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.

Amazon Kindle Lineup
  Kindle Paperwhite Voyage Oasis
Display Size 6-inch 7-inch
Resolution 167 PPI 300 PPI
Built-in Light No 4 LEDs 6 LEDs + auto-brightness 12 LEDs + auto-brightness
SoC NXP i.MX6SL Cortex A9 @ 1 GHz NXP i.MX7D dual-core Cortex A7 @ 1 GHz
Page Turns Touchscreen Touchscreen + Buttons
Colors Black, White Black Graphite, Aluminum back
Connectivty Wi-Fi Wi-Fi plus optional Cellular
Weight 161 g / 5.7 oz Wi-Fi model:
205 g / 6.6 oz
Cellular model:
217 g / 7.6 oz
Wi-Fi model:
180 g / 6.3 oz
Cellular model:
188 g / 6.6 oz
Wi-Fi or Cellular:
194 g / 6.8 oz
Dimensions 160 x 115 x 9.1 mm
6.3" x 4.5" x 0.36"
169 x 117 x 9.1 mm
6.7" x 4.6" x 0.36"
162 x 115 x 7.6 mm
6.4" x 4.5" x 0.30"
159 x 141 x 3.4-8.3 mm
6.3" x 5.6" x 0.13-0.33"
Waterproof No IPX8 - 2 meters, 60 minutes
Audiobook Support No Yes with Bluetooth headphones
Starting Price $79.99 $119.99 $199.99 $249.99

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 and Accessories
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  • mode_13h - Friday, January 26, 2018 - link

    At 300 dpi, it might be. 1872x1404 is more pixels than you'd get on a computer monitor, unless it's >= 4k.
  • bug77 - Saturday, January 27, 2018 - link

    Considering I just need it to show text, no, it isn't.
  • mode_13h - Sunday, January 28, 2018 - link

    What do you mean "no it isn't"? A 4k monitor has 2180 pixels, vertically. So, unless you tip it sideways, it's just a bit higher than than the 1872 pixels on the Kobo Aura ONE.

    Now, do you ever find letter or A4-formatted PDFs readable on a computer monitor, much less 4k? I do. Even 1080p is adequate for it to be legible (although a pretty hard lower bound, IMO). I refuse to read them on my phone's 5.5" screen, but I think 7.8" should be fine.
  • bug77 - Sunday, January 28, 2018 - link

    I mean text books look fine already on my Kobo Glo.
  • Carmen00 - Thursday, January 25, 2018 - link

    It's surprising to me that you've written the whole article and haven't mentioned Kobo once. You even dismiss other e-Ink devices with a flippant "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". Really? We've got 4 Kobo Glo devices. Sturdy as anything, with touch screens and good lighting, space for more books than I could read in a decade, a good online store, and at a very reasonable price point. We're extremely happy with the product, and yes, we also have 2 Kindles. They're hardly used - awful user interface and ridiculous physical keys, no thank you!
  • Alexvrb - Friday, January 26, 2018 - link

    New kindles are really nice, especially anything paperwhite and above. They also benefit from Amazon's store. I'd definitely take an Oasis over anything else in the e-reader market. The main competitor to Kindle Oasis is less expensive Kindles like the Voyage and Paperwhite.

    With that being said Kobo is probably the best alternative.
  • mode_13h - Friday, January 26, 2018 - link

    I had the same thought. I searched the article for Kobo references, to see if there were any comparisons. Otherwise, such reviews have little value, as Kindle is basically the default option.
  • Brett Howse - Friday, January 26, 2018 - link

    I've used a Kindle for about ten years but I've only used a Kobo for about 10 minutes. I can't comment on a device I've never really used.
  • mode_13h - Friday, January 26, 2018 - link

    So... maybe you can review it, next?
  • Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer - Saturday, January 27, 2018 - link

    There was an article on Ars Technica just yesterday about how Walmart was going to start carrying Kobo e-readers, so perhaps you might consider reviewing it once that happens. One headliner feature is that it has a light that is adjustable in color temperature so you're not being blasted with blue light when reading at night.

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