Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet Reviewed [B&N Nook Tablet Has Good Performance & Build, But May Not Be Able to Compete With Amazon Kindle Fire Yet In Terms of Content]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Sunday, 20. November 2011 under: Computers & Computing, PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

Barnes & Noble has recently released its Nook Tablet as an upgrade to the Nook Color, and a direct competitor to Amazon’s Kindle Fire. But at $50 more than the Kindle Fire, will the Nook Tablet be able to compete, especially in the content ecosystem?

In the market segment that the Nook Color and Kindle Fire compete in, content is everything, as pointed out by The Verge‘s Joanna Stern, who did a review of the Nook Tablet. The initial take is that the Nook Tablet is a pleasant upgrade over the Nook Color and is a decent tablet when it comes to specs. It can be noted that the Nook Tablet has twice the storage and twice the memory of the Kindle Fire. But will these be able to justify the marginally higher cost, and the fact that Amazon is still the leader when it comes to content? Here are a few review points:

Hardware and design: Barnes & Noble didn’t mess with the design of the original Nook Color, seeing how it evoked a “beautifully unique original aesthetic.” A few highlights were changed, such as the new silverish grey border. The hook is still at the left corner, although what one can do with this hook leaves much to the imagination (do you wear the tablet around your neck or clip it to your belt loop with a carabiner?). The plastic feels solid, although the Nook Tablet is lighter than both the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire.
Screen and speakers: The speakers are so-so when i came to watching videos, although they were pleasantly loud when reading Read-and-play supported B&N e-books. The screen isn’t as crisp as the Kindle Fire’s 1024×600 IPS display, but the Nook’s VividView screen reduces glare and produces very deep blacks and dark colors. The viewing angle is also very wide.
Software: As with the Nook Color, the Nook Tablet runs an OS based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, although heavily customized by B&N. The browser is a bit disappointing, as it doesn’t support tabs, but it performs well enough against the Kindle Fire’s Silk browser, even without the server-side pre-processing. In terms of third-party apps, the Nook Tablet still lags behind as the applications are a bit limited. However, expert users can easily find a way to root the device and install Android Market and even Amazon’s AppStore for more apps.
Email and keyboard: Nothing to write home about, but you can surely write home with it. The email app is reportedly basic, although it does the job. The keyboard, meanwhile, is basic but well laid-out.
Reading: The Nook Tablet offers a million e-books, as well as other content like magazines. The Nook Tablet likewise features a “read and record” feature that lets you record an audio of a children’s book, and play it back in sync with text.
Media: The Nook Tablet has 16 GB, although only 1 GB is allocated for music and media. There’s currently no way to get video or songs into the tablet other than side-loading, which can be inconvenient. B&N is reportedly working out deals with content providers for video, so it can better compete against Amazon and its Netflix and Hulu partnerships.
Performance and battery: The Nook Tablet shines in terms of performance, and feels zippier in terms of UI. Battery life lasted 6:57 on a continuous webpage loading loop, although B&N says the tablet can last nine hours on a charge. One potential disadvantage is that the Nook Tablet comes with a standard micro USB port, although you can only charge it using the B&N-supplied cable, which has a longer plug.

In conclusion, the Nook Tablet is found to offer good value for its $249.99 price. However, Barnes & Noble lags behind in terms of ecosystem, in which Amazon’s $199 tablet clearly has an advantage. For most users, the Kindle Fire might be the better tablet because of its bigger app and content ecosystem, although users who can tweak and hack might find the Nook Tablet more appealing due to its better specs.

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