Amazon Kindle Oasis 2019 Review: Battery Life, Specs and Price Analysis
Amazon's e-readers, Kindle the best series of e-readers, are part of that rare group of devices that may not be updated very often. Both because of the absence of real technological innovations and because their components are not worn like those of a smartphone.
Over the past few weeks Amazon has unveiled the new generation of the Kindle Oasis - the most expensive version of the e-reader. The evolution in the last generations have concerned not only their individual components or the technological resources but especially on new versions with higher display resolution, better lighting on the display or new materials for better rendering.
Traditional books against eBooks, paper against electronic ink. The debate is the same as usual, for those who choose the second option, the convenience of carrying hundreds of books in one device without occupying extra space is undoubtedly fundamental and advantageous.
In the last few weeks we have used Kindle Oasis (2019) to discover that the best can always improve and Amazon's top of the range offers a few new things that make it the best to beat. Amazon is not the only ebook manufacturer, but it is by far the most popular. Kindle Oasis is not the only model in circulation, but the one with the highest specifications . We are confident that among all those who do not intend to change their old e-reader after reading this review might have another idea.
Kindle Oasis Design : Premium -Ergonomic
Let's start with the design and materials with which Amazon decides to assemble its next-generation Kindle Oasis and find out what makes Kindle Oasis different from the past models.
Kindle Oasis goes to collect all the possible hardware components in the thickest part while the rest of the surface consists only of the screen and the components necessary for its operation. However, such a design was not made on a whim or just for the looks as the thickness on one side allows the best grip with one hand and this could be both right and left.
It makes no difference because Oasis guarantees automatic screen rotation so it will perfectly work for right-handed or left-handed people.
Using an e-reader with one hand may make it difficult to turn the page. This will never happen with Kindle Oasis. Indeed, the presence of two simple buttons on the side frame guarantees the passage from one page to another with a simple touch. I usually prefer to have a product as minimal as possible, without so many buttons, but in fact the positioning of these two buttons makes it easier and more comfortable. With the past models, it was really easy to make mistakes by pressing the screen and not going to the desired page. Here with the two buttons instead it is impossible to go wrong.
On the frame we also find the two lighting sensor buttons that allow to automatically change the screen brightness.
Another great design aspect that differentiates it from other Kindle models is its aluminum finish. The feeling of being in front of a premium product is there and the masterful design of the Kindle Oasis guarantees a highly superior level compared to other models. Kindle Oasis (2019) can be purchased in two aluminum finishes: graphite and gold.
The Kindle Oasis (2019) has a height of 159 mm, 141 mm of width and 8.4 mm of thickness in the thick part while the thinner side only measures just 3.4 mm. Its weight is 188 grams, although it may vary depending on whether it is a 4G model or not.
Having 4G will allow you to download books from personal storage on Amazon or have access to the Kindle Store without having to clearly connect the Kindle to a Wi-Fi network.
The only difference between the two models will be exclusively the presence of a plastic band in the thick back of the Kindle that will allow the antennas to work. We remind you that the 4G network and the traffic that will be used to use the device is already included in the Kindle purchase price.
The best thing is that Kindle Oasis is waterproof, an absolute novelty for the Kindle Oasis, which therefore now has an IPX8 protection that allows immersion in water for less than 2 meters for an hour. Clearly, users will never read in immersion, but protection is an essential aspect that was missing for Amazon devices and that will allow users to carry around the Kindle even more especially during these summer months on the beach or in the pool without any worries.
DISPLAY: 25 LEDs - High quality Paper Feeling
It is undoubtedly the new Kindle Oasis (2019) screen where we find the real changes of this new generation. Now that Amazon has introduced backlighting on virtually all of its Kindle (even the basic one), it's time to differentiate the true top of the range. A great featured introduced with the new model is that you can both manually and completely automatically, change the temperature of the display and therefore the shade of the screen.
A function that we had already seen in other competing e-readers and that allows you to change the white balance in the panel to obtain a more "bluish" or "orange" white and thus make reading more relaxing. With the presence of a total of 25 LEDs on the 7-inch screen, Kindle Oasis (2019) can now go from cooler to warmer tones and vice versa in a moment by adjusting the settings or programming the change based on dawn and sunset.
How does this affect sight?
In principle a bluish light makes our eyes more attentive, especially at night when the ambient light decreases. Being able to adjust the white balance of the screen to get warmer hues at night and cooler shades during the day allows for more comfortable reading and avoids visual fatigue compared to the use of a single shade of white. Furthermore, some research has confirmed that prolonged exposure to cold screen lights before sleep affects the circadian rhythm without facilitating sleep.
