Kindle Paperwhite vs Nook GlowLight 4 Plus: Which must you purchase?

There’s one thing to be stated for e-ink readers.  In an age of TikTok, Netflix, Fb, and YouTube, they not solely encourage you to learn, however shut out distractions and calm down. For the time being there are solely three main manufacturers in North America  — Amazon, Nook, and Kobo — and of these, solely the primary two have a considerable footprint. Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite and the Nook GlowLight 4 Plus are two of essentially the most outstanding readers accessible — so how do they stack up?

Simply to get it out of the way in which, there’s nothing a lot to say about efficiency. Neither pill is a velocity demon, particularly since e-ink has inherently slower refresh charges than any LCD or OLED panel. After all that doesn’t significantly matter right here — these gadgets are all about studying and audiobooks, that are inherently low-intensity actions.

We’ll be overlaying many of the merchandise’ defining options within the sections under, however one evident distinction is storage. The GlowLight 4 Plus (which we’ll check with because the “Nook” to any extent further) is available in a single 32GB model, whereas Amazon sells 8, 16, and 32GB Paperwhites (32GB is proscribed to the Signature Version). Even 8GB ought to be a lot in case you’re solely studying textual content, but it is best to undoubtedly veer in the direction of larger storage choices in case you plan on loading audiobooks.

Each tablets are waterproof. The Paperwhite (above) is barely more durable with an IPX8 ranking and even some delicate salt water resistance, however the IPX7 spec on the Nook is greater than adequate. You need to use both machine by the pool or sitting in your tub — simply make sure to fish out your pill and dry it if it by accident takes a dip.

There a few design particulars in regards to the Nook some readers will respect, the primary being the presence of bodily house and page-turning buttons. The Paperwhite is totally depending on touchscreen gestures, which actually do the job, however aren’t as simple.

The Nook additionally supplies Bluetooth and a 3.5mm jack for audiobook listening, whereas the Paperwhite is proscribed to Bluetooth. 3.5mm could also be slowly fading away, however many individuals nonetheless have suitable headphones and audio system, and state-of-the-art Bluetooth headphones are overkill for audiobooks besides their assist for noise cancelling.

That is going to be the largest differentiator for most individuals. Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla of the e-book trade, providing not simply the very best choice however a number of subscription choices. You get a small slice of e-books and audiobooks with Amazon Prime, however much more in case you subscribe to Kindle Limitless and/or Audible. Amazon additionally makes it comparatively straightforward to borrow e-books from libraries, and there are many different methods to get free reads resembling Venture Gutenberg or Ship to Kindle.

With the Nook being bought by Barnes and Noble, you shouldn’t have bother discovering issues like New York Instances bestsellers for it, however anticipate to purchase many of the stuff you learn on a per-title foundation while you’re not sideloading. Though there may be an audiobook subscription possibility, there’s no equal for normal e-books, and also you’ll inevitably have to purchase some audiobooks outright except you’re solely listening to at least one a month.

On prime of that the Nook solely helps the 2 hottest platform-agnostic e-book codecs, EPUB and PDF. The Paperwhite combines these with assist for MOBI, TXT, HTML, DOC/DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and naturally Amazon’s proprietary Kindle format, so if there’s little or no you possibly can’t view on it. And it’s more durable to borrow library books on a Nook, since you need to obtain an EPUB file to a pc, be certain that your Nook is signed into your Adobe ID, then use desktop software program (both Adobe Digital Editions or Android File Switch) to sync. If you happen to’re anticipating to get most of your books from libraries fairly than an internet retailer or free repositories, you’ll virtually actually want a Paperwhite.

It’s price noting right here that each merchandise have comparatively easy onscreen interfaces, and sync with cell apps if you wish to keep on studying through a smartphone or a extra superior pill like an iPad or Galaxy Tab.

The Nook pulls forward right here by most metrics, justifying its pricetag with a 7.8-inch, 300ppi (pixels per inch) display screen. The Paperwhite’s show has the same pixel density, however slots in at 6.8 inches. That makes the Nook immediately higher suited to issues like newspapers and graphic novels, and superior for studying general. In case your eyesight isn’t the very best, it means having the ability to enlarge textual content and retain extra content material onscreen.

Each the Nook and Paperwhite take their names from their entrance lights, which maintain their e-ink legible whether or not you’re in darkness or direct daylight. We should always level out nevertheless that whereas they every allow you to regulate the heat and depth of lighting, solely the Nook and the Paperwhite Signature Version can routinely regulate brightness to your environment. If you happen to purchase a regular Paperwhite, you’ll have to regulate brightness manually. That’s not an enormous deal, however auto brightness might probably enhance battery life and/or defend your eyes while you’re studying in mattress.

The Paperwhite can probably last as long as 10 weeks on a cost, based on Amazon. That’s going to range based mostly in your machine settings, in addition to whether or not you take heed to audiobooks, and the way voracious your general habits are. Amazon’s determine assumes half-hour of e-book studying per day, with Wi-Fi off and brightness set at 13. If you happen to learn for an hour a day and go away Wi-Fi on, anticipate battery life to drop, if in all probability to a couple of month. That’s nonetheless spectacular.

Barnes and Noble will solely promise “weeks” of runtime for the Nook, and we haven’t examined the product’s battery life to say one thing extra concrete. Realistically, we doubt anybody will complain — even charging up an e-reader each week or two is nothing subsequent to charging an iPad each couple of days.

The gadgets primarily depend on USB-C for charging, however in case you purchase the Paperwhite Signature Version, you get the added perk of Qi-compatible wi-fi.

Superficially Amazon may appear to have pricing on lock, since you should buy a Paperwhite for $60 lower than a Nook, and that’s with out accounting for Amazon’s frequent reductions. The corporate is prepared to take a monetary hit to get you into its ecosystem.

The satan is within the particulars, although. The entry-level Paperwhite is proscribed to only 8GB, which as soon as once more could also be superb for pure e-books, however may very well be an issue in case you begin loading audio. You’ll then should pay an additional $20 if you wish to maintain adverts off your lockscreen, which appears like gouging on Amazon’s half — significantly for the reason that firm actually, actually desires you to subscribe to Kindle Limitless.

In fact the closest match to the Nook is the Paperwhite Signature Version, and even that also makes use of a 6.8-inch display screen versus its rival’s 7.8. When you think about the specs you’re getting, the Nook holds its personal when it comes to worth.

If clean entry to essentially the most doable content material is what issues to you, go together with a Paperwhite. Nonetheless monopolistic it could be, the Kindle platform reigns supreme, and that’s solely aided by wider format assist, elective subscription plans, and simpler library borrowing. You’ll additionally lower your expenses on the {hardware}, if by advantage of lowered display screen measurement and/or storage.

These components will in all probability resolve the battle for lots of consumers, however the Nook might pull out a victory amongst individuals who need 32GB of storage, bodily page-turning buttons, 3.5mm audio, and/or the largest doable display screen. You may discover that final function issues greater than you’d anticipate — even in case you’re not studying graphic novels or dealing with eyesight issues, a 7.8-inch show means much less frequent web page flipping. Simply keep in mind that in case you do go the Nook route, you’ll in all probability be shopping for most of your e-books and/or audiobooks, assuming you’re not already planning to sideload from third-party sources.