardware
The nook features the all new Pearl e-Ink screen, this type of screen is now widespread throughout the electronic book reading industry. The Pearl e-ink screen is 50% sharper and crisper than the original nook. The nook now matches the Amazon Kindle in terms of screen technology.
The new nook sports an compact new design, which is 35% lighter, 6% thinner and over an inch shorter than the first generation nook. If you are used to the first generation nook, you will notice the size difference immediately, it is quite a bit smaller.
Although you can really feel the difference between the 1st generation nook and the newest version, we believe that the new changes greatly improve the user experience.
The back of the nook features a soft rubber material which feels great in the hand. Previous electronic book readers were using hard plastic on both sides, while we didn't mind that, using the new nook Touch has made us realize that the back is just as important as the front of the device and the rubberized back is a welcome addition.
The nook has a very simple, elegant design. There is one button on the front of the device, no myriad of buttons everywhere because the device has an on-screen keyboard, this makes the device cleaner and simpler verses the current Kindle.
While some people truly prefer hardware based keyboards as opposed to touch screen ones, I can tell you that the touch screen keyboard on the nook works well most of the time. It does take some time to get used to the e-Ink touch screen, but once you have typed a few sentences you should be fine.
The touch screen is a bit finicky at times, buttons won't respond, and you have to tap it again. This is true for all touchscreen devices when your finger does not magically land exactly where it should to register the tap.
Specs
Weight: 7.48 ounces
Height: 6.5 inches
Width: 5.0 inches
Depth: 0.47 inches
Resolution: 800x600 pixels
Battery life
Recently Barnes & Noble and Amazon have gotten into a bit of a disagreement over battery life tests. Amazon originally had stated on their website that the latest generation Kindle offered up 1 month of battery life at one hour per day of use. When Barnes & Noble announced the new nook, they boasted 2 months of battery life. This is all good and fine, except they only counted only 1/2 hour of usage per day. So basically they are equal, both have insanely long battery life, good enough for 99 percent of people out there.
Software
The nook is actually running a custom version of the Android operating system, the popular smartphone OS. Just by looking at this reader, you would never guess that Android is powering it, B&N have done very well in disguising this fact.
Navigation is done by swiping your finger left or right, depending if you want to turn the page forward or back. If swiping is too involved for you, simply touch the margin on either side to turn the page.
We have noticed that the glaring e-Ink page turn rate beats the Kindle 3 and 1st generation nook with ease. Turning a page is quick and efficient, and makes older electronic books seem slow and clunky. With older electronic book readers, a page turn required a full refresh of the screen, basically the whole screen flashes. The new nook only changes the text when you change pages, although a regular screen refresh happens about every 6 pages. This is a very welcome addition to the jarring page turn conundrum that plagues most ebook devices.
The nook has one button, it's the familiar "n" at the bottom of the reader. Pushing this button pops a menu up from the bottom of the screen with the following options:
Home: Returns the nook to the main screen, which shows what you are currently reading and gives you a page count. The column on the right is for "New Reads" which are basically just books that you have downloaded onto the device recently.
Library: Your books, magazines, and other media.
Shop: Access the nook Bookstore to download titles.
Search: Search a book for a passage or words.
Settings: Adjust device settings.
We found that the software is a bit buggy, sometimes the screen would freeze momentarily which in an ideal world should rarely happen. The same software issues plagued the first generation nook, and although not as bad this time around, we would like to see Barnes and Noble release a reader that performs better in the software category. Most likely, a software update will correct these problems in the near future.
Buying Books
Purchasing books on the nook is a simple, straightforward procedure. Enter the store, you can browse titles or search for the book you want to buy. Once you have found what you are looking for buying is just a tap or two away. Once you buy the book it is automatically placed in your library for easy access.
Social Sharing
The new nook incorporates multiple social features, meaning you can send passages and book recommendations to your friends on Facebook or twitter as well as a built in contacts list.
Some people may love this feature, but we found it a bit difficult to use, specifically selecting the text to be shared is awkward and hard to get just right.
Final thoughts
The new nook is a great improvement over the first generation, and with the $139 price point it is a very good deal for anyone in the market for a reader. The hardware is beautiful, no qualms there. Software on the other hand could be improved a bit to make it more stable. We prefer reading on this device over the nook Color due to the high quality e-Ink screen, it makes for a better reading experience. Overall a very good reader that focuses mainly on the one thing that people buy it for...reading.
Product Page:
Barnes & Noble nook
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