Technology

Amazon’s High-End E-Reader, the Kindle Oasis, Has all the Bells and Whistles You Could Hope for

OASIS, LITERALLY

From the Kindle-first warm light to extremely high resolution, the Oasis takes your reading to the highest level.

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It’s been a big year for Amazon’s iconic Kindle. It’s introduced a brand new entry-level model, a best-in-class upgrade to the Paperwhite, and a new version of its higher-end Oasis. After releasing the all-new Kindle Oasis in late July (after Prime Day, mind you), Amazon sent me a unit to check out and I’ve been using it for a few weeks now. From gym to work and in the subways, couches, and beds in between, I can confidently say the Oasis delivers the best e-reading experience I’ve ever had. While it hasn’t changed my mind about the Kindle Paperwhite being the best all-around Kindle to-date, it can’t compete with some of the Oasis’ massively improved features.

First and foremost, you’re getting warm light. If you’re unaware, that’s a slowly-spreading feature in devices that have screens allowing you to turn the normal brightness of yours into a more easy-on-the-eyes glow. In smartphones, it’s designed to help us sleep better. In the Kindle Oasis, it’s designed to do the same but also to allow you an extremely customizable reading experience. Want the Paperwhite-quality lifelike background in your books? You got it. Want to wind down in the evening or weekend with a warmer glow? You got that, too. And with exponentially more LEDs behind the screen than the Paperwhite, your control over the brightness and warmth of the pages is at its utmost (and most gorgeous, to boot). With two very easy-to-use scales in the Kindle Oasis touchscreen, you can instantly adjust the brightness and warmth of your reading experience (and create presets of them for various uses).  

Second, the Oasis allows you to flip through pages with two real-life buttons. At first, I thought this was silly; the touchscreen swipe or tap I’ve grown used to is more than enough. But after using it, I totally get it. There’s something spiritually rewarding and calming in using a tactile button to control a device (any device) and especially one you’re reading on. It also lets me easily read with one hand, the ergonomic design of the Oasis and the placement of the button leaving my finger naturally where it needs to be to get me to the next page with barely any movement at all. 

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Otherwise, the Oasis boasts a fully waterproof body, an upgrade its sibling Paperwhite also got, and Bluetooth connectivity it had before. With up to 32 GB of space in-unit, you have more than enough space to hold all the Audible audiobooks you can stream directly from the Oasis (and you can sign up for Audible right now and get two audiobooks for free with no obligation) and into your headphones or home smart speaker. Its 300 ppi resolution means, simply put, you’re getting the best looking reading experience of any Kindle. For the penultimate e-reader upgrade, the Oasis checks all the boxes of what you need, what you want, and what you could have wished for. | Get it on Amazon > 

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