Last week Amazon announced the upcoming release of a new basic Kindle on October 12th, and some people are still eagerly awaiting an announcement about a new upgraded Kindle Oasis or other premium Kindle.
At this point I would say that is very unlikely to happen, and it’s looking more likely that the Kindle Oasis line will be discontinued altogether after they sell off the remaining stock. How can they keep selling an outdated Kindle for a premium price while all the other Kindles have been upgraded?
First off, Amazon has never released a new Kindle and then proceeded to release a second new Kindle a month later. It just doesn’t make sense to do it that way, not unless they’re having some problem procuring parts and had to push back the release date, but they haven’t been having any problems keeping the current lineup in stock so that doesn’t really add up either.
In years past, Amazon has released a new Kindle a few months after releasing a new model, but with the end of the year quickly approaching the timeline doesn’t really accommodate a second release this year.
A new Kindle Oasis would have to be announced within the next few weeks if they’re going to do pre-orders for a month leading up to release like they usually do and still have time to get it out the door before the busy holiday shopping season starts. Amazon isn’t stupid; they aren’t going to release a new Kindle in the middle of December like Barnes and Noble did last year with the latest Nook.
Going back ten years, the latest Amazon has released a new Kindle is November 7th, the Kindle Paperwhite 4, and it was announced on October 16th, 2018. It’s very unlikely a new Kindle would be announced after that date. The Kindle Oasis 2 was announced on October 11th, 2017.
But again, why would they announce a new entry-level Kindle and then wait a month to announce a new Kindle Oasis?
The current Kindle Oasis was released in July of 2019, and it was pretty much a carbon copy of the Oasis 2—all they did was add a warm frontlight and otherwise kept the design exactly the same, so really the current Oasis is even older than it would seem with everything else about it dating back to 2017.
I get that Amazon sells way more entry-level Kindles and Kindle Paperwhites so it’s understandable they get priority over premium Kindles, but there comes a point where you have to read between the lines, and it’s not looking good for the Oasis. Unless a new model is announced within the next few weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Amazon discontinue the Oasis line altogether.
I think the new “premium” Kindle might just be the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition moving forward. It has several upgrades over the Oasis, including wireless charging, USB-C, much longer battery life, and a better screen with less ghosting. The only thing it doesn’t have is page buttons, but would it really be surprising to see Amazon do away with page buttons entirely?
Looking across the range of Amazon-branded devices it’s not their style to offer premium level devices. Amazon would rather release cheaper devices and sell a lot of them instead of selling a few higher-end devices. For them it all comes down to selling more content so the more cheap devices they can get out there into people’s hands the better it is for their business model.
I hate to say it but I think the days of the premium higher-tier Kindle just might be coming to an end. Next month will be 5 years since the last premium Kindle redesign, and with nothing new on the horizon it’s not looking good for the Kindle Oasis especially.
That would suck, I love the Oasis
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Amazon discontinued the Kindle Oasis, just like they discontinued premium Fire tablets a while back. It seems Amazon wants to position itself as a cheap budget company, with cheap in-house products. After all their brand name is Amazon basics. That doesn’t sound like a company that wants to position itself with premium high end products. And in reality, I can’t blame them after all as the manority of people are cheap and budget conscious. Amazons, best sellers are usually low tier products.
As I’ve said, before, too bad that Apple, or Google doesn’t offer, any e-ink, E-reader devices.
Can’t even count the number of (wrong) assumptions here, I wonder if this article will be deleted come later this month..
Not going to happen. I hope they do release a new premium Kindle this year but it doesn’t seem very likely at this point. And they can’t just keeping touting an outdated Oasis as the flagship model forever. The longer it goes without being upgraded the more likely it is to be discontinued altogether when stock runs out. It’s starting to follow the same pattern as the Kindle DX and Kindle Voyage.
I think this is fun, to speculate on what may happen and then be pleasantly surprised. I recall how many people were going on with negative speculations on how Amazon was lagging behind the times with their updates and how the recent updates were too small of a difference and people were ready to jump ship when Amazon came out with the PW5.. It was interesting how no one admitted they were wrong about their assumptions of Amazon. They all sang their praises to Amazon for the major changes and improvements they made with the PW5. I see that tempers are more level headed this time around. As Nathan said, there is still time for another announcement. As far as the Oasis goes, I think it is still way too pricy for most folks, especially now with the new PW5 offering most of what the Oasis offers. I didn’t get one ultimately because it did not seem to really offer enough functionality to justify the high price.
Still no new Oasis
In my opinion the Kindle Oasis is 100% worth the spend at it could easily be made into a modern incarnation with tiny changes like the screen which already exists in that size (Kobo is using it) and adding USBC.
