The Kindle Voyage has been unavailable new from Amazon.com since the end of last month, and it’s been gone from some of Amazon’s international websites for a lot longer than that, so it’s fairly safe to assume that it isn’t coming back at this point, especially since they removed it from the Kindle comparison tables and other Kindle product pages.
But with the Kindle Voyage gone, there’s a huge hole in the Kindle lineup going from the $119 Kindle Paperwhite to the $249 Kindle Oasis 2.
You can buy 2 Kindle Paperwhites and use one for each eye and still have $10 leftover.
The Kindle Oasis has more storage space and a slightly larger 7-inch screen, and it adds page buttons and a waterproof design, plus Audible audiobook support, so it does have its own set of distinguishing features.
But are very many people really going to be willing to spend more than twice as much to get the Oasis over the Paperwhite?
In my opinion, the $79 Kindle isn’t even worth considering as an option with its low resolution, unlit screen unless you only plan to read outdoors and in places with really good lighting. Even then the Paperwhite’s screen is going to look better 100% of the time so why not spend $40 more for it.
But with a $130 price jump from the Paperwhite to the Oasis that’s a different story.
If you want a frontlit Kindle the choices come down to a Kindle Paperwhite at a reasonable price or a Kindle Oasis at a premium price. You can still grab a refurbished Kindle Voyage for $129, but it probably won’t be long before they’re gone for good.
Considering the Kindle Paperwhite’s design is six years old now, you’d think Amazon would offer more variety than that.
It made a lot more sense with the Kindle Voyage sandwiched in between those two devices and price points.
With such a huge jump in price from one model to the next, something needs to change in the Kindle lineup soon. Hopefully Amazon has some new Kindles in the works for this fall.
Here’s how I see it, on one hand you have the basic Kindle with eight-year-old technology, and on the other hand you have the paperwhite with a six-year-old design. Lastly you have the Kindle Oasis 2 with an unorthodox design and a faulty washed out screen, a cold slick aluminum metal frame that’s awkward to hold.
YES….
Amazon needs a new Kindle..
Amazon needs a Home-run device the likes of the Kobo Aura One
Totally agree. The following should be offered:
Paperwhite with flush screen, 1-2 GB more RAM for ebooks or 4-6 GB more RAM for Audible, Bluetooth, waterproof, price like current or lower
Voyage 2 or new model, 7-8 inch flush screen,, 2-4 GB more RAM for ebooks or 6-8 GB more RAM for Audible, Bluetooth, waterproof, normal case, not aluminium, and shaped normally, price like current or lower, anyway between new Paperwhite and Oasis 2.
Last ebook reader I bought is a Tolino epos would have bought an Oasis 2, but was as disappointed as I was with the first one (based on reviews). The hardware of the Tolino is very good, the software meh, support for PDF (newspaper, magazines, comics) is bad. Wonder why no one managed to buy or copy the Sony Software, the Sony T1 (and following) have rather good features.
For comics Amazon is way better, but only with comics bought from Amazon. Currently use complicated PDF or Comics from other retailers on my iPad, due to that. Would like to use them on an eInk ereader, or at least have the choice to do so.
I expect that Amazon will close the price gap with a new model. Hopefully something replaces the Paperwhite.
Hopefully they follow competitive directions and surprise us with a larger e-reader and bump the Oasis down in price a little, say 219.99 or so.
I would search for a way to get Pocketbook ereaders instead. They are launching a new basic model, and the level of the kindle Paperwhite. And a waterproof 6″ ereader, but I don’t know about price yet. They also released a 7.8″ ereader this spring (which I have, and love!).
If I could afford it, I would ditch my Paperwhite and get one of the 6″ from pocketbook instead, for when I’m out and want a smaller device.
I download all books I buy from Amazon through their webpage and keep them in Calibre, and sideload them even to my Paperwhite, as that’s the only way to get pagenumbers (!) on my books!!
There are extensions for Calibre, and by adding the kindle serial number you can remove the protection of the books and put them on other devices.
I personally want to own my book, not pay a license to read the books “I buy”.
And also be able to read my book where I like.
Sadly many books are only available on Amazon, specially in non-fiction.
I live in Europe, and ordered my Pocketbook from the company webpage
https://www.pocketbook-int.com/welcome-pocketbook
The new ereaders are not yet on their webpage, but they are said to come sometime soon.
This article is stupid. This is not the same Paperwhite at 6 yrs ago. It has hardware updates not just software. It has the same screen resolution now as the voyage did. The Voyage was not reliable and over priced. The only two Kindles worth considering is the newest Paperwhite and the Oasis 2. Just because Paperwhite doesn’t have a version number after it you think it’s the same hardware as two years ago? You are wrong. Amazon’s choice was a good one.
