Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons

Top positive review

From a bookworm perspective

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020

I bought my very first Kindle in 2008. It was called The Amazon Kindle at that time. It took me almost a year from when it was released to actually buy one. I loved books and I was scared it wouldn't be the same, that it would diminish my love for reading, for holding a book in my hand, and turning the pages. I was totally wrong lol I freaking loved the kindle, as soon as I had it in hand I was a goner. Having my whole library in the palm of my hand was mind blowing. I had that kindle for 5 loving years, until one day at Best Buy I noticed the the Fire HDX 3rd generation. It captivated me with all it's lovely colors, it was beautiful, so my husband bought it for me for Christmas lol... guess I couldn't hide how enamored I was with it. My other kindle found a good home with my sister lol. I could finally read in the dark with the fire, and I spent hours and hours just looking at book covers because they were beautiful. I had that Kindle for 7 wonderful years, until one sad day my apps, including my Amazon store app wouldn't open 😢 my software was too old. My husband and my oldest son took me to dinner for my Birthday on September 22nd, and afterward we ended up at Best Buy in the Kindle section. When I noticed the Oasis it was like time stood still, when I picked her up I knew she would be mine. Sure it's not flashy like the Fire, but I'm no spring chicken. The ink like words on book like paper with a muted not so bright back light eased my tired eyes. She's so slim, and small, she fit perfectly in my small hands. A smile broke out on my face and my huband said ok let's get it. I left Best Buy with my order in hand to be delivered by Friday the 25th. Best Buy didn't have the 32g in rose gold, and there was no way I was getting the 8, I have way too many books to be messing with the itty-bitty 8g. So here we are, my Kindle Oasis 10th gen, and me 5 days later; How's it going? Glad you asked, cuz she's my best friend, we knew it as soon as I opened the package on Thursday, put my new protective case on her, plugged her in, and powered her up. We played for a few minutes learning each other and just clicked when she opened my first book for me. It's uncanny how much her pages look like book pages. I love how she lights up for me in the dark, but doesn't blind me. Tbh I'm still learning her warmth, but what's a little mystery between friends. During the day I turn off the backlight and turn on airplane mode, and at night I of course turn the backlight on. The only time I turn my airplane mode off is when I'm looking through the store or downloading from my cloud. I unselfishly decided not to crowd her with my very big library.. but wow she downloads fast. I read all day on Friday and after I was done I had no headache... no headache or strained eyes! I had to take breaks from my fire 1) she strained my eyes and I would get a small throb behind my eyes... 2) her battery drained super quickly.. even with power saving tricks... 3) sometimes her downloads would not quite be fast enough and I'd have to try later. I. Am. Amazed. The oasis is super quick turning the pages and she gives you 3.. I said 3 different ways to do that, press the button, tap the left or right side of the screen, or swipe left or right. Her battery life far exceeds my older kindle. My Fire had to be charged daily. The Oasis I plugged in Thursday to charge her up and just now plugged her in (Tuesday) 5 days later and she was at 42%. She even has different profiles you can store and name. I think of it as reading your way, from different text style, to size of text, and different margins. You make her yours. Tbh I do miss the colors though, I'm an artist and the loss of colors will take time to get over. I don't know everything about my new friend the Oasis, but we have time and I look forward to learning more about her. I don't do audio books but I might try it once with her to see how it sounds.. I love how there is no headphone jack, it's done though blue tooth. I know she comes with a hefty price tag.. she cost us around $400 after tax and extra 2 year warranty. For me though it's worth it cuz I'll have her with me everyday and everywhere I go for years and years to come. She will be my constant.. she will be my bridge to other worlds and for me that's priceless 💕

