I did post the essential specs on this reader about a week back (https://gadgeteer.co.za/new-kindle-oasis-10th-generation-e-reader-arrived-today) and noted then that it was a worthwhile upgrade for me from my Paperwhite 6th edition. So the same pro’s still count regarding the resolution and larger screen size.
However, after using it quite intensively I can now comment on a few other aspects around its usability (I’m not going to repeat a full review like many others have already done on its features):
- One slightly negative aspect is the top edge has a slightly sharp finish, which chafed a bit on my hand when I was lying down and reading. In this position, I have it corner down to balance it. I noticed it is not such an issue if sitting upright. The use of a good cover will help (I have ordered one as I always like to use one, and it will also have auto wake/sleep functionality). The older Paperwhite was a matt plastic type finish with slightly more rounded corners, so did not have this issue.
- How to hold it took about a day to get used to as its shape and weight distribution are different to the Paperwhite. There are various ways to hold it but again sitting upright is a lot easier than lying down, and I had to also recalibrate my “muscle memory”.
- The thin bezel on one side compounded with the flush touchscreen (older Paperwhites had the screen recessed below the bezel) means that if you hold it on the thin bezel side you may often trigger a page turn by mistake. It is intended to be held by the thicker side though, although I don’t like rotating it when I switch hands. There is an option though to quickly disable the touchscreen which solves this (it resets after rewaking the device).
- The page turn buttons are really nice and well situated so that you don’t have to move your grip at all to use them. I’ve mostly been using the buttons.
- Regarding audio reading, it has no speaker or earphones jack, so you do need to pair a Bluetooth device. I easily paired my wireless ear buds as well as my Google Home Mini speaker. Audible books naturally work perfectly with the onscreen controls easily visible. I also tried out the built-in VoiceView Screen Reader (text-to-speech) to see if it would work like the older Kindles did with their speakers. It works and sounds much the same (it is machine reading versus Audible’s voice actors which sound better) but you have to use touch gestures to control it which I found quite difficult to get used to. I suppose if you use this a lot you’d get used to it but it is way more cumbersome than the old keyboard Kindles which had button shortcuts to start and stop reading (or the mobile apps that also do this). I’ve put a link at the bottom to hear what the two audio versions sound like.
- Special offer ads did not appear for me as they are country dependent.
- Despite the screen being glass, it does diffuse any reflections.
- The LED lighting is very even, and I noticed no bright or dull areas. The orange colour mode worked as expected and I have scheduled mine to come on after 10pm until 7am.
I’m extremely happy with my upgrade to the Oasis (also because of the Black Friday special) and unless colour eInk gets affordable by the end of 2020 I’ll be using this Oasis for a good few years to come.
See the photos with notes at https://photos.gadgeteer.co.za/index.php?/category/kindleoasis and listen to the two audio reading alternatives at https://soundcloud.com/danievdm/sets/kindle-oasis-audio-reading-comparison.
#technology #ereader #reading #gadget
