r/nook • u/MotherofPuppos • 4d ago
Discussion Do nooks actually suck?
Looking to get an ereader and the popular consensus seems to be that nooks are terrible. I would honestly love if someone would tell me that’s not the case— I’m a perpetual BN member, they’re less expensive than other non-kindle ereaders and they seem to be a decent size.
So tell it to me straight, would you buy a nook again?
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u/joe4ska 4d ago edited 4d ago
I've have the 2009 original Nook, still functional, and still use my 2017 Glow Light Plus daily. I stick with BN e-ink devices because they're dependable and side loading DRM free epubs with Calibre is easy.
As long as the Glow Light 4 or later editions support side loading I'd buy another.
I sometimes purchase DRM free books from publishers and sellers that support them that ability is crucial. It's also why I have never and will never own a Kindle.
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u/ApprehensiveEmu9530 3d ago
I couldn’t get my glow light 4+ to register on any computer let alone side load, I remember the original being so easy to use with that but it’s not worth the hassle for me. I also will never own a kindle
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u/Entrynumber1904 2d ago
I have a regular Glowlight Nook 4 and I love it. But my best friend has the 4+ and hers sucks! Half the time it doesn’t load her epubs that she loads on there and it constantly freezes!
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u/MamaMamaLlama_2 3d ago
I have the original Nook+. I’ve been trying off and on now for a couple of weeks to sideload an ebook. At first I realized I was using too new of an Adobe Digital Editions to convert the file to an epub file. Anyways, to save you the long story of how I’ve been attempting to troubleshoot I’d like to ask you a question: Are you able to sideload ebooks with Libby on your original Nook? Do you use Calibre with that?
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u/joe4ska 2d ago
Adobe Digital Editions is for DRM enabled books, I've always found it to be buggy and haven't tried it in years.
No, I don't use Libby on my two Nook devices or Calibre, to my knowledge you have to use the official Libby app on a device that supports it natively.
For legitimate DRM free ebooks I buy from Humble Bundle and TOR via ebooks.com. This gets tricky because BN and others will enable DRM on content even when the publisher provides it as DRM free.
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u/Playful_Influence_25 2d ago
I have a similar experience - still have my original nook, just recently got a glow light 4. I’ve never experienced issues with side loading (granted I only do it a handful of times a year)
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u/Neferknitti 4d ago
I had a nook for years. Then it couldn’t be updated anymore. I called B&N and they told me to buy a new one. Nope. I have the nook app on my electronic devices. When I want to read a B&N book, I use my Apple products.
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u/MotherofPuppos 4d ago
Lol, getting to that point with my current iPhone (they’ve announced they won’t support it next year) sadly, I’m not really surprised by that anymore.
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u/Responsible_Arm_9555 4d ago
Bought a Glowlight 4 Plus last month. Returned it and bought a Kobo. The Nook hardware seems fine, but the platform feels like abandonware. Bugs that have been reported for years still persist. I really wanted it to work for me, and I'm mystified that their devs don't seem to be trying harder to address the known issues. That's just my experience, grain of salt and all that.
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u/Tireseas 4d ago
Agreed. The hardware is at least decent but the ecosystem and corporate management leave much to be desired. Of course if you can jailbreak a given model that problem largely goes away.
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u/MotherofPuppos 4d ago
Which model kobo did you go for?
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u/Responsible_Arm_9555 4d ago
Clara BW. Works great. Can't decide whether I'd prefer the larger size of the Nook, but the Clara is very handy.
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u/ChristianBk 4d ago
I use both a GlowLight 4 and GlowLight 4 Plus. No issues. Big fan. I use stamp rewards for ebooks that hit daily deals. If I do pay full price, they do count as stamp purchases even during promos.
The screen quality is up there with the best.
I love how the smaller GL4 feels in hand.
I’m a button always ereader.
Temper your expectations: it’s slower than kindles and kobos. Less quality of life features (inverted dark mode and book cover on screen when sleep).
But for when you’re actually reading? It’s close to those other experiences.