385 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Pcitiyank

3nd UPDATE: CONSENSUS: BATTERY LIFE REMAINS POOR

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2019

The bigger format is welcome. It adds some to the physical size and weight, but for these mature eyes, I think the trade off is positive. I often read laying on my side and really like that the view flips so I can tent the device laying on either side. I’m a bit mixed about the bump out. I’m leaning to like the totally flat design of my prior Kindles, but think I’ll get used to it. The touch screen is noticeably better, but it could hardly be worse and is still not as reliable or responsive as one would expect. The format of the pass code entry is noticeably bigger and helps to avoid entry errors. This charging cord is too short to charge while reading. This is a huge disappointment as it looks like to buy a 6’ cord is pretty expensive. A comment the a prior iteration of this post references finding cheap 6’ Cords. Perhaps. But I suspect Amazon chose a cheap manufacturing option and will soon be in a fix with this battery. Other reviewers were annoyed that this does not use a USB-C. I travel a lot so cutting down on device clutter is important. Right now my iPad and laptop have the new USB-c and I’m sure my next phone will, too. But I’ll still need an older usb for other rechargeables like ear pods, flashlight and speaker. THE KILL FACTOR: battery lasts about 4 days with modest use as opposed to ‘several weeks’ as advertised. This is replacing a well used Voyage that had very good battery life. It looses 2-3% while turned off for a few hours. I tried 3 times to return it in the normal way. It seemed like I was able to return for replacement, but I never got a shipping label. Finally talked to a tech who said someone would call to ask me some questions. I gather they are trying to determine if this is an isolated problem (I notice several other battery life complaints) or a bigger problem with the battery design or a batch of batteries. They did promise a replacement in 4 days, which is pretty poor since I’m a prime member. One would also think they’d be very responsive as this may be a really big problem, but apparently they are not very anxious to please.
UPDATE: A replacement was received 5 days ago. It came essentially in a "brown bag," so I was a bit suspicious that it is not new. But trying to be optimistic and really wanting this new Kindle to be a keeper, I reasoned that if it was a repaired one, perhaps it works. In first couple of days, the battery life dropped like a rock. Three days ago, I recharged and started a new book. When I quit reading sometime after midnight today, I was 56% through the book and there was 30% power. I checked at 8:30am (after no usage for several hours) and the battery had dropped to 23%. I just checked again at 4:45pm after no usage and the battery shows 21%. What are the odds that I get 2 lemons? Seem pretty low to me. I read some of Amazon's remarks to complaints about the reader taking extra time when new to index and load books, it needing to be restarted, etc. I do not recall this happening previously, so I am suspicious about this explanation. Also, a basic of product design is to warn of dangers and how to avoid them. If usage is not intuitive, the manufacturer should instruct. One way or the other, it seems like Amazon has failed with at least some of this model. But I'm going to recharge and give it a chance. At this point I am very discouraged and really suspect about the battery design and the reviews that say they love this new Kindle.
The 2nd Kindle was returned due to almost identical abysmal battery performance. I keep checking back, hoping that there has been a recall or fix on this. As a voracious reader, I’d love to have the warm light feature. Likewise, I found several other features attractive. It appears, for many, battery life remains a significant problem and Amazon remains silent.
3rd UPDATE My original purchases were in 2019. I’d dearly love to buy this reader mainly due to the warm screen capability and the flipable page which I really liked for reading laying on different sides in bed. So here it is Christmas 2021 and I’ve just reviewed many reviews, especially as they pertain to battery life and customer service. Representation of battery life vs user experience vary wildly. It’s hard to believe so many would negatively misrepresent battery life. But most of us have heard stories about ringer reviews.So I’m believing battery life is still poor and over represented. I also noticed some users reported after only a day’s ownership. Really? Others outright say battery life is misrepresented. I noted Numerous reports of returned readers being replaced with refurbished readers with no improvement and that A will not replace a second time. So, if you really only use a reader 30 minutes a day, this all may be ok with you. But if that’s the case, I’d suggest you don’t need a high end reader. BUYER BEWARE. Don’t just count the stars. Read lots of reviews before buying this lemon. I’d suggest throwing out the ones that are silent about battery life or say it’s great.

341 people found this helpful

Filtered by

4 starClear filter

2,006 total ratings, 664 with reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

N87

Great device if you have an older kindle and want to upgrade.

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2020

Digital Storage Capacity: 8 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

This is my 2nd kindle and first Oasis the previous kindle I had was the Kindle Paperwhite 2015. I finally decided to bite the bullet and upgrade. To be fair there wasn’t any reason for this other than I wanted to upgrade. My 2015 Kindle Paperwhite is still functional but wasn’t syncing properly. I decided that I would upgrade to the Oasis as I honestly didn’t see much difference with the newer Paperwhite 2019 except the new backlight and flush screen.
Ok first things first the Oasis is extremely thin and light. The bevel edge where the battery is located serves its function which allows readers to use it one handed. The back is aluminum versus the basic kindle/Paperwhite which have a rubber finish. The aluminum back can get cold if you prefer to use it without a case like I do. The screen auto rotates which allow those of us that like to switch to either the left or right hand while sitting or lying down. A 4 stars feature in my opinion. The screen is flush and the “pages” are crisp. You have page turn buttons which I think to be honest are an asset and preferable to the touchscreen as I would accidentally tap through too many pages on the Paperwhite. The page turn buttons come in handy as you can also disable the touchscreen while reading by tapping the dots while in your book on the right side of the screen which will bring up the options screen and disable touchscreen is on there. To enable the touchscreen again you press the power button twice which will bring up the lock screen to access the touchscreen again. The backlight features aren’t really a necessity for me as I don’t normally read in the dark but comes in handy when I am not in a well lit room. The kindle oasis is waterproof and you now have the ability to listen to audible books (only audible books) wirelessly via Bluetooth. Personally, for me this is a feature that I don’t think is necessary as I tend to listen to audiobooks on my audible app or the Libby/overdrive app. Also, you can not listen to both the audible book and read the ebook which I think is ridiculous especially if amazon is advertising this as a premium feature. You should be able to listen and read simultaneously. The worst feature on the Oasis is the battery life. My 2015 Paperwhite’s battery would last for days/week even when I wasn’t using it or if I was continuously using it for a minimum of an hour a day. The Oasis battery drains fast I found on a full charge and reading for an hour at a 100 % it easily went down to 70%. I initially had an issue with it not charging to 100% but after factory resetting it I found the solution was that I wasn’t using the micro usb charging cable that came with it. I was using the old one from the Paperwhite as they seemed similar but after using the correct charging cable the Oasis was charging to 100%. So anyone having issues with it not charging to 100% make sure it is being charged with the cable it came with!

