People have been hoping for a new Kindle Oasis since 2021 when Amazon refreshed the Kindle Paperwhite line, but at this point that’s looking less likely by the day.
The Kindle Oasis 3 will turn 4 years old next month. Is was released on July 24th, 2019, but Amazon reused the design of the Kindle Oasis 2, so the Oasis in its current form actually dates back to October 2017.
That’s a really long time in electronic gadget years. It’s interesting how the Oasis 2 was on the market for less than 2 years before they added the warm frontlight, and now it’s been nearly 4 years and Amazon still hasn’t upgraded it since then.
The Kindle Paperwhite 3 was on the market longer than most Kindles, and it was replaced after 3 years and 4 months.
The Kindle Oasis 3 is seriously outdated at this point. Even the cheap entry-level Kindle has upgrades that it lacks, like a USB-C port, better battery life, and more storage space.
If Amazon doesn’t announce a new Kindle Oasis by the end of October of this year, then the Oasis is most certainly going to be phased out.
I think the odds of Amazon releasing a Kindle Oasis 4 is pretty low at this point. I think a Mini Kindle Scribe would make a lot more sense if they’re going to release a new model this year. Amazon refreshed the entry-level Kindle last year, and the Paperwhite 5 is still less than 2 years old so it’s not getting replaced anytime soon.
Given that, Amazon should release a new premium Kindle at some point this year if they’re going to release anything at all, so there’s still some hope for a new Kindle Oasis or whatever they want to call it. Eventually something has to change. How much longer can they keep selling the Kindle Oasis 3 in its current form? Four years is a long time to go without any upgrades, especially when the lower tier Kindles are getting upgraded.
I love the Oasis, all they need to do is add USB-C and better battery life and it’ll be the best Kindle to date IMO. I like my Kindle Scribe but definitely don’t love it. After two exchanges thinking I got a defective device, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Scribe just suffers from bad contrast compared to the Oasis and Voyage. The screen just does pop and the blacks aren’t Inky enough for my taste.
When I read on my Oasis 3 and Paperwhite 5, I notice the text is not as sharp as the Voyage. I don’t want additional texture on a new Oasis / premium Kindle that takes away clarity.
In the review of the Scribe you note that it does:
There’s a bit of added texture to the front of the screen on the Scribe, which is pretty common for eNotes to improve the writing feel, and it does help with that, but it also takes away just a bit of clarity.
At this point, they need to introduce either a new device with an 8-inch screen or an 8-inch updated Oasis. The Scribe is a niche product and not everyone wants an e-note device with such a large screen. Besides, if anyone really note-taking device, the Remarkable is much better than the Scribe. But because Amazon sells everything under the sun, Kindle devices have not been their priority for a long time. We may never see one.
The Remarkable really isn’t that great, and it’s absolutely terrible as an ereader. I’d take the Scribe over it any day.
They really have to give the next device a better battery. Kobo Libra 2 has the same design factor as the Oasis, is lightweight and the battery last a long time. The Oasis I have has a battery at 96% when you put it to sleep at bedtime and when you wake it to read with your morning coffee the battery is 10%.
That’s not normal. Either your battery is defective or you have a corrupt book that’s stuck indexing.