Photo: Barnes & Noble
The Nook Color from Barnes & Noble is an interesting hybrid of a tablet computer and an e-book reader. Yet based on viewing a demo of the device at yesterday's launch event, I'm not sure that the new Nook is good enough at either of those roles to be a compelling buy for most people.
Priced at $249, the Nook Color sports a 7-inch color touch screen, where the current Nooks (the nook Wi-Fi and nook 3G + Wi-Fi, at $139 and $189, respectively) each has a 6-inch black-and-white screen, supplemented by a smaller LCD screen beneath that's used mostly to navigate. The LCD's resolution is 1,024 by 600. Both of the older Nooks will remain available after the Nook Color ships on November 19.
Here are some observations on the newest Nook:
Page turns are fast and easy. They appear, in fact, to be in the same swift league as the iPad. While turns could be initiated with a finger swipe across the screen, I preferred—and quite liked—the other page-turn option: You touch a finger in the right margin to advance pages and in the left margin to page back.
Photo: Barnes & Noble
Navigation is a step up from the older Nooks. I wasn't allowed to use the device myself, only to observe and direct a B&N staffer using it. But navigation appeared to be simpler and notably more intuitive than on the regular Nooks. The Android-based operating system allows for a number of navigation moves that resemble those on Android smart phones, such as the ability to move icons (in this case, book covers and the like) around on the desktop. And you don't have to master the less-than-simple iconography of the second navigation screen found on the older Nooks.
Type readability is decent. As an LCD screen goes, the one on the Nook Color renders type capably—to my eyes, its readability was comparable to that of the Apple iPad, a tablet that also emphasizes its e-reading capabilities. But like all LCD screens we've tested, the type didn't look as crisp and the contrast as pleasing as it does on many reader screens that use E Ink technology, including those of the original Nooks. And I wasn't able to view it in bright sunlight, typically the Achilles' heel for LCD-based e-book readers.
Social networking is added. This Nook plays catch-up with the Kindle by adding features to share content via Twitter and Facebook. As with the Kindle, you can highlight a passage from a book and share it with friends in a few clicks. You can also recommend books from your library.
Periodicals and "enhanced books" are emphasized. The new Nook may be best suited to periodicals. The magazine samples the B and N rep showed me, including National Geographic, looked impressive on the Nook's screen, with navigation that resembled that of titles on the iPad. However, unlike many of the iPad apps, Nook's magazine and newspaper offerings will not incorporate video or interactive content, at least initially, according to my B and N demo person. Video is, however, included in a number of so-called “enhanced books.” I watched some kitchen-demonstration videos that were embedded into a cookbook, for example, and a video chapter of Rick Springfield's memoir that included interviews and acoustic performances of some of his hits.
Also enhanced are a number of kids' picture books that include a "read-to-me" option, in which a professional actor intones the text (the Nook Color does not have the automated text-to-speech feature—loved by some, derided by others—that's available for all content offered on the Kindle).
Web browsing has some limitations. I didn't see a demo of the device's Web browser. With an Android operating system, however, it promises to be more robust than those on current e-book readers, including the older Nooks. But there's no 3G option; WiFi is the Nook Color's only wireless option. And among the lamentable traits the Nook shares with the iPad is an inability to play Flash video—meaning a good proportion of the video you'll navigate to online will be unplayable.
Content is "curated." That was B&N's chief William Lynch's way of saying that, as with the iPad, you won't be able to buy and download content to the Nook Color from sources other than the device's dedicated store. And content at that store, at least at launch, is almost bound to be much less varied and voluminous than, say, what you can find in the iTunes Store on the iPad. Even apps developed for other Android platforms need to be tweaked for the Nook Color and submitted to B&N for approval, though Lynch says that adaptation should be relatively simple for existing Android apps.
The Nook Color will come preloaded with some apps, including Pandora, the Web radio station. Other content (such as music files and MP4 video files) can be sideloaded to the device using a USB connection. You can store up to 8GB on the Nook Color itself, and memory can be expanded to 32GB with a microSD card.
It's heavy. The Nook Color's weight is a significant drawback for a device that will be held for extended reading periods. It is "under a pound," as B&N proclaims, but only just. At 15.8 ounces, the new Nook is more than 75 percent heavier than the Sony Touch Daily Edition, another 7-inch touch-screen e-book reader due out next month. And it's a hair less than double the weight of the Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi, which admittedly has a smaller (6 inch) screen. And it's a few ounces heavier than the upcoming 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.
Battery life is short for an e-book reader. With its LCD screen, the Nook Color runs a claimed 8 hours on a charge, which is on a par with the iPad and the best laptops. But, by comparison, the E Ink screen of the Nook Wi-Fi allows it to run a claimed 10 days without a charge.
So who might want to consider a Nook Color? At first blush, we're inclined to think only those who primarily want a relatively inexpensive tablet on which to enjoy periodicals in a digital form. Bookworms will likely still be better off buying a less-expensive E Ink or other electronic-paper reader.
Though it's pricey for an e-book reader, though, the Nook Color is well-priced for a 7-inch tablet device from a major name: The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab will cost you at least twice as much, for example. Yet the Nook Color may also be less versatile than some of those devices. When we get the new Nook into our lab next month, then, we'll not only rate it as an e-book reader but we’ll also let you know how it stacks up against tablet devices.
—Paul Reynolds
To see how current e-book readers compare, see our Ratings at Consumer Reports Online (available to subscribers).
