Oasis 2 (2017) suggested upgrades

[enro99]

Hi everyone, first post here, looks like a great ebook community!

I received the Oasis 2 (2017 version) a couple weeks ago and have been very impressed with some things and disappointed in others.

Here's a list of my suggestions I hope Amazon will implement for their next upgrade of the Oasis, if that happens. Feel free to chime in with more ideas.

What I like about the Oasis 2:

- The bigger screen. I love this feature. It's more like a tall paperback and gets more words per page so I'm not turning pages as often. If anything, I'd like Amazon to make the shape even more tall paperback like.

- Night mode / accessibility feature. The option to have white on black text is great for night reading. I hope this feature gets ported over to all Kindles and e-readers.

What I don't like:

- the aluminum case. As others have noted, it's hard to get a grip on, it's sharp and digs into your hands, and gets cold! (the original Oasis had a much more comfortable grip.)

- battery life. It seems to be shorter than you'd expect.


If there was any way they could upgrade the next Oasis by making the material more like the rubber/plastic of the first Oasis for easier handling, add the night mode, and keep the screen size or even add an inch to match the Kobo Aura One, it would be a perfect e-reading device.

[Futuregrace]

I do wish battery lasted longer, but it’s not really an issue, I love the thing. Only part of my Kobo Aura One I miss is the amber lighting feature, it was so good at removing blue light when reading at bed time.

[Deskisamess]

RooCase made a silicone back cover for the 1st Oasis...perhaps they will make one for this version.

I think one reason many companies have gotten away from using rubber because of allergies. Some users with latex allergies can't come into contact at all with it. It's easier to just not use it.

[j.p.s]

I also would prefer plastic or rubber instead of metal for the back.

I would also like for the screen to have a flexible substrate, primarily to reduce weight, but the decreased fragility would also be a bonus.

The bezel color should be close to the color of the lit or unlit screen. This would enable the margins to be reduced by 1/8 inch and the screen width to be reduced by 1/4 inch. The wide bezel should also be reduced by 1/4 inch. If they want to increase screen height enough to keep the diagonal at 7 inches, that is OK with me, but keeping the current height is also OK.

I would also like for the page turn buttons to be a bit wider and silent.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I would also like for the screen to have a flexible substrate, primarily to reduce weight, but the decreased fragility would also be a bonus.

Not something I'd want, personally. As you know, the Mobius (plastic substrate) displays have a much lower pixel density than the glass substrate does, and I don't think personally that a significant reduction in resolution is a price worth paying for a tougher and fractionally lighter device - they're already sufficiently light and strong, to my mind.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not something I'd want, personally. As you know, the Mobius (plastic substrate) displays have a much lower pixel density than the glass substrate does, and I don't think personally that a significant reduction in resolution is a price worth paying for a tougher and fractionally lighter device - they're already sufficiently light and strong, to my mind.

I had forgotten that. Yes 300dpi -> 200dpi on a 7 inch screen would be a steep price to
pay for lightness and a marginal increase in toughness. Maybe the Mobius resolution will improve someday. Meanwhile the 200 dpi and even 150 dpi 13 inch Sony ereaders feel and look fantastic.