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B&N Launches a ReBranded Samsung Galaxy Tab E Nook 9.6″ Tablet, Now Selling it for $249

As I predicted last week, B&N’s new tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab E Nook 9.6″ Tablet. The retailer has just sent out a press release email, announcing that the new tablet is available now for $249 (less if you take B&N up on its trade-in offer).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab E Nook sports a 9.6″ screen, just like earlier spec sheets said, but it’s not quite the tablet I lead you to expect. While many of the details I reported last week are correct, B&N is showing that the new tablet runs on a Qualcomm CPU, and not the cheaper Spreadtrum CPU used in previous variations of the Samsung Galaxy Tab E.

samsung galaxy tab e nook

This tablet runs Android 5.1.1 on a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 CPU with 16GB of storage (plus 128GB microSD card support),  and two cameras (2MP and 5MP). Its 9.6″ display has a resolution of 1,280 x 800.

This tablet has Wifi, GPS, and an accelerometer. According to B&N it weighs 547 grams, and comes with a battery which specced for up to 12 hours of video.

B&N hasn’t stated the amount of RAM, dimensions, battery spec, or whether the tablet has Bluetooth, but aside from that this is a better model than the unit I detailed last week.

It runs the same Samsung-flavored Android with a dash of B&N mixed in on much better hardware than I was expecting. It costs only $5 more than the Fire HD 10, it’s most visible competition, and bests that tablet in the CPU and OS categories.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab E Nook is available in stores today and on the Barnes & Noble website. It’s going to be kept as the larger but cheaper complement to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Nook, which retails for $399.

image by JeepersMedia

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Comments


1 October 7, 2015 um 10:20 am

"plus 128GB microSD card support"
How do you figure that? If it supports 128GB, then that means it is compatible with microSDXC cards. This means a 200GB microSDXC card (the largest currently available) would work. Theoretically: in a few years when a 2TB microSDXC card is released it should work too.

Nate Hoffelder October 7, 2015 um 10:23 am

That’s probably true, but I’m only going to repeat what B&N states.


Thomas October 7, 2015 um 11:30 am

The microSDXC hardware spec is capable of up to 2TB cards, but the software for the tablet may not be able to read them. Manufacturers generally list the highest capacity they’ve tested with it. Anything above that may or may not work.


Steve October 7, 2015 um 12:25 pm

Maybe once they’ve run out of Samsung merchandise to re-sell, they’ll actually get around to releasing a new e-reader. Maybe.


1 October 7, 2015 um 12:39 pm

Do you have any examples of devices that can read 64GB but not 128GB, or 128GB but not 200GB?
I thought SDXC support was all in the software anyways. For example I believe a 10 year old laptop can work with SDXC cards as long as it’s OS has support for exFAT.
I admit I’m not an expert, but I don’t see how/why they would implement SDXC in such a way that only certain sizes work. If you buy a camera it would just say SDXC compatible, and you would assume it works with the latest (512GB) SDXC card.


DavidW October 7, 2015 um 6:31 pm

I have an example. My digital audio player and my cd player both support usb drives but they have a limit based on the number of files that the firmware can read. Tablets and ereaders are not laptops. They don’t run completely full featured broadly supported OSs like laptops do. They might feasibly have software limits on storage similar to those audio devices.


It’s the weekend! Links! | ePUBSecrets October 9, 2015 um 2:10 pm

[…] https://the-digital-reader.com/2015/10/07/bn-launches-a-rebranded-samsung-galaxy-tab-e-nook-9-6-table… […]


Jerry Rioux October 19, 2015 um 5:17 pm

The multicore Geekbench scores for the new Nook’s and the new Fire are comparable. Why do you think the Nook "bests that tablet in the CPU…" I agree that Android 5.1 beats Amazon’s forked version of an earlier version Android.

B&N is currently running a trade-in program – $50 for old Nooks and more for some things.

The full specs are at http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/SM-T560NZKUBNN.


Barnes & Noble Releases A New Nook-Branded Samsung Tablet | Business Magazine December 17, 2015 um 6:23 pm

[…] You can buy the reader here if you want.via Digital Reader […]


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