Nathan please forgive them for they know not what they say.
I’d like to see a Kindle Mirror with
7.8-inch 1872 x 1404 x 256 greyscale Eink display
Frontlight array with 24 levels
Cortex A9 quad-core 1.5Ghz CPU over 8GB RAM
32GB internal with MicroSD slot
802.11n/g/b WiFi plus Bluetooth 4.1
GPS, accelerometer & mic w/speech transcription
Rear 13MPixel camera with flash for OCR
3.5mm headphone jack plus Bluetooth audio
microUSB 3.0 & USB-C ports with OTG support
2 programmable buttons on left & right sides
4000mAh battery with solar charger in flipcase
..and a hinge allowing two units to be conjoined into a single side-by-side folding reader! Flip unzips from cases leaving dual solar panel case in mirror configuration.
David, too much for a reader! You’ve described a monochrome tablet with a hefty price tag. It would probably cost more than an Oasis.
Bob, it probably would cost a bit more than an Oasis. But with far greater functionality.
1872×1404 offers a 4:3 aspect ratio which I prefer for reading. I’d settle for 16 shades of grey like the $200 Boyue T80s 1G+16G Likebook Plus but 256 shades would render PDFs and manga better.
8GB of RAM would yield smooth, responsive performance with the Cortex A9 CPU and microSD expandability beyond base 32GB (64GB when paired) allows carrying your entire library locally. OTG and host mode to USB stick would allow one-touch backup.
A GPS chip would allow interactive maps and atlases.
Accelerometer would allow option to turn pages with a flip.
Microphone allows dictation and speech-to-text.
Rear 13MP camera with flash doubles as OCR scanner and barcode reader.
I’d be surprised if a Boyue with this hardware couldn’t be sold for $250.
I liked the design of the Voyage, but it was getting old. The Oasis 2 was overhyped as it had no really novel features. Maybe it was the first waterproof Kindle, but it was certainly not the first waterproof e-reader. Same goes for the buttons and the “big” 7-inch screen. And don’t start me on the useless audio function. I hope they come up with something better. If they don’t, my next e-reader will not be a Kindle. These days, staying loyal to an ecosystem is not necessary.
Kobo got it right with the design of the larger screen reader. I just wish Amazon would go big in the format of the Voyage. Where the Oasis is okay, it still is less comfortable to read on for long sessions than the Kobo Aura One.
Further – I would be very happy if Amazon brought back the DX in modernized form. I would not even care if it didn’t have a light – just the larger screen and touch would be great.
They need to stop having so many. There should be one basic and one advanced. Personally I am angry at amazon. My kindle Oasis is defective. Up to 50% battery drop in less than 24hrs. There are issues with delivery where i live meaning I am in the inner city and delivery dumps packages outside the door without attempting to make a delivery.So basically they ge stolen alot. Amazon refuses to send me a replacement to a amazon lockbox So I decided to not have them replace it for I reported so many lost packages with amazon it almost looks like I am lieing but im not.
My three year-old Kindle Voyage developed a ton of distracting light “pinholes”, so I traded it in for $50 and 25% off a new Kindle. I picked the Kindle Oasis 2 and HATED it – and ultimately returned it.
The bigger screen was all width, making it feel odd in the hands. The weird shape made it even less comfortable.
It took several seconds to warm up when you opened the cover (not from a power off state, from a sleep state!). My Surface Pro 3 literally boots faster.
Case selection was awful.
While the rotatable screen seemed like a nice option (to accommodate your preference for which side to have the single page turn button), it contributed to loss of battery life, and it meant your cover opened the wrong way.
Finally, even in Airplane Mode, it ate through battery life like crazy. I had it at a near full charge when I went to bed one night and it was completely dead when I woke up! I’d read for an hour or two, and it’d be down 25-30% battery life.
My ancient Kindle Fire HD 7″ has better battery life, and it’s (a) an actual color tablet and (b) again, it’s super old, so the battery has obviously degraded to some degree! it also wakes up faster than the Oasis 2.
I know about the Kindle Fire HD because I’m currently using it while I wait to see if Amazon will come out with a new, higher end Kindle in the next couple of months. My Fire HD had been sitting, unused and turned off, for probably 3 years. It booted right up and still had tons of battery life; it was amazing. That said, the glossy screen is not ideal for lengthy reading.
I’d have kept my defective Voyage if I’d realized what a turd the Oasis 2 is.
I’ve owned every Kindle made and my current fav is the Voyage (I own two). I owned an Oasis 2 and absolutely didn’t like. It ended up selling on ebay. My Kindle wish is a Kobo Aura One with Amazon software and eco-system. I’d buy them by the bushel and lock them away so I’d never be without.