Why you should buy the most premium Kindle on Prime Day

The Kindle Oasis has been reduced on Amazon by a not insubstantial $75, bringing it down to its ‘Amazon product Prime Day reduction’ low price of $175 at Amazon. While this makes it cheaper than full price, it’s still around $50 more expensive than the next Kindle down the list, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition. But what are you getting with the Kindle Oasis, and why is it worth choosing the most premium Kindle over the other Ereaders in the range? Well, I’ve got one – and I’m going to tell you why.

Before we get started, It’s worth bearing in mind that the Prime Day deals will only last until tonight, and after that, the Kindle family is going back up to full price. So if you’re looking for a base model Kindle or a Kindle Oasis, then you’re going to have to move fast – they’ll be back up to full price before you know it.

Why get a kindle in the first place?

I love books. I love the smell of them, I love the feeling of turning the page, I love the colorful covers and ‘thud’ that a hardback makes when you put it down on a table. What I don’t love is the amount of space they take up – it’s nice to have them all on shelves to show off what kind of books you like reading, but there reaches a point where there’s not even enough space available for any new books to slot in. Instead, if you’re anything like me, you end up with boxes upon boxes of books in cupboards or in the loft that occasionally enter a kind of ‘bookshelf rotation’ seeing them swap around on the shelves every now and again, or when I can be bothered.

I never thought I’d like a Kindle or any kind of E-reader for that matter – there aren’t any pages to turn and sniff, no colorful covers, and no thud when you put the device down on a table. That was until I was bought my first kindle. It was the base model, with no touch screen and a bunch of buttons all over the place. I didn’t think I’d like it, even as I unboxed it, making myself look happy for the very generous people who had bought it for me. It wasn’t until I had to pack up for a holiday that the little device truly came into its own.

Oddly, it wasn’t the e-ink screen that convinced me. I’d never used the best iPad to read any books, and generally avoided anything with a screen to read for long periods of time so as to not get eye strain. Sure, the e-ink screen was nice on the eyes, but it still wasn’t a page.

It was the space savings that made me realize just how useful a Kindle is. I’m a book-a-day kind of gal when I go away, and when you’re heading off into the deepest darkest depths of the North of England for two weeks, you tend to bring more books than you know what to do with. Suddenly, I didn’t have to restrict my book intake – I could download all the books I could ever read onto my little Kindle, and pop it in my rucksack. Those fourteen books I’d leave with and twenty I’d come back with two weeks later were no longer a space issue – it was all on a little device I could almost fit in a pocket.

But why the Oasis?

Once I’d realized that the Kindle was the future of my reading, I used it for years – until I dropped it down a mountain path, and watched it tumble to its doom at the base of a rocky outcrop. I don’t think devastated quite cuts it – I was bereft of Kindle. A replacement was necessary – and I wanted all the features.

The tactile click of the buttons had become like a replacement for the act of turning the page for me

I wanted a warm light, I wanted a sturdy aluminum chassis, and, most of all, I still wanted buttons. The tactile click of the buttons had become like a replacement for the act of turning the page for me – I don’t think I could do without it. When I went shopping, I looked at the whole kindle range – and each one had at least one of my requirements. Only one, however, had all of them – the Kindle Oasis.

Its sleek aluminum shell is a joy to hold, the e-ink screen is the clearest I’ve ever seen on an e-reader, and the warm light does a surprisingly good job of making eye strain a thing of the past as you read in the dark. I wish it had a USB -C charging port (it remains with a micro USB connector) and the Bluetooth connection it has, for some reason, is useless.

What about the other Kindles?

They’re great! But they’re not the Oasis. If you’re looking for a way to dip your toes into the joys of reading on an e-ink screen then the base model kindle is an absolute steal at the moment for $45 from Amazon over Prime Day. It’s even got a front light, so you won’t have to buy an extra light. It’s got everything you need in an e-reader, but nothing you might want. Nothing extra. Nothing that says ‘I read books all the time’. The base Kindle is a fine device and likely good for almost everyone, but if you’re like me, then you’ll want something more.

The Kindle Paperwhite is also a solid e-reader – it’s down to $95 at Amazon at the moment in the Prime Day sale, and it features some of the best aspects of the Kindle Oasis. There’s an adjustable warm light for reading in the dark, and a 6.7-inch screen that covers the front of the device – but that’s the problem. There are no buttons to bring at least some of the physical feeling of reading a book. Again, the Kindle Paperwhite is a stunning device – it just doesn’t really offer enough over the base model anymore to be worth it.

The Kindle Paperwhite signature edition is not worth the money. At the moment, it’s barely cheaper than the Oasis, and the only feature you gain is wireless charging and a USB-C charging port. If it wasn’t $135 at Amazon, it would be worth it. But for $40 extra with the Oasis, you gain a lot more.

There’s more heft to the Oasis, with its aluminum shell, and the light is more pleasing on the eyes thanks to the extra LEDs that Amazon has packed in next to the screen. It’s got this great feel, with an ergonomically designed shape that contours and twists around your hand to make reading even more comfortable than reading a book. Sure, you can use the screen to turn your pages, but there are two marvelously clicky buttons that do a far better job in the widened bezel on the device’s right-hand side. Left-handed? No worries, turn the device upside down and the screen rights itself, and the buttons are on the correct side.

Look, just buy the Oasis.

Do you need to buy the Kindle Oasis? No, if you need a portable reading device, then skip the paperwhite and go for the base model. It has a light, and is less than half the price of its bigger sibling. If you’re looking for the best experience that an e-reader can muster, then buy the Kindle Oasis. It’s beautiful, comfortable, and currently $75 off.

Just please, please don’t read on your iPad. Your eyes will hate you.

If you’re looking for other Prime day content, we have you covered. Watch the iMore homepage for the best deals that come throughout the day, and keep an eye on our Live Apple Prime Day Deals for more great Prime Day deals as they appear.