Amazon Kindle Oasis (first iteration)

April 27, 2016

Amazon announced the first-iteration Kindle Oasis on April 13, 2016, and it was released on April 27 worldwide. The Kindle Oasis is available in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models. The Oasis has a 6-inch, 300 ppi E Ink Carta HD display with ten LEDs. Its asymmetrical design features physical page turn buttons on one side and it has an accelerometer so the display can be rotated for one-hand operation with either hand. It has one thicker side that tapers to an edge that is 20% thinner than the Paperwhite. It includes a removable leather battery cover for device protection and increased battery life that is available in either black, walnut (brown) or merlot (red); the cover fits in the tapered edge. The Oasis has 28 hours of battery life if used with the battery cover with Wi-Fi off. However, without the cover, the Oasis battery lasts about seven hours. It has nearly 3 GB of user storage. The Oasis includes the Bookerly (serif) font and it is the first Kindle to include the Amazon Ember (sans-serif) font.

The Guardian's reviewer praised the Oasis's ease for holding, its lightweight design, long battery life, excellent display, even front lighting, usable page-turn buttons, and the luxurious cover. However, the reviewer believed the product was overpriced, noted that the battery cover only partially protects the back, and that the reader is not waterproof. The reviewer concluded, "…the Paperwhite will likely be all the e-reader most will need, but Oasis is the one you'll want. The Oasis is the Bentley to the Paperwhite's Golf – both will get the job done, just one is a cut above the other." The Verge rated the Oasis as 9 of 10, praising its thinness, its weight without the cover and the ability to read with one hand, but did not like that it is so expensive, has no adaptive backlight like the Voyage and it is not waterproof.