Let’s be real, the Oasis was such a game changer that every company but Nook copied it. Even companies with their own unique design language like Pocketbook copied it. I can’t see Amazon now saying nevermind to that. At least not for long.
I hope you’re right!
Actually, I would bet that owners of the Oasis also buy more than average content. Why annoy any customers. You say that “Amazon isn’t stupid….)debatable.
In the case of the tablet, they found, after trying with HDX that they could not compete with the IPad. There is NO eReader they could not compete with, especially with their economy of scale.
In fact, Pocketbook was the first one to release an asymmetrical ereader back in 2009. It was called Pocketbook 360° and had an 5 inch eInk Pearl screen with page turn button.
Then a year later the Jetbook Mini (LCDish technology) was released with an asym. design with button.. Two years later the Wexler Flex One (eInk Pearl asym. design, buttons).
But it was the 6 inch Oasis from 2016 which made the asymmetrical design a thing, so that nearly everone is doing it now.
Interesting.
If you want to go back even further to the days of LCD ereaders, my first was an Ebookwise ETI-2, released in 2004. It had an asymmetrical design and page buttons and was a rebranded Gemstar GEB1150 which was released in 2002.
Of course, both were a lot bulkier and heavier than the Oasis, but the asymmetrical ereaders was definitely not Amazon’s invention.
Well, that would be a shame. If my Oasis ever needs replacing (or I simply want something new and shiny), I won’t go back to a symmetrical design and/or inferior haptics. I use my Kindle a lot, and I don’t mind paying more for as few compromises as possible.
What would currently the best alternative (ideally with Kindle App, obviously?)
I was hoping to be able to update my Oasis this year. I really like the page turn buttons. But I would appreciate USB C and a better battery.
I suspect if they do remove the oasis, it’s more likely to be to replace it with an enote device – more are hitting the market lately, and it feels like a gap Amazon will try to fill…
I was hoping that too but at this point it’s pretty clear a Kindle eNote isn’t going to happen. If that was the plan they would’ve released it by now to get in on the back to school action.
It’s called a Kimdle Scribe
Cool, I’ve never heard of a Kimdle. Sounds interesting…
I agree with your theory. I’ve often thought the same thing. Ideally, they’d purchase a company like Remarkable and fold the kindle software into an already great solution.
I’m still hoping you are wrong. I’d put my money on a 8″ screen, maybe a rebranding with a new name. But yeah, no reason to buy an Oasis with the specs of the Signature edition
I think they will release a new Oasis, or maybe a differently-named premium reader in October. I think it will have a smaller, lighter symmetrical body with the glass screen. I find the ereaders with the best screens to either have no flush screen at all, or if they do have a flush screen, that should be glass. My Oasis screen is very clear indeed.
I am extremely tempted by the denim basic, however, and if this had warm lighting, I would have pre-ordered it already,
I don’t like flush readers with plastic screens, I do like them if they have glass screens, I personally notice a big difference in clarity between the Paperwhite 5 and the Oasis.
I do think, however, if a new premium kindle is released (with or without Oasis branding), the only way this could sell would be at a significantly lower price point than the current Oasis, which seems quite absurd right now.
For me to buy it, it would need to be priced at $179-$199 max – no more $350 kindles! They need to ditch the metal which always overheats for me (I live in a very hot climate), plus is unpleasant to hold cold metal in the winter time. It just isn’t a tactile experience for me as is. The Voyage had a lovely tactile back, definitely encouraged me to pick it up and read. Need to still have the warm lighting, I don’t care about auto-adjusting, but I guess that is ok for their marketing. The only other thing to differentiate it from the other kindles in the range would then be buttons. I would love to see little buttons built into the sides, like on the kindle 4 non-touch.
If I’m wrong and they do end up ditching a premium reader, I will buy a denim basic, as the only thing missing here is warm lighting and buttons.
Like others, I wish Apple would make a beautiful ereader,
I toyed with the idea of getting the new signature Kindle to replace my “2017” 3rd gen Oasis. I like the bigger screen of 7inch Oasis which is almost matched by the 6.8 of the signature edition. I also like physical buttons, but not really a deal breaker. I wish that Amazon would release an 8 inch model to go toe to toe with the Kobo Sage (which I now have and loving it). But I am drinking Nathan’s Kool aid on Amazon is all about selling content.
You may be right, I’m a bit worried. Hoping that’s not the case. Can’t picture me returning to the Paperwhite as a primary device, so do hope they continue the Oasis or something similar
You are completely wrong there’s a market for a premium devices especially since all our competitors have them almost such as kobo. I’m guessing the next e-reader will be a color e-reader or an E note device and it will perhaps have a different name than the Oasis. 8 inches
I never said there wasn’t a market for premium ereaders; I’m just not sure Amazon is willing to produce them anymore. The last premium Kindle was designed over 5 years ago now and so far they’ve shown zero signs of coming out with anything new.
