Amazon Kindle vs Barnes & Noble Nook | Pros & Cons

Years ago, when e-readers were first coming up on the scene, I was very against them. I was very into the fact that I wanted real books and only real books; I didn't want to believe that digital was a way of life. This was before Instagram was even a thing so I didn't know where the world was headed. Now it's a very different story and even back then, I changed my tune. *One of my first posts was a comparison between real books & e-readers if you're interested! 

When I realized that e-books could be a positive force in the world, like being able to have hundreds of books at my fingertips, not having crowded shelves and rooms with books, and not contributing to waste. One of the most enticing parts of an e-reader was the fact that I could have a new book in a few seconds... this comes in handy when I'm reading a juicy series and I can't wait to start the next book.

I've been very loyal to both e-readers and print books for years; I've had a Barnes & Noble Nook for a long time -- it was my e-reader of choice. I've also used the iBooks and Kindle apps on my iPad for years as well.

However, I've always had a weird feeling at the back of my mind that I wanted an actual Kindle. Ever since using Netgalley to get arcs of books before they're released, I've wanted a Kindle. Netgalley only uses Kindle so I've been reading on my iPad. That could get old pretty fast so I started looking into purchasing a Kindle.

I didn't want a Fire, I wanted a good old fashion Kindle e-reader and decided about five months ago to get one. I purchased the 'All-New Kindle with backlight' which is great because I really wanted to be able to read in the dark LOL

So for the past few months, I've been using both my Nook and Kindle to read and I think I've got a pretty firm grip on both of them, which brings me to this comparison review.

Barnes & Noble Nook

The Nook I have is the "Simple Touch" which was new in 2012... now, not so much. Therefore, I guess this review isn't that current but we'll see... 

My Nook doesn't have a backlight but the new Nooks do! The Nook Glowlight has a night mode and backlight for easy reading, no matter the setting. 

The reason I wanted a Nook all those years ago was that I wanted to support Barnes & Noble. Amazon wasn't as big as it is now and I just felt like I wanted my books from a bookstore and nowhere else. 

My Nook works perfectly fine -- I haven't had any issues (knock on wood), it works pretty fast and it's held up beautifully. The books are all priced competitively (just the same as Amazon) and are delivered electronically, just the same as a Kindle. 

My Nook has buttons on the edges to 'turn the page' but you can also touch the screen to turn the page which is different than the Kindle. I think that is a point of differentiation because of it sort of feels like a 'real book'. Sometimes it's nice to have a physical aspect to something instead of having it be all touch screen.

One of my gripes with the Nook (and I'm unsure if this is the same on the newer generation) is that I cannot buy books directly from it. I have to log onto the Barnes & Noble website to purchase a book. This is especially annoying if I'm not near my computer but I suppose I could do it on my phone but still, it would just be easier to purchase directly.

The Nook does hold a nice charge and I do notice it holds a charger a little longer than my Kindle, which is always a plus.

Right now, the Nook Glowlight retails for $119, is almost 7 inches long and 5 inches wide.

Amazon Kindle

So, the Kindle. It's a little thinner and smaller in height than my Nook which makes it a little easier to hold and travel with. It's about the same speed as my Nook and I don't notice anything 'better' in terms of actually using it to read. 

However, the Kindle does have a nice backlight that you can adjust so reading in the 'dark' is a lot easier. As I mentioned before, that was one of my drivers in purchasing the Kindle but the newer editions of the Nook also have that feature. 

The Kindle retails for $89.99 and comes in two colors: black and white. While this isn't a 'feature' of the Kindle but more of an Amazon feature it's still worth mentioning; you can finance the purchase of your Kindle and pay it off over the course of a few months, with no interest. In the realm of honesty, this is what I did and it was a huge selling point in purchasing one. I probably still wouldn't have purchased it if I couldn't have paid it off months ago. 

Conclusions

I truly don't see any difference between my older edition Nook and Kindle, aside from being able to purchase books on the Kindle. I have to admit, I've been using my Kindle more only because that's where my NetGalley books are and I haven't really purchased any e-Books as of late. Once I get back into reading books I've purchased, I will probably split it evenly between my Nook and Kindle.

If you're in the market for a new e-reader, I recommend a true e-reader and not an iPad, Samsung, or Fire tablet. I think it makes it easier on the eyes to read without a blue light and its nice to keep things separate. 

If you're torn between both of these e-readers, look at the actual model; the Kindle is all touch screen while the Nook has actual buttons. Look into the height, weight, and width of the models, as well as the price. Either way, you're going to have an e-reader that is functional and easy to use. 

I love both of these pretty equally and there is no need to have both; if Netgalley was available on the Nook, I would've never bought the Kindle.

Do you have both e-readers? Do you like e-readers or are you a traditional book person through and through? 

xoxo

B