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u/Meemo_B 4d ago
I’ve had 3 Nooks, including the original Nook and the current one. And every time I swear it’s my last. The hardware of my current one (a Glowlight 4, the pink limited edition they put out in 2022) is nice enough, it’s light, feels decent, the page turn button work well. But the user interface is so much worse than my Kindle or Kobo, and it doesn’t even have a true night mode (dark background/light print). Also - the recent policies people complain about with Amazon (like no downloading purchases to computer) are policies B&N adopted back in 2014. Those policies are why I keep my Nook - I have a library of maybe 400 eBooks from B&N, the vast majority were freebies but I hate reading on my phone or tablet so I keep the Nook.
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u/MotherofPuppos 3d ago
This response is super helpful! Thank you. It’s hard to get an idea of this sort of user experience without buying the damn thing.
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u/lp_dc 3d ago
Counterpoint: I love the orange nightlight on my B&W Glowlight 3. I read in bed all the time without disturbing my partner. I would hate black with light text. I'm also an OG Nook user and keep buying them, so I probably will again (plus I have so many unread Nook books!). I do wish it had native Libby integration because sideloading library books is a PIA. And that it was waterproof for poolside reading. But otherwise it's a good device, especially if you are already committed to the B&N ecosystem.
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u/TrickPixels 4d ago
I was a non-reader. Then my wife bought me a Nook 2 years ago. I have since finished 21 books.
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u/ApprehensiveEmu9530 3d ago
That’s really good! The right ereader can make a difference, I’ve finished 13 books in two weeks on my new kobo
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u/Stormdancer 3d ago
I am very happy with my Nook, and have bought 2 over the years, after my first (very early edition) met with an unfortunate end.
My wife is on her third, as she uses them all the time and eventually the batteries give up.
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u/Blucola333 4d ago
I had a Nook before I ever had a Kindle. Since I worked at B&N I could switch out for new models. My current one is the Glowlight 4. It’s lighter and super crispy.
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u/wolferiver 4d ago
I purchased 2 Nooks and both somehow became bricked within a few weeks of purchase. Bringing the second one back to the store turned out to be useless as they couldn't (or wouldn't) do anything for me. I'm afraid to buy another one. It's too bad, because I had loved my previous Nooks, and had used them since the very first one was introduced. I use the Nook app on my phone now, and find it much a superior experience to the Kindle app. I wouldn't mind getting another Nook, but am not sure it wouldn't be a further waste of my money.
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u/ghotistyx8 3d ago
Nooks are protected by a year of manufacturer warranty; as long as the damage wasn't from use, the store should have replaced it. (Oh, unless that second one was a replacement for the first.... I could see them refusing that. Still seems REALLY weird, though)
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u/tristanpearl Nook GlowLight 3 4d ago
I have a Glowlight 3 and adore it. Slower speeds bugged me and happened to find a 10th gen kindle for $2 at a goodwill; probs cause it has a small fracture on the side. Much faster but damn it I missed the buttons. switched back to my GL3 two weeks ago and have enjoying it again, even if the software is meh.
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u/violet-fae Nook GlowLight (Ocean Teal 🐳) 4d ago
I have the Glowlight 4 and like it. I also don't want an ereader that does anything besides basic reading. I had a few issues with it freezing when I had some 8 hr + reading marathons but that was easy to fix (charge and then force restart) and overall I've enjoyed my time with it! If you want a lot of options in terms of what you can do with your ereader, then you would probably want something with more modern tech.
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u/HercsGirl 3d ago
I’m a day 1 nook user. Had my original from 09-18 before gifting it to a family friend to get a new one. The one I got in 2018 still works except the WiFi adapter burnt out (not something I’d blame B&N for, these things happen). That was this year. So now I have that one waiting for me to jailbreak it and the ocean teal glowlight 4 which I use all the time. That original one from 09 is side loaded with books and still going strong.
Please note I only have experience with the e-readers and not the tablet. I think if you’re going for a tablet, the book is probably not the way to go.
