Barnes and Noble Nook Color Review

The Nook Color: An e-Reader? A Tablet? Or Both

With the Nook Color, Barnes and Noble extends its line of e-Readers to two after the original Nook, and indeed puts out its first real device capable of being an a plain e-reader and still compete with the tablets of this world. The Nook Color in addition to offering an excellent backlit LCD screen and access to millions of books, newspapers and magazine subscriptions from the Barnes and Noble store is also capable of browsing the internet, watching online video, supports pictures, and document viewing with .txt .doc, .pdf and ePub formats readable, and JPG, PNG and MP4 viewable. That’s pretty much an extensive features list for a device that comes across as being strictly intended for book reading.

Hardware

At 8.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches the Barnes and Noble Nook Color is a sizeable e-reader that offers a beautiful 7 inch screen with an LCD display being the most prominent thing on its front as is the case with tablets in general, and specifically for the Nook color one of its strong points as well as a weakness.

Externally, the Nook Color features very few external buttons, a volume up/down button to the right and a power button to the left. There’s also an “N” logo button right below the screen which serves as a Home button when navigating the device. Meanwhile, all other navigation is done through the Nook’s capacitive touchscreen.

Display

The Nook Color wields a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen that support 16millions colors with a 1024 x 600 native resolution. The screen is also backlit and while this is great news for night readers, it does take its toll on battery life.

Storage

The Nook Color features 8GB of internal storage, with room for more via the MicroSD slot. It also accepts micro SD’s up to 32GB providing 40GB total storage, more than enough storage for books, magazines and newspaper storage.

Battery

Expect to get nothing a lot more than 8 hours from this thing. Battery life on the Nook Color is in line with what tablets offer even though it’s not a full scale tablet. Also on the battery side, the Nook color makes use of a proprietary AC charger that actually enables speed charging (for faster charge periods) but this means you won’t be able to borrow a normal MicroUSB charger and you then have to have the AC charger on you when away from home or the office.

Software

The Nook color runs Android 2.1 at its core. Not that you’ll notice since Barnes and Noble slaps on a custom UI to make everything fit into their e-reader scheme but the device still is capable of running Android apps, and users will be able to download a few of them though not directly from the Android store but from the Barnes and Noble store. This is kind-of a downside as developers have to go through the trouble of re-submitting their apps to Barnes and Noble for inclusion in their own store for users to gain access.

Barnes and Noble does deliver a great UI that makes the Nook color a true reading device. Users can categorize books and pin them to the home screen making it easier to finding a specific book amongst a specific category as regards to doing a full search from an entire library. Users also have access to Android’s webkit browser meaning flash videos and more web surfing for Nook users. It’s also possible to watch YouTube videos on the device and has been mentioned earlier, you get to view documents, read personal PDF files and also check emails while using the Barnes and Noble Nook Color device.

Summary

All in all, the Nook Color is a device that somehow integrates productivity and a low price. For $250 it is definitely a top contender for e-readers and potential tablet users who can’t afford to get a proper tablet at $400 and up. The nook also offers a fantastic web experience and users can get to make good use of its other features besides e-reading.

The only major snag to the Nook color are that it is only available in WiFi meaning no 3G goodness for non-WiFi users and you also have to do all you have to do within the 8hours battery limit. 8hours is kind of low for an e-reader given e-ink devices like the Amazon Kindle last for weeks on a single charge. But at the end we still think Barnes and Noble made a few compromises here and there, ensuring users get an e-reader that truly stands out from the crowd.