The fix for extending the battery life is keeping the device on airplane mode, lowering your light settings. Now it drains less as I am at 73% after a week of usage after changing those settings. However, I believe a device as expensive as this should have an excellent battery without having to tweak and alter the very settings they claim make this a premium device the backlights. I believe if the battery life last longer and was durable like the Paperwhite this would be without a doubt their best device yet.

Some suggestions for new users to maximize your device’s potential:
If you have Amazon Prime then you have access to a slew of ebooks through Prime Reading included for free (You could also sign up for kindle unlimited but you would have to pay the subscription).
Get a library card. You can now download the overdrive or Libby app (or both) on your phone and now you have instant access to library books sent straight to your device.
Sign up for amazon deals of the day under account settings to get free or discounted ebook suggestions daily so you don’t ever have to buy full price books.
Look out for Great on Kindle books as these ebooks gives you credits towards you next ebook purchase albeit you will more likely than not have to purchase the ebook at full price but you can often get upwards to $5.00 in ebook credits toward others.
You have a week to return a ebook (a feature I did not know of until recently).

Lastly, buy the kindle with special features and save yourself an extra $20. The ads are not annoying like some claim. In fact the only time you see ads is on the lock screen and on the home page at the bottom and they are usually ads of ebooks on sale (most times tailored to your reading preference) so this is a benefit to the reader. And if the ads end up annoying you then you can always hide them under the settings option on your device or you can contact Amazon later and pay $20 to have them removed.
Also, get the 8 GB version unless your planning on storing audible books (which take up A LOT of space) and ebooks than the 8 GB is sufficient and will save you money.

In the end would I recommend this device? Absolutely, especially if you already have a older kindle, a basic kindle or a newer Paperwhite and wish for an upgrade. However, if this is your first ever kindle I would recommend the Kindle Paperwhite which is the perfect medium between all three devices. It has the backlight feature, smaller in size, and cheaper in price. In the end these devices really are for reading.
My opinion either way is these devices last a really long time so after a year or two they pay for themselves. If you have an older model and its still functional and want to save money then keep it until a better upgraded version comes out in a few years.

73 people found this helpful

Helpful

Airmid

Overall Wonderful Despite a Handful of Frustrations

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021

Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: Champagne GoldOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

Before I start this review, I just want to say that I adore this e-reader regardless of any negative feedback. In fact, I took it over to show my mother and she loved it so much she got one for herself. For both of us, trying to read on a tablet for longer periods of time just isn't enjoyable. This is the first e-reader purchase for both of us after many years though I have had occasion to play with the newer generation of paperwhite/kindle in person before making this purchase.

First things first - this device uses E-Ink. It works by having a multitude of microcapsules that when charged display either black or white. Just from that description alone, it's pretty obvious why this has no color, though color is in the works by the E-Ink developer, it's just years away from being workable on these types of devices. Obviously, this works differently than a tablet and its main purpose, as with all e-readers, is to give a good reading experience and mimic a page of a book as best as possible while also being easier on the eyes.

Display: Very, very sharp on the Oasis. It's lovely to look at and I have found zero ghosting while reading. It's clear and crisp. While only an inch, the benefits of the 7 inch are noticeable but hard to explain outside of it just feels better reading-wise. The screen is matte and while not glare-proof it helps a good deal and the pages are lovely to look at.

Touch: Very responsive. Again, due to the tech of this product, it's kind of a wonder we have touchscreens with them. It's very responsive for an e-reader, more than any other that I've looked at. I can't say I was all that impressed with the Paperwhite's touch screen as it seemed to get finicky at times and could turn multiple pages on you, a problem I've not had with any other device. While sometimes it doesn't always register the touch, for the most part, it does, and highlighting, accessing the menu, shopping in the store, etc. have all been easy. Sometimes it doesn't register when scrolling but that's been the biggest issue encountered so far.

Page Turning - I am partial to the buttons and am a believer that these devices should come with them baseline. However, buttons or touch, the pages turn fast, fluid, and cleanly with close to no delay whatsoever.

Screen Brightness - The warm light is great and is the other reason I got this model over a Paperwhite (buttons were the other). I have issues with my eyes where blue light really bothers me. Not only does the Oasis seem to have less blue light in general compared to Paperwhite/Kindle/Older Oasis models, but the warm light works well. It doesn't take a lot to solve the issue and being able to adjust brightness and warmth separately is good. You are able to set the warmth to auto-activate from sunset to sunrise based on time zone, set your own time, or do it anytime easily.

