Amazon Kindle Oasis: The Rolls Royce of e-readers?

Amazon has been offering Kindles in various guises since 2007, but its latest creation is "almost a luxury item in a class of its own", according to Samuel Gibbs in The Guardian.

The Kindle Oasis is the company's most expensive e-reader by some margin, but it's also its "biggest step forward" yet, refined from years of making Kindles.

So, what's Amazon's pricey new Oasis like?

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Design

The Oasis is thinner and lighter than any Kindle before it, sporting an all-new asymmetrical design, tipping the scales at just 4.5oz, and tapering down to a thickness of just 0.15ins at its thinnest end.

The Verge is full of praise for the design – but from a function over form point of view first and foremost. Thanks to its slightly unconventional design, the e-reader is much more comfortable to hold and use for long periods of time compared to most.

As a result, its centre of gravity rests firmly in the hand. The Oasis "feels less like holding a screen and more like holding a mini magazine with its pages folded back" when removed from its cover, says the site.

The Oasis is "gorgeous", Alphr says, and light and small enough to be carried around in a pocket. "The offset screen at the front and the grip at the rear gives you somewhere to put your fingers and thumbs while reading without having to worry too much about turning the page by accident," it adds, pointing out the very welcome return of physical page-turn buttons. "It all adds up to a device that's a joy to hold for long periods."

The body itself is made of electroplated plastic and the display has been strengthened, so it should be more shock resistant than older Kindles. Buyers will get a premium cover thrown in which clips magnetically into the back of the reader. Available in black or brown, it's made of full grained premium leather and is a "proper, luxury accessory".

Display

The Oasis gets a six-inch display and it's more or less the same hardware that you'll find on the firm's Voyage reader - a paper-white display with a pixel density of 300ppi.

Amazon has ditched the ambient light sensor, but it does have an orientation sensor so the text flips and rotates with a turn of the e-reader.

However, the biggest change on paper is how the screen is illuminated. Amazon has used 60 per cent more LEDs on the Oasis to give a brighter and more evenly lit display.

"There's none of the splotchiness found on cheaper Kindles", Engadget says, and despite being more or less the same display as the one used on the Voyage, Amazon has now "pretty much mastered" e-ink screens: "There's an "inkiness" to the display that makes text and line art appealing to your eyes."

Battery and connectivity

Amazon rates the Oasis at 28 hours battery life – that accounts for 30 minutes reading time a day, with the brightness level pegged just below halfway at ten and with wi-fi switched off. Used like this, you'd be able to use your Oasis for eight weeks on a single charge.

Of course, wi-fi connectivity is thrown in so users can download new books without needing the device to be connected to a PC, but a 3G option is also available, which weighs and costs slightly more than the entry level Wi-Fi only model.

Software and user interface

Pocket-Lint says navigating the Oasis is a "premium experience" and stepping back to use one of the firm's older or cheaper devices could feel like an "awkward regression."

The software is the same operating system you'll find on any updated Kindle device, with an overhauled home screen showcasing recently bought and read books and a new navigation banner running along the top of the display.

There's seamless Smart Lookup, Wikipedia, Whispersync and Kindle store integration built into the device and it's responsive - the page-turning buttons and the touchscreen both react quickly to prompts.

The Guardian says the Oasis is a "Bentley" to the "Golf" that is the Kindle Paperwhite. Both are impressive and get the job done, but the new e-reader is a luxury item and the one you'll want but not necessarily need. This seems to be a running trend among the tech press – many are deeply impressed by the Oasis's capabilities and quality but are unsure if it is a necessity.

Price

And here's the sticking point. The Oasis is very expensive and Amazon clearly has premium buyers in mind, pricing it at £100 more than the Kindle Voyage.

A wi-fi only Oasis comes in at £269 compared to the equivalent Voyage at £169. For a 3G-enabled model, the price jumps to £329.

The jury is still out as to whether the premium is worth it but for now, and with the price disregarded, it would seem the Oasis is the best e-reader on the market right now.