The Nook HD is light, comfortable, and has the sharpest screen of any 7-inch tablet. While its apps and media options are thin, the interface is smooth, its performance is fast, and its profiles features is a great way for multiple users to share the device.
However, those looking for vast media libraries or any semblance of an open interface will want to look elsewhere for now.
Design
I’ve spent the last few days comparing the Nook HD to the top 7-inch tablets available and if there’s anything I’ve learned in that time it’s this: the devil’s in the details. From a cursory glance, the average consumer might have a difficult time distinguishing one black, gray, or white slate from the next, but it’s the little things that set them apart. Stuff like weight, corner design, bezel width, and texture are small things that play a big part in comfort and feel.
The Nook HD comes in both smoke (medium gray) and snow (kind of like ivory) and has a soft, rubberized back with a volume rocker on the top-right edge and a power/sleep button opposite it on the left. On the bottom edge are a custom 30-pin charging connector and a microSD card slot covered with a door. The tablet includes a 30-pin to USB cable that plugs into the included AC adapter. Dual speakers sit on the lower back and the top edge of the tablet seat a headphone jack and microphone.
The home button and the home screen. These are your options.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)In middle of the bottom border, right above the bezel, is the hardware home button, last seen on the Nook Tablet. Like on the iPad, the home button is a great “just press this if things get confusing” solution for the ever-evolving tablet interface. Unfortunately, there’s no built-in camera, no ambient light sensor, no Micro-USB, and no HDMI port.
The Nook HD’s corners are smoothly rounded and at only 0.69 pound, it’s the lightest 7-inch tablet available and feels perfectly comfortable when held. The device is as thick (depth-wise) as the Nexus 7 and a bit thicker than the Fire HD and though it’s wider than the Nexus 7, it’s noticeably narrower than the almost-too-wide Fire HD. Held vertically, the side bezel's width just about matches the Nexus 7; however you get a little extra space due to the black borders surrounding the Nook’s screen.
| Barnes & Noble Nook HD | Amazon Kindle Fire HD | Google Nexus 7 | Apple iPad Mini | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight in pounds | 0.68 | 0.86 | 0.74 | 0.68 |
| Width in inches (landscape) | 7.65 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.87 |
| Height in inches | 5 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 5.3 |
| Depth in inches | 0.43 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.28 |
| Side bezel width in inches (landscape) | .3/.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | n/a |
Even with its light weight, the Nook HD’s build feels solid and durable; however, it proves susceptible to screen warping with enough pressure in the right place. Applying pressure to the back or along the right bezel yields a visible screen warping effect on the tablet’ screen. Now, screen warping occurs to some extent on nearly every tablet; however, if you’re just holding the Nook HD while reading a book or watching a movie, you’ll likely have no cause to apply enough pressure to your Nook HD for this to be a problem.
The interface
The Nook HD's operating system uses Ice Cream Sandwich as its base, with a custom-designed skin that feels like an evolution of the original Nook Tablet's OS. The home screen sports a light gray, slightly textured aesthetic that permeates through all native apps and menus. The home screen shows Library, Apps, Web, Email, and Shop options near the bottom with a global search bar underneath. Directly above is a space to organize your content shortcut icons, and near the top of the screen sits your content carousel.
Once in your library, you'll have access to every piece of content available to you.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)In the top-right edge of the screen is Your Nook Today, which shows the current weather as well as book and movie recommendations based on recent additions to your library. Also, if the opt-out-of-ads kerfuffle for the Fire HD turned you off, you'll be pleased to know that Barnes & Noble has no such ads on its tablets.
Settings can be accessed by tapping the gear at the very top right of the screen and includes options too many to name. If you've ever used a tablet before however, there’s nothing included in the settings that will surprise you. The default software keyboard, thankfully, includes a tab, but typing didn’t feel as as accurate as it does on the Nexus 7.
Nook profiles allow multiple users to use a single tablet, while keeping each person's content their own.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)Nook Profiles can be accessed from the upper left-hand corner and allows users to set up multiple profiles on a single tablet. With a simple tap of the profile photo at the top of the screen, you can choose to switch to a new profile almost instantly. Once in the new profile, that user’s content (and only that user’s content) will be displayed and accessible. Lock-screen switching is also possible. Both adult and child profiles can be accessed and passwords can be added to adult profiles, ensuring that not just anyone can access your content. Nook profiles are simple to implement and feel secure and useful, likely appealing to families on a budget.
Overall, the interface is much cleaner and intuitive than the Nook Tablet’s; however, I still have a few problems with navigation. As much as I like the Home button, I feel the interface relies on it a bit too much. If looking at a magazine for example, there’s no built-in navigation to view all magazines and you’re forced to use the home button and then navigate to another piece of content if you want to switch. Not a huge deal, but it's annoying in the moment.
Content ecosystem
Not to be outdone by Amazon and its Instant Video service, Barnes & Noble now has its own for the Nook HD and Nook HD+. Nook Video offers both standard-definition and high-definition versions of video content for purchase or rental, with HD video streaming supported as well. Unfortunately, its current library comes nowhere near Amazon's or Google's in terms of selection. If you're looking for lots of recent, popular movies, you won't find them here. Well, you'll find some, like "The Avengers," "Brave," and "Prometheus," but "Total Recall," "The Hunger Games," and "The Expendables 2" are nowhere to be found. Since its launch a few weeks back, the selection of movies available on the service has definitely improved, with new, popular titles being added every week. There's still lots of room to fill things out however. TV shows have also begun to fill out, albiet at a seemingly slower rate.
Barnes & Nobles says it hopes to continue adding more media as the end of the year approaches.
Among the most popular 7-inch tablets, the Nook HD is the only device that includes a microSD card for storage expansion.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)While its video media content selection is currently disappointing, its video interface could use some improvements. When downloading a movie on the Fire HD, you can start watching it just a few seconds after the download begins. You can start previewing early on the Nook HD, but you have to wait until the download is at least 20 percent completed. Other useful Fire features like the skip-back 10 seconds button, and X-Ray for movies are options Barnes & Noble currently can't match.
If you have an Ultraviolet account, any movies added to your digital UltraViolet library will show up in your Nook HD library as well. A Netflix app is also available, but there are no plans to bring HBO Go just yet. The tablet supports MP4, 3GP, WEBM, AVI video files, but try as I might MKV files would not play.
Hey, I hear the Nook HD does pretty well with books.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)Books are, of course, the Nook HD’s strong suit and thanks to its high-resolution screen, text in books is crisp and clean. I also appreciate to option to change the line spacing while reading; something not offered in the Fire HD’s settings. However, Fire HD reading options like X-Ray, the percentage read counter, and immersion reading may give Amazon’s tablet the slight edge here. For a pure reading experience on a tablet though, the Nook HD is tops.