Options: There are many ways to change the layout from font style, boldness, and size. I haven't seen it really mentioned, but you can set it horizontal also. Yes, you do need to go through settings to do this but given how this device works, that's not a surprise. There is a feature to save all your layouts so it's simple enough to hit the saved format for horizontal to switch to that or back again to vertical. The buttons come default as up = forward down = back, but these can be reversed. There is no scrolling option but I'm not someone who likes that when reading books, but keep that in mind, especially for certain media like comics/manga. You are able to have it display page numbers, the clock, percentage left/read, or none of the above.

Personal Library Access - Amazon, for the love of all creation fix this mess. I knew going in that it would be a pita but still. Even after going through each book and adding them separately back into their collections I still can't sort by them. I don't know what I did wrong but it's been a frustrating endeavor, and the inability to really have decent sort options can make it a pain for those who want to keep the library on this device instead of just a book or two at a time. Fortunately, the search works well but I shouldn't have to look one of my Fires to sort through my library and then bring it up on the Oasis. That's terrible and to my understanding has been a longstanding problem.

Wifi - I had no problems with accessing the Kindle store to browse or purchase books. This is probably the biggest area that had a delay, lack of sensitivity to input, and a large amount of screen refreshing, but again, given what it is, it wasn't an issue really. Wifi does drain the battery (even more so if downloading a lot of books, like at the start and it does give a warning for this) but that is a problem on most modern devices. I wish there was a battery saver option for this like there is for the Fire's as I would like to use the Translation feature at times while reading some books and that is only available via wifi. Fortunately, the dictionary is not so dependent.

Battery Life - The Kindle base model has 4 LEDs, the Paperwhite has 6. The Oasis - 25. That's a lot of LEDs (12 for white, 13 for the warm lighting system) and it is understandable that while in use this isn't going to have as long of a life as other models, especially older ones that don't have a backlight at all. When indoors, I tend to have everything set to as close to zero as possible as personal preference and would say that depending on reading habits you're looking at charging every few days to a little over a week. I would also say that one should never believe any company's rhetoric on battery life - it's usually under the most minimal of conditions. That being said, if you're coming from an older model of Kindle, especially the really early ones, you aren't going to get the same battery life due to the LEDs but it isn't as terrible as a tablet, for example. It does hibernate after a period of inactivity and takes a few seconds to wake back up when starting again. This isn't a bad thing to me but has been off-putting to others with the slight delay.

The Micro USB - I know this a point of contention with a lot of people but I didn't find it that big of a deal. I still have several devices include Kindles/Fires that use this. I would assume that when Amazon does make the switch to USB C that they want to ensure all their tablets/Kindles can make the switch over.

Shape - I love it. The only thing I can think of is that it would be nice if the metal was grooved a little in a couple of places on the back to help with a firmer grip and to reduce sliding potential. Otherwise, it's lovely to both me and my mother - easy to hold, easy to operate the buttons, etc.

Waterproofing - I can't speak to how this works and hope to never have to.

The Ads - Amazon, we are buying your top-of-the-line product. We should not have to pay you more to not have you advertise at us, especially since you have a recommended for you on the homepage that does the job somewhat better. When Kindles/Fires were launching way back when it did make some sense as the price difference was $40 and made the lower-end models especially more accessible to a wider range of people. But now, it's just gross. Yes, I have the one with the ads because I cannot justify giving you an extra $20 for something that is top of the line and already highly priced.

The Price - So, this is really expensive. There is an option to do payment plans on it, which is nice, but it's still pricy. If you have an e-reader that at least is functional, it might do for you to wait until Prime Day or Cyber Monday to get a deal and shave off $50-75. Is it worth it? That depends. If you're like me and need the warm light then this is the only Kindle that has it, along with the buttons. I look at it as an investment. The products I have gotten from Amazon have lasted years. On top of that, I am a reader and have been looking for something that would allow me to access my Kindle library easily while having the features I needed/wanted. If you're not reading a whole lot and/or do not need the buttons/warm light then this probably isn't the Kindle for you. Personally, I knew I would not be happy with the Paperwhite, and while there are things I dislike about the Oasis, as a whole I am happy that I own this.

Probably the biggest question to ask yourself before spending this kind of money is how much do you read and/or were you someone who used to read a lot? The biggest question is whether one will use it enough to justify having a device that is only for reading and if the features for them personally justify the purchase. For me, yes, for others, it may be a different answer.

I listened to and read many reviews on the Oasis and other Kindles and one of the comments was that with the Oasis that one might spend more money due to just buying more books to read. I can see that. It's a joy to read on this.

858 people found this helpful

Helpful

Arthurian Tapestry

a definite upgrade for me

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2019

Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I have been a Kindle Voyage reader for several years now, and though I did try some newer kindle iterations, I ended up returning them simply because the most important aspect of the device, the richness of the e-ink seemed to have been lacking. After the Voyage, all the newer devices including the previous generation Oasis leaned towards a more faded out, greyer looking e-ink (which was partially resolved by allowing for boldness). So, not even the previous Oasis 2 and much less the cover charging Oasis 1 could dislodge me from the Voyage (which I have kept for reasons of portability and practicality with its origami stand up cover).

