Barnes & Noble's Samsung Galaxy S2 Nook Released--Is It Really Worth It?

If anyone remembers the Barnes & Noble Nook, or was a fan of it, there’s good news, there’s a new Nook out in the wild, and it’s powered by Samsung.

Samsung became Barnes & Noble’s Nook partner last year, rolling out the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, which was, essentially, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 with Nook software. It has the exact same specs, as well as the exact same price, as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. This year’s iteration of the Nook is patterned on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, and it’s named, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Nook.

Anyone taking a glance at the device won’t be too impressed, as The Verge already called out the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 for bringing “last year’s technology to this year’s tablet.” More than that, the Nook app is available on the Google Play store. So anyone who wants to go for Barnes & Noble as opposed to Amazon, iBooks, Scribd, or any other reading app could actually just download the Nook app on their device of choice and read from there. Apart from that, there’s no real incentive to get the Nook-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab S2.

Unless the free books and the $5 credit to the Nook Store is a good incentive to get a $399 Nook-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, that is.

This update to the Nook is very telling of how the eReader market has almost totally been swallowed up by the Amazon Kindle monopoly, and cannibalized by the tablet and iPad market. Because iPads and other Android tablets are multi-functional and are preferred by practical techies, there’s just no room for a dedicated eBook reader, unless it’s the iconic Amazon Kindle.

For those who want affordable, single-use eReaders, though, there’s still the Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight and the Kobo Glo. CNET named the Nook GlowLight as the “Best ad-free e-ink reader” for 2015, while the Kobo Glo was named an “Excellent open e-reader.” For those who absolutely hate Jeff Bezos, detest the Amazon ecosystem, dislike multi-purpose tabs, and for some reason, are allergic to Samsung, and would rather have a single-purpose device, check out these other two single-purpose eReaders instead. The Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight ranges from $54.99 (refurbished) to $99.00 (brand new), while the Kobo Glo costs $110.