Hardware

Take the lopsided design of the last Oasis, make the screen bigger and slap on a metal case, and you've pretty much got the new model. While it's not exactly a fresh look, it feels significantly different from before. Its aluminum case -- another first for Kindles -- is cool to the touch and gives off a sturdy, premium vibe. It still tapers off to a thin 3.4-millimeter edge, while its thicker side makes it easy to grip with one hand.

After years of staring at 6-inch e-ink screens, the Oasis's 7-inch display feels like a breath of fresh air. It still offers a crisp 300-pixel-per-inch (ppi) resolution, but it can hold 30 percent more text than before. Twelve LEDs also make its backlighting more uniform than on cheaper Kindles. The larger screen is long overdue -- the last time we saw Amazon experiment with e-ink beyond six inches, it was with the ill-fated Kindle DX. That device was bulky, hard to use, and cost a whopping $489 when it was released in 2009.

As you can imagine, with a bigger screen comes more weight. The new Oasis clocks in at 194 grams, whereas the last model was an astoundingly light 131 grams. It's a shame Amazon backtracked its design a bit, but I'd imagine many consumers might prefer having a larger, more modern-looking screen instead of a lighter e-reader.

The more expansive shell also let Amazon stuff in a larger battery, giving the new Oasis five to six weeks of reading time. The previous model lasted "only" two weeks on its own, and it relied on a bundled case for an additional six weeks of power. Speaking of cases, you won't find one in the box with the new Oasis. That's probably a big reason why the new e-reader is cheaper than before. If you really need one, you can pick up a waterproof cloth case for $45, or a leather one for $60. Neither of them provide extra power, though.

The Oasis is also waterproof, with an IPX8 rating -- a feature that might make it an instant purchase for bathtub and beach readers. Amazon claims it'll survive sitting in up to two meters of freshwater for 60 minutes.

In use

As soon as I got my hands on the revamped Oasis, I got to work on my reading-list backlog. For the most part, that meant diving back into Kim Stanley Robinson's latest science fiction opus, New York 2140. Almost immediately, I noticed that the book was a bit easier to read on the larger screen. The text felt like it had more room to breathe, and I was able to spend more time engrossed in the story without having to worry about flipping pages.

When I needed to hop to the next page, the Oasis handled it a fraction of a second faster than the last model. That's nothing to get too excited about, but it's still nice to see Amazon making progress with e-ink refresh rates. Beyond the larger and faster screen, though, text on the Oasis still looks about the same as Amazon's $120 Paperwhite. The additional LEDs give the backlight a slightly more effervescent glow, but it's not significantly better than before.

While it wasn't difficult to hold the Oasis for lengthy reading sessions, I found myself missing the impossibly light weight of its predecessor. The metal case also has some surprisingly sharp edges around the edges. It's not the sort of thing that could cut you, but it makes some noticeable impressions on your skin when you hold it for a while. Simply put, the new Oasis just isn't as comfortable as the last model. Even the cheaper Paperwhite rests more easily in your hands.