So what convinced me to get this Oasis, if I was already satisfied with the Voyage? Well, nothing really; it just so happened that my birthday coincided with the new Oasis release and my wife ordered it for me, after trading in a kindle keyboard (and I am glad she did). The contrast and richness of the fonts were just as good as the Voyage I kept. Furthermore, the screen was evenly lit even in its highest settings for brightness and amber. So the Oasis 3 surpassed my expectations (although I’ve kept my Voyage as my back up).

If I had already been an Oasis user, there would be no way I would have considered upgrading, as the changes from the previous model have been minimal. As a Voyage user, however, this was a significant upgrade and change in many ways:

1. First of all, storage. I have the 32 G model, but even the 8 G would have been quite an upgrade from my 4 G Voyage. Now I can add my annotated editions of literature, audiobooks and illustrated works without any qualm.
2. Larger 7” display: my eyes are not getting any younger, and the ability to have more text on the page does make more of a difference than I thought it would—although it does so by losing the portability factor. The Voyage could slip into my back or front pocket quite easily, but in the end, I do prefer the larger screen. In any case, carrying the ergonomic Oasis still beats lugging an armful of books.
3. Waterproof: It is nice to know that this device is waterproof (just in case), and it does add some ease of mind, but I’ll confess I’ve taken the Voyage with me pretty much everywhere in all kinds of weather—even to the beach, pools, on cruises, the desert, (you name it) and it is still working pretty much the day I received it. I expect no less from the Oasis, but I won’t have second thoughts of sitting with it in the tub.
4. Audible: I do read and like to be read to, so it is nice to have this option; I do use Audible a lot, and though I prefer the way Audible works in its phone app, it is nice to have all your books, audible or otherwise on one device. However, I do think Amazon has a ways to go towards perfecting the Audible experience on the e-readers.
5. Lighting: Voyage lighting was adequate (not perfect), as I found any light setting to be a bit much for these eyes; most of the time I read with lighting pretty much off. The Oasis has solved that by adding the amber warmth, so this was a needed upgrade for me.
6. There is also an inverted mode where the background becomes black and the fonts become lit. This actually looks gorgeous when setting the amber to the max.
7. The page turn buttons are infinitely more satisfying than the Voyage, although I think the old keyboard had the best buttons on any kindle that I’ve had.
8. The screen rotation, while nice for righties vs. lefties, does disappoint a wee bit in that it does not rotate to landscape automatically.
9. Battery life: I know there are complaints about battery here, but I suspect his may because the device was loaded up rather quickly and the indexing of the titles does drain the battery. So far have loaded less than a dozen titles and am easing into my Oasis set up, allowing for indexing to be done in little spurts. Of course, I cannot make any definite assessments on the battery until I go through a couple more charging cycles, but it looks to be about two weeks on a single charge with about half hour to an hour reading everyday with airplane mode (which really does prolong battery) unless I need to sync or use the store. Oh, and I set the mid-range 12 for both light settings.

Those were the main upgrades for me, but there are few things that I need to get used to:
1. The form factor (I’ve been using the Voyage for years, so this will take some time; the Voyage still takes the cake in this aspect).
2. I wish Amazon made an origami case for this one; I did use the stand up many times during a lunch break. It’s really no biggie. I now use an Amazon Basics stand that works even better than the origami to keep the Oasis propped up at multiple angles for my reading pleasure.
3. I really do not see the benefit of a graphite versus whatever as this is covered with my waterproof charcoal case; however, I would have loved the front of the Oasis offered in solid white or cream, to mimic the extension of a page but this is easily resolvable with a third party skin.
4. Price: Let’s not cushion this. For this price we should seriously be getting no ads thrown in, and a full charger (not just the cable). I would say that the cloth case should be thrown in as well, but that would be pushing it.

Suggestions to kindle software developers (Sorry to throw this into the review, but it worked last time when the developers actually contacted me to let me know that they had taken my suggestions and implemented it in one of the updates, so here it goes again):

Can we get the option to have pages (not actual pages but screenshots) remaining when reading in a chapter? I know not everyone cares for these options, but I find the time remaining to always be inaccurate as I vary in reading poetry versus prose on my kindle all the time, so it would be nice to have this option.
Also, the ability to scroll would be nice.
And while, we’re at it, why not let us use our own screensavers? From our own books or a selection of literary images.

In short, the device really surpassed my expectations, and for something I really wasn’t planning on getting, this one is definitely a keeper.

Still, for Voyage users, I would recommend trading in an older kindle, as the Voyage still has its own little benefits.

86 people found this helpful

Helpful

Charles Nordlander

THIS OASIS CRITIC HAS TO ADMIT: NEW LIGHT IS A TOTAL GAME CHANGER!

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2019

Digital Storage Capacity: 8 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I wrote a lengthy critical review of the 2017 Oasis, which was the first Kindle that I’ve ever returned out of every top model. I mainly criticized the cold and slippery aluminum shell for intruding on, rather than disappearing from, the reading experience. But along with those criticisms, I praised its bigger 7” screen as the one aspect that I would miss. And now, with the upgrade of that screen to one with adjustable color temperature, I decided to give the 2019 Oasis a try, even though its design was unchanged from 2017.

