Amazon Kindle devices
[4] The device featured a six-inch (diagonal) four-level grayscale E Ink display, with 250 MB of internal storage, which can hold approximately 200 non-illustrated titles.
It was marketed as more suitable for displaying newspaper and textbook content,[14] includes built-in speakers, and has an accelerometer that enables users to rotate pages between landscape and portrait orientations when the Kindle DX is turned on its side.
It supports additional fonts and international Unicode characters and has a Voice Guide feature with spoken menu navigation from the built-in speakers or audio jack.
Review Horizon describes the device as offering "the best reading experience in its class"[27] while Engadget[28] states, "In the standalone category, the Kindle is probably the one to beat".
[29] It has a silver-grey bezel, 6-inch display, nine hard keys, a cursor pad, an on-screen rather than physical keyboard, a flash storage capacity of 2 GB, and an estimated one month battery life under ideal reading conditions.
[36] The Touch was the first Kindle to support X-Ray, which lists the commonly used character names, locations, themes, or ideas in a book.
[37] In January 2013, Amazon released the 5.2.0 firmware that updated the operating system to match the Paperwhite's interface with the Touch's MP3/audiobook capabilities remaining.
The reviewer liked the frontlit display, high contrast, and useful software features, but did not like that it was less comfortable to hold than the Nook, the starting price includes ads, and it had no expandable storage.
Engadget rated the Paperwhite 2 as 93 of 100, saying while it offers few new features, "an improved frontlight and some software tweaks have made an already great reading experience even better.
It has a 6-inch, 300 ppi E Ink Carta HD display, which was the highest resolution and contrast available in e-readers, as of 2014,[53] with six LEDs with an adaptive light sensor that can automatically illuminate the screen depending on the environment.
[55] Its design features a flush glass screen on the front and the rear has angular, raised plastic edges that house the power button, similar to the Fire HDX.
[71] Its asymmetrical design features physical page turn buttons on one side and it has an accelerometer so the display can be rotated for one-hand operation with either hand.
[72] The Guardian's reviewer praised the Oasis's ease for holding, its lightweight design, long battery life, excellent display, even front lighting, usable page-turn buttons, and the luxurious cover.
However, the reviewer believed the product was overpriced, noted that the battery cover only partially protects the back, and that the reader is not waterproof.
"[73] The Verge rated the Oasis as 9 of 10, praising its thinness, its weight without the cover and the ability to read with one hand, but did not like that it is so expensive, has no adaptive backlight like the Voyage and it is not waterproof.
[74] Amazon's upgrade of the standard Kindle was released on June 22, 2016, in both black and white colors ($80 ad-supported, $100 no ads).
[78] The Oasis 2 is the first Kindle to be IPX8 rated so it is water-resistant up to two meters for up to 60 minutes, and first to be able to change the background black and the text to white.
The Verge gave the Oasis 2 a score of 8 of 10, praising its design, display, and water resistance, but criticizing its high cost and inability to read an e-book while its related audiobook is playing.
[80] TechRadar rated it as 4.5 of 5, saying the Oasis 2 is expensive but it praises as the best e-reader at the time with its lovely metal design, waterproofing and great reading experience.
The Verge rated the Paperwhite 4 as 8.5 of 10, praising its great display, water-resistance and battery life but criticizing its lack of physical buttons and no USB-C support.
Externally it is nearly identical in appearance to the second-iteration Oasis, with a similar 7-inch, 300ppi E Ink display, adjustable warm light, one-handed design, waterproofing, aluminium exterior, Bluetooth support and Micro USB for charging.
[87] Amazon removed the Oasis 3 from the US market in late February 2024,[88] after an unusually long sales period of nearly five years without a hardware change, and without a new model to succeed it.
Press were told in October 2024 that Amazon had no plans to build new devices with buttons, and would not stock more Oasis units once existing inventory was depleted.
It features 8 GB of storage and has similar dimensions to its predecessor but has a larger 6.8-inch display set in thinner bezels, 17 LEDs in the front light that can adjust color temperature to warmer tones (first featured in Kindle Oasis 3), an updated processor, and longer battery life that Amazon claims lasts up to ten weeks on a single charge.
The Verge gave the Kindle a 6 out of 10, praising its long battery life, large display size, and pen feel, but noting its “lackluster software” and “outdated document syncing” held the device back.
[101] New features in Scribe firmware include: Amazon announced a revamp of the entire Kindle family on October 16, 2024.
It includes the Active Canvas, highlight enhancements, and AI Notebook Tools that were shown during the debut announcement of the 2024 release.
[113] The Oasis was released in 2016 with a case that added extra battery capacity via a pogo pin connection similar to earlier lighted covers.
In May 2016, Amazon released the official Kindle Audio Adapter for reading e-books aloud via a text-to-speech (TTS) system for the blind and visually impaired.
[121] This accessibility accessory, initially supported only for the Paperwhite 3 and Oasis, plugs in the USB port and connects to headphones or speakers.
