You can learn most of what you need to know from my review of its predecessor. It’s probably still the best ‘luxury’ e-reader out there, but there’s little reason to upgrade from the existing Oasis or Paperwhite, which both offer waterproofing and a high-resolution display. All that being said, the new color temperature adjustments are welcome, especially if you do a lot of reading indoors in dim lighting and rely on the screen’s backlighting. While the cool white backlight on previous Kindles is great outdoors, it takes on a distracting blue-ish hue indoors, since most indoor lighting is far warmer than daylight. Of course, if you use a bright source light and rely on the Kindle’s reflective e-ink, this is a moot point. But I usually prefer having some degree of backlighting on, and the Oasis’ auto-brightness setting will generally add some illumination anyway.
Consider the new Oasis a tentative recommendation. If you read a lot and plan on doing most of it on an ereader, I think ponying the $250+ for the larger display and warm lighting is worth it over the $130+ Paperwhite. It makes the ereader that much closer to reading a physical book. But for most people, the Paperwhite is still a better buy – or if you just care about the larger screen, you can get a used 2017 Kindle Oasis for cheap in the days to come. If the new Kindle Oasis tickles your fancy, you can buy one here. Shipments are currently delayed till July 30, but prices start at $250 for the 8 GB model with ads and no cellular data, ranging up to $350 for the 32 GB model with LTE and no ads. If you want to save some money, you can buy a Paperwhite for $129+ here, or check out some used deals on the 2017 Oasis here. This post includes affiliate links to products that you can buy online. If you purchase them through our links, we get a small cut of the revenue.
