Finding the Best NOOK Tablets

Welcome to our buying guide to the best Barnes & Noble Nook tablets in the market based on expert research, extensive analysis, customer feedback and critical reviews.

No one will blame you for not taking Barnes & Noble seriously when it comes to tablet manufacturing. The market has evolved and new players have taken hold, but some still keep Nook tablets close to their hearts. While there are now many choices to pick from when you go looking for a tablet, traditional e-reader brands are not that common. Amazon still continues to rule the market, but over the years, Barnes & Noble has done well to keep the competition fresh and engaging. In this guide, we delve into a variety of Nook products, covering it all; from fully-featured tablets, to products that are solely e-book readers. Buying a Nook tablet today definitely requires some insight, and for that, you have come to the right place.

Tablet Buying Guide

Before you get started on your journey be sure to check out our Tablet Buying Guide for a run down on tablet basics or if you would like to learn more of the ins and outs of what makes a tablet without being confused by a ton of technical jargon.

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Best NOOK Tablets – Top Picks

Barnes & Noble Nook HD 7-inch

Released just one year after its predecessor, the original Nook 7, the Nook HD comes with a much better screen, significantly improved performance and extended battery life, all enclosed in a lighter, more beautiful body. Yet even with its measly 0.69 pound weight, the Nook HD feels solid and durable. The display is a beautiful HD panel with a 1440 x 900 pixel resolution which gives a remarkable pixel density of 243 ppi. This means text is crisp and clear, and picture quality is outstanding. Additionally, the screen surface is fully laminated with no air gaps to reduce glare and enhance viewing angles. The Nook HD’s operating system is entirely based on Android Ice-cream Sandwich, but the custom skin seems to remind us of the original Nook Tablet’s OS. The OS offers various unique features, including the Your Nook Today app which shows you the current weather as well as daily book and movie recommendations. Furthermore, the system lets you set up multiple customizable profiles, accessible from the upper left-hand corner. The Nook HD offers full access to Google Play Store for all your apps, games, books and magazines. Performance-wise, the Nook HD packs a 1.3GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 CPU coupled with 1GB RAM. Basic use like e-book reading and browsing will go on flawlessly. However, the accompanying PowerVR GPU is a rather average gaming performer. 8GB is the only available storage space aboard the Nook HD, but thankfully, memory can be expanded upto 64GB with microSD cards. At about 10 hours, battery endurance is decent.

Barnes & Noble NOOK HD+ 9-inch

The Nook HD+ was released as an update to the 2012 7-inch Nook HD. Among the upgrades it came with were a larger screen with higher resolution and increased internal memory. However, like its predecessor, typical tablet features are still limited, with Barnes & Noble still maintaining their inclination towards e-book readers. The tablet is designed with portability in mind. Weighing just 1.31 pounds, it is remarkably light for a large tablet. Display is offered by a 9-inch HD IPS panel with a resolution of 1920×1280 pixels. The colors are accurate and picture quality is outstanding. However, its glossy surface makes it prone to fingerprints, which can be unpleasant. Like its predecessor, the Nook HD+ uses Android as its base operating system with a custom skin that brings out the tablet’s unique features. As usual, multiple profiles can be created to facilitate sharing the device over users with different needs and interests. Content is available in abundance as the OS provides full access to Google Play app store, as well as Barnes & Noble’s own online library. Performance is offered by a 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 CPU and 1GB RAM. Functions like browsing, shopping and reading are handles seamlessly, but gamers will be disappointed. For onboard storage, you can get either the 16GB or the 32GB device, and both have micro-SD card support for expansion. The battery can labor for a good 10 hours before tiring out.

Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch 7-inch

Barnes & Noble products have long excelled in the ebook-reader market, and the Nook Simple Touch is no exception. Weighing just 7.5 ounces and measuring 6.5 x 5.0 x 0.5 inches (HWD) the device is exceptionally designed to be a compact reading companion that can easily fit into a bag or jacket pocket. The sculpted matte back makes it comfortable to carry the tablet around in one hand. A resolution of 800×600 pixels may not seem much but thanks to a small 6-inch screen size, text and images look crisp and clear. Being an eBook reader, everything on the display is in shades of gray meaning the device won’t do well as a photo viewer. However, you get a screen that offers very good reading experience and doesn’t strain the eyes even in direct sunlight. The Nook Simple Touch runs a highly customized Android OS, specifically designed for reading. Pages turn quickly and there are plenty of ways to control the display; from text size and font type to spacing and margin width. The eBook store boasts over 2 million books, magazines and newspapers, and the search navigation in the store works very well. As a reader, you will be very pleased to know that the social aspect of the device has been heavily emphasized. You can recommend and lend books to other Nook owners. There is also integration with Facebook and Twitter to facilitate the sharing of book interests and getting reading suggestions from like-minded Nook users. Wondering about how much you can read before low battery notification interrupts your concentration? Wonder no more because Barnes & Noble claim a remarkable two-month battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook Edition 7-inch

