A couple of months ago, Amazon released an all-new Kindle Oasis, and I’ve been using it since mid-November. The E-Reader market is a niche inside of a niche, but there’s little doubt that Amazon has been at the forefront of E-Readers since the Kindle first launched. If you’re someone who loves reading, you’ve hopefully had a chance to try reading on an electronic ink display, but if not, maybe this is the time to jump in.

Amazon offers the Kindle lineup for pretty much one reason. Owners of Kindles are almost guaranteed to purchase books from Amazon, and as such, Amazon has done a pretty reasonable job keeping the entry cost into the Kindle lineup fairly low. Right now you can get the lowest cost Kindle for just $79.99, assuming you are ok with Amazon’s “Special Offers” which is advertising from Amazon on your lockscreen. If you don’t want that, the Kindle is $99.99. However, the new Kindle Oasis for 2017 starts at $249.99 with Special Offers, or $269.99 without, so for that much of an increase, Amazon needs to pack in the features. Luckily they did.

The Kindle Oasis doesn’t just need to compete with the base Kindle though. Amazon also offers the Kindle Paperwhite, which is their entry level model with lighting, and the Kindle Voyage, which at one point was at the top of the stack, but now sits below the Oasis in terms of features and pricing. And that’s just the competition with other Kindles.

The 2017 Oasis adds some nice features over it’s cheaper brethren though. The once change that is hard to miss is the larger E Ink display, now at 7-inches diagonal, compared to 6-inches for the other devices. It’s still the same 300 PPI display as offered in both the Paperwhite and the Voyage, but with additional LEDs for a more even lighting. The Oasis is also made out of aluminum, rather than plastic, and is thinner and feels lighter than the other models despite the larger display. It supports Bluetooth for headphones or speakers, which lets you use the device for Audible audiobooks, and for those that like to use their Kindle around water, it’s also IPX8 rated meaning it’s able to be dropped in water and still function.

With the addition of audiobook support, Amazon offers double the storage by default, or you can opt for the 32 GB model for another $30. For those that like the always-connected nature of cellular, Amazon continues to offer cellular enabled devices as well, for a premium. Luckily you don’t have to deal with a data plan if you do get a cellular equipped device, since Amazon covers that for the life of the device.

I’ve been a heavy Kindle user since the 3rd generation Kindle launched back in 2010. The one big issue with the older kindles was the lack of a built-in light, so when the Paperwhite launched in Canada I jumped on it. That model lasted for about four years until the power switch started to fail, so I upgraded to the latest generation of Paperwhite. This review will focus on the Oasis, but with comparisons to the Paperwhite where applicable.

So with a new body, bigger display, and IPX8 rating, does the Kindle Oasis tick all the boxes, and make it the device to get? Let’s dig in and find out.

Design

Amazon has taken an unorthodox approach to the design of the Kindle Oasis for 2017. It’s asymmetrical, with thin bezels on three sides, and a much larger bezel on one side. That same side has a bulge on the back, which houses most of the circuitry and battery storage.

The asymmetrical design shifts the center of gravity of the device to one side, which makes it easier to hold in one hand, since the device will have less leverage on your muscles. It’s a pretty smart design, and in use it does work well. It lets the device taper to just 3.4 mm thick, and the whole thing weighs only 194 grams, which is 10 grams less than a Paperwhite. 10 grams doesn’t sound like much, but with the larger display, the Kindle Oasis certainly feels lighter.

The side also has physical page turn buttons, which is not something that’s always available anymore on Kindles. Most of the devices just offer a touchscreen to turn pages, but that can mean moving your thumb over for every page. That still works on the Kindle Oasis, but the two buttons can be used which allows you to keep your hand in one place. The buttons are setup so that the top turns forward, and the bottom turns backwards, but you can switch that in the settings if you’d prefer it the other way around.

