The e-book reader market is evolving at light speed, but--in the pre-iPad era, at least--the current focus is on the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook.
Now in its second generation, Amazon's Kindle has a leg up on the competition, if only because of its growing install base and Amazon's marketing muscle. The Nook, meanwhile, adds quite a few features not available on the Amazon: a color touch-screen navigation pad, an Android-powered operating system, and the ability to freely browse books while inside Barnes & Noble's brick-and-mortar stores.
With a closely matched feature set--and an identical price tag--we put these two e-book readers head to head, with a trio of CNET editors judging the five-round contest. Let's head to the ring to see which product comes out on top.
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Round 1: Design: Hot or not?
In Round 1, we examine the physical design and ergonomics of each product. How does the Kindle's hard keyboard compare with the Nook's touch-screen navigation pad? (We'll focus on the interface for each product in the next round.)| player | David | Tom | Brian | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Amazon Kindle (global wireless, 2009 version) | 4This Kindle certainly looks better than the original, but it's not that sleek and many argue that the built-in keyboard makes the device longer than it needs to be. All that said, I think it's more important what cover you pick for your Kindle rather than what the device itself looks like. | 3Lipstick on a pig. This Kindle is prettier than the last but it's still beige and blocky. | 3It's definitely improved from the first gen, but I still feel like I'm using something from 1985. Design was not a priority here. | 3.3 |
 Barnes & Noble Nook (3G/Wi-Fi) | 4The Nook's a tad heavier than the Kindle, though its dimensions are smaller. The built-in mini color LCD gives it a bit of flash, and I like the whole touch-screen virtual keyboard concept. Overall, however, as far as cosmetics go, I think it's a toss-up between the two e-readers. | 4The Nook looks hot. The color touch screen lends a splash that gives it panache. | 4Cosmetically, the Nook looks clean. The backside is one piece, and you won't see a physical button on the front. | 4 |
Round 2: Navigation and interface
Unlike the iPad, the e-ink screens on the Kindle and Nook are black and white--and they aren't touch screens. However, the Nook adds a color touch-screen navigation bar, whereas the Kindle relies on good old-fashioned buttons. How do they stack up?| player | David | Tom | Brian | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Kindle (global wireless, 2009 version) | 4The Kindle is pretty easy to use and navigate, and the Kindle Store currently has a design edge over Barne's & Noble's store. Amazon does a better job of breaking down subcategories and surfacing more e-book titles from the Kindle itself. | 3The navigation gets quirky at times, but overall it's intuitive. Not quite to the point where it "just works," though. | 3Navigating the Kindle is relatively easy, but that joystick nub you have to use, placed on the far side, is not comfortable. | 3.3 |
| Barnes & Noble Nook (3G/Wi-Fi) | 3I got used to using the capacitive touch-screen LCD at the bottom of the device for navigation, but some people don't like it. I think it's definitely a plus for looking at cover art and I like flipping through the covers like you would on an iPhone. It's also worth pointing out that Barnes & Noble has fixed some early bugs and improved the overall performance of the device. I hope it continues to get better. | 2The navigation being split between buttons on the plastic and buttons that show up in the touch screen makes for a steeper learning curve. Not very intuitive, but still useful once you figure it out. | 2I though I'd really like the touch-screen navigation, but when I actually started using it, I wasn't a fan. It's cramped, with a scroll bar directly next to two selection arrows, and then the selection button is on the side of that. Plus, the touch screen's brightness makes e-ink look so bland. The contrast is distracting. | 2.3 |
Round 3: Features and technology
Both the Kindle and the Nook are narrowly focused as e-book readers: their primary purpose is to view books, magazines, newspapers, and other documents electronically. But scratch the surface, and the two devices do have some notable differences in the features department.| player | David | Tom | Brian | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Kindle (global wireless, 2009 version) | 3The Kindle's strengths are its excellent integration with the Kindle Store and the option to buy e-books online (using your desktop computer) and transfer them wirelessly to the Kindle and other devices, such as an iPhone or BlackBerry. The Kindle also gets points for its international wireless support and text-to-speech functionality. | 4The Kindle seems to have more experiments going, but really I just want to read books. Whispersync is a key feature for me, since I read on my phone as well as on the Kindle itself. | 3The Kindle's Whispersync feature, which keeps the place of your reading on different devices, is slick. And the international version gives it a lot of flexibility to download books on the go almost anywhere you are. The Web browser is worth mentioning, but you're not going to use it at all. More than 460,000 books are available for purchase. I also prefer the Kindle Store experience. | 3.3 |