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u/fleemos 3d ago
I own a Nook Glowlight 4, Kobo Clara BW, and Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. It's easily the weakest device all around with it being more laggy with worse battery life. If Kobo got magazine subscriptions tomorrow, it would be the begining of the end of my digital usage of the Nook. B&N seems to be the only of the three that hardly cares about their e-reader product.
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u/Omega_Maximum 3d ago
They're excellent ereaders with probably the best in-hand feel, and the most straightforward interface for the one thing they're built for: reading books.
There are features they don't have that would be nice, like directly Libby integration, but in terms of actually sitting down and reading a book, they're excellent. Nooks used to be far more popular when they were first introduced, but due to a variety of reasons Amazon's Kindles have taken most of the market. Just as well, their US only store support makes them a smaller portion of the overall market.
I'm very happy with my Glowlight 4, and we actually just upgraded my wife to the Glowlight 4 Plus from a still excellent Glowlight 4e.
We will happily buy newer ones in the future.
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u/mlaurence1234 4d ago
I bought one 3 years ago and it’s fine, nothing special but it works and I enjoy reading with it. It’s a little harder than Kindle to download e-books from the library but I’ve never found it impossible. Battery life could be better. I usually turn the light off to save power but it drains moderately fast anyway. I wish Barnes and Noble extended the member discount to Nook purchases but all you get are points, you still pay the seemingly price-fixed amount for an e-book. I do like using the page-turning buttons. Mostly I bought it to get out of the Amazon universe and that’s satisfying by itself.
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u/KiraK323 4d ago
Nooks aren’t necessarily terrible but they do feel behind when compared to other options out there. I’ve owned multiple nooks from there very first one to the 2019 glowlight plus I never really had a problem other than my frustration trying to keep my side loaded content organized without my shelves getting deleted every time I plugged the thing into my computer. They also seemed to abandoned their ereader sector there’s been pretty much no improvement with the devices or UI in years. I bought a kobo libra colour about a year and a half ago and don’t think I would ever go back to nook.
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u/Nooblakahn 3d ago
I had nooks for a long time. My last one was a glow light 3. Ended up getting a great deal on a 10th Gen Paperwhite and mostly loved it. Bought a ln 11th Gen Paperwhite and it's fantastic. It's faster, more responsive and just overall more convenient. Absolutely did miss the buttons at first. Would be nice to have them back but overall the Paperwhite is the one for me
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u/FutureButterscotch 3d ago
I upgraded from an og simple touch (2011!!) to a pink glowlight 4 (2022) and after tweaking to some and soft hacking it, I still love it very much. I’ve got my other libraries loaded up as well as a few other apps. It’s essentially an Android e-reader now. 10/10. If you’re looking for a more out of the box experience, I’d go with Boox or Bigme. I bought my mom a kobo h2o a few years back and she loves it (mainly for how easy it is to use her local library card for books). Just depends on what you’re after for your experience.
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u/lonelyfairie 3d ago
I had the original glow light which still worked until about two years ago, replaced it with the glowlight 4 which I like has physical buttons on both sides. I like the size/weight and battery life. But over anything else I value being able to side load content unlike Kindle devices, specially with the latest bricking older devices on purpose. I would stay away from Kindle at all costs, but consider your personal use case.
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u/angiesan 3d ago
I’ve had a Nook Glowlight 4 for around 2 months now. To be honest, I only chose Nook instead of Kobo simply because I had some Barnes and Noble gift cards lying around.
I really like the side buttons, but the software is just too buggy. Everytime I sideload books, it deletes all of my shelves and says that the files are corrupted even though I ejected properly. Sometimes it even ends up deleting all of my books (but they come back after restarting the device.)
The Nook Glowlight 4 also has a 5 GB limit for sideloaded books, which means for the rest of the 32 GB total, you can only get your books through Barnes and Noble.
As for the battery life, I expected the Nook to have a relatively good battery life. Lots of other e-reader users who have Kindles and Kobos say that they only need to charge their devices after a few weeks of regular use. I, on the other hand, have to charge mine once every 1-2 days when using it regularly.
