This chart’s a lot bigger than it used to be. Each brand here has introduced at least one new e-reader in the past six months, and Kindle, Nook and Kobo are all launching tablets this month, in competition with the iPad and with each other. Barnes & Noble gave us a preview of the trend when it launched the Nook Color in 2010, but that device is primarily a glorified e-reader with color. The Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet aim to be true media tablets, combining video, web browsing and apps with e-reading functionality, while the Vox is reminiscent of the Nook Color in its focus on reading over other forms of media consumption. It remains to be seen whether consumers will consider the Fire, Nook Tablet and Vox to be e-readers and tablets in one, or if they’ll save their serious book time for dedicated e-readers, whose prices are dropping by the day.
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Kindle |
Kindle Touch |
Kindle Keyboard |
Kindle Fire |
Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader |
Barnes & Noble Nook Color |
Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet |
Sony Reader WiFi |
Kobo eReader Touch |
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LINK |
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AVAILABILITY |
Now |
Available November 15, 2011. (Originally available for pre-order for November 21, 2011) |
Now |
Available now. (Originally available for pre-order for November 15, 2011) |
Now |
Now |
Available for pre-order for November 18, 2011 release |
Now |
Now |
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PRICING |
With Special Offers: $79 |
WiFi with Special Offers: $99 |
WiFi with Special Offers: $99 |
$199 |
$99 |
$199 |
$249 |
$129.99. Readers can get an additional $50 off by trading in any brand e-Reader for a new Sony Reader WiFi through December 31, 2011 |
$139.99 |
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SIZE |
6.5″ x 4.5″ x 0.34″ |
6.8″ x 4.7″ x 0.40″ |
7.5″ x 4.8″ x 0.34″ |
7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ |
6.5″ x 5″ x 0.47″ |
8.1″ x 5.0″ x 0.48″ |
8.1″ x 5.0″ x 0.48″ |
6.61″ x 4.68″ x 0.38″ |
6.5″ x 4.5″ x 0.4″ |
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WEIGHT |
5.98 ounces |
WiFi: 7.5 ounces |
WiFi: 8.5 ounces |
14.6 ounces |
7.48 ounces |
15.8 ounces |
14.1 ounces |
5.9 ounces |
7.05 ounces |
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SCREEN SIZE |
6″ (diagonal) |
6″ (diagonal) |
6″ (diagonal) |
7″ |
6″ (diagonal) |
7″ |
7″ |
6″ (diagonal) |
6″ (diagonal) |
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DISPLAY |
E Ink Pearl |
E Ink Pearl |
E Ink Pearl |
Vibrant Color IPS |
E Ink Pearl |
VividView Color Touchscreen |
VividView Color Touchscreen |
E Ink Pearl |
E Ink Pearl |
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TOUCHSCREEN/ROTATE |
No/Yes |
Yes/Yes |
No/Yes |
Yes/Yes |
Yes/No |
Yes/Yes |
Yes/Yes |
Yes/No |
Yes/No |
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BATTERY LIFE |
1 month |
2 months |
2 months |
Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with WiFi off. |
WiFi off: 2 months |
WiFi off: 8 hours |
WiFi off: Up to 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video |
3-4 weeks with WiFi on. Up to 5 weeks with WiFi off |
1 month |
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STORAGE/EXPANDABLE |
2 GB/No/Free unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content |
4 GB/No/Free unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content |
4 GB/No/Free unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content |
8 GB/No/Free unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content |
2 GB/Up to 32 GB (microSD) |
8 GB/Up to 32 GB (microSD) |
16 GB/Up to 32 GB (microSD) |
1.3 GB/Up to 32 GB (microSD) |
2 GB/Up to 32 GB (microSD) |
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INPUT |
Five-way controller |
Touchscreen |
Keyboard |
Touchscreen |
Touchscreen |
Touchscreen |
Touchscreen |
Touchscreen; stylus; buttons |
Touchscreen |
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3G/WIRELESS |
WiFi |
3G through AT&T/WiFi-only option |
3G through AT&T/WiFi-only option |
WiFi |
WiFi |
WiFi |
WiFi |
WiFi |
WiFi |
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DEVICE AVAILABLE INTERNATIONALLY |
Yes/Yes |
No/No |
Yes/Yes |
No/No |
No/No |
No/No |
No/No (U.S. only) |
Available in Switzerland; Italy; Spain; Belgium; Denmark; Finland; Norway; Sweden; Australia; New Zealand; Japan; Russia (launch planned in this coming winter) |
Available in Canada, U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and for pre-order France |
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NATIVE FORMATS |
Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion |
Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion |
Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible, MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion |
Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8. |
EPUB, PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP |
