96 JULY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE389
THEREWASONLYonethingmissingfrom
thepreviousKindleOasis(Shopper361):a
bluelightfilter.Whileeverysmartphone
manufacturerontheplanetwasacceptingthhe
medicallyrecognisedfactthatbeamingblue
lightintoyoureyesjustbeforeyougoto
sleepisn’tideal,Amazonploughedonwith
regularLEDsinitspremiume-reader.
Withthislatestmodel,however,theUS
retailgianthasseenthewarm,orange
light andaddedsuchafilter.Youcannow
readat bedtimesafeintheknowledge
that it won’t beyourreadinghabitthat’s
disturbingyoursleep.
TWO-SIDEDARGUMENT
ThisKindleOasisisphysicallyidenticalto
the previousmodel,whichisto saythat
it’s prettyfromtherearandnotsopretty
fromthefront.Theanodisedaluminium
finish feelslovelyandsmoothunderthe
finger,andthere’salittlestepabout
two-thirdsof thewayacross,givingyou
agriptoholdonto.
We’relesskeenontheuglyblackborder
surroundingthescreenatthefront,aswell
as thefactthattheborderismuchwider
on onesidethantheother.Thishasa
practicalsideeffect,however.Thesidewith
thewiderborderhousestheKindleOasis’s
two physicalpage-turnbuttons–afeature
lackedby lesserKindles–anditgivesyoua
littlemoretoholdontoaswell.
Onthatnote, youcanholdtheOasis
with thewideborderto theleftortheright
of thescreen;thedisplaywillfliporientation
soit’stherightwayuphoweveryouholdit.
Again,thisisafeatureneitherthestandard
KindlenorPaperwhiteshare.
Elsewhere,theKindleOasisremainsvery
light,weighingamere188g,isextremely
comfortableto holdforlongperiods,andis
stillwaterprooftotheIPX8standard,which
meansitcanbesubmergedinfreshwaterto
adepthof twometresforuptoanhour.
Itretainsmostof therestof theprevious
KindleOasis’skeyfeatures,too. There’s
Bluetooth,whichletsyouconnectapairof
wirelessheadphonesforlisteningto your
Audibleaudiobooks.Andifyouownboth
ebookandAudibleaudiobookeditions,the
Oasiscansynchroniseyourreadingposition
betweenthetwo.
Surprisingly,giventheAudibleintegration,
youstillcan’taddextrastorageviamicroSD,
whichisjustbaffling,andneithercanyou
AMAZON Kindle
Oasis(2019)
★★★★★
£230•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
It’snotmuchofanupgradefromthe
previousmodel,buttheOasisstillhasthe
besthardwareofanye-reader
connecttolldd-schhoollanalloguehheaddphhones,as
there’sno3.5mmheadphonejack.
Onefinalnoteofmilddisappointmentis
thatnewKindleOasisnolongerseemsto
havemagnetsembeddedattherear,soit
won’tworkwiththeattractive,magnetic
slimlinecasesthatthepreviousversion
workedwith.
SHARPLYOBSERVED
Asbefore,theKindleOasishasa7inE-Ink
touchscreen,withapixeldensityof300ppi.
Thisdeliversasuperlativereadingexperience.
E-Inkdisplaysareeasierontheeyethanthe
LCDandOLEDscreensonsmartphonesand
tabletsand,asaresult,aremorecomfortable
to readforlongperiodsof time.
It’samonochromedisplay, butyoudon’t
needcolourforreadingbooks,andatthat
tasktheOasis’sdisplayexcels.Characterson
thescreenaresharpandclear,andthe
contrastbetweentextandpagebackground
isexcellent.Youcanalsotweaktheline
spacing,charactersizeandfont,margins
and justificationto yourliking.
Forreadingatnightorindimlylit
conditions,theKindleOasishasaseriesof
built-inwhiteandamberLEDsarranged
aroundtheedgesof thedisplay. Indaylight
mode,thesecastaperfectlyflat,evenglow
acrossthescreen,andtheycanbeadjusted
manuallyorautomatically,accordingto the
ambientlightconditions.
Theadjustablewarmlightworksequally
well.Asecondaryarrayof13amberLEDs
illuminatesthescreeninvaryingdegreesof
orangelliighhtt.TThheaiimiisttoredducetthhereadder’’s
exposuretobluelightjustbeforegoingto
bed,andthusimprovethequalityof their
sleep.AswiththewhiteLEDlighting,the
‘warmth’ofthedisplaycanbeadjustedby
wayofasimple,onscreenslidercontrol.
Slide itto therightandthescreentakeson
apronouncedorangeyappearance;slideit
to theleftandtheeffectismoresubtle.
NIGHT SHIFT
Theeffectcanbesimplyadjustedmanually
likethis,oryoucansetitto switchon
and off to apredefinedschedule.It’salso
possibleto haveitfadeinandoutin
synchronisationwiththesunsetand
sunrise.Howeveryouchooseto controlit,
the LEDsproduceaperfectlyeven
illuminationacrossthedisplay, withno
bright ordimspotsatallbrightnesslevels.
Thisisagreatnewfeatureandonethat
we’vebeenwantingforaverylongtime.
However,thenewKindleOasisisn’tquite
an essentialupgrade,atleastnotto anyone
whoalreadyownsthe2017model.Aside
from thenewwarmfrontlightandthe
rather strangewithdrawalof thecover
magnetsfromtherear,it’sexactlythe
same Kindleasthepreviousmodelat
exactly thesameprice.Ifyoualreadyown
aKindleOasis,it’snotreallyworth£230
just forthenewlightingsystem.
Ontheotherhand,ifyou’relookingto
moveupfromastandardKindle–orany
otherlower-tiere-reader–there’snothing
betterthantheKindleOasis.
E-READERS
