The Amazon Kindle Oasis 3 came out in 2019 and this might be the last release. The one big advantage of this e-reader was the 7 inch screen and 300 PPI resolution. When this model came out, all other readers in the company’s portfolio was only six inches and there is something compelling with having more screen real estate to read text on. The Oasis days are numbered with the advent of the Kindle Paperwhite 5 and the Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition, both have 6.8 inch screens, in addition to a ton of new accessories.
The Paperwhite Signature Edition and Paperwhite 5 both feature a 6.8 inch E INK Carta HD touchscreen display with a resolution of 1430 x 1080 and 300 PPI. The screen is completely flush with the bezel and protected by a layer of glass. The previous generation Kindle Paperwhite 4, had an excellent lighting system, with 5 LED lights, but the Signature takes it to an entirely new level, it has 17 white and amber LED lights, giving users the ability to get a candlelight effect on the screen, simply by blending the two. It is also possible to just use the amber lights, or the white lights and not blend them. The Signature edition has an all new auto-adjusting light sensor.
Underneath the hood is a NXP/Freescale 1GHZ processor, 1GB of RAM and the Kindle 5 has 16 GB of storage, while the Sig has 32GB of internal storage. You will be able to connect it up to your MAC or PC via an all new USB-C cable, whereas the Oasis has Micro USB. Both new Kindles also have Bluetooth, but Amazon has not disclosed the version number, it is likely 5.1. This will allow you to connect up a pair of wireless headphones or an external speaker and listen to audiobooks from Audible. The Signature also has Qi wireless charging, and Amazon is selling a charging dock for it.Â
The new Paperwhites have comparable screens, a higher version of Bluetooth and USB-C. You also get more storage at a cheaper price. They also have more LED lights. The only advantages the Oasis has, is the .2 inch larger screen, the NXP dual-core processor and you can get the cellular model, for buying books while outside of a WIFI zone. The one thing I never liked about the Oasis is the hump on the back and the weird asymmetrical design, I have always found it unwieldly to hold during long reading sessions.
The main reason why the Oasis went through countless iterations was the large screen and it was considered the flagship e-reader. I believe that Amazon will likely discontinue the Oasis, just like they did the Voyage. It doesn’t make sense to charge people iPad Mini kind of money for a Kindle. You can buy the Paperwhite 5 for around $149 Canadian or the Signature Edition for $209, it is way cheaper in the US. The Oasis, which never goes on sale, retails for $329, which is over $100 more expensive for hardware made in 2018.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
