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Barnes & Noble Goes After Amazon Fire With $50 Nook Tablet

The new tablet will be available at Barnes & Noble stores starting on Black Friday, Nov. 25.

Angela Moscaritolo
 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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If you're in the market for a wallet-friendly e-reader, Barnes & Noble has a new option for you to consider.

The book seller on Wednesday introduced a new, 7-inch Nook tablet for just $50. It's available for pre-order now and goes on sale at Barnes & Noble stores starting Black Friday, Nov. 25.

Barnes & Noble describes the gadget as a "full-featured Android tablet" that will give you access to more than 4.5 million books, nearly 80,000 audiobooks, hundreds of magazines and newspapers, and a large collection of comic books and graphic novels via the Nook Store. It features a 1,024-by-600-pixel display, 2MP front and 5MP rear-facing cameras, 8GB of storage (expandable up to 128GB with a micoSD card, sold separately), Bluetooth connectivity, and a quad-core processor.

It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and offers full access to the Google Play Store for all your app needs.

The tablet supports a feature called Readouts, which "offers a daily selection of addictive quick reads," including two-minute book excerpts and full articles from current issues of popular periodicals. These shareable, mobile-friendly reads are curated by Barnes & Noble's editors.

The new tablet also supports Nook Profiles, letting families customize up to six profiles on one device. Parents, for instance, can set up profiles for their children with just kid-friendly content. The Nook Store features more than 110,000 children's books.

Spec-wise, this new tablet is pretty much on par with Amazon's Fire, but with a better camera. Amazon's version also features a 7-inch screen and 8GB of internal storage, but only has a 2MP rear camera. As we noted in our review, however, "the fact that it even includes a rear camera (let alone a front-facing one for video calls) almost feels like icing on the cake" given its price.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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