EPUB, PDF, XLS, DOC, PPT, PPS, TXT, DOCM, XLSM, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, DOCX, XLX, PPTX, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, AAC, MP4 |
EPUB, PDF, XLS, DOC, PPT, TXT, DOCM, XLSM, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, DOCX, XLX, PPTX, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, AAC, AMR, WAV, OGG, MP4, Flash |
EPUB, PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TXT, MP3, AAC |
EPUB, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, MOBI, CBZ, CBR |
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AVAILABLE CONTENT |
Over 1 million books; 1.8 million public domain books; newspapers; magazines; blogs |
Over 1 million books; 1.8 million public domain books; newspapers; magazines; blogs |
Over 1 million books; 1.8 million public domain books; newspapers; magazines; blogs |
Over 1 million books; 1.8 million public domain books; newspapers; magazines; blogs; 11,000 videos free for Amazon Prime members $79/year; movies, TV shows, apps, games, songs |
Over 2.5 million titles |
Over 2.5 million titles, magazines, Nook Book Enhanced Collection, kids’ books. Apps, e-mail, Pandora, some games, some websites. |
Over 2.5 million titles, magazines, Nook Book Enhanced Collection, kids’ books. HD Video, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, e-mail, apps, some games |
Over 2 million titles |
Over 2.2 million titles. 1 million titles are free. E-books are available through OverDrive (Adobe format) |
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BOOKSTORE |
Kindle Store |
Kindle Store |
Kindle Store |
Kindle Store |
Nook Book Store |
Nook Book Store |
Nook Book Store |
Sony Reader Store |
Kobo Store |
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FREE E-READING APPLICATIONS |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
Android, PC, Mac |
iOS, Blackberry, Android, PC, Mac |
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BOOK SHARING/LIBRARY LENDING |
14 days on eligible titles. Can also borrow Kindle boooks from 11K-plus local libraries through OverDrive. |
14 days on eligible titles. Can also borrow Kindle boooks from 11K-plus local libraries through OverDrive. |
14 days on eligible titles. Can also borrow Kindle boooks from 11K-plus local libraries through OverDrive. |
14 days on eligible titles. Can also borrow Kindle boooks from 11K-plus local libraries through OverDrive. |
Yes/Yes. Read any Nook book in B&N stores free up to 1 hour/day |
Yes/Yes. Read any Nook book in B&N stores free up to 1 hour/day |
Yes/Yes. Read any Nook book in B&N stores free up to 1 hour/day |
No/Yes |
No/Yes |
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SOCIAL NETWORKING FEATURES |
Share passages via Facebook and Twitter; view other users’ annotations and notes |
Share passages via Facebook and Twitter; view other users’ annotations and notes |
Share passages via Facebook and Twitter; view other users’ annotations and notes |
Share passages via Facebook and Twitter; view other users’ annotations and notes |
Nook Friends reading recommendations and activity feed |
Nook Friends reading recommendations and activity feed; can see what B&N readers “like” when shopping on Nook Color |
Nook Friends reading recommendations and activity feed; can see what B&N readers “like” when shopping on Nook Color |
No |
Reading Life technology with Facebook and Twitter integration, badges and awards; ability to share passages with friends via Kobo Pulse |
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PAIDCONTENT COVERAGE |
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YOU SHOULD KNOW |
The ad-supported version is Amazon’s cheapest Kindle (and cheapest e-reader on this chart); no touch or keyboard, just buttons |
The newest Kindle, and the first ever with a touchscreen |
The only Kindle with a keyboard |
Comes with a free 1-month Amazon Prime title, good for testing Prime Instant Video offerings |
A free software update this month allows for faster page turns, crisper text |
More of a color e-reader than a tablet, now getting a price drop and some more “tablet-like” features as a free update |
More storage space than the Kindle Fire, but there’s no Barnes & Noble store for video or music |
Since Pottermore postponed their e-book store launch until 2012, the first book download coupon is not currently available, as was previously planned. |
Kobo focuses on social features, “gamification” of reading |
* Although the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet are tablet devices, we’ve included them in this e-reader chart to see how they compare to the other Kindle and Nook devices as well as other e-readers.
* * For features and specs on the Kindle DX, check out our previous e-reader chart from October 2011.
Source: Based on company information, additional reporting.
Produced by: Amanda Natividad
Edited by: Staci D. Kramer
Additional Reporting by: Laura Hazard Owen
Published: November 14, 2011 // Last updated: 2:15 PM ET, December 2, 2011
We’ll update the chart as warranted.










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