Want to know what the best ebook reader is? This Nook vs Kindle review is a must read if you want to find out which ebook reader suits you best.
We highly recommend that you watch the provided Nook vs Kindle videos, but also don’t forget to check out the Nook vs Kindle comparison table below.
Nook Touch has 6 Font Styles
Kindle Touch vs Nook Touch – Who Won?
Of the features covered on the above video, we believe that
- The NOOK wins with – expandable memory (32GD microSD card – typically costs $35+), homepage interface (better organization and graphics) and font styles (6 styles vs 3 of the Kindle – but we don’t think this should affect your purchasing decision)
- The Kindle wins with – better functionality of the multi-touch touch-screen, ease of page turning, ease of changing font size (just one swipe/pinch needed – single action, no need to pull out tool bars)
The Kindle Touch also wins the Nook vs Kindle battle with other features that were not covered on the video above
Audio features – remember the speakers and the earphone jack input? You can use them to read out loud audio/audible books and listen to music while reading- Text to speech auto narration – get the Kindle to read out text books (even if they’re not audible books). The computer generated voice isn’t the sexiest voice you’ve heard, but this feature can be handy if you want to listen to your eBook while doing something mechanical (e.g. driving, exercising on a treadmill etc.)
- 3G – the Kindle with 3G costs an additional 50 bucks, but for those who have no wireless internet or for those who travel often and are willing to spend that extra money, this is a useful feature. The NOOK doesn’t come with a model with 3G
- The Kindle Touch also has a 4GB internal memory while the Nook Touch has only 2GB. But we don’t think that matters much because both let you backup your eBooks on their respective clouds for free
- Better web browser
With the above features, there is absolutely no doubt that the Kindle Touch wins the Nook vs Kindle battle!
Click here to learn MORE about the Kindle Touch
The Nook wins the Kindle vs Nook battle on other features that were not covered on the video
- Sales support – because they have stores in almost every town! You could walk to your local Barnes and Noble bookstore, touch the real thing, feel it, and play with it before you buy it! You can also take it back to them should something happen to it (technical problems)
- Barnes and Noble are also supposed to have the bigger bookstore as far as number of titles go – 2 million at B&N vs 1 million at Amazon – would that be an important factor for you?
- This one is probably the major benefit of the Nook over the Kindle – they support EPUB format books whereas the Amazon Kindle does not. If you think you will be affected by this, you can convert your Kindle books to EPUB format by using this free service known as Calibre
The Nook and Kindle tie each other
- With page refresh rates
- Cloud backups
- Dimensions and weight are almost the same (may differ by millimeters and a fraction of an ounce
Convinced that the Amazon Kindle Touch is the right ebook reader for you? Click here to get your Kindle Touch right now!
Want to go with the Nook Touch instead? Check out the NOOK touch here.
The 2nd video compares the Kindle Touch and Nook Touch in the following aspects
These are relatively minor features that really don’t matter. Both ebook readers are equals as far as these features go! |
The Nook vs Kindle comparison table
Before you read our Nook vs Kindle Pros and Cons table, please spend 30 seconds to understand this point. None of the eBook Readers available are PERFECT. Each one of them have at least one deficiency compared to another eReader. That’s why…
- For some, the basic $79 Kindle will be their best ebook reader
- For others, the Kindle Touch will be better than the $79 Kindle or the Nook Touch
- For even others, the Nook Touch will be the best ebook Reader
The job of this Kindle vs Nook review is to show you which ebook reader suits YOUR specific needs better. You would have seen many eBook reader reviews and comparisons on the web. But the table below is unique in that it shows the main benefits that each eBook reader has over others. As you can see from this Nook vs Kindle review, neither the Amazon Kindle ereaders nor the Nook Touch is perfect. They have their own advantages and deficiencies. If the expandable memory card of the Nook Touch means a lot to you that is your best ebook reader. If 3G, web browser, audio features, landscape mode etc mean a lot to you, the Kindle may be your best ereader. OK here goes, hope this Nook vs Kindle comparison is the last ebook reader review you wanted to make a decision.
