Last week when Amazon unveiled the new Kindle Oasis, it was mainly about the addition of frontlight color adjustment, but they also hinted at improvements with the E Ink screen.
I thought it was probably just marketing hype at first but it sounds the new Kindle Oasis does indeed have an upgraded E Ink screen.
However, it appears the main improvement with the new screen technology is faster refreshing, not anything contrast related since they aren’t advertising improved contrast.
First off, Amazon still hasn’t bothered to issue a press release about the new Kindle, so that’s a bit odd, but an Amazon staff member did post what reads like a press release on the official Kindle forum.
Regarding the screen is says this:
“The new Kindle Oasis comes with the next generation of e-ink technology for fast page turns.”
They fail to elaborate any further, but there’s a quote from an Amazon rep on this CNET article that reveals a bit more information:
“The new Kindle Oasis introduces the next and improved generation of e-ink, which is faster in common customer scenarios such as getting back into your favorite book from Home or Library, looking up a word, and launching Settings, among others.”
So apparently the claims on the product description page for the new Kindle Oasis saying it uses the latest E Ink technology isn’t just marketing speak.
But you could argue that the latest screen technology that E Ink currently distributes for ereading devices is their flexible E Ink Mobius Carta screens like the Kobo Forma uses.
E Ink’s Mobius screens are a lot lighter and more durable than standard E Ink screens because they have plastic backplanes instead of glass backplanes. Mobius screens can even be twisted and not break. It’s extremely unlikely the new Kindle Oasis has a Mobius screen. It sounds like the new screen is just a slightly faster version of the old Carta screens.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how the new screen compares to the old screen. Stay tuned for a full review! But the release date of the new Kindle Oasis is still a month away…
It won’t be an updated screen unless it surpasses the Voyage’s screen clarity.
Got a Voyage 2, the wife has an Oasis 2. I haven’t seen the Voyage being any better?
This is the second time I’ve seen someone mention a Voyage 2. There is no such device.
Of course there isn’t. Typo thinking of the Oasis 2 😀
Oh okay. It’s possible that was the case for the last person I saw do that as well. As for clarity, I do think the Voyage was better. I had a Voyage and was given an Oasis 2 Christmas the year they came out. I was disappointed the Oasis 2 was not as clear, but I liked the bigger screen and it was still better than everything but the Voyage so I ended up selling the Voyage even though I thought it was better…
I also used to think that the Voyage had a sharp screen and it is certainly better than any Kindle but then I tried the Kobo Glo HD, discovered patches and adjusted the font weight of Bookerly and I was blown away. I stood there with my jaw dropped and literally with tears of joy. It destroys any e-ink screen I have ever seen. Nothing compares to it cover not the Oasis 2, not the Forma, not the Aura One. Nothing comes close. Somehow I think Glo HD has a 400 ppi screen because it is much sharper than any 300ppi screen I’ve seen
Can the accelerometer be turned off (so the screen dosen’t Turn upside down be itself) ? My head doesn’t flip around , and I do’t Want my screen to,either- unless I do,and I adjust it accordingly. Thanks
It can’t be turned off, but it’s pretty good about not being too sensitive.
I would like to see the Oasis screen improved, but it’s whiteness, brightness and contrast that need to be better, not page refresh. Voyage was much better on all three.
: it does not mention anything about contrast
The rep knows nothing, those reps not even have enough basic “tech” sense….
I “accidentally” pre-ordered the new Oasis 3. I wasn’t going to but… it happened. I still use my Voyage more than my Oasis 2 (O2). Comparing my two devices, the clarity is the same. I think it’s the fact that there’s a wider portion at the bottom of the Voyage so it makes it easier to read in bed laying on my back. I can rest the Voyage on me and still be able to see all of the words. If I do this with my O2, I have to tilt my head down more to see the bottom of the screen. (I know, makes you feel sorry for me right? NOT.) Also, my O2 buttons kind of make a click noise if I don’t press it just right. Anyhow, I just hope my existing cases work for the new Oasis.
so there are three different features
1- warm light
2-screen improvement
3- bigger battery
Was anyone honestly complaining about page turn speed? I thought the current Oasis already had (subjectively anyway) the fastest page turn speed available.
update! Chairman of Amazon Asia saying the new one will be 20% faster in page turning. LOL, oasis 2 is the fastest page turning on the market, we don’t need that faster and faster page turn
My problem with the oasis 2 isn’t the fact that it doesn’t have comfort light, or that it’s not 7.8 inches, or that it’s weird shaped. My problem with the Oasis 2 is that despite having a brighter screen, the text isn’t as sharp and looks terriblly washed out in comparison to my voyage and H2O, especially at night. The screen clarity is lacking. It doesn’t look like the new Oasis 3 is going to fix that problem either. And yes, I was almost certain I read that it contained USB-C which it doesn’t. The only thing it’s adding is comfort light which I think will make the text look even more washed out.
It will significantly improve my life if the new Oasis page turn is 10 milliseconds faster than the previous version.
“faster in common customer scenarios?” Imagine if all they did was implement “A2 mode” for those menu navigations?
Okay, so I decided to cancel my O3 order. I decided I didn’t NEED it. 🙂
I’ve decided to cancel my order too, but only because I realized I could trade in an old basic Kindle to get 25% off. 😀
Here’s for a big-time software update with the new Oasis launch. More customization would be legit