NOVEMBER 2019 PCWorld 77touchscreen, the device showed no signs of
malfunctioning. Again, odds are the Oasis
won’t be subjected to that level of water
exposure during real-world reading, but it
can handle a few drops of rain or a splash in
the pool.BOTTOM LINE
The All-new Oasis remains the ultimate
Kindle. Its level of luxury is unparalleled in the
e-reader category, and certainly no other
reading device can match the range of
content a Kindle can provide.
Understandably, even the base-level Oasis
won’t fit within everyone’s budget. For those
folks, the scaled-down Kindle Paperwhite (go.
pcworld.com/prwt) or All-new Kindle (go.
pcworld.com/alnw) will let you take
advantage of all the digital content Amazon
has to offer at a fraction of the price.Kindle Oasis
PROS- New color-adjustable front light lets you cool or
warm the lighting. - Waterproof.
- Light weight and sharp text makes it comfortable to
read for hours.
CONS - Can only play audiobooks from Audible.
- Expensive.
BOTTOM LINE
The All-New Kindle Oasis is well-built and a pleasure
to read on. It’s well-worth the expense for serious
readers.
$249
Of course, you can customize the font, type
size, line spacing, page margins, and more to
your liking.
Now that even the entry-level Kindle
includes front lighting, the feature doesn’t
seem so novel anymore, but it’s still a
welcome inclusion for nocturnal readers. As
with the warmth lighting, you can adjust it
manually in the settings menu. I found it
easier, though, to leave it to the device’s
built-in light sensor to adjust it automatically
based on the room’s ambient light. I usually
found its level selection just right.
Reading on the Oasis remains a luxurious
affair. I’ve always found it a little awkward to
hold the basic Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite.
Holding with thumbs on their bezels
inevitably results in errant page swipes, so I
typically resort to cupping those devices by
the edges. That solves the page-turning
issue but makes my hands fatigue faster. The
Oasis’s battery bump makes the perfect
handle for cradling the device comfortably in
one hand. From there you can easily manage
the page-turn buttons with your thumb,
which I find much more precise than finger-
swiping the touchscreen. Its feather-light
weight allowed me to read for hours without
any physical discomfort.
I’m not a bathtub reader, but in the
interest of stress-testing the Oasis’
waterproof feature I submerged it in a bowl
of water. Other than a few page turns, no
doubt from the pressure of the water on the