Itâs a nice reader, but the battery life is terrible compared to my older Kindles. It only lasts a day, maybe two with heavy reading. I double checked Amazonâs spec of six weeks, and thatâs based on 30 minutes a day.
Pfft! 30 minutes a day is not READING!
I bought one from Woot the last time it was on sale. Even though it was a refurbish, it came in great condition and looked brand new to me. I didnât test out waterproofing or the Bluetooth audio bits. I just use it as a reader.
Good:
- The interface is more responsive than my paperwhite. Sometimes the paperwhite was so sluggish browsing the store. Much better experience
- The display will automatically rotate whatever direction you hold it. I usually hold books with my left hand and the Oasis rotates it as needed
- The screen being a little wider is very nice. Gives you more real estate for words. Display and fonts are slightly better than PW, too. I havenât tested custom fonts yet like I have on my PW
- The backlight compensates for ambient light. If youâre reading in a bright room, it will dim automatically
Bad:
- Battery life is good, but not as good as paperwhite. I havenât really tested it out deeply, but I just plug it in when Iâm not reading anyway. Expect plugging it more than the PW
- The shape is âmehâ Iâd prefer a smooth back like the paperwhite .vs the âhumpâ the Oasis has
- I wasnât a fan of their revised âhome pageâ. The PW was a simple list of titles while Oasis has covers, too. Makes it clunky when you have a lot of books
Bottom line? If youâre a big reader and have a spare 99 bucks itâs a good device to have. Looks nice, easy to read on, and able to hold hundreds of books.
If you already have a paperwhite, you can give it a pass unless youâre like me and want to try out something new. I think the $250+ price tag for new is way too much for what youâre getting with it.
tâs a nice reader, but the battery life is terrible compared to my older Kindles. It only lasts a day, maybe two with heavy reading. I double checked Amazonâs spec of six weeks, and thatâs based on 30 minutes a day.
I agree. The battery life on my oasis seems to be lacking compared to the paperwhite. I bought my oasis new so itâs not just a ârefurbished thingâ either. I do like the additional screen real estate and Iâve always preferred buttons for page turns rather than swiping. At full retail price I donât feel like thereâs enough of a difference to warrant the extra price of the new oasis compared to the current generation paperwhite.
Ok Iâm in the market for an Oasis. I read a lot before going to sleep.
Do you all think buying a new one for $250 is worth it compared to scooping this deal?
You would think that âspecial offersâ would not be a thing on a refurb device. Feels weirdly wrong, somehowâŚ
- âHey, we fixed this up so itâs usableâ
- âYeah⌠And for another $30 we will leave you aloneâ
Looking for awhile to start reading more. Since I can find recharging anyplace including portable charging what the heck, $99 why not. I am going to give it a try. The features are nice including Aduible. There is worse things to spend money on. Reading is great diversion. IMHO
If you are serious about wanting the Oasis over the Paperwhite this deal is a no brainer, just do it. As others have mentioned, its a great device, but the battery life is really short (compared to the Paperwhite). These usually come with a 90 day warranty, so if you have any issues with the refurb you get just return it right away, but my experience with Woot refurb items has been really good, no problems.
I purchased an Oasis (32gb) here on Woot the last time it came up. Please allow me a few words to address some of the things others here have mentioned and a few of my own issues:
- Short battery life - Yes, the Oasis does appear to have a much shorter battery life than the standard Paperwhite but there are a few tricks to getting the most time out of your reader. First, turn off the Bluetooth and wi-fi. Second, disable the variable feature for the lighting (the Oasis has 25 LED lights vs. the 5 or 7 on the Paperwhite). Doing both of these things may be a little bit more inconvenient but should extend your battery life into the âweeksâ category.
Note - If you keep your wi-fi off except to download another book the feature that keeps all of your Kindles or Kindle apps updated to your latest place in a book will not work as it should. If you switch between devices (such as your Oasis and your phone, for example) this could be inconvenient. If you only ever use a single device then itâs really not an issue. - Different Home Screen - The main home screen can be changed in the settings to the same simple list of books as on previous Kindles so this is really not an issue.
- The ergonomics (size, shape, etc.) were designed for one-handed holding from a corner. Yes it is an extra move to âflipâ the Oasis every time you switch hands but when gripping the thick edge the weight distribution and balance are much better than the smaller Paperwhite despite the larger screen. On the other side of the coin, the Paperwhite can be held from the back with your hand spanning from edge-to-edge whereas the Oasis is too wide to comfortably hold across the back even for my large mits.
Note - if you are looking for a Kindle with 8gb and is waterproof like the Oasis but are not sold on the shape of the Oasis, the new version of the Paperwhite has both these new features and should be showing up as Used or Refurbished next year if you think you can wait. - My new-to-me Oasis from Woot came in a brown Amazon box and looked perfectly new. However, it was still registered to its previous user and the software was so wonky I almost sent it back. The touch screen was WAAAY out of sync which made the keyboard useless. Fortunately I was able to reset the device (luckily there was no security code enabled from the prior user) and I had to have enough patience to wait for TWO separate software updates before it would work as advertised. It was a near thing and I almost got frustrated but patience paid off in the end and now I am now VERY happy with how it is working out for me.