During the day it is therefore advisable to use the brightness of the screen with bluish tones, while at sunset and at night the warmer tones are recommended. As mentioned, however, everything can be easily performed by the Kindle Oasis itself through the automatic adjustment or less of the tone.
Adjusting the brightness and tone has the following options:
Manually adjust the brightness up to 25 levels.
Automatically adjusts brightness to 25 levels.
Adjust the tone manually - 25 levels.
Program the tone according to a program that automatically and gradually adjusts the level with sunrise and sunset.
Program the hue on a schedule using a start and end time determined by the user.
In fact, thanks to the presence of 300ppi of pixel density the screen reaches a sharpness on the pages that guarantees the reading on the panel as if the user was actually reading on a book, with the advantage however of being able to read even in the dark thanks to the integrated lighting in the device.
Kindle Oasis -HARDWARE: Technical Specifications
Paperwhite display with e-Ink technology, 25 front LED lights, density 300ppi , a 16-level gray scale.
Memory: 8 GB / 32 GB
Autonomy: up to six weeks, with half an hour reading per day with wireless and Bluetooth disabled and brightness set to level 13.
FSL / NXP IMX7D processor (Dual Cortex-A7 @ 1GHz)
RAM: 512MB LPDDR3
Fonts: 8 types of fonts with 14 dimensions and 5 levels of thickness
Dimensions: 159 mm x 141 mm x 3.4-8.4 mm
Weight: 188g
At the storage level we recall that there are two versions that Amazon allows to buy, the 8GB version or the 32GB one.
People might think that with e-books that do not exceed 1MB in weight there is room for hundreds of thousands of books and documents. Indeed it is so with a classic use of the Kindle for reading only, the space will hardly really be filled. Moreover we remind you that Amazon allows you to "store" the books purchased directly in your cloud space and download them in case of need.
GRAPHIC INTERFACE and USABILITY
It is not compatible with the ePub format. This is certainly the most important complaint that could come from the outside towards the Kindle Oasis (2019) or any other Kindle. A true complaint because actually any Amazon Kindle does not support the most used format.
In fact Kindle users have other advantages, actually a whole ecosystem just for them,the Kindle Store, which has an overwhelming weight with a huge catalog of books and services that can make book lovers easily forget about the ePub format.
At the reading level, the Kindle Oasis (2019) allows you to read any type of book as well as comics or PDFs. Clearly the limited size of the panel will not guarantee the same operation that we could have on a 10.5-inch tablet. In fact, however, the speed with which we can zoom into the pages allows us to have a good reading even in extreme conditions for this type of content.
The rest is what we've actually always seen in the past Amazon Kindle releases. The possibility to use any type of underlining tool thanks to the simple tap on the touch panel of the Kindle, write notes, share parts of the book or consult the terms directly in the integrated dictionary, on Wikipedia or even have the immediate translation of the text.
AUTONOMY: 6 weeks and beyond
Now let's talk about autonomy as Amazon promises "up to six weeks of autonomy on a single charge".
Is the reality different? Honestly, the Kindle does not allow you to go beyond six weeks or at least not to have problems of autonomy in the intense use of the device. Amazon calculates those times with a use of at least half an hour a day with connections disabled and with fixed brightness at level 13.
Yet in practice we have seen that the Kindle Oasis has not struggled to consume the battery at a rate of 5% every two days.. It is clear that autonomy is lower when light and shade features are used at higher levels.
Kindle Oasis 2019 - Conclusions
Kindle Oasis (2019) is undoubtedly the king of e-readers. It is difficult to find something bugged on the new Amazon device. Or to say that the ecosystem is inconsistent or that it is difficult to navigate or interact with the menu and interface. The novelty of adjusting the light tone of the screen is now present and although it may be unimportant in the long run will be easily appreciated by users especially during the evening hours when the reading will be done in the dark or in low light. A plus that can no longer be dispensed with. A point in favor of Kindle Oasis (2019) clearly not decisive for the upgrade to this model if you have the previous one but that certainly could "tease" your curiosity.\
There are so many differences between Kindle Oasis and the Kindle Paperwhite or even the basic Kindle, although many may not be substantial. Offering a correct reading of an eBook is something that all current Kindle models offer.
What then could be the reason to opt for the new Kindle Oasis?
Kindle Oasis (2019) is a Kindle for "gourmets", if you can pass me the term. A Kindle for those who really love reading and want to do it in the best possible conditions offered by an e-reader even if it is not cheap.
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