| Barnes & Noble Nook (3G/Wi-Fi) | 3Aside from its capacitive color touch screen, the real unique feature of the Nook is the inclusion of Wi-Fi, along with 3G wireless connectivity. That Wi-Fi connection allows you to access special content in Barnes & Noble brick-and-mortar stores. The Nook also has expandable memory, supports more file formats, and offers a "lending" function not found on the Kindle. | 4Not much else to offer than audio and book reading, though I expect that will change. Overall, a solid but not special offering of features. | 4Wi-Fi and 3G combination is killer, and is enticing if you hang out at Barnes & Noble stores. The sharing feature is innovative, but it's also really limited. You won't be able to purchase books if you're in other countries unless you're on Wi-Fi. Expansion slot for memory for additional content is nice. More than 1 million books available, but larger library is because of the EPUB format. | 3.7 |
Round 4: Performance
There are no "performance" worries with a paper book or magazine. But with e-book readers, battery life and screen response time are just two of the primary concerns.| player | David | Tom | Brian | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Kindle (global wireless, 2009 version) | 4The Kindle has a slight edge in terms of speed and battery life, but the readability of both devices is the same. | 3E-ink screens are a little slow, but they do the job. If I'm ever slowed down it's by the Net connection. Battery life is insane with the wireless off and even pretty good with it on. | 4The speed of the Kindle, although it could be a lot faster, almost feels snappy compared with the Nook. E-ink refresh rates are annoying, but that's the tech. You're also getting a longer battery life here. | 3.7 |
| Barnes & Noble Nook (3G/Wi-Fi) | 3The color LCD does require some extra energy, so the Nook battery life numbers aren't quite as good as the Kindle's. Performance-wise, the Kindle initially had the clear edge, but Barnes & Noble's latest firmware upgrades have made performance zippier. | 1Fail. I shouldn't have to wait forever for the navigation options to come up on the touch screen before I can even make selections. Not as big of a problem once you're into a book, but still terribly frustrating when you just want to start reading. The speed makes the Nook almost unusable. | 2I'm tempted to give it a 1, because I was so frustrated, and this is after the firmware update. This thing is slow; the touch-screen responsiveness is buggy; it will disappear and then take a few seconds to reappear when you want to use it. The "page back" on the left side of our Nook is loose and makes too much noise. | 2 |
Round 5: Value
Last, but definitely not least, we consider the price of these e-book readers measured against their respective features, design, and performance. This task is made somewhat easier given that both are (at the time of this writing) priced identically at $259.| player | David | Tom | Brian | the winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Kindle (global wireless, 2009 version) | 4Both devices cost the same, but the Kindle--at least for now--probably has a slightly wider selection of books and slightly better prices on those books. Neither device comes with a cover, which is too bad. | 4The Kindle is pricey, but not out of line at this point. Books are cheap for now, though publishers intend to change that. But you seem to get more for your money with the Kindle. | 4It's $259 for both devices. I think performance alone makes a hug difference here, because you won't be annoyed by the tech. | 4 |
| Barnes & Noble Nook (3G/Wi-Fi) | 4When Barnes & Noble finally allows you to stream and sample e-books in its stores via Wi-Fi, that will give it some extra value. To me, they're both priced fairly well, though the arrival of the iPad may force both to go down to $199. | 3The price is right in line with the Kindle, and the books, if anything, seem to be a tad cheaper overall. But if I'm going to pay the same for either, I'd rather have the Kindle. | 3There are a lot of features packed in here, but I was constantly distracted by its poor performance. | 3.3 |
The winner is...
Amazon Kindle
3.5
3.5
Barnes & Noble Nook (3G/Wi-Fi)
3.1
3.1
