Review: Nook Glowlight

Can a massive book archive and snazzy design make this e-reader a Kindle caner?

US$119, nook.com

“Kindle” is now shorthand for “e-reader” to most punters, but this makes a decent fist at challenging that.

Barnes & Noble’s cool, white, redesigned Nook leaves Amazon’s slab looking rather dated, its friendly rounded edges, large bezel and silky finish making it really comfy to hold. It’s designed to be used without a protective case and can come out of several weeks in a bag without a scratch.

The e-ink Pearl touchscreen with 16-level grayscale has the highest resolution found on a Nook to date, with text clear and enough grunt inside to refresh pages instantly. The anti-glare film means it’s at home in sunlight, while the built-in backlight, although not quite as evenly illuminated as the Kindle Paperwhite, helps with night-time reading. The basic interface has been tweaked slightly, but is as simple as before.

The Barnes & Noble ebook store offers over three million titles, slightly more than Amazon’s Kindle store. There’s no 3G version, though, so you’ll need to stock up on Wi-Fi.

With decent battery life, great looks, a strong library and a good price, the Nook is the only genuine alternative to the Kindle. However, there are slips, and Amazon is a difficult beast to topple. love Cool design, Light and comfy to hold, Great book selection hate No 3G. Backlight could be more even T3 says A strong device and the first e-reader we’ve seen that could worry the Kindopoly