[FJames]

It's not so much that the screens with the glow light layer are less durable, but that they show minor damage much more visibly when the light is on. The glow light layer is basically a light pipe. Any place the thickness of the layer varies, you will see a variation in the light brightness. Damage from external pressure in a point or line pattern is highly visible. The 1st-gen Nook Glow suffered from this problem. These screens really need a special hard layer on top to prevent damage, but every extra layer decreases the screen contrast, so it's a challenge.

I'm not about to test the durability of the Aura screen myself, but to my eye the contrast looks exactly the same as my Touch. However the surface seems a bit smoother than the Touch, and there is a little bit more glare from reflected light.