Kindle Fire vs Nook Tablet for Tweens

If you are considering Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet for tweens on your gift lists, then it may seem confusing as to which is the better choice. In fact, your priorities for the gift recipient will highly influence your decision, as both offer some obviously similar functions: Web browsing, app stores, email, video and digital music interfaces, as well as ereading. An additional Ereading Tablet is the Nook Color. Nook Color and Kindle Fire both retail at $199, while the Nook Tablet is $249. Price, of course, may affect your decision, but the options don't end there.






With your tween in mind, Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet may boil down to how you expect your tween to use the tablet. Digital content will be the major interest here, whether your tween is interested in playing music, watching videos, playing games and using apps, or reading.
When it comes to video viewing, both the Kindle and Nook tablets include Netflix, while the Nook Color will soon be able to play Netflix video, as well. Both have options for video and digital music to be played. With regard to music, Nook indicates the availability of various digital music services, such as Rhapsody, Grooveshark, and MOD for free trial, with Pandora pre-loaded to the device. Kindle Fire plays digital music through the Amazon Cloud, a storage service that hosts your content. 5 GB storage is available free of charge, with further storage available for purchase.

Kindle Fire is Priced at $199

Most tweens are just beginning to assemble music collections, and 5 GB is probably plenty of storage. However, knowing that tweens need to learn the fine art of management, it's possible that other digital content could take a decent chunk of that storage space. Nevertheless, this is a great means for them to learn management skills. Kindle Fire is particularly compatible with Kindle ebooks, though it also accomodates PDF document reading. Meanwhile, Nook is primarily aimed at Nook books and magazines. Both Nook Tablet and Nook Color include Kids' interactive books for purchase through the Nook store, but the tween is often just a little older than the target age for many picture books that fall into the interactive category. Magazines are available for both devices, but the availability of tween related magazine content is really lacking in both camps. I would love to see an emphasis on children's and tweens magazines from either platform, as the mass of clutter that kids' magazines creates is amazing. My tweens enjoy magazine reading, and an ereader or tablet that caters to this interest would be an outstanding improvement.

Angry Birds Free Apps are available for Kindle Fire,
While both Nook and Kindle have paid Angry Birds Apps.

In exploring the app stores for both platforms, I find that there are far more free apps in the Amazon app store, and when it comes to popular games like Angry Birds, the Amazon price is .99, while the Nook price is 2.99. This generally holds true for most of the apps I searched or browsed, and this makes Kindle Fire content for tweens a little more budget friendly. Further, Amazon includes several perks for an account that has a paid Prime shipping membership: instant video on demand (many free titles for members), and monthly book borrowing, specifically. These are outstanding selections for tweens, finding a good middle ground between the expensive iPad, and inexpensive, low quality tablets that will frustrate. However, a couple of more considerations are worthwhile for the parent of a tween.

If you want to emphasize the ereading experience, but limit web browsing and game play, the more basic Kindle ereaders for tweens provide web browsing and email, along with games developed for the Kindle platform(some free), without the distraction of video viewing. Digital music can be loaded to all but the most basic Kindle, and text to speech is available on all but the basic version. Meanwhile, the Nook Touch is strictly an ereader, and provides a basic touchscreen option for reading digital content.


On the more expensive end of the tablet spectrum, the iPad 2 for a tween is a powerful tool. Being used in classroom instruction, and with a huge selection of apps, this is more than a glorified video game console. It also functions as a communication device, in conjunction with compatible Apple products. iTunes is hugely popular among young people, and likewise, a new cloud storage option makes it possible to move digital content to other devices easily. If the price of iPads for tweens is a little steep, the iPod Touch is comparable to the Kindle Fire, and Nook Color, in cost, at just under $200. Like the iPad, the iTouch for a tween functions as a communication tool, music player, web browser, and camera, a feature lacking in any of the ereader tablets. Apple's app store includes ereading apps for both Kindle and Nook, which means that if you start with one of these platforms, and later move your tween into an iPad or iPod, the ereading content will still be useful.

iPod Touch for Tweens

In all cases, it's my strong recommendation that a parent of a tween explore the costs of accident protection plans, due to the changing physical and emotional traits over the tween years. Having replaced two broken cell phones for a tween son, and having seen the great service provided for a malfunctioning video console for that same son, I firmly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth it. Tweens can be forgetful, clumsy, or reactionary, and an expensive device can suffer the consequences of careless actions, intended or not.