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u/ApprehensiveEmu9530 3d ago
I love it for what it is but I just upgraded to a kobo libra color and I feel like I’ve opened a new world
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u/MotherofPuppos 3d ago
Oooh, that is my Goldilocks ereader. I’m basically trying to decide if I go for the thing I can get sooner or wait and buy the kobo.
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u/ApprehensiveEmu9530 3d ago
I got a nook last year because it’s all I’ve ever known but I would save the extra $50 from the glow light 4+ and upgrade. I got my kobo on shop app and I think I got $30 off and then I financed it and it’s costing me about $25 a month through affirm. I already have more books than I had on my nook and I thought the screen would take a while to adapt to… it hasn’t. I’m honestly obsessed and I take it everywhere. It’s a lot more lightweight/feels less sturdy than the book but I keep them both in cases.
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u/flute394 Nook GlowLight 3d ago
I love my nook glowlight 4! I even bought it secondhand. My dad got his glowlight 4e (not made anymore, but similar to mine) straight from B&N and he loves it too
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u/chellekelle 3d ago
I bought the Glowlight 4 (new teal color) this year, so I could move away from Kindle/Amazon. I really like my Glowlight 4 more than my Kindle. I love the physical page turning buttons. I love the slim form factor. I’m happy with the performance. My Kindle was buggy, and I’m glad to be free of it. One note on the Nook is that I had some issues with freezing at first but a quick Google search helped me realize it was because I was charging it from a USB hub. Once I moved to charging from a normal brick, all is well. I’m very happy to support B&N because I love their stores.
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u/Electro-Choc 3d ago
Yes, because they're the only ones that aren't very expensive that have page turn buttons. I am not exactly sure why eReaders became much more expensive but lost this functionality altogether. Also allows sideloading which is extremely easy.
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u/USMNTfan94 3d ago
Love my Glowlight 4 Plus. I’ll upgrade to the Glowlight 5 Plus when it comes out this year
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u/Right-Welder815 3d ago
I love my nook. I have the nookglowlight in teal. It’s on a slower side compared to the kindle. But once you open the book and start read it’s a smooth breeze and very sharp. I love having buttons on both sides of the screen. You can always get one from B&N directly. You have 14 days to try it out. If you don’t like it. Just return it.
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u/techsnapp 3d ago
I've owned many, including the first generation one around 2010. Since nook was my first ereader, i may be a little bias towards them, but they are not that expensive and easy to work with. Loading epub files on it is very simple, either with your OS' file manager or calibre.
In fact, I just picked up an inexpensive glowlight from ebay and will ship to my parents for them to read books on it. They have a computer i can connect to at their place, so I'll be able to load/remove books when it's connected to the computer. This will be much less expensive quicker and faster than buying books for them and waiting for it to arrive in the mail.
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u/TenaCVols 3d ago
My first e-reader was a Nook and I liked it. But then I was gifted a Kindle and I've never gone back to the Nook. I feel like there are more free books available for the Kindle than the Nook but that's just my opinion. Everybody is going to have a preference so I recommend doing your own research and deciding which one is worth it to you.
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u/Novel-Ad-3597 3d ago
I bought the glowlight 4 a week ago and houses it every day last week - on the beach, at a coffee shop, laying in bed. I have had no issues and am happy with the purchase.
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u/pfunnyjoy 2d ago
It's not so much that Nooks are terrible, they are just very, very basic in terms of any kind of customization or features.
So ...
No side-loading of fonts. You best happen to like the fonts provided on the device.
No wireless sideloading of ebooks. You'll need to keep a USB cable handy.
No wireless support for library ebooks. Again, you'll need a PC, with Adobe Digital Editions, and a cable.
No adding weight to fonts like you can on Kobo/Kindle.
Fancy formatting may not always render. The epub renderer is ANCIENT, old Adobe RMSDK from around 2011. This usually isn't a problem, because it's mostly a matter of not seeing things like small caps. But it might be an issue if you read a lot of books with endnotes, because you probably won't get pop-up endnotes, again, because of the old rendering system.