The Kindle Oasis also has an accelerometer which will automatically rotate the page 180° if you flip the book over, and the page buttons also swap around, so the top button stays as page forward.

The aluminum shell offers the same premium material feel of a high-end smartphone, and it is much more resistant to fingerprints than the soft-touch plastic of the Paperwhite. But the device is a bit too smooth in the hand, and more texture on the surface would be appreciated to make it less slippery.

With the asymmetrical design, and the aluminum exterior, the Kindle Oasis stands out compared to other E-Reader devices on the market. This, coupled with the light weight, make for a nice feel when holding the Oasis for long periods.

Accessories

With any Kindle launch, Amazon also creates some custom covers and cases for the Kindles, and the Oasis is no exception. For this round, thanks to the design of the new Oasis, the official covers fit in a unique way in that they fill in the gap on the back, and then have a cover that swings around the front. The cases are held on with magnets, and it includes a magnet on the top cover which will lock the cover on the front to keep it closed, as well as hold the cover open when it’s swung around to the back. It also has the benefit of being a wakeup signal to the Oasis to power it up when you open the cover.

The covers also have a flexible portion to allow you to use the cover as a stand. I’m not sure how useful this is, but if you want to prop it up, it’s an option.

Amazon sent both the leather cover, and the fabric cover. The fabric one gives a great texture to the device, and provides a lot more grip, and as such it’s my preference. It’s also splash resistant, so if you get water on it, it will bead off. The leather one is a soft leather, but a bit more slippery.

On most Kindles, I don’t run a cover anymore, due to the extra weight. The Oasis is a bit of an exception though, and the cover to fill in the gap and add a bit more texture to the device has been a welcome addition during some reading sessions. It does add about 100 grams to the total weight, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s half the weight of the Oasis itself, so even Amazon recommends removing the case when reading.

But, even though the cases that arrived with the review unit have worked very well, the reviews on Amazon for the first-party cases that first shipped with the new Oasis are very negative . It appears there’s issues with consistency of the strength of the magnets, and many customers are complaining about the cases not staying on. Amazon has clearly taken this to heart, and the current batch are no longer available from them. We’re told new versions will be available in the coming weeks. Luckily, there’s no shortage of 3rd party cases, and most of them seem to have better reviews.

Display and Performance

If you’ve never used an E Ink display for reading before, you’re likely wondering what all the fuss is over. You can read books on your phone right? Yes, of course, but the benefits of this display technology make it well suited to a dedicated E-Reader.

First, the displays are not backlit like an LCD, but instead they rely on reflected light, just like a book. The electronic ink itself also requires no power to hold a static image, which helps with long battery life without a heavy device. Finally, unlike LCDs, E Ink doesn’t wash out in bright sunlight. All of these make it a fairly ideal display technology for E-Readers. If you do read a lot, and you’ve only read on a phone, it’s likely worth the time to give an E Ink device a try.

Amazon has continually improved their E-Readers, and the Oasis is the best device I’ve used yet as far as the display is concerned.

The first thing to look at is the display resolution, which Amazon just quotes in pixels per inch. All of the current Kindles, with the exception of the base model, utilize a 300 PPI display. The base Kindle has a 167 PPI display. We all know how higher pixels per inch help make text clearer on smartphones and PCs, and on a Kindle, it’s exactly the same. At 300 pixels per inch, there’s really not much need to ever go higher. The text is perfectly clean and crisp. Here’s a comparison image from a Kindle from 2012 compared to the latest Kindle Oasis.

150 PPI Kindle display (2012 model) vs 300 PPI Kindle Oasis

The level of detail is pretty much perfect on the current generation, and the letter e looks about the same as it would in a printed book. Amazon also has created some custom fonts for Kindle to work best with their display technology, and they really do look great. But this isn’t necessarily a reason to get the Oasis over a Paperwhite, since both have the same pixels per inch. It’s definitely a reason to not get the base Kindle though, since it’s just 167 PPI.

