Today Amazon introduced the Kindle Oasis — the eighth generation of Kindle — “crafted from the ground up for readers,” Amazon says. It is 30 per cent thinner and over 20 per cent lighter than any other Kindle, and includes a charging cover that delivers “months of battery life”.
You can put an Oasis on pre-order in Australia today for $449, and Amazon says it will start shipping in the coming weeks. Here’s what it can do.
The Oasis is designed to feel weightless, Amazon says. “Incredibly thin, with an ergonomic grip that shifts the centre of gravity to the palm of your hand — creating the perfect balance so you can read comfortably for hours with one hand.”
The dual-battery charging system provides the longest battery life of any Kindle, and the included removable leather charging cover lets you read “for months” without plugging it in.
“It’s the most advanced Kindle we’ve ever built — thin and ultra-lightweight, it gets out of the way so you can lose yourself in the author’s world,” says Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO.
“To lean back and read for hours, you need a sanctuary from distraction. We want Kindle to disappear, and Kindle Oasis is the next big step in that mission.”
The Oasis weighs 131g and is 3.4mm at its thinnest point. To achieve this, Kindle Oasis has a featherweight polymer frame that is plated with metal by structural electroplating — this makes the device incredibly light while ensuring it has the strength and rigidity of metal so it is resilient enough to take anywhere you want to read.
You can turn the page with either the touch display or physical buttons, and a built-in accelerometer detects whether you are reading with your left or right hand — automatically rotating the page (and page turn buttons) to match.
As soon as you connect the cover to Kindle Oasis, the battery in the cover begins recharging Kindle Oasis automatically. The battery in the cover uses “a custom cell architecture” that optimises power and energy while keeping an incredibly small and light form factor and delivering months of battery life. You can charge the device and cover simultaneously while both are snapped together and plugged in. A new hibernation mode minimises power consumption when your Kindle is inactive.
The included charging cover is made of high-quality leather, has a magnetic closure, and is available in Australia in black. The cover opens like a book and fits closely around the bezel, waking Kindle Oasis when opened and putting it to sleep when closed.
The display is a high-resolution 300 ppi Paperwhite display. A redesigned built-in front light features 60 per cent more LEDs making it the brightest Kindle display ever, and “leverages new cylindrical diffractive patterns to increase the consistency and range of screen brightness for improved reading in all types of lighting,” Amazon says.
The Oasis features the first Kindle display designed using a 200 micron display backplane that is as thin as a single sheet of aluminium foil, “but is robust enough for you to throw in your bag and take with you on-the-go”, combined with a custom cover glass engineered from chemically-reinforced glass.
You can pre-order from today at Officeworks or on Amazon.