Cutting right to the chase: the adjustable color temperature screen is the greatest advance in Kindles since self-illuminating screens were introduced on the first Paperwhite… period, full-stop. And, at least for this reader, there’s no going back after trying it out. It’s that good, and that much of a game changer.

With both warmth and brightness (they have separate controls) turned up to about the midway point, reading on a Kindle transitioned for the first time from merely reading words, to the experience of reading words on a paper page in a book. This might sound like “Who cares?” nonsense to most people, but if you’re in that small minority of the public buying a high-end Kindle, you understand what I mean, and it’s that kind of difference that you’re paying for.

The new lighting also transforms the experience of reading in a completely dark room. On existing Kindles, I could never find quite the right light level. If it was as bright as I wanted it to be, that felt too harsh on my eyes. But bringing brightness down to a level that felt comfortable seemed too dim. Now, by simply increasing the lighting warmth on the new Oasis, you can have brighter light with no harshness in a dark room, making reading much easier on the eyes.

Finally, I’m happy to say that Amazon seems to have (finally!) nailed the quality control issues that have plagued new Kindle lighting systems in the past: No splotches. No dark spots. No shadows. No weird color casts. Just smooth, even, beautiful lighting across the screen.

So, is this the perfect Kindle for me? No. The perfect Kindle would be this new 7” screen in a Voyager form factor. The ergonomics of the Oasis are still not great for me, although my satisfaction with the new screen appears to make the annoyances matter less. The 2019 Oasis is not only a keeper for me, but I’m actually trading in both my Voyager and original Oasis.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review and I hope you find it helpful in making a buying decision. Time permitting, I do try to answer any questions posted in the comments section.

4,046 people found this helpful

Helpful

jmh

Like but could be better

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2024

Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: Champagne GoldOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I have had my kindle oasis for 5 years. I use to read in pool or by water often and it has held up. I like the physical buttons to turn page.

Amazon is discontinuing Libby overdrive and can no longer get library books. I’m someone who buys many books but likes option to borrow without paying even more fees. My prime membership has went up but they are trying to make you pay for even more. Is there any other e-readers available that support Libby/library books? Barnes and noble? What could I switch too that allows you to read all your books on it. Super disappointed in Amazon decision to discontinue Libby overdrive option and try and force you to pay more or get different e-reader. It’s all about increasing their profits.

Helpful

Jason Z.

Almost Perfect

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2020

Digital Storage Capacity: 8 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I've always like the Kindle E-Readers. I previously owned a Paperwhite and love how much easier on my eyes the screen is vs using my tablets, computers, or phone screens. Recently I decided to upgrade to a newer model to add the water resistance and warmer color backlighting. Additionally I like the way the current models support audiobooks. So I decided to order a Kindle Oasis. This E-Reader is very nice I especially like the bigger screen, and although only by an inch, it is noticeably better when reading. The Oasis also is very snappy the page turns are very quick sometimes so fast I sometimes think it didn't turn at all. My slightly older paperwhite refreshes at a rate that was very noticeable, sometimes a full second or two can pass before I can continue reading the next page. Now while this is not a big issue, the Oasis just makes reading that much smoother. I also like the physical buttons, this reduces my need to touch the display potentially transferring oils onto the display which I'm trying to read. It used to be difficult to eat breakfast while eating, for example touching buttered toast and then needing to turn the page. While I still wipe my hands before hitting the physical buttons of the Oasis, its better than leaving butter finger marks on the display.

There are of course a few things that I don't totally like about the Oasis and these might just be my personal preferences and possibly issues with my unit I'm not sure. The battery seems to drain a lot faster than my Paperwhite which is a few years older. I try to disable Bluetooth and Wifi etc when I'm not using those or need to make it last longer if I'm traveling, but then the Whisper sync doesn't work and if I open my books on other devices, the pages I'm on are not sync'd. I had thought that with the baby-bump on the back of it, it would be a place to house a bigger battery but at least in my comparison testing it seems to drain faster than an older Paperwhite. I will state though that it still does have great battery life, just that I personally noticed a difference. This is not a deal breaker, just making my own observation.

The next thing that I noticed is that even when I completely turn down the Warmth setting, the screen appears a slight pinkish color, also very noticeable next to the Paperwhite. Again, I'm not sure if that's just normal or just my unit. It is nothing to worry about, I just found it interesting.

I did have issues with setting it up when I first received it and I almost returned it. My issue was that when I got done with all the steps and it was on the final step to register to my account, it just went to a blank screen only showing the top bar (WiFi, Battery, Clock). It showed nothing down below, just a blank area where my library should be displayed like on my other E-Readers. The screen was also not responding nor buttons to any action I took. I had to hard reboot and then it claimed it needed to update. I thought maybe that was going to fix it but it didn't. I literally had to hard reboot it like 3-4 times, and then finally it booted to my library and has booted that way ever since. I'm not sure why that happened, I've set kindles up for myself and family and this was the first time that happened. I called Amazon and they also said that was strange behavior and other than offering to exchange it, they couldn't explain what that was.

