I have no idea there is a Kindle Voyager.
Fortunately I don’t read near a pool or while taking a bath, so the water issue doesn’t matter to me one bit. Battery life though…
Well there was only about 2 years between Oasis 2 and 3, and the 3 launched mid-2019…
But I don’t think there are even any rumours at this point so you’re probably pretty safe. :)
My Paperwhite is still kicking along nicely, even though it’s an older model. It still gets daily use so it makes sense to me to upgrade to something more premium.
This sums up well my experience. The battery life is still plenty long but the real features I love are the overall design in the way it makes it easier to hold and the physical buttons. It really is easier to hold in one hand due to the way it’s weighted towards one side and the physical buttons I use to turn the page with the hand holding the Oasis.
These things are somewhat trivial because a Paperwhite is easy enough to hold but considering how much time I spend reading, they are very nice to have.
It’s fine for night reading. I use it all the time, including during the day.
The whole battery cover thing was the original incarnation of the Oasis. The current version doesn’t use any such thing and gets weeks of battery life. Is it less than the Paperwhite? I couldn’t say, I haven’t used my Paperwhite in quite a while. But I can definitely go multiple weeks between charges, so if it is I don’t know that it’s enough less to care.
I really like mine. That said, most of the features I bought it for are now in the Paperwhite latest gen. Except physical page turn buttons. Which are fucking critical and never should have been ditched from any model of the Kindle, but I don’t think I could personally justify the price just for that.
Looks like I need to get a new Oasis. I seem to have lost it during a house move. That’s the thing about the Kindles – they are so slender and small if you tuck them away somewhere and forget where you put them, they are almost invisible. It could still be in a box, but I have looked. I still have my old Paperwhite but I miss my Oasis.
Anyway, I read that the expectation is that Prime Day may happen in June this year so I am waiting for that to get one.
I got the Oasis a few years back when the new ones came out and I really like it - as mentioned it’s super nice one handed with the buttons not just existing and being easier to tap with one hand than touching the screen, but the buttons can be configured (I hold mine low on the edge, so I swapped next/previous page around so next page is the bottom button). The battery may not be “as long” but it still lasts several months, with my reading habits being about 2-3 hours of reading per week. It’s not as crazy awesome as the Paperwhite battery, but it’s still miles better than, say, a phone. Fantastic contrast, excellent options, I love the flat finish (which is something new Paperwhite’s now do as well - in fact most of the best features of the Oasis as a reader itself the new Paperwhite’s got about a year after I bought my Oasis). Except the one-handed button use being something I like I’d probably get a Paperwhite if my Oasis ever died on me - it was pretty expensive and I’m not totally sure the price was worth it, given the Paperwhite’s got a lot of the features I liked when I pulled the trigger in 2019.
One thing that bugs me is it doesn’t sit flat without using the case, and I hate the case. It’s in my way all the time when I want to hold it one handed, so I just entirely stopped using it almost as soon as I put it on, just about. I think I made it about a week and I was like “fuck this” and I don’t use a case nor do I miss one, in fact I forgot about the thing until reading some of the replies here. But, I do have to keep my phone around for when I want to lay it flat - I rest the thin side on my phone so it’s more level, and doesn’t tilt a bit when I push the next page button. This is only a thing when I’m at the gym and I have the phone up while I hit the cardio bikes/elliptical as I like to read while I do that.
Just out of curiosity, given the idea of physical buttons for page turning–is there a left-handed version of the device?
Just flip it around. It goes both ways.
I’m right-handed but I routinely flip it over and use it with my left depending on what I’m doing and how long I’ve been reading.
One consideration is that the Oasis is still using micro-USB for charging, so if you’re trying to go all-in with USB-C, might wait for an updated model. Definitely try to buy one on sale. $250 is a bit pricey, when the Paperwhite is only $130. I paid $200 for mine on sale at Best Buy and it was down to $175 on Amazon during Black Friday. I bought a 3rd party case for $25. You’ll want a case so the Oasis auto-sleeps by simply closing the lid.
Overall I really like the Oasis. If you do a lot of reading, it’s a nice way to treat yourself.
There never was a Kindle Voyager. There was a Kindle Voyage. :) And it was definitely a great model.
Adding to the “love my Oasis” chorus. As far as the USB C thing goes, I’ve gone all-in on USB C cables, but bought a few C-to-Micro adapters off Amazon for older devices. That way I can carry fewer cables when traveling butt still charge everything. I have the second model (2018?) and its battery still goes a couple of weeks between charges with pretty constant usage.
I think cases just add bulk and expense. It’ll autosleep after a few minutes anyway and it’s e-ink so it makes no difference that it’s not immediate.
I like the Oasis, but not $250 like it. The Voyage is still going.
I’d be somewhat interested in an A4 or Letter sized Kindle branded e-reader.
Every now and then I almost pull the trigger on an Oasis, and then I go, “$250!?!?! Awwww hell no.”
I got a refurb model 8 Oasis when the model 9 was coming out. Price was about $99 less, so you can look at that as an option if you want buttons (and if you read a lot, esp in bed, you do). I still have my original Kindle 3g as a backup - if/when I travel internationally again, I may use that for the free worldwide 3g to shop/download books. Otherwise I just use Wifi or do a hotspot with my phone.
I didn’t know that the 3g works internationally without needing to have a local SIM. How did they achieve it? Oasis has a cellular model, is that the same thing?
Cellular = 3G, yes. I didn’t know it was worldwide, but I haven’t had it since my first Kindle (the Kindle 2, for the record) as Wifi is cheaper and I have literally never needed to download books when I wasn’t near a wifi connection. Hell, I only even turn my wifi on about once a month usually. I’ve got over 4000 books loaded (I cull every book I finish), so there’s zero danger of me running out. also I haven’t travelled internationally since 2006.
You are 100% not inside the target demographic haha. I have a grey nomad auntie who caravans around Australia. She rarely ever has access to wifi, so the 3g kindle was the most amazing thing to her.
I’ve used a Paperwhite for quite some time and always wanted to have physical buttons again. The Oasis was way too expensive for me, so I returned to my first Kindle, the 3 (or keyboard as it’s now called). It’s strange: I enjoy the handling more than I miss the screen light which I thought was indispensable.
Yeah, I have two Kindles, an old Paperwhite and a second-gen I think Oasis. Neither have cellular. Neither does my old iPad Air 2. Too cheap to pay for another line.