The Oasis Makes reading a pleasure, but ITS free 3G only works inside the United States.
A typical iPhone or iPad is capable of doing damn near anything you need it to-so long as you do not need to do it in direct sunlight. And while Those devices Certainly Become more energy efficient over the years, heavy users like me still find it difficult to get through a full day without Having to top of Their tablet or smartphone battery at Least eleven o’clock.
That’s why I Usually Travel with an e-reader. Their matte e-ink displays are easy to read in direct sunlight, making them a great choice for the beach or to pass the time waiting for a train. Better still, They absolutely sip power. Between weeks I’ve gone to Kindle or Kobo recharging e-ink slab, DESPITE using them for hours at a time. With an iPhone try that. So, When I Was extended the invitation to take Amazon’s latest Kindle, the Oasis, for a spin, I jumped at the opportunity.
Mentioned in this article
Kindle Oasis Let’s get this out of the way: The Oasis ain ‘ t cheap. It starts at $ 290. The version I tested, Which comes with a built-in 3G connection for downloading books on the go and without any irritating advertising Amazon, sells for $ 380. (You can grab it for $ 20 less “with special offers, “ie ads.) in a world Where it’s possible to pick up a great little multi-function tablet like a 16GB iPad Mini 2 with Wi-Fi and cellular for just $ 19 more, convincing anyone That a one-trick pony like the Oasis is a smart buy is a tough sell.
While Both the Oasis and the Paperwhite Have identical display sizes, Their footprints and overall weight are Significantly different.
Designed for comfort
The first thing Kindle That long-time users will notice About the Oasis is its size. Measuring 5.6×4.8×0.3 inches and weighing a mere 4.7 ounces, the Oasis is, as Amazon is quick to proclaim, the thinnest, lightest Kindle That they’ve ever made-close to two ounces lighter than Kindle 3G equipped Voyage and almost three ounces less than a current generation Kindle Paperwhite.
Like these chunkier cousins, the Oasis comes equipped with a 6-inch antiglare 300 ppi display. With the backlight turned off, I did not notice a difference Between reading on my 2014 Paperwhite and the Oasis. With the backlights but turned up, it’s a very different story. The Oasis employs 10 LEDs to Ensure even display backlighting ITS across, beating out the patchier the Paperwhite’s light four LEDs produce.
This is not to say the Paperwhite That is a horror to read on-I’ve Been satisfied with mine for years. The Oasis’s display backlighting is simply better. Its light weight and superior backlighting come at a cost, however: The Oasis has a shorter battery life than Significantly ITS recent predecessors. Kindle Paperwhite Where to go for months Could Potentially Between charges, the Oasis’s internal battery can only manage acerca two weeks of use, Depending on your reading habits
The more abuse the Oasis’ leather battery cover takes, the better it looks.
to boost the Oasis’s run time, Amazon baked a battery into the ITS cover . The battery cover, available in chestnut brown, black or leather network, will begin to charge the internal battery as soon as it’s magnetically mated to the e-reader’s asymmetrical chassis, Significantly boosting your reading time.
Amazon claims Between the Oasis That’s two batteries, it’s possible to wring eight weeks of use out of the device, provided you keep your reading to 30 minutes per day and keep the screen lighting turned down to a reasonable level. On average, I read a few hours per day. As such, a month into my using the Oasis, I’ve Already Had to charge it once.
The Oasis’s battery cover to kill it magnetically.
The edge of the Oasis That Connects to the battery cover is wider and deeper than the rest of the device and contains the e-reader’s battery. Why jam the battery into one end of the thing INSTEAD OF spreading it out flat like you see With Kindles or other tablets? Because doing so for a couple of Allows awesome features. First, When the Oasis is not in Its cover, battery bump ITS Makes a great handle for one-handed reading.
Buttons for turning the pages can be found in the bezel.
The shape and width of the bump is Such That When you hold it, your thumb naturally Rests on the wide bezel just to the side of the display. It’s a perfect location to place a pair of page-turn buttons-so that’s exactly what Amazon did.
An accelerometer Makes sure That the text on your Oasis will always be right-side up.
Lump all of this in together and you get a lightweight e-reader that you ‘can comfortably hold with one hand, while still turning pages. And thanks to a built-in accelerometer, the Oasis can be used by left or right handed Individuals without compromise. Simply flip over the Oasis and the text on ITS display and page-turn buttons will adjust to the device’s new orientation. Hate buttons? No problem. You can check the Oasis Also via ITS touchscreen
Disadvantages
So, that’s the fancy. . Let’s Talk About the plain
The Oasis use the same operating system as Amazon’s other Kindle e-readers; if You have used a Kindle in the past, you’ll find no surprises here. It has the same amount of internal storage as the Paperwhite and Voyage. And, 1GB of RAM DESPITE Having twice-That of a current generation Paperwhite-I did not notice a huge improvement in performance. None of these things are terrible, but you’d like to think it’s costing That With $ 190 more than the latest iteration of the 3G-equipped Paperwhite, there’d be a significant boost in performance.
And while we’re on the subject of 3G, do not expect to download any books via cellular while you’re outside of the United States: The Oasis’s free cellular activity extends only as far as America’s borders. Given the number of places Where I Roam Wi-Fi is scarce but cellular connectivity abounds, I found this deeply disappointing.
Bottom line
So, Should you buy one? I’ve got a few answers to this question.
If you demand the very best out of every piece of hardware you own, cost be damned, then a yes, you’ll be happy with the Kindle Oasis. DESPITE the shortcomings of Its cellular connectivity, It’s a great piece of gear and, last I checked, Amazon still Had the largest selection of book and periodical titles to choose from, anywhere. That Said, if cost is a factor, go with a Kindle Paperwhite. It’s a capable perfectly e-reader like in capability to the Oasis, but at a fraction of the price.
Subscribe to the Best of Macworld Newsletter
Thank you
Your message has-been sent.
Sorry
There was an error emailing this page
No comments:
Post a Comment