Overall this is a great deal for a Kindle Oasis. Just have reasonable expectations and know that you may need a bit of patience in the end but I saved a ton of money for mine here on Woot and would do it again.
Wow, I really donât understand why people bother with e-readers when we all have a mini e-reader in our pocket or purse. I read on my phone hours a day with zero problem. Is it the ultimate, Zen reading experience that an e-reader is? (Iâm guessing. Never had one, but there must be something to them if people keep buying them.) No, but the minor issues with it donât bother me at all (turn it landscape and the lines are about the length of a paperback - no extra work for your eyes) and in return I always have a library in my pocket I can whip out in two seconds for effortless one-handed reading. I literally read ten times more since I started reading on my phone. Canât help but see e-readers as completely superfluous.
Q: Does this iteration have the soft, non-blue lighting option?
That and waterproof would be why I would purchase this.
I also have the voyage which I love, but I am nervous reading in the tub with it and currently wearing blue-blocking readers at night which I would rather not wear.
I believed pretty much what you say here at first but I made the switch to an eReader regardless. The mat textured screen, eInk display, slightly larger size and adjustable backlighting make it much easier on my eyes to read in every lighting condition. On an eReader, there is no reflected glare like on a phone screen and the lighting is not as âintenseâ (for the lack of a better term). I can read for hours on a reader vs an hour or less on a phone. The larger screen equals larger fonts plus fewer page turns than on my phone. Plus the battery on a Kindle is worth weeks, and using it to read will not affect the life of my phone battery as phone screens use much more power than an eInk display.
Do I still use my phone to read? Absolutely. My phone is great in a pinch when I am stuck somewhere waiting for something - it is small and convenient and always with me. But for serious reading Iâm all in on a Kindle or something similar.
The 2017 version is waterproof but does not have the warm (non-blue) lighting that you mention. However, you should be able to get a blue-blocking screen cover for it. Here is an Amazon link for one:
Can an actual Kindle link to your Kindle app so you open your Kindle and itâs automatically on the page you stopped on your phone? That would be something. Might inspire me to get a cheap Kindle for home. But the phone is far too easy to see myself ever carrying around a separate device.
Phone has never been a problem for my eyes at all. And fewer page turns is actually just fewer thumb taps. Not an issue. It does drain the battery. But I work in an office, can charge during the day. It would take a lot more than that to overcome the convenience advantage. But hey, to each their own.
Iâll admit, Iâm curious about ereaders. Just not $100 curious.
Admittedly your eyes are probably younger than mine, but the answer to your question is Yes. So long as you have connectivity (wi-fi or cellular), if you switch devices and open the same book on the new device it will ask if you want to go to the furthest page read. I could read my Oasis in bed one evening, open the Kindle app on my phone while waiting at the doctorâs office the next afternoon, then go back to the Oasis that evening and will be on the same page I last left off at every time - a VERY convenient feature. This is true regardless if you have multiple Kindle apps on multiple devices (for example, your phone and a tablet), if you read using the Amazon Cloud Reader from your desktop/laptopâs browser, and/or have multiple Kindle devices all on the same account.
In fact, you can even have Alexa read any Kindle book that youâve gotten through Amazon on an Echo device. Admittedly her diction and inflection is not as natural as living narrators on Audible, but it is convenient if nothing else. You can have her do this via the Alexa app on your phone and just indicate which Echo you want to listen to in your house.
If the Oasis is a bit pricey for you to give it a try, Woot now has the 2016 version of the Paperwhite up for sale.
Wow, I really donât understand why people bother with e-readers when we all have a mini e-reader in our pocket or purse.
Have you ever used an e-ink screen?
Never had one, but there must be something to them if people keep buying them.
Ah, there it is. 
Treat yourself. If not this one for a hundred, pick up one of the other deals for $30-50 when they come around. The anti-glare, perfectly readable in direct sunlight, gently backlit e-ink screen is a wonderful thing.
At least borrow one. Then youâll get it.
Why would a refurb get break that the brand new ones donât?
At least you know what youâre worth to Amazon now - $30.
The shape is âmehâ Iâd prefer a smooth back like the paperwhite .vs the âhumpâ the Oasis has
Iâve found that using the hump as a finger grab spot works pretty well for me. Though my cookie hooks are so long that I can palm the Oasis too.
I wasnât a fan of their revised âhome pageâ. The PW was a simple list of titles while Oasis has covers, too. Makes it clunky when you have a lot of books
Thanks to Jon651âs comment, I found the setting. On the home page, change Sort from Grid to List.
Note - If you keep your wi-fi off except to download another book the feature that keeps all of your Kindles or Kindle apps updated to your latest place in a book will not work as it should. If you switch between devices (such as your Oasis and your phone, for example) this could be inconvenient. If you only ever use a single device then itâs really not an issue.
Thatâs ok, that features doesnât work for me a lot of the time anyway.