I was also puzzled as to why I had requested it be setup for my account in advanced when I purchased it, but then had to do a bunch of setup anyways. I'm not exactly sure what telling them you want it setup in advance even does. I had expected it to just come out of the box and be functional, I could be wrong, that's just what I had assumed.

The last thing I'm still getting used to is the weird shape, what I call the Baby-Bump on the back. Its just strange to hold especially with the case front flipped back. Its hard to explain unless you've held one, but with the front flipped back you cant grip the device using the baby-bump edge as a fingertip grip place. The front folded back makes the whole thing smooth across the back, and for at least me it just takes a little getting used to. When I take it out of the case, it feels more well balanced, and I have a more confident grip with my fingers holding the baby-bump.

All-in-All I would recommend this to any serious reader. This is device is a little pricey so if you're just a casual reader, you may want to go with the cheaper Paperwhite model. The Paperwhite served me very well for years and I have family members who are more than happy with the 6" display of the Paperwhite.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Steve

Best Reading Experience Available, With Some Room for Improvement

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2020

Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I've owned a half a dozen or so e-readers since they've come out. For sake of focus I'll assert as a given that, for a device specifically for reading, eInk displays are infinitely better than tablets like the Fire or iPad.

This (generation 10) Oasis is hands-down the best eInk reader I've seen. The display is fantastic, but honestly the display quality alone is not better-enough that I would've dropped the rather large amount of money to upgrade from my previous Voyage. Since I do most of my reading during lunch breaks, I wanted water resistance in case I got caught out in the rain. With what we've learned about blue light affecting sleep (and bedtime being my other main reading time), the combination of water resistance and warm lighting was enough for me to invest in the upgrade.

The lighting on this is fantastic--the additional LEDs really make it a smooth lighting experience from edge to edge and I never catch myself noticing unevenness in the lighting anymore, which has been a problem with other ereaders including previous Kindles. There are a couple criticisms I have here though. Firstly, the auto-adjustment is not particularly great. Sometimes it's adjusting when it shouldn't be or not adjusting when it should (which I think might not be a solvable problem since it's something that moves around in your hands a lot), but also it doesn't feel like it does a great job of gauging how intense the lighting *should* be. This was true for the Voyage as well, but I feel like it's a little worse in the Oasis. Secondly while I LOVE the warm lighting, it doesn't seem to remember how warm I like it when it goes into evening mode nor when it auto-adjusts. I have to re-set it every night, which isn't a hassle, but it's room for improvement.

I was worried I wouldn't like the physical page turn buttons but it turns out I like them even better than the ones on my Voyage. I hate using the touch screen to turn pages, even though I feel like the touch screen on my Oasis has been great on sensitivity and responsiveness.

The battery life on the Oasis is far worse than my previous Kindles. I mean, as an eInk display it still can go easily a week on one charge and probably even two weeks (I haven't tried to run it out yet), but my Voyage I could easily go a month between charging. I'm not sure if it's the additional lights, the additional processing power, the bluetooth radio, or likely a combination of all these things. I should be clear here that honestly the reduced battery life has not been a problem for me in the slightest--I just charge it once a week and I'm good. I point it out because if you're coming from an earlier Paperwhite or Voyage this is a noticeable difference, and if I were for example leaving it in my car every day for when I go to lunch I would have to remember to bring it in to charge on the weekends rather than waiting a month.

My only other criticisms are the ongoing and standard criticisms of Amazon's Kindle ecosystem in general.
1. There's inadequate support for PDF and ePub files. Converters like Calibre exist, but there's often annoying little errors. Not even all books purchased through Amazon offer .a3w/.mobi versions.
2. It's more difficult than it should be to add and manage books that weren't purchased through Amazon. I get that they're likely not doing anything to hamper it so much as not doing anything to help it, but for a $250 device I find myself having a lot less patience for that. Even in the "worst-case" scenario most of my books would still wind up being purchased through Amazon. Open up already.
3. Amazon's UIs. I think there's a lot of things that the Kindle device UIs get right. They really do make the reading "experience" the front-and-center feature and it's why I prefer the Kindles to everything else I've seen. But there's a lot of room for improvement. I'd like to be able to add the Ubuntu fonts family. More importantly, I'd like some sort of tagging system. "Collections" as implemented are burdensome to put it kindly. I have hundreds of books on a device that markets on being able to hold thousands, and I don't always want to have to keyword search to try to sift through them. Finally the web UI for managing devices and especially content is terrible. As a software engineer I'm sympathetic to the dilemma, but as a customer I think they need to put a UI/UX team on this.

All criticisms aside I want to re-iterate that the 10th gen Oasis is still by far the best way to read books at this point in time. As nice as the sensory experience of paper books can be, I think for frequent readers the advantages of an eInk reader like the Oasis has overcome the tactile and olfactory deficits.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sunshineray

Nice Model Overall!

