Overall, the Kindle Voyage is the best device, since it's cheaper than the Oasis but still offers the same excellent screen, a similarly light and compact build, and excellent battery life.
However, by examining the different features of each e-reader, this guide will show that the Oasis is slightly better for customers who have a more flexible budget.
At a glance
 Amazon Kindle Voyage |
 Amazon Kindle Oasis |
|
|---|---|---|
| Price | £169.99 (Discontinued) |
£229.99 |
| Pros | Light and compact; easy to use one-handed | Waterproof; comfortable to read for long periods; audiobook compatible |
| Cons | Neither waterproof nor audiobook compatible | Doesn't fully justify high price tag |
| Size | 162 mm x 115 mm x 7.6 mm | 159 mm x 141 mm x 3.4 - 8.3 mm |
| Weight | 180g | 194g |
| Battery charge | 20 hours | 18 - 19 hours |
Which is the best?
Overall winner: the Kindle Voyage does almost everything the Oasis can do, but at a fraction of the price
Both the Voyage and Oasis come with the same operating system and therefore work in exactly the same way. However, the Voyage tips it slightly overall, and for the following reasons:
- It's £60 cheaper than the Oasis (or £90 cheaper than the 32GB Oasis)
- It has the same high resolution screen
- It has an adaptive built-in light, like the Oasis
- It's lighter and less wide, making it more compact and portable
- Its pressure-sensitive PagePress pads are better for commuters
That said, for readers who can afford an extra £60 (or £90), the recently released 2nd generation Oasis is waterproof and can also be used to play audiobooks (via Bluetooth speakers).
It may lack the extra battery life that came with the 1st generation Oasis released in 2016, as well as the leather case that makes reading more comfortable. However, it's still a touch better than the Voyage when price is taken out of the equation.
The Voyage versus the Oasis
Price
Winner: the Kindle Voyage is at least £60 cheaper than the Oasis and almost as good
The Kindle Voyage is currently priced at £169.99, while the latest Oasis is £229.99.
This is £40 cheaper than the first Oasis released in 2016, yet it still results in a price difference that isn't quite justified by the difference in features between the two devices.
This is especially the case with the two more expensive versions of the current Oasis: the 32GB version (£259.99) and the 32GB version with included 3G (£319.99).
The Kindle Oasis in profile
Given that all versions of the Oasis (including the cheapest, 8GB version) can store a virtually infinite number of books on the cloud, the extra memory space isn't that necessary.
Similarly, additional 3G access doesn't offer that much value for money when all Kindles can download books via a wi-fi connection, something which isn't very hard to come by these days.
As a result, the two more expensive versions of the Oasis are really only for people who have a considerable amount of cash to spare.
Aesthetics
Winner: the Kindle Oasis slimline body makes it more comfortable and slightly more attractive than the Voyage
While the Voyage is thinner, lighter and better looking than the standard Kindle or the Kindle Paperwhite, it's just about beaten by the Oasis in the looks department.
The Kindle Voyage in sleep mode
The Oasis is slightly shorter at 159mm in height, making it a bit more compact and more easily slotted into a satchel or handbag.
Yet it's also considerably thinner, with its depth tapering from 8.5mm at its thickest edge to 3.4mm at its thinnest.
We found that this makes it more comfortable to hold than the Voyage, since it allowed the device to rest more on our hands, rather than forcing us to grip it firmly.
The Kindle Oasis from the rear
And without the need to grip it so firmly, we found it easier to hold the e-reader and continue reading for that bit longer.
That said, after the Oasis, the Voyage is certainly the next most comfortable Kindle, and its superior lightness means it's only slightly less satisfying to use than its more expensive rival.
Screen
Winner: the Kindle Oasis has a larger screen that packs in 30% more text at the same high resolution as the Voyage
Both Kindles come with the same high resolution, 300ppi (pixels per inch) screen.
This displays text and images with an impressive degree of clarity, much more so than the standard Kindle, which has only a 167ppi screen (note: the Paperwhite also has a 300ppi screen).
Added to this, both Kindles have a built-in light, so that users can read in dim lighting or the dark. And they also have manual and automatic brightness control, so that the screen adjusts to dimmer or brighter ambient light.
The Kindle Oasis waking up from sleep mode
However,the Oasis boasts one advantage: it has a seven-inch screen, compared to the six inches of the Voyage.
This doesn't make its display any sharper, but it means it can pack in 30% more text than its rival. Better yet, it can display the same number of words as the Voyage, but in a larger font size.
This makes things easier on the eye, and in our experience the increased font size enabled us to read for longer stretches of time without feeling mentally fatigued as a result focusing too much on text.
Battery
Winner: the Kindle Voyage's battery tends to last an hour or two longer than the Oasis'
While both devices have much the same battery, the Kindle Oasis' tends to need recharging sooner. This is because, compared to the six LEDs of the Voyage's in-built light, the Oasis has 12, which tend to be a bigger drain on its battery.
With the Voyage, we found that the battery lasted for almost 20 hours before needing to be connected to a USB cable and a PC/Mac, which translates to almost six weeks of reading at half an hour a day.
With the Oasis, Amazon claim it can also go six weeks between charges. However, with us it tended to last for less than this, going around 19 or 18 hours before dying on us.
PagePress vs page turn buttons
Winner: the Kindle Voyage's PagePress pads are slightly easier to use for commuters
The Kindle Voyage has four PagePress pads, with two on each side. One of each pair is a small dot and allows the user to scroll backwards, while the other is a line, allowing him or her to scroll forwards.
All four of these pads are touch sensitive, meaning that even slight pressure - rather than a firm push - can work them, something we found made scrolling through books a tad easier.
One-handed Kindle Voyage reading
Making things even easier is the fact that there's one pair of these PagePress pads on each side of the e-reader. This allowed us to read one-handed while standing on a moving bus and holding onto a pole with the other, regardless of whether we were using our right or left hand.
By contrast, the Oasis comes with two more traditional page turn buttons on the right-hand side of its screen.
This might make it seem as though only right-handed readers can use it one-handed, yet the Oasis and its screen can actually be flipped so that it can also be used with one hand by left-hand readers.
The Kindle Oasis after having been flipped
As such, there's very little difference in functionality between the two. Nevertheless, the Voyage just about edges it, and for two reasons:
- The presence of pads on both sides means you don't have to turn it upside down, which might not always be easy in a packed train or bus
- its PagePress pads are more discreet and stylish than the page turn buttons, since they're part of the actual surface of the Kindle (and don't stick out at all).
Verdict: Kindle Voyage vs Kindle Oasis - which is best?
Overall winner: the Kindle Voyage is £60 cheaper than the Oasis and very nearly as good
Disregarding price, there's only a very slight difference between the Voyage and Oasis, with the Oasis' bigger screen, waterproofing and audiobook capability making it slightly better as an e-reader.
However, it's likely that such extras won't be worth £60 for most people. And given how the Voyage is better in other respects (e.g. PagePress and battery life), it's ultimately the better device overall.
This isn't to say that the Oasis isn't worth getting if you can afford it. However, it is to say that the Voyage provides more features per pound and that, for most people, it will provide more value for money as a purchase.
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