Today Barnes and Noble announced the upcoming release of a new 6-inch Nook ereader called the Nook Glowlight 4e.
It’s basically a trimmed-down version of the Nook Glowlight 4 that was released last year. It has a lower resolution screen, no warm light, and it has 8GB of storage (5GB usable) instead of 32GB.
Otherwise it appears to be the same. The overall design is unchanged, with page buttons on both sides of the screen, and it has a USB-C port as well.
The Nook Glowlight 4e has a 212 ppi E Ink screen instead of a 300 ppi screen like the Glowlight 4, and it lacks Night Mode, meaning it doesn’t have a frontlight with adjustable color temperature, just the default color.
Barnes and Noble is selling the Nook Glowlight 4e for $119.99. That’s $30 less than the regular Glowlight 4. It’s available to pre-order now and is getting released on June 7th.
What do you think of the new Nook? B&N’s approach is definitely a bit different. It’s been over 3 years since Amazon last released a new 6-inch Kindle, and Kobo is still holding onto the 6-inch Kobo Clara HD from nearly 4 years ago, and yet B&N has released two 6-inch Nooks in the past 5 months. With color E Ink screens being the new thing, along with larger devices capable of notetaking, B&N is keeping things simple with the Glowlight 4e.
On a side note, it looks like the larger Nook Glowlight Plus with a 7.8-inch screen might have been phased out. It’s no longer available to purchase new, just refurbished, and it isn’t mentioned at the bottom of the press release alongside B&N’s other devices.
So, $10 more than MSRP for a Kindle Kids model (which you can ofttej get for less than that) and you get buttons and…the satisfaction of not being keyed to Amazon, I guess?
Absolutely baffling.
Ugh. I like to root for the underdogs but this decision baffles me. I don’t see the reasoning to manufacture and release this at the price point. As a Kindle competitor, you have to do something different. Either you beat them with features or price. Why not sell these guys at a larger loss and have it incredibly low priced – $59.99 – and hope to make it up with more people buying ebooks by getting more devices out there to potentially new B&N ereader customers that see that as a price point to give it a try?
So disappointed.
I really wish B&N did business here in Europe. Nooks seem so much nicer than Kindles. For the price you get page turn buttons, power button on top (no accidental turn off), system based on Android with possibility to install additional apps, home page more focused on your content and even details like book thumbnails with the same height (something that I really wish Kindle changed). Unfortunately their Nook app is not available here so I couldn’t sync reader with my phone.
Barnes and Noble is continuing their trend of not listening to customers and being truly out of step with their competitors. Do they not pay attention to Amazon and Kobo? I bought the newest Nook last year to help support the underdog but it keeps freezing then throwing you back several chapters in your book when you get it to function again. It is back in the drawer. They need to seriously overhaul their software and then design a device that customers truly want.