Barnes & Noble Galaxy Tab E Nook Takes on Amazon

Barnes & Noble has teamed up with Samsung again to release a new Nook Tablet. The new Galaxy Tab E Nook is a $249.99, 9.6-inch tablet that Barnes & Noble says is "perfect for the whole family." The company is banking mostly on its curated selection of children's enhanced e-books and the device's impressive parental controls.

Essentially a rebranded version of the  Samsung Galaxy Tab E, the new tablet comes with a Nook skin over the basic Android operating system. With that skin comes a tighter integration with the Nook store. That means quick access to the company's 4 million e-books, including 11,000 interactive picture books for children.

The personal profiles, advanced parental controls and Nook video offer some additional benefits over the base-model Samsung tablet. Free Barnes & Noble cloud storage, lifetime in-store tech support at 647 stores and access to e-books for free when you're visiting a Barnes & Noble top off the perks.

But how does all that compare to Amazon's company-branded Kindle slates? In a physical sense, the Kindle Fire HD 10's 10.1 inches is slightly larger, but it is the same resolution (1280 x 800 pixels) as the new Nook. The two slates offer the same amount of storage (16GB) and both offer microSD card slots to expand that up to 128GB. If the Tab E Nook weren't $249.99, it might be neck and neck with the $229.99 Fire HD 10.

Last year, Barnes & Noble joined forces with Samsung on a similar deal to release a Nook-branded Galaxy Tab 4, which we awarded only 2.5 stars. That model is still for sale at $149.99. Last month, the two companies also released a more premium Galaxy Tab S2 Nook. 

Barnes & Noble is also offering shoppers a new special trade-in deal, specifically designed to boost Nook tablet sales. If you trade in even your oldest Nook, you can shave $50 off the price of any of the new models. The company is also accepting other devices for trade-in, including Apple iPads, Amazon Fires and Samsung slates. Find more details on the company's website. You could earn as much as $200 toward a new tablet. Will you be trading your old tech in before the Nov. 7 deadline?

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