With most of its weight, two buttons and some extra frame shifted to one side, the Oasis is designed to be the easiest possible one-handed reading experience. Photo: Amazon
The humble e-reader doesn't get as many flashy updates or design overhauls as the smartphone or tablet. Hoping to look and act as much like a book — square, inert, intuitive — as possible, there's not really a whole lot the likes of Amazon or Kobo can add.
It came as a surprise, then, when earlier this week rumours began circulating about a fancy new Kindle that featured a bold new look, and the device was officially unveiled late on Wednesday night.
With an unconventional shape, a few improvements and an Australian RRP of $449, the Kindle Oasis marks a new high-end option for e-book fans, adding to Amazon's existing range of the basic $109 Kindle, the pretty $179 Paperwhite and the premium $299 Voyage.
The included leather cover comes in a choice of three styles, and also boosts the Kindle's battery.
In some ways the Oasis isn't too far removed from the rest of the Kindle family. Like the other models it has a six-inch e-ink display designed to read more like a piece of paper than a glass screen, with an improved built-in light and the sharp 300ppi resolution seen in all but the base model.
Like its siblings it also comes with 4GB of storage to hold "thousands of books", and like the Paperwhite you have the choice of going Wi-Fi only or paying a bit more for a model with subscription-free 3G for downloading on the go.
What sets the Oasis apart is its design, which makes the device more book-like than ever while simultaneously boosting its cred as a gadget with quirky lines and unbelievable slightness. At just 131 grams (add two more if you want the 3G version), the device is a full 50 grams lighter than the already feather-like Voyage, and 168 grams lighter than the Wi-Fi iPad Mini 4.
Despite changes to the design and backlight, the Oasis features the same 6-inch 300ppi screen as its siblings. Photo: Amazon
The bulk of that 131 grams is focused in a bulge on one side of the Oasis, which evokes the spine of a book and also allows the rest of the device to be incredibly thin. While reading one-handed was always fairly easy with a Kindle, the new balancing and a pair of buttons on the spine side promise to make it almost effortless. The extra frame gives the Oasis a characteristic square outline and should allow for a decent grip without covering any text.
Finally, the feature most likely responsible for the sizeable jump in price is the included cover which — as well as making the Oasis look like a classy leather notebook — extends the battery so your Kindle can stay on standby for months at a time without a charge. By Amazon's estimation, reading for half an hour a day with the cover attached will result in eight weeks of battery life.
Whether or not the new features justify a price difference of $270 over the Paperwhite will largely depend on whether you see the Kindle as a gadget or a surrogate book. Seemingly the core purpose of an e-reader — downloading and displaying e-books — is served identically by both devices.
But incremental improvements to design and battery is the exact kind of thing we generally see from phone- and tablet-makers, and Amazon is clearly hoping it works as well for e-readers.
The Kindle Oasis will be available from April 27, and is up for pre-order on Amazon.com.
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