Kindle Oasis
Hacker ApprovedRanked 9 of 29 e-readers by recommenders
Fans praise its physical page-turn buttons, ergonomic shape and build, and say no newer Kindle matches it. Common caveats: aging software and no physical buttons on newer models.
Fans praise its physical page-turn buttons, ergonomic shape and build, and say no newer Kindle matches it. Common caveats: aging software and no physical buttons on newer models.
29 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 8 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Physical page-turn buttons
“buttons are in the middle. Since you tend to not use the back page button much, it works pretty well.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers” “I need the physical page turn buttons so Amazon has basically abandoned me.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “the only device that meets my needs (page turn buttons and waterproof”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers” - Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader”
Unmatched design and build quality
“No one has made something remotely as nice to use as the Oasis, including Amazon themselves.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “they already designed the perfect e-reader and released it in 2016”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers” “The Oasis was the pinnacle of e-reader hardware design”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers” - Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “The New Kindle Scribes Are Great, but Not Great Enough”
Comfortable ergonomic shape
“There's something about the apparent ergonomics that look precisely like what I've always wanted”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “I love having a safe area on the side to, ya know, hold the damn thing.”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “I turned my Kindle into my own personal newspaper” “Horizontal and square is extremely comfortable to read on”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Amazon introduces a redesigned Kindle family” Good layout and typography
“the Kindle Oasis was, to me, one of the best ways to read books”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive” “The Oasis layout engine and typography are both pretty good”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader” “still the best device there is to read on”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “I turned my Kindle into my own personal newspaper”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow, aging software
“And now Kindle devices lost cellular (why?!?), lost physical keys (facepalm), and are getting worse and worse UI/UX-wise.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “The latest Kindle software is already glacially slow on it”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “The New Kindle Scribes Are Great, but Not Great Enough” “it's very slow loading for large books”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Tiny $70 Xteink X3 e-reader” Newer Kindles lack physical buttons
“And now Kindle devices lost cellular (why?!?), lost physical keys (facepalm), and are getting worse and worse UI/UX-wise.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “I need the physical page turn buttons so Amazon has basically abandoned me.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “Amazon steadfastly refuses to release an ergonomic e-reader with buttons”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “The New Kindle Scribes Are Great, but Not Great Enough” - Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Open Book Touch: open-source e-reader”
Other e-readers people recommend
The four most recommended other e-readers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Kindle | 222 | 255 | 47% | 12 | 12 yrs37 owners | — |
| Xteink X4 | 178 | 47 | 79% | 10 | 2 mo31 owners | Approved |
| Kobo e-reader | 154 | 53 | 74% | 12 | 7 yrs14 owners | Approved |
| reMarkable 2 | 93 | 45 | 67% | 12 | 5 yrs13 owners | Approved |
| Kindle OasisThis page | 23 | 6 | 79% | 10 | 8 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
33 of the 35 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Horizontal and square is extremely comfortable to read on”
“This finally got me to replace (preorder) my Oasis with a new Kindle.”
“it's very slow loading for large books”
“I use a Kindle Oasis and love it.”
“My current device is the Oasis and I wish I had bought a spare.”
“the buttons used to be much better”
“I stick with my Kindle Oasis for the buttons”
“Kindle Oasis was the sweet spot for me.”
“The Oasis layout engine and typography are both pretty good”
“though the Oasis is livable”
“buttons are in the middle. Since you tend to not use the back page button much, it works pretty well.”
“they already designed the perfect e-reader and released it in 2016”
“the only device that meets my needs (page turn buttons and waterproof”
“The Oasis was the pinnacle of e-reader hardware design”
“the Kindle Oasis was, to me, one of the best ways to read books”
“I don't know if there's a big market for a premium eReader (like the Oasis)”
“No one has made something remotely as nice to use as the Oasis, including Amazon themselves.”
“And now Kindle devices lost cellular (why?!?), lost physical keys (facepalm), and are getting worse and worse UI/UX-wise.”
“it’s almost perfect, but I am afraid of the day it bites the dust”
“they support kindles for a long time”
“I need the physical page turn buttons so Amazon has basically abandoned me.”
“There's something about the apparent ergonomics that look precisely like what I've always wanted”
“I love having a safe area on the side to, ya know, hold the damn thing.”
“I'll hold onto mine for a while.”
“I like the build of my Kindle Oasis 2 too much”
“still the best device there is to read on”
“I'd be happy to give Amazon more money if they made a reader similar to the 2019 Oasis.”
“The Oasis is much better made.”
“The latest Kindle software is already glacially slow on it”
“I have an Oasis and if I could buy a new one with USB-C, I would.”
“Amazon steadfastly refuses to release an ergonomic e-reader with buttons”
“a much better reading-in-bed experience than the Kindle Oasis with its uniform glow”
“still does all the things i need it to”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.