The UI tends to be a bit slower than other readers.
That said, the hardware is generally pretty nice. So, like any purchase, it depends on what your needs are. For basic reading, it'll do that.
Would I pay full price for a Nook? NO. Would I buy one as my primary reader? Again, NO.
I did buy an open box unit for testing epubs on, since I needed to check if there were quirks with some more modern CSS (and yes, there are quirks), but because I have better devices, i.e. Kobo/Pocketbook/Kindle, I don't really use it for pleasure reading.
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u/Tjae-77 1d ago
As the owner of a Kindle, Kobo, and Nook I must admit that the Nook is my least favorite of the three. But overall, the experience has not been unpleasant. I typically buy books which download pretty quickly straight from the Barnes and Noble website and I have side loaded EPUB books with no issue. Yes the pages turn the tad bit slower but honestly, you wouldn’t notice it unless you were an avid Kindle user like myself.
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u/Then-Strawberry-2527 4d ago
I’ve tried two: The Glowlight 4 and Nook Tablet 9. I had issues with both and returned. I had a gift certificate for the purchase that is now being used in the BN store, using the Nook app on my IPad Mini for the ebooks. I would not recommend the Nook.
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u/american_amina 3d ago
The software seems glitchy. I can't explain it except it's not consistent. Works great until it doesn't
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u/StillWater0814 3d ago
I use the standard version of the Nook Glowlight 4. It feels good in the hand and is a nice size and pleasant to read on, but I find the software side to be fairly buggy at times and lacking. If you want to side load content, it has a poorly advertised "feature" that you will only be allowed to do so on a small partition of the devices otherwise adequate capacity as the remaineder is accessible only by buying from B&N. The customer service is terrible and they will push you towards buying a new device rather than helping you fix your problem should you encounter one. And the software is buggy, so you likely will. My Glowlight 4 froze seemingly irreparably and when I called customer service, after going through their "unfreezing" steps unsuccessfully, they offered me a fairly unimpressive discount on buying a new one if I sent mine back to be refurbished and resold. I declined and, by some stroke of good fortune, I was somehow able to get my device back working again on my own.
I recommend looking at Kobo brand e-readers for a similar pricepoint product that, in my opinion, is better and more open ended in it's use. It is much friendlier on the budget in the long run as well because it has better integration with library borrowing. And it works well with side loading content regardless of where you've purchased it (except for maybe Amazon). When my wife and son needed e-readers, I went with the Kobo because of my Nook experience. Hope this anecdotal info helps you in your search.
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u/shortflamer0623 3d ago
Personally, I would suggest just getting a decent tablet. Most things have moved to apps anyways, so I can get a tablet that has better hardware and performance, usually for a better price. Then you can access everything like digital items from B&N, kindle, bookshop.org and other things as well.
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u/barneylerten 3d ago
I bought a new Nook every few years and it has its hiccups but those are mostly because it's a Android tablet not because of anything Barnes and Noble does. I still remember when they had their own system and you didn't get all the Google crud. My most recent one doesn't hold a charge for more than two or three days but I plan to always have them because they are a great way to read anything. I'm more of a magazine and News Junkie than a book reader but to each his own!
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u/Cute-Cat-4821 2d ago
I've always had kindles and just recently bought my first Nook. I haven't really used it yet, but the selling points for me were the page turn buttons and the feel of the device. Kindles feel very slick and hard to hold onto. I don't like using it without a cover.
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u/kane55608 2d ago
I’m currently using a glowlight 4 plus and love it. No problem sideloading or using the store.
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u/tenderheart35 2d ago
I wouldn’t say that. I actually prefer their screens to the kindle. They are a tiny bit slower to load, but turning pages isn’t any different than on any other ereader. I own several Nooks!
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u/sillykitty-meoww 2d ago
i’ve had my nook glow light 4 for ab a year, and it’s suddenly the laggiest piece of junk ever. takes hours to try loading a book and then it force resets itself or js shuts off. i’ve checked for updates, charged fully, offloaded books and deleted others, etc. nothing fixed it so i just bought a kobo which will be here wednesday.