The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is the first result of the partnership Barnes & Noble has with Samsung. The design is just the same as the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 with the difference between the two being software related. Weighing in at 0.6 pounds and at only 0.36 inches thick, the tablet excels in portability. The 7-inch display has a rather modest 1280×800 pixel resolution, which although decent is a downgrade from Barnes & Noble’s 2012 model, the Nook HD. Nonetheless, the colors are fairly accurate and the text is crisp enough for ebook-reading purposes. Like the original Galaxy Tab 4, the Nook edition runs Android v4.4 KitKat. However, the interface barely looks anything like the original, thanks to Barnes & Noble’s own skin. With this device, you get full access to the Google Play app store as well as access to the popular Nook online library. Emphasis has been laid on reading, and there are touch-ups all over the interface to facilitate easy navigation into available books and magazines. There is a fair number of Nook extras present as well, including 3 e-books, 3 TV show episodes and up to four subscriptions to any of 12 choices of magazines. Performance is offered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1.5GB RAM. Simple tasks like e-book reading and browsing are handled effortlessly, but expect the tablet to struggle with more demanding tasks like heavy gaming. While a microSD slot is present for memory expansion, Samsung could have done better than the 8GB internal storage available. On the plus side, the battery lasts a good 10 hours from a single charge.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook Edition 10.1-inch

Like its smaller counterpart, the Galaxy Tab 4 7-inch, the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook Edition doesn’t differ much from the original, exclusively Samsung-made Galaxy Tab 4 10.1. The design is simple yet somewhat attractive. Although built primarily of plastic,the tablet feels sturdy and durable. It is light too, weighing a remarkable 1.08 pounds, and being 0.31 inches thick means it is comfortable to hold for long periods of time, even with one hand. Considering the large 10.1-inch screen-size, the display’s resolution is a rather disappointing 1280×800 pixels which culminates to 149 ppi. The picture quality is poor and color saturation is mostly inadequate. However, text still remains crisp enough for effortless indoors reading. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook runs Android v4.4 KitKat, but the Barnes & Noble Nook skin offers a tablet experience that is unique and different. It is remarkable how Samsung’s TouchWiz and the Nook UI blend to result in an overall enjoyable user experience. In addition to full Google Play store access, you get access to millions of books and magazines from Nook’s online book store as well as a variety of extras from Barnes & Noble. One pleasant Nook feature is multiple profiles capability, which makes this device well adaptable as a family device. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor and 1.5GB RAM which offers fair performance for basic tasks. Internal storage space is upto 16GB and is expandable with microSD cards. Averaging about 10 hours from a full charge, the battery life is decent.

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Barnes & Noble NOOK Color 7-inch Refurbished

Many have viewed the Nook Color as the color-screen upgrade to Barnes & Noble’s first e-ink reader, the Nook, which had a small color LCD strip at the bottom of the screen for navigation and keyboard functionality. However, the device still remains largely a reading tablet. Weighing just shy of a pound, it is heavier than most ebook readers including the latest Amazon Kindle, yet still significantly lighter than an iPad. Nonetheless, it is geometrically appealing and can easily be carried around in a purse or jacket pocket. The display is a 7-inch LED panel with 1024×600-pixel resolution. Color quality is fair and text appears crisp. Designers further added a special layer of laminate glass over the screen to reduce glare. The Nook Color runs an Android based OS, which is kept hidden by a customized Barnes & Noble interface, which provides full access to the popular Nook e-bookstore. There is no Google Play support, but the device offers web-browsing and access to several Android apps as curated by Barnes & Noble. With a 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, the Nook Color deals well with the tasks it is meant to, which are browsing and e-book reading. 8GB onboard storage is not much, but a microSD card slot is included for further expansion. The battery life is rated at 8 hours, which is not bad for reading purposes but things can get problematic with video-watching and heavy web-browsing.

Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 6-inch Refurbished

The Nook Glowlight was released by Barnes & Noble as a replacement to the earlier Nook Simple Touch. There are a few significant changes with the design, particularly the change from a carbon-colored casing for a white shell that has a rubberized gray stripe around its borders for extra protection against falls. At 0.38 pounds, the device is among the lightest e-readers out there, being even lighter than the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. The screen resolution has remained the same 1024×768 pixels, but the integrated light, which Barnes & Noble now call GlowLight is brighter, whiter and displays more evenly. Are you used to getting irritated by the page flashing that is common with e-ink based e-readers? Then you will be happy to know that is has been completely eliminated because the screen no longer needs to refresh while in the middle of turning a page. Software-wise, the Nook GlowLight runs an Android-based operating system that is especially tailored for reading purposes. With it comes full access to the Nook e-library for all your books and magazines. Furthermore, integration with Facebook and Twitter has been enhanced for faster sharing of ideas and book suggestions. Turning book pages and going through content in the store is fairly seamless, and for the many of us who don’t like ads, there aren’t any. Onboard storage is limited to only 4GB and the lack of a microSD card slot makes it impossible to expand. However, it will take quite some time for you to fill up the memory with only e-book material. To top it all, the Nook GlowLight lasts a good two months on a single charge.

Barnes & Noble NOOK GlowLight Plus 6-inch Refurbished

Design-wise, the Nook GlowLight Plus excels at being one of the smaller, lighter and more compact e-readers in the market. It weighs 6.9 ounces and is only 0.4 inches thick, making it a pleasantly portable device. By comparison the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is lighter, but this is because the GlowLight Plus is made of durable aluminum that is both dust and waterproof to cater for use anywhere you decide to take the tablet. The 6-inch panel has an impressive 1440×1080-pixel resolution which results in 300 ppi. It is crisp and clear, providing very adaptable viewing angles. Starting up the Nook GlowLight’s software is fairly easy, and once you connect it to Wi-Fi and create a Barnes & Noble account, you can start reading and shopping for books right away. At first, the bookstore’s interface can be a bit confusing to navigate, with certain topics taking more tapping and swiping to find than it is common with Kindle tablets, but you should get the hang of it after a short while. Reading on the tablet is good, especially due to the versatile adjustments available like text size, font type, line spacing and margins. For the most part, the device’s performance is decent, but slight lag can be experienced while browsing the store. The battery will give you up to 6 weeks on a single charge, which is impressive.

Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet 7-inch

It has been quite a while since the Nook Tablet hit the stores, but to date, it still remains one of Barnes & Noble’s most impressive products. The design in compact and feels strong, despite it being almost entirely made of plastic. At 0.88 pounds, it isn’t the lightest device out there today, but will still fit well in a purse or jacket pocket. Display is offered by a 7-inch IPS LCD panel with a rather minced 1024×600-pixel resolution. However, picture quality is decent and text appears clear. Thanks to the screen’s laminated surface, glare is greatly minimized and the tablet can be comfortably used outside. The Nook Tablet excels in its software, running a highly customized Android operating system. The UI is engaging and easy to navigate around, and although lacking access to the larger Android Market, the Barnes & Noble store has adequate content; from books and magazines, to apps and games. The reading experience on the Nook Tablet is also very good. Internet integration is effective and with only a touch, you can look up words on the dictionary or Google and share quotes from books on Facebook and Twitter. With a dual-core 1GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM, the Nook performs well with basic tablet tasks and can do moderate multitasking seamlessly. 16GB internal storage is generous, and you can always expand it with a microSD card. The battery is decent, giving up to 11 hours of reading and 9 hours while watching video with Wi-Fi off.

Conclusion

That’s the end of our guide and we are confident you are now equipped with the knowledge necessary to make a sound decision. It is worth mentioning that Nook tablets are meant to please users who love to read ebooks and e-magazines. If your desire is a fully-fledged tablet with features like 3G connectivity, cameras, GPS, media players, social media applications and games, there are many other brands worth checking out. Perhaps our other Tabletninja guides such as The best tablets under $100 and The best 7-inch tablets will be of more help. Any questions or comments? Drop them here. We’ll be happy to hear from you.