Barnes & Noble Simple Touch GlowLight Pro Reviews

Amazon’s e-reader took six of 10 categories and tied in one: battery life. We did like the Nook’s social aspect (at least until Amazon rolls out Goodreads) and the larger storage space. However, the Nook GlowLight simply couldn’t compete when it came to special features or backlight. We even prefer the look of the Kindle to that of the white Nook. With the Kindle Paperwhite 2013, Amazon simply makes the best e-reader on the market.

Ever since the first Nook debuted in 2009 each generation has improved on the last. Even when Barnes & Noble radically changed the design, it was done for the better. And each innovation from touch to built-in lights have made new Nooks highly desirable to ebook lovers. That’s what makes this new Nook so disappointing. It’s not a bad device. We love the display and the light – two of the most important aspects of the ebook reading experience – but it’s just not a step forward. There’s no point in following Amazon’s lead in hardware design unless you’re also going to make the necessary software changes. We’d like to see Barnes & Noble put in more work on the software side and fiddle less with the Nook’s hardware, which already worked fine. Right now, we recommend the Nook Simple Touch over the new GlowLight. If you need the built-in light, the new Kindle Paperwhite is an attractive choice.

In many ways, Barnes & Noble has done exactly what Amazon did with its second-generation Kindle Paperwhite. It's taken a good product and made it better, with a lighter design, improved lighting scheme, sharper text, and other enhancements, including the elimination of page flashing. Those are all positives, but I don't think the new Nook GlowLight brings anything so revolutionary or different to the world of e-reading that one might turn from being a Kindle customer to being a Nook customer. However, I do think the new GlowLight will help Barnes & Noble retain its existing customers and maybe even acquire some new ones who aren't ensconced in the formidable Kindle ecosystem.