| Feature | $79 Kindle | Kindle Touch | Nook Touch |
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| Price | $79 Best value for money! | $99 for Wi Fi only $149 for Wi Fi + 3G | $99 Wi Fi only No 3G model available currently |
| Touch Screen | NO! This is the MAJOR disadvantage of this model. Touch screen is not just a fancy feature. It can be really useful when you're navigating around, turning pages, highlighting, annotating, searching for books etc. etc. Because there is no touch-screen with this model, you have to use the 5-way controller and basically press left, right, up, down buttons to navigate through the screen. This is how all eReaders were before the touch-screens came out, so its really not too bad. However, given that the touch-screen is available now, you may want to pitch in that extra $20 and go for an ebook reader with the touch-screen. | Yes! Currently the Amazon Kindle Touch has the best touch screen. Don't take our word for it. Check out our videos. The multi-touch touch-screen of the Kindle Touch makes it easy 'turn' pages forwards and backwards with one hand (for example while you're holding a coffee on the other hand). It also has the zooming in and out functions with a 'pinching' action of your thumb and index finger. This action can be used to change font size on ebooks as well as when you're browsing the web to make content/font look bigger! We didn't expect the Kindle Touch to have this, it's awesome! | Yes! But not as advanced as the Kindle Touch. No zooming in and out function by 'pinching' the screen. Also difficult to move forwards and backwards with one hand. There are ridges on either side of the Nook for page turning. But trust us, tapping on the touch screen to turn pages is much much convenient than pressing on these thin ridges. |
| Audio | NO | YES! You may ask why you would want audio on your ebook reader! Well some of us like to listen to music while reading a book and this can be really helpful. You can listen to music via the speakers or stereo ear/headphones. You can also make use of all those free audio/audible books thanks to this feature on the Kindle Touch | NO |
| Text-to-speech | NO | YES! Great feature for some of us who want to 'listen' to a book while closing your eyes or while cooking in the Kitchen, driving back and forth to work etc. But be warned that the computer generated voice isn't perfect, but it's pretty decent and you can choose between male and female voices! | NO |
| Landscape and Portrait modes | YES! Turn the Kindle and the text on the screen automatically orients landscape or portrait mode | Portrait only | Portrait only |
| On device storage | 2GB for 1,400 books | 4GB for 3,000 books | 2GB for 1,000 books |
| Expandable memory | NO | NO | Yes! Up to 32GB microSD card. Useful if you are willing to purchase an extra microSD card. But would you want all that storage? Depends on individual needs! |
| Free storage/backup on cloud | Yes! | Yes! | Yes! |
| Optional 3G | NO | YES Costs an extra $50 though. But afterwards, its free 3G access for life! No monthly payments! Very useful if you travel a lot and are away from your home/office Wi Fi network. Will also ensure timely delivery of newspapers, magazines etc. (if you plan on subscribing to those) independent of availability of a Wi Fi network. | NO |
| Web browser | Yes | Yes! Allows you to zoom in and out with the pinching action of your fingers. Not great, but will serve the purpose in an emergency! | Yes! But not as good as the one on the Kindle Touch - doesn't let you zoom in on the content, thus font size remain very small from what we could figure out |
| Battery life Assuming 30 mins of dayly use | 1 month | 2 months | 2 months + |
| Font styles | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Font sizes | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Library book borrowing | Yes! Read the column on the right hand side of this. Same as for Kindle Touch. | Yes!
| Yes! You can borrow ePub format books from your local library. Click here and scroll down to read about Nook book borrowing |
| Number of titles in bookstore | According to Amazon, "Over 1 million books, newspapers, and magazines" | According to Amazon, "Over 1 million books, newspapers, and magazines" | According to Barnes and Noble, "World's Largest Bookstore ... Over 2.5 million titles.." |
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So what was your decision?
If you haven’t watched our Nook vs Kindle video comparison provided at the top of this page, please watch it by clicking on this link.
Help us improve the Nook vs Kindle comparison
The Kindle vs Nook review/comparison provided above is one of the most complete ebook reader comparisons you will find online. However, there may still be room for improvement and if you have any suggestions about features we have missed please let us know by commenting below.
- Did you find this Kindle vs Nook comparison useful? Let us know below!
- Did you think we could have done something different to make the review better? We can only improve if you let us know!