Read our review of the Kindle Oasis 2017 which replaces this model. There are some interesting and exciting things about the Kindle Oasis but price is a huge factor this time around. We were a little taken aback by the £169 Kindle Voyage when that was released in 2014 but the Oasis is in a new league of its own. The Oasis will set you back a whopping £269 and that’s for the cheapest model which is Wi-Fi only. That will be fine for most but if you’re someone who just can’t handle the thought of not being able to download a book wherever you are without finding a data source then the 3G Kindle Oasis will cost you the serious sum of £329. As usual, the data costs are included for the life of the Kindle but even at the cheaper price, it’s more expensive that many tablets – which, of course, can be used to read books albeit with a different experience. See also: Which Kindle should I buy? Paperwhite vs Voyage vs Oasis. Far from being a just another new Kindle with the same design blueprint, the Kindle Oasis is a radically new take on the eReader. It’s easily recognisable as a Kindle by sight but not so much when you hold it in your hand. The result of the new design means the Kindle Oasis is the most comfortable and easy to use eReader ever. You can choose whether to use the touchscreen to turn pages or use two physical buttons instead – which we found far easier and more reliable. As well as a new tapered design, the Kindle Oasis comes with a new cover – which partly explains the price. It comes in Black, Merlot or Walnut and is made from real leather. It’s a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship and our only real complain is how easily it marks and dents – this is the nature of leather though, so just don’t be too surprised when it looks quite worn after just a couple of weeks. The cover doesn’t just look nice though, it easily attaches and detaches with 12 magnets a little like Apple’s iPad cover. This means although it adds weight, it’s ever so easy to remove when you’re reading. The tapered shape of the Kindle means the cover fills the gap to make a relatively uniform shape. It wakes and puts the Oasis to sleep when you open and close it, too. Even more important than all of this, is that the leather cover has a battery inside the back section. When attached, the cover will charge the Kindle Oasis to keep it topped up and there’s a new hibernation mode to minimise power consumption. You can check the level of each via the cog wheel in the menu. One small not about the cover is that we found it wasn’t always charging the Kindle so make sure the metal contacts are properly connected if you don’t want to be disappointed. This only happened once or twice during testing but it’s worth pointing out as a minor observation. We’ve already mentioned many of the Kindle Oasis’ most important features since they lie in the design and cover. However, there are still some important things to mention including the screen and performance.
Screen
It’s an awesome experience in essentially any lighting condition and while it’s a shame to not have the automatic adjustment found on the Voyage the screen itself is better quality. The contrast is superior and the lighting is extremely even so there’s no obvious part of the display that is brighter than anywhere else.
Performance
Considering the price of the Kindle Oasis, we were expecting lightning fast performance. Although page turns are very fast, the device can feel laggy at times. It’s quite fast to browse the pages of your library, which only relies of the refresh rate of the display. However, returning to the homescreen, loading the store and switching between sections can take a while – on occasion taking a good couple of seconds. It’s not especially bad but worth bearing in mind if it’s something you’re expecting to gain by spending the best part of £300.
Battery life
Storage and audio
As with previous Kindles, the Oasis has 4GB of internal storage. That might not sound a lot compared to smartphones and tablets but it’s enough to hold thousands of books so it will take you a fair while to fill it up. One thing to note about the Oasis is that it does not have a 3.5mm headphone socket so fans of audiobooks will want to opt for a different model. Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
