Amazon is back to woo book lovers with a whole new device – the Kindle Oasis. The newest e-reader on the block also exemplifies to the hilt the best design philosophies that Amazon has been known for over the years; to build e-book readers that is slimmer and lighter than its predecessors while offering better reading experience each time. And the new Kindle Oasis forms the best example of that at the moment.
Tipping the scales at just 4.6-ounce, the new Oasis is markedly lighter than the 7.2-ounce Paperwhite. The Kindle Oasis is also just 3.4mm at its thinnest part though that does not extend all through. Instead, the Oasis incorporates a unique design that includes a bump along one side which Amazon claims is designed the shift the center of gravity to within the palm of the hand. To put in other words, the Oasis is designed for reading off just one hand, while the pages can be turned by touching the display or via physical buttons.
That said, the Oasis allows for both left and right-handed operation, the screen rotates once the Kindle flips.
These apart, the Oasis continues with the same 6-inch 300 ppi screen as on the Kindle Voyage. However, the Oasis offers 60 percent more LEDs that allows for a brighter display, thereby allowing the e-reader to adjust to varying levels of external lighting conditions.
The Oasis though isn’t waterproof as has been claimed previously. Another area where some ambiguity exists is the battery life that was earlier pegged at around 20 months. While Amazon has stepped in to clear the air on that, claiming the battery won’t last that long, it isn’t offering any exact figures as well.
While still on battery, the Oasis also comes with a unique case with a built-in battery which again can be charged by the sun. That case itself gets attached to the Oasis via a dozen strong magnets and is available with three color options – brown, black and red.
The Oasis also stands for all that we have come to expect out of Kindle through the generations. That includes ease of downloading books, syncing the last page read across multiple devices, X-Ray, dictionary support and so on. Also of course mention must also be made of the over 4.4 million that readers have at their disposal via Kindle devices.
As for its price, the new Oasis is slotted a rung higher than the Voyage, priced as it is at $290 compared to the $200 that the Voyage sells for. Compare that to the company bestselling e-reader, the Paperwhite that costs $120 while the least priced Kindle costs a mere $80. Pre-orders are currently being accepted while the shipping date mentioned is April 27.