Lighting is an area of differentiation though. The base Kindle has no lighting at all, but the Paperwhite and Voyage do. The Paperwhite has 4 LEDs to light up the display, and the Voyage has 6. The Oasis cranks that up 12 LEDs, which gives a much more uniform look to the display when using the lighting. It also adds more features you’d expect on a modern device such as automatic brightness, and smart features like being able to dim the display over time when reading in the dark, since your eyes won’t need as much light over time. The LEDs on the Oasis are also warmer compared to the Paperwhite, which has a cool tone to it. It’s still on the cool side, but closer to a neutral white.

Obviously, the larger display is also a differentiator, and Amazon did that without drastically increasing the footprint of the device, thanks to the thinner bezels on the three sides. The larger display lets you read more text per page turn, which would be even more important if you like to use larger fonts when reading.

Speaking of page turns, Amazon has moved to a different processor in the Oasis. The rest of the current Kindle lineup uses a 1 GHz Cortex A9 design in the i.MX6SL. For the Oasis, they’ve moved to a more modern i.MX7D which is a dual-core Cortex A7 processor. Despite the A7 being an in-order CPU, it’s much more optimized than the A9, and having the second core of course helps as well. Both SoCs peak at 1 GHz, but the dual-core model coupled with a newer EPD controller makes the entire device feel a lot more snappy. Page turns are much quicker, and there’s less of the ghosting effect when the E Ink refreshes. The controller also appears to completely get rid of the need to enable the forced complete page refresh on every page turn. For those that don’t use E Ink, Amazon stopped refreshing the entire display on every page turn quite a few generations ago, which lets them turn the page quicker. The downside of that is that occasionally there could be some artifacts of the previous page left as light marks. They’ve always allowed you to force a complete refresh to avoid this, but it does slow down the page turn. Normally it’s not a huge issue, but you can see it from time to time, but with the Oasis, I’ve not seen it once.

Overall the new processor really improves the performance. Page turns are about twice as fast, and without any artifacts left behind. A dual-core Cortex A7 might seem like a pretty weak CPU when you’re comparing it to a smartphone, but it does do well in the Kindle Oasis.

Battery Life

Compared to the laptop reviews that we do, measuring battery life on a device that’s intended to go multiple days or weeks without charging is a bit of a problem. We don’t have battery life scripts or applications to test it out and provide a good number. Instead, I just used it every day for the past couple of months, for about 30 minutes per day. On average, I’ve had to charge it roughly every 2.5 weeks, with the display set at 20 brightness out of 24, auto-brightness disabled, and wireless left on.

If you read a lot, you’ll need to charge it more often, but it’s about nine hours of battery life while the device is in use, over the 2.5 weeks, and is enough to get through most books before needing a charge. Charging is done with a micro USB cable, which is supplied, but Amazon no longer includes an AC adapter in the box, because at this point, most people already have several.

Reading with the Kindle Oasis, & Final Thoughts

We’ve gone over how the new Kindle feels in the hand. We’ve looked at how the new, larger display compares to previous Kindles and the current generation. But how does it work as an E-Reader?

As a Kindle customer for a long time, it’s taken a bit to get used to the new design. The way you hold a Paperwhite is not the same way you hold an Oasis, thanks to the asymmetric design, and it’s taken over a month to get used to holding the book on the side. I had previously always held them on the bottom, which sounds like a small thing, but it was a big change for my muscle memory. After a couple of months, it feels more natural now, and now using the Paperwhite seems a bit strange. If you wanted to hold it on the bottom you can just flip the orientation of the text in settings and hold it in landscape. I did try this, although the screen was almost too large for landscape, and my eyes had to move too much to get to the end of a line. Once again, muscle memory. After a couple of months, the feel of the Oasis has grown on me, and the benefit of holding it with one hand, which also can hit the page turn buttons, works very well.