Fingers crossed a new Kindle is announced at the Amazon Hardware event in September 28!!!
Not having an LTE option would greatly reduce my brand loyalty. I bought my Oasis specifically for the cellular capabilities. I use it as my newspaper while traveling, buying new books on bike tours, etc. A phone hotspot is not equivalent, it’s an additional friction. The page turn buttons are also pretty hard to part with.
If Amazon kills the high end models entirely, I’ll be looking toward Boox or other ereaders that add significant functionality, even if I can’t get cellular connectivity.
How do you use it as newspaper? I’m interested in that!
Amazon doesn’t want to make products people want to buy. The oasis was originally a device with the exact same screen size as a Paperwhite for $100 dollars more…You were paying for a metal frame that did absolutely nothing. What people wanted was a larger screen and they refuse to do so. Can I go buy from a third party company? Nope, because Amazon is a monopoly and refused to allow their books to be read on devices by companies. If they did I have no doubt Sony would have made a far superior device years ago before they gave up and left the market behind them.
If they discontinue Oasis, they will lose me as a costumer. Paperwhite looks cheap with its plastic back and lacks page-turn buttons so I would never buy it. I’d have to switch to Kobo I guess, even though it looks cheap too, but at least it has buttons and supports more formats.
I was looking on the Kindle subreddit, and some people had seen new listings for an upgraded Oasis with USB-C.
I checked on Amazon, and when I looked at other Kindles, I could see USB-C had been added to the description for the Oasis – but only when I viewed it through a pop-up menu to compare other models from the page to order the new Kindle Basic.
I then checked and my old Oasis from 2019 is now available to be used as a trade-in. Only $50!
Anyway, Amazon are definitely up to something with the listing behind the scenes, but it looks very much as if it will be yet another incremental update for the Oasis. If it stays exactly the same, just with USB-C, there is certainly no reason for me to upgrade.
I would then go for the new Basic as an excellent back-up reader (which I could see becoming my primary reader, as I find the Basic has a lovely hand feel compared to the Oasis).
I would be just as bummed if they released a new Oasis with the only change being the USB port!
I do see they announced a new Fire line today, so maybe the updates aren’t done being announced.
Though, if they do roll out a new Oasis, in order to keep it a “premium” e-reader, they’ll need to bump it up to an 8″ screen to put it on par with the Kobo Sage. Mind you, in my heart of hearts, I wish they’d instead revive the Voyage with a 7″ screen and the haptic page-turn buttons. I would be all “Shut up and take my money!” over something like that. *sigh*
I think there are a few of us in that camp. I still use my voyage daily. USBC and warm light would make it a perfect device for me. I don’t mind the smaller screen. I can stick it in my back pocket which I find to be really useful in a variety of situations, particularly when travelling. Love the origami case too.
I am so fed up waiting for Amazon to update the Kindle Oasis! They come out with the new “Kindle Scribe,” big deal! I want an e-reader to read good books and not take a bunch of notes. I have countless options for note taking in digital format that are far superior to another want to be device from Amazon! I bought a Kindle Oasis for my wife for Mothers Day and she absolutely loves it because it is light weight, ergonomic, water proof, and above all has the page buttons. You can hold it in one hand and turn the buttons without accidently touching the screen like the other models! We told my brother-in-law about the Oasis and he bought one also, and loves it! I really hope Amazon’s attempt at a digital notepad fail in grand fashion and maybe learn something from it. I was holding off on spending more money for a new updated Oasis, but now it doesn’t look promising. What a huge let down from Amazon!!!
The Scribe is doomed to failure, as we lovers of the Oasis hope. I is a writing pad and not a true reader because of its size. It is clumsy to hold and not so easy to carry and of course the price is over the top for those who want to only enjoy reading and not scribble on a screen.
GOOD LUCK, AMAZON, WITH YOUR WRITING PAD……
The screen of Paperwhite 11 is not better than the Oasis, the material is plastic, rather than glass of Oasis and Kindle Paperwhite 7. I cannot understand why Amazon make this choice, because if you compare side by side both Kindle with glass and plastic, no doubt that screen with glass is better
The Kindle Paperwhite Special Edition is fine but lacks a page turn button and a portrait to landscape mode. These two items are important to me and with the early demise of my Oasis 3, I seem to be in some sort of quandary. The new Kindle Scribe is interesting but I want a reader , not a “writing “pad. It appears, at this point, that Amazon is not going to release a new Oasis so I may need to look at a different e-reader, altogether. The problem with the “others” is the book availability as we have with the Kindle. I have had every Kindle that has been released over the years and I have always been a loyal Kindle fan but they are letting us Oasis lovers down by not releasing an upgrade. I only wish they would let us readers know where the future lies with the Oasis and think about the consumer for a change.