Barnes & Noble Announces a New Nook Tablet That Actually Makes Some Sense

One month after it announced a large Nook tablet, Barnes & Noble today revealed a smaller 7-inch version which may make more sense for its customers.

“The new NOOK 7-inch tablet is a lightweight and affordable option for book lovers who also want the ability to browse, send emails, and listen to music,” B&N’s Bill Wood says. “We think this new tablet will delight both current NOOK users as well as introduce new customers to this affordable NOOK device.”

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The new Nook 7″ tablet is an alternative to Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire HD tablets. But it comes with a major advantage: It’s a real Android tablet that comes with the Google Play Store. So you run any Android apps you want, including the Kindle app if you’re so inclined.

The Nook 7″ costs only $49, but you’ll want to upgrade it past its meager 16 GB of storage if you want to do more than read e-books. It features a 7-inch IPS display panel running at 1024 x 600. That isn’t particularly high-end, of course. But again, it’s competing with similar Amazon tablets.

The new Nook 7″ follows the pointless Nook 10.1-inch, which you’ll note uses a different naming style for some reason. But this is the Note that Barnes & Noble needed: Big Android tablets are running Chrome OS these days.

 

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Conversation 15 comments

  • veermaharaj

    03 December, 2018 - 1:39 pm

    <p>An inexpensive device for reading and general media consumption, yeah, not a bad idea.</p><p><br></p><p>If the battery is an endurance champ, even better.</p>

    • SvenJ

      03 December, 2018 - 10:21 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#377321"><em>In reply to veermaharaj:</em></a><em> </em>Dream on.</blockquote><p><br></p>

    • solomonrex

      04 December, 2018 - 9:19 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#377321">In reply to veermaharaj:</a></em></blockquote><p>This is something they need to be making reliably, every year. Their hardware was so promising once, it's a shame they stumbled so badly.</p>

  • Bats

    03 December, 2018 - 2:00 pm

    <p>Wait… How is an10.1 inch tablet of it's kind pointless? We will all get in that time of our lives where we will need bigger screens because of changing our failing eyesight. </p>

    • jgraebner

      Premium Member
      03 December, 2018 - 5:12 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#377345">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think Paul's point was that any Android-compatible tablet at that size should now be running Chrome OS. I kind of agree with him, although I'm not sure that Chrome OS on tablets is quite mature enough yet, based on the Pixel Slate reviews I've seen.</p>

      • SvenJ

        03 December, 2018 - 10:20 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#377456"><em>In reply to jgraebner:</em></a><em> </em>Absolutely. That 10" tablet should be running Chrome, so I can run Android apps bigger. Or has Paul decided the Chrome app store has come of age on its own.</blockquote><p><br></p>

      • solomonrex

        04 December, 2018 - 9:16 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#377456">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p>It's not mature enough. For media tablet purposes, Android is still the way to go. It's kind of damning that Samsung can make a better integrated and reliable tablet software than Google after all these years (I know this one isn't Samsung). Google has to learn when tech is ready to release. You can muddle your way through but not with major new hardware that people spend money on. Esp when your competitor is the ultra slick (though handicapped) Ipad.</p>

  • wolters

    Premium Member
    03 December, 2018 - 2:58 pm

    <p>Actually, for someone who wants a good reader that isn't locked down to Amazon Fire and not an iPad, this does make sense. And the fact you can read from Kindle, Google Play Books and Nook make it kind of attractive. 16GB and the building quality are my only concerns. </p>

  • prettyconfusd

    03 December, 2018 - 3:01 pm

    <p>A real shame with the resolution, everything else sounds great – it's seemingly becoming more and more difficult to find decent 7" tablets that aren't either super cheap and low-spec. Everything else seems to be 8"+ with crazy specs and a price tag to match.</p><p><br></p><p>I'm happy my 2nd gen Nexus 7 is still chugging along – it's the perfect size (and screen res) for reading for me – I'm really not sure what I'd move to when it reaches end-of-life.</p>

  • JerryH

    Premium Member
    03 December, 2018 - 3:19 pm

    <p>No mention of the version of Android – which is likely very much on purpose as it is probably 7.0 or the like. Micro-USB. Nope. I'll take a 7" or 8" tablet with decent (not high end) specs and a current version of Android with USB C please. I expect to pay about $250 for it. (The ones I see available today are running Android 7 or 8 with no upgrades in sight). Please somebody make one. My Nexus 9 is on its last legs…</p>

    • jgraebner

      Premium Member
      03 December, 2018 - 5:10 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#377381">In reply to JerryH:</a></em></blockquote><p>I agree. I'm still hanging on to my aging 8" Samsung Galaxy S2 because there is nothing new on the market at that small a size that comes close to it.</p>

      • bleeman

        Premium Member
        05 December, 2018 - 5:10 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#377455">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p>Same here. I still love my 8" Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Nook. It's lightweight, nice screen, and gives me access to both Nook and Kindle (via their app) books. I don't mind the micro USB connection as I still have a lot of devices that use that. Yes, it has Android 6.0.1 on it, but it does what I need so I can live with the older version. I can run Edge, the MS Apps, Outlook,etc. on it so overall it's still doing the trick for me. When I first bought it when it came out, I kept hoping Samsung would release a Windows version of it as I always thought it would have made a good "Surface mini".</p>

    • wolters

      Premium Member
      03 December, 2018 - 5:56 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#377381">In reply to JerryH:</a></em></blockquote><p>I'm like you on the USB-C part. I don't want to digress on my gadgets back to Micro-USB. </p>

  • locust infested orchard inc

    03 December, 2018 - 5:39 pm

    <p>Quote by Paul Thurrott, "<em>The Nook 7″ costs only $49…It features a 7-inch IPS display panel running at 1024 x 600.</em>"</p><p><br></p><p>So it would appear Barnes &amp; Noble values it's users' eyesight at only $49, because at a low resolution of 1024×600 on a 7" display, the text will be pixelated and noticeably so.</p><p><br></p><p>No single manufacturer has yet understood that for a tablet device, which typically has a &gt;7+" display (though 2019 will see flagship smartphones entering this dimension zone), one of the primary prerequisite is for it to be endowed with a high resolution screen, 1080p at 16:10 or 16:9 would be fine (a 3:2 display panels are still expensive, as I have been led to believe).</p><p><br></p><p>It may be cheap and cheerful, but in the long run, having to purchase a new pair of prescription spectacles every so often as a result of worsening eyesight over the years with eye fatigue, due to reading on this device, is considerably more costly than purchasing the ultimate e-book reader, cum on-the-go productivity device, in the form of the soon-to-be-released Andromeda device, which Brad Sams reported as an exclusive last week.</p><p><br></p><p>The Andromeda device will be at least thirty times more expensive than this Nook 7", but then one's vision is invaluable.</p><p><br></p><p>Bottom line: if one values themselves and their eyes, get the Andromeda, AKA Surface Foldable™, arriving Q4 2019 – that's my Xmas 2019 want-list sorted. :-)</p>

    • SvenJ

      03 December, 2018 - 10:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#377464"><em>In reply to locust infested orchard inc:</em></a><em> </em>30 times more expensive? That's $1,470. Andromeda better be groundbreaking. </blockquote><blockquote><br></blockquote><p><br></p>

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