One thing you do notice right away is the reduction in weight. The Oasis, despite its larger dimensions, is lighter in the hand, and that reduction in weight is magnified by the larger size, and the design. Since most of the weight is in your hand, rather than spread out evenly across the device like a Paperwhite, the Oasis feels much lighter than the Paperwhite. Fatigue from long reading sessions is reduced.

The larger display is fantastic as well. You can fit more text on the page, so page turns are reduced, but when you do need to turn a page the new processor gets the job done much more quickly than the Paperwhite. Thanks to the thinner bezels on three of the sides, the larger display doesn’t feel like it makes the Oasis much bigger than the Paperwhite either, although it is an entire inch wider.

The new 12 LED lighting system has also been a treat. The Paperwhite does fine, but there’s some unevenness to the brightness. The Oasis has a very uniform display, and the added features of automatic brightness are handy, although not always wanted. Luckily you can disable the overall automatic brightness, but leave the automatic dimming enabled, so you can read in the dark and the display will drop the brightness over time.

Kindle Paperwhite (left) vs Kindle Oasis (right) in the dark

There’s other E-Readers on the market, but if you’re in the market for a Kindle, you’re likely after the Amazon ecosystem, so the Oasis really needs to compete against the rest of the Kindle lineup. The $80 base Kindle should be ignored. The lack of lighting is a real detriment to it, and it has the lowest resolution E Ink display of the lineup, at 167 PPI. If you’re after a Kindle the Paperwhite is likely your best starting place. Amazon lists it at $119.99, but it’s often on sale for $99.99. Even at $40 more than the base Kindle, I think it’s worth it, but if you can get it on sale, it’s well worth the $20 upgrade. You get lighting, and you get a higher resolution display.

The case as a kickstand

The Voyage sits in a strange middle ground now, and what used to be the top-of-the-line Kindle now costs $80 more than the Paperwhite, but isn’t the top of the line model. It has the same 6-inch display as the Paperwhite, although it increases the LEDs from 4 to 6, and has adaptive brightness. It’s also 30 grams lighter than the Paperwhite, and has page-press buttons like the Oasis. It feels like it’s a steep premium over the Paperwhite, for a nicer model that’s not quite the best Amazon has to offer.

The step up to the Oasis adds a lot of features, but also quite a bit to the price. At $249.99, it’s over twice the price of a Paperwhite, and over three times the price of the base model. If you go for the larger capacity model, add cellular, and don’t go for the “Special Offers” advertising, the max price Oasis is a staggering $349.99. That’s easily quality tablet territory, and is an awful lot for a niche device like a Kindle.

The Oasis does add a lot of functionality though. The larger display is fantastic, as is the better lighting. The addition of Bluetooth support means you can use the Oasis to play  back audiobooks. The IPX8 rating means you can drop it in the pool and it will still work, which is not something you can say of any other Kindle.

To me, my Kindle Paperwhite is likely one of the best pieces of technology that I own. It’s rare to get a device that is so good at what it’s designed for. Being designed for just one task lets the device be perform very well at that task, and for me, an single-use device is appreciated. Reading on a tablet or a smartphone is just not as enjoyable, thanks to the LCD display, and the distractions of a smartphone.

Another advantage of the Paperwhite is that the price, at close to $100, makes it a much easier to replace item. If you’re a person that sometimes forgets their Kindle in the pocket of an airline seat, you probably will want to steer clear of the much more expensive Oasis. I wouldn’t call the Paperwhite disposable, but it doesn’t hurt as much if you do lose it or break it.

This is the dilemma with the Kindle Oasis. It’s very nice to use. It has a fantastic display. The aluminum feels great in the hand. But it is twice the price of a Paperwhite, and I love my Paperwhite. The Oasis starts at $130 more than a Paperwhite, and that's a lot of books. But, If you really enjoy reading, and the price doesn’t bother you, the latest top-end Kindle is a fantastic reading device, and you’d have a hard time finding a better E-Reader.