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2024

Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: Champagne GoldOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I love the size of this one and that is lightweight and the weight is on one side so I can use my dominant hand for better control. I appreciate the Kindle overall. I don't like that even after charging overnight it never seems to charge to 100%. That being said, the charge lasts a good while which is useful. Hoping Amazon makes a new model of this model in the future!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

TechGuy

What is Past is Prologue

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2019

Digital Storage Capacity: 32 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

Well the all new Kindle is here and if like me you’ve upgraded, it’s Kindle Oasis 2.2, sure its got a few added features that may or may not come in handy, but it’s still a wonderful device to indulge our individual literary pleasures. In case you’re not familiar, this Kindle shares all the same whiz-bang features of the 9th generation, but this year’s version adds some trickery with lighting so that your device changes colors depending on the time of day. Your mobile phone and computer might do this already, it’s the new “thing” for devices with screens. For some, it may not be enough to upgrade; but, for people like me, who enjoy toying with the latest anything that requires electricity, a plug or circuitry, it’s the hill I’ve chosen to die on.

Now, I’ve been a Kindler since maybe the 2nd or 3rd generation keyboard versions and my dread then as it is now is something that I consider a major failure on the part of Amazon as far as back-end is concerned. I have HUNDREDS of books and personal documents. After all these years it is beyond my comprehension why Amazon, who can pride itself on being responsive to customers, has YET to figure out a way to improve the user experience when upgrading to a new Kindle. Credit to Amazon for giving us the ability to dump books on the device instead of the 10-at-a-time method of years past, but it’s still cumbersome and inartful. When sending books to the Kindle from the website still no indication what has or hasn’t been sent. How HARD could it be to DIM those books that you've dispatched to your new Kindle, on the web interface, in the event you have to step away? How about a filter showing books that have been read for those who don't even want to see these books in the option to transfer? It seems that there is a filter on the Kindle to show those books, but my reading is that’s a guess. Suppose I’ve inadvertently jumped to the end of a book I guess that sends up a flair indicating the book has been read when in fact it has not. I’ll do some tinkering to see how helpful this might be.

Collections could use some help too — if collections are in the cloud, why can’t we load them like we load books? Maybe I’ve missed it, but the only way to load collections is to go to the device and click each collection, one-at-a-time for download — one potato, two potato…

Onto my minor annoyances that continue to fester and are now full fledged pet-peeves with basic functionality: Why is it that the time can’t be updated via a time server or the home router’s time? Here we are in 2019 and users still need to manually change the time on an electronic device or manually adjust for daylight saving time (DST). Amazon’s Echo can set timers, reminders, send live images clear around the world with another user or tell you your package has been delivered, but Kindle still can’t auto-adjust its time. You’re kidding me, right? No toggle for DST, no time server entry? How does this go on year after year without a thought by those who work on the software for Kindle?

Speaking of software, I have not once had my Kindle update itself when plugged in with WiFi turned on. Every update I’ve gotten I’ve had to manually do it — annoying. Why is this such a problem for some users and not others? Why can’t the Kindle alert users automatically if an update is available when syncing or checking or downloading books when online? If the goal is to require the device be plugged in for the update, why not download it to the device and require that the update complete when the device is powered with the cable? Since the battery has such staying power, I may only have to plug my Kindle in 5 times in a year.

And to continue this train of thought with plugs and power, why is micro USB still standard on this or ANY newly released Kindle? Did Amazon get a “prime day” deal (see what I did there) on this connectivity method because everyone else has moved on to USB-C and some vendor has a warehouse full of micro-USB connectors? The battery on the Kindle Oasis is phenomenal, but it would be nice to take advantage of the faster charging capabilities of USB-C. It might also allow us to finally get rid of the only micro-USB cord we have hanging around because it’s only needed for the Kindle.

Seriously, after all these years I still say this may be my last upgrade — for as my collection grows, the chore of moving everything grows exponentially and my peeves grow. Then I come to my senses (it’s that hill I mentioned earlier) and press the one-click button — you should too, it’s a great device but as with most things it has its annoyances.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nuka Addict

Having used ereaders since the years of Sony’s dominance

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024

Digital Storage Capacity: 8 GBOffer Type: Lockscreen Ad-SupportedColor: GraphiteOption: Without Kindle UnlimitedVerified Purchase

I will use my years-old Oasis until hardware failure. Beyond, if repairs are practical.

That’s the best compliment I can give.

By the way, Amazon, publishers shouldn’t be charging for ebooks. They should be bundling them with physical copies. Those who don’t want the physical copies can donate them anywhere. Continuing to charge for ebooks alone - when delivery of the ebook costs only pennies - will continue to legitimize piracy.

If I pay for a physical copy of a book, it could come with an ebook via link if I wanted.

Helpful

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Need customer service?

‹ See all details for Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Kindle Oasis – With 7” display and page turn buttons

›

Customer reviews