With its thick bezels and physical page-turn controls, theNook Glowlight 4 Pluslooks plainly outdated. But to some people, an old-school design may be a selling point—eReaders from Kindle and Kobo have lost some of their simplicity, and Nook is here to fill the gap.
The Nook Glowlight 4 Plus is Barnes & Noble’s first new eReader in recent memory. It’s simply an upgraded version of the original Glowlight 4, which launched back in 2021.
Like its predecessor, the Glowlight 4 Plus offers a built-in light with color temperature settings. Its 7.8-inch 300PPI display is a comfortable (but still very portable) size, and it offers modern USB-C charging. Four buttons on the sides of the eReader allow you to turn pages or dig through menus, though you’re able to also use the touchscreen for navigation or marking up books.
There are two notable new features here. The first is a 32GB storage size, which is a major upgrade from the 8GB of storage in the original Glowlight 4. But Barnes & Noble also added audiobook and Bluetooth headphone support—two features that previous Nook devices lacked. (And oddly, this storage cannot be expanded with an SD card, which may make it difficult to store a bunch of audiobooks.)
Related:The 5 Best eReaders That AREN’T Kindles
It seems that the only problem is the price. Barnes & Noble is charging $200 for the Nook Glowlight 4 Plus. You can buy the smallerKindle PaperwhiteorKobo Clara SE 2for about $70 cheaper. And if you want a large eReader with physical page-turn buttons, Kobo’s Libra 2 is only $10 less than the new Nook.
The Nook Glowlight 4 is clearly in a pickle. It has a compelling form factor with physical controls, and naturally, it will appeal to longtime Nook users. But its price isn’t incredibly competitive. If you’re interested in this device, you can pre-order it today atGood e-Reader.
Nook GlowLight 4 Plus
The Nook Glowlight 4 Plus features a 7.8-inch display with customizable front lighting, plus physical page-turn buttons and audiobook compatibility.