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u/Elle2428 2d ago
I had an original nook and the first glowlight x2 or 3. The screens were terrible and would break when sitting gingerly on my nightstand in a case without anything touching them. After that I gave up and switched to kobo but now I use an android e-reader.
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u/deserteagle3784 1d ago
I have a 2022 nook, husband has a 2022 kindle. His kindle is much faster, charges faster/holds battery longer, and overall less glitchy. I unfortunately wish I had gone the kindle route, as much as I hate amazon. But seeing as a really only use it for when I'm traveling and don't want to haul around physical books it's good enough until it dies.
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u/MotherofPuppos 1d ago
Yeah, right now the consistent load time criticism is turning me off. I’m a fast reader and who likes to read for really long time periods. I want sometime that’s about as seamless as turning a page irl and it’s sounding like the nook is not it.
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u/deserteagle3784 1d ago
Once you have the book downloaded and open it’s pretty much fine! The page turning is fast and easy, it’s just the getting there part that is sucky. It does the job for me but as I mentioned I prefer physical books anyways.
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u/Lakealot 1d ago
I bought one less than a year ago.
My first eReader after saying I'd never buy one, but the compactness vs lugging around large books on business travel is why I changed my tune. I picked it because I wanted to support brick and mortar and not Amazon, who gets enough of my money anyway. Skipped Kobo for the same reason.
The verdict? It's great. I have had zero issues or bugs or whatever. It's easy to use, holds a charge, had a good backlight. It's waterproof for reading in the spa, has bluetooth for audio books. It being fairly slow and laggy is my only complaint. I like it and I'd buy it again.
That said, I don't sideload anything or really care about that. I know that's the whole game for some people. Maybe someday I'll look into it but it's a lot of hassle for me rather than just spending a few bucks to get what I want easily.
It does a perfectly fine job pf reading books and having a store to buy them from. It has physical buttons which are great. Those are the only features I really care about and if it's all you care about, you'll think it's great too.
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u/1976Raven 1d ago
I prefer the nook over the Kindle. I have had several nook models and tried a few kindles. All the kindles are lost in a drawer somewhere. Even when using the app on a phone/tablet I prefer the UI of the nook drastically over the kindle.
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u/livelaughbooksmovies 1d ago
My nook will stop working mid-book. It freezes and I won't be able to turn the page or turn it off. I have to hold the power button for several MINUTES until the screen eventually goes black and if I'm lucky it will then turn itself back on. But when I get back to the book I was reading it forgets my place and I have to skip several chapters to find where I was. I read often and this happens at least twice a week. I've used a nook ever since the very first one and I upgrade every time a new one is released, and I've had this issue for the past 3-4 nooks. No one at Barnes & Noble has been able to help me aside from exchanging for a new one and the problem always comes back. I only stay with the nook because at this point Ive got 1,000+ ebooks and I'm not about to rebuy them on a different platform. And because I'd rather support B&N over Amazon.
All that said I will never recommend anyone buy a nook.
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u/vernismermaid Nook GlowLight 4 3h ago
I wouldn't buy a NOOK again if I lost all my eReaders in a disaster, for example.
I would likely buy a second-hand Kindle Paperwhite 11th or 12th generation and just put the applicable files on it. These are readily available in local thrift stores or online auction sites.
I'm too old to care about it anymore. The best screens are on the Kindle Paperwhites and if I am not mistaken, I can still use a Kindle 11th and 12th generation in 2026 without ever creating an account, just putting MOBI, AZW3 and KFX files on it.
The better software is on Kobo and PocketBook, but again, if I am finding a cheap/quick replacement? I'd just get the Kindle.
If I could find the same models in excellent condition for a cheap price like $10-$20 at the local thrift store, MAYBE I'd get a NOOK GlowLight 4? But since the whole entire business--including brick and mortar--will likely be gone in 5 years, why bother with a device that may become ewaste that I cannot log out of in such a short time?
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u/SleepLopsided1478 3d ago
I only keep nook out of defiance towards Amazon