Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video)

[ ](http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/26/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on-video/)

It was roughly this time last year that [Amazon's Kindle Fire](http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/amazon-kindle-fire-hd-review-7-inch/) showed us just how successful an aggressively priced 7-inch tablet could be, becoming, arguably the go-to gift of the last holiday season. This summer, Google [upped the ante](http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/28/nexus-7-review/), showing the world that a $200 tablet could be more than just an OEM-ed content delivery device, enlisting ASUS to design a really solid piece of hardware at a seemingly impossible price.

Barnes & Noble's journey in the space, meanwhile, has been decidedly more convoluted. In mid-October of 2010, the company gave the world the [Nook Color](http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/16/nook-color-review/) -- a product with a wildly original industrial design, but decidedly limited functionality, which was, for most intents and purposes, an LCD-based color e-reader. Halfway through the following year, the device got a Pinocchio-like upgrade, transforming it into an honest-to-goodness tablet, apps and all. The device's celebration was cut short, however, eclipsed entirely by the arrival of the aesthetically (nearly) identical, but internally superior [Nook Tablet](http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/barnes-and-noble-nook-tablet-review/).

When Amazon announced the release of the Kindle Fire HD and all of its many variants, there was little question that Barnes & Noble had something waiting in the wings as well. After all, much of the bookseller's hardware game plan seems to revolve around going toe-to-toe against Amazon offerings, and since the company beat its chief competition to the market with a glowing reader, a Nook Tablet seemed all but inevitable. With this week's announcements, however, the company has managed to offer up some surprises -- for starters, there's the fact that it's doubled its efforts with the release of two tablets -- with the 7-inch Nook HD and the 9-inch [Nook HD+](http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/26/barnes-and-noble-announces-nook-hd-9-inch-tablet-we-go-hands-on/). Then there's the fact that the company has clearly put great effort into the hardware this go-round, rather than offering up yet another rehash of the Color / Tablet lineage. Let's start with the Nook HD, shall we? Join us after the break.

**Gallery: [Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on](http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on/)**

[](http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on/#5314345)[](http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on/#5314346)[](http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on/#5314347)[](http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on/#5314348)[](http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on/#5314349)

[Continue reading _Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video)_](http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/26/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on-video/)

Filed under: [Tablets](http://www.engadget.com/category/tablets/)

[Barnes & Noble's Nook HD 7-inch Android tablet, hands-on (video)](http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/26/barnes-and-nobles-nook-hd-7-inch-android-tablet-hands-on-video/) originally appeared on [Engadget](http://www.engadget.com) on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our [terms for use of feeds](http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).

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