It's the latest-generation Amazon Kindle versus the Barnes & Noble Nook Color. We weigh specs and reviews. What e-reader do you think reigns supreme?
So you want an e-reader, huh? Maybe you’ve decided to get back on the literary horse and start reading again, or maybe you’ve decided it’s just time to ditch trees and go digital. Either way, you’ve got a tough decision ahead of you. There may only be two big e-reader devices in the market, but they both offer some unique benefits. Do you care more for style and options, or are you just in it to read that novel you’ve been putting off? The newest Nook and Kindle are as different as they are similar. Some may say it’s not even fair to compare them, but if you’re looking for an e-reader, these are your two most prominent options. In the end, choosing an e-reader is more about personal taste than anything, but let’s give it a go.
Longform reading
If your goal is to read long novels and spend hours with your e-reader, the Kindle is probably the device for you. Unlike your laptop, smartphone, or almost any electronic device, the Kindle uses an E-Ink display, which isn’t pretty or in color, but it does look just like ink. The first time you see a Kindle, you may wonder if you’re just looking at a fake screen or a store display, but believe it or not, this is a digital display. Aside from its screen, the Kindle’s size, design, battery consumption, and entire interface is built to cater to those who love the act of reading text and are willing to sacrifice a bit of prettiness for the written word.
Winner: Kindle
Variety
With its backlit, color LCD touchscreen and app store, the Nook Color is the e-reader for those who love to read, but not 100 percent of the time. If you’re a Nook Color owner, you’re likely looking to buy a device that’s designed for reading or have a budget that prohibits a tablet purchase (sub $450), but you want a few bells and whistles anyway. The Nook Color has long-form books just like the Kindle, but it also has illustrated books, magazines, newspapers, and children’s books, all of which are in full color. You’ll need a Wi-Fi connection to download all of this, of course, but those who do can also check their email, play some popular Android games (the Nook runs on Android) like Angry Birds, browse the Web, and use “enhanced” e-books, which are e-book apps with more interactive elements than traditional books, which only let you turn the page.
Winner: Nook Color
Outdoor reading
The Kindle’s E-Ink screen is better than any LCD screen if you’re outdoors. Though the Nook Color has a good LCD screen with a fair amount of brightness, on a sunny day, you’ll be squinting to see your book.
Winner: Kindle
Reading in the dark
On the flipside, if you’re reading in bed, the Kindle’s reading light accessory is nice, but it can’t compare to a fully backlit LCD screen. If you do most of your reading in the dark, the Nook Color, or a tablet, may be more convenient.
Winner: Nook Color
Connectivity
The Nook Color only comes with Wi-Fi, and the cheapest Kindle is Wi-Fi only as well. However, those willing to spend but those who are willing to cough up an extra $50 can buy a Kindle with lifetime 3G included. Granted, the Kindle can’t do much with its 3G connection except download books from anywhere, but the freedom from the constraints of Wi-Fi is worth the cost to us. If Wi-Fi is your connection method of choice, this category is meaningless to you. In a world where carriers are charging $30 a month to connect a device to 3G, it’s very cool that the Kindle still has this feature.
In addition, the Kindle offers e-book lending, allowing you to borrow and lend books to friends. Integration with many libraries means you can actually visit a library and borrow books for free. Barnes & Noble counters this offer by letting Nook Color users download and read any book for free for up to one hour per day, as long as they’re in a B&N store.
Finally, both the Nook and Kindle service allow you to read your book purchases on more than just your Nook Color or Kindle. Each have smartphone apps, tablet apps, as well as Web readers for the PC so you can read your books anywhere. Your books, and the page you’re on, are stored in the cloud and accessible from anywhere.
Winner: Kindle
Library
Barnes & Noble claims that the Nook has the most books, with more than 2 million to choose from, with 1 million of those being free, but Amazon claims about as many, with 1.2 million free books and 900,000+ books for purchase. They both have a great library. Our recommendation: try them out (Nook store/Kindle Store) and see which one has the books you want to read most.
Winner: Tie
Portability
The Kindle has a 6-inch screen and the Nook Color has a 7-inch screen. Overall, the Kindle measures 7.5 x 4.8 x 0.335 (height by width by depth, in inches) and the Nook Color is 8.1 x 5.0 x .48. So the Nook color is a bit taller, wider, and thicker, but the difference is hardly noticeable when you use them. If you have a hard time storing one of these devices in your purse or backpack (you shouldn’t), you’ll likely have trouble with the other as well.
Winner: Tie
Price
The Nook Color costs $249. The Kindle, however, has a variety of price points. If you’re buying on the cheap, you can opt for an ad-supported “Kindle with Special Offers,” which costs only $114, but forces you to look at sponsored screensavers and ads that display when you’re not reading. They aren’t too obtrusive, but a Wi-Fi Kindle without the offers costs only $139. If you want a unit with always-on 3G connection so you can download a book anytime, anywhere (except a bunker or the subway), the Kindle 3G is $189. Finally, the Kindle DX, which has 3G and a 9.7-inch screen (same as the iPad) is available for $379.
Winner: Kindle
Battery Life
What the Nook Color gains in, well, color, it loses in battery efficiency. One of the best attributes of the Kindle’s E-Ink display is how little power it draws. If you don’t have your wireless on, a single charge could last up to a full month on the Kindle. The Nook Color, meanwhile, has a solid 8 hours of battery life, which is great for an LCD device running Android, but it’s a device you will need to charge each day. Think of it this way: if the world ended tomorrow, you’d have a month to read your Kindle and about 8 hours to read your Nook Color. Luckily, we don’t think the world is ending anytime soon –though some books may lead you to believe otherwise.
Winner: Kindle
Conclusion
There is no absolute winner here. Whichever categories mean more to you will sway your decision. The Kindle is definitely more adept at text reading, but the Nook Color is the most flexible e-reading device on the market, allowing you the option to read a wider variety of book types, and giving you a few extras like email, Web browsing, and some apps to boot. Do your research, too. If there’s a category we didn’t touch that you care more about, ask. At less than $250, both are great deals for those who can’t afford a full tablet, or don’t want one. However, if reading books isn’t as big a deal to you, but you need a big touchscreen device, perhaps you should consider other options like the iPad 2 or Acer Iconia Tab.
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