Barnes and Noble’s New Nook ereader is cheaper but it comes with tradeoffs. And it would be going after fresh recruits with a much more affordable NOOK Glowlight 4e.
This interesting new model, which is a follow-up to last year’s GlowLight 4, drops the price by around $30 to a more attractive $119.99. still, the savings do come with a cost of performance.
Mid-Tier eReader
The gap that goes between the GlowLight 4 and 4e is not so wide. To begin with, the new model would still have a 6-inch E ink screen that is resistant to scratches and annoying glare. The ‘GlowLight’ in the name refers to GlowLight Illumination which is the backlight that happens to be so powerful enough to support reading in bed without an overhead light or to counter the bright light of the sun, as stated by Barnes and Noble.
Still proceeding with its similarities, the GlowLight 4e also sports physical buttons on the side to turn the on-screen page, Wi-Fi connectivity, and access to B&N Readouts which is a library filled with free book excerpts and articles. But it is at this point the similarities come to an end.
GlowLight 4e
The GlowLight 4e’s display outputs at 212 DPI, or dots per inch, while the older model has 300 DPI (Most Amazon Kindle readers offer 300 DPI). This number refers to the resolution of the screen; The Higher the DPI is sharper the image. The Glowlight 4e also lacks the Night Mode, which in the GlowLight4 allows the screen’s LED lights to change color to a more eye-comforting orange. Space on the newer device is smaller too with just 8GB of storage max.
The life of the battery has a rather vague time frame. Barnes & Nobles claims that the GlowLight 4e can last for “weeks on just one charge.” TechRadar contacted Barnes and Nobel to ask for clarification on the specific amount of time but it did not return our call.
E Ink is recognized for sipping power, but the LED-Based GlowLight and Wi-Fi Connectivity will if both are used often enough, eat battery life more quickly. The GlowLight 4e is expected to launch on June 7 and at the moment it is available on pre-order.
