Sander Saar, founder of AgentCDN, making videos work inside AI

Transcript

1. 0:00

   Hi everybody, I'm Sander and I believe in technology. Besides all of the race going on between smartphones, tablets, and computers, also e-readers seem to be making great progress. In this video, let's take a look at the 2017 Amazon Kindle Oasis 2 and compare it to the last year Kindle Oasis. Let's take a closer look.

2. 0:25

   I've used Kindles for a while, from the original one to the Paperwhite to the Voyage and Oasis since last year. And I find myself more and more turning away from smartphones, computers, and tablets in order to allow myself a distraction-free downtime when reading. And e-readers have been doing a great job. There's no notifications, there's no flickering screen, there's e-ink displays, and also there's no apps and no websites, or if they're there, they're very slow, so you don't want to use them.

3. 0:52

   Even though not much seems to be improving in that phase and everything seems to be kind of ironed out and worked out and it's a very mature industry, I think this year Amazon made a completely new functionality for the device by bringing on audiobooks and Audible support, where you can read and listen simultaneously on the same device and have everything synced up, similarly as has already been available on iOS and Android Kindle apps before. So let's see what they have changed from form factor to the screen to the power and also functionality of these devices.

4. 1:22

   First of all, let's talk about the form factor. This year's Kindle Oasis is 0.7 inches higher and 0.8 inches wider, so it's significantly, significantly bigger device when you hold it, but at the same time they managed to keep it at the thinnest point still 3.4 millimeters, which is very impressive. On the other hand, they had to increase the weight about 50% and now weighs more than 190 grams. I mean, it doesn't make a big difference, but you can feel it when you compare them side by side.

5. 1:50

   At the same time, they're also offering better materials. Instead of a plastic back, it now has a nice aluminum back, which also besides the looks brings better durability over time. All of these changes are there to accommodate the larger screen. Instead of 6 inches, it's now 7 inches. I wish they would have downsized the form factor as well and not have large bezels, but I guess that's what they had to do in order to keep it still very thin.

6. 2:15

   The screen itself is high resolution but still provides the same clarity and 300 pixels per inch as also do the Paperwhite and Voyage. On the other hand, from the last year Voyage, they're bringing on the automatic ambient light sensor, which automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen depending depending on the environment you're in. And they've also added additional LEDs to cover the bigger screen, so now instead of 10, they have 12 LEDs lighting up the display.

7. 2:40

   The difference also comes from the processor, where they've now accommodated a 1 GHz processor. But to be honest, I think it's more to turn around those pixels rather than give you more speed. Maybe it feels about 20% faster when you're doing all the tasks, but really that also comes down to the refresh rate of the screen, which hasn't changed over time. So the speed change is not really noticeable. Another difference from hardware side is that it's now water resistant.

8. 3:06

   What it means is you can take it to your bath or pool with you and not worry about it. You can keep it underwater 2 meters for about 60 minutes, so that should give you plenty of coverage in order to allow any kind of environment. But in order to bring that water resistance, they had to take away the ability to connect external covers give you much longer battery life. I'm still due to test. It seems about the same battery life on both of them.

9. 3:31

   They just say it's weeks, but at the same time, I acknowledge that having an extra battery with it will give you more comfort during longer travels. The major selling point for me on the functionality side was the integration between Audible and Kindle, which has been available on iOS and Android devices for a while now, where you can be listening to something on an audio and then continue reading it in a Kindle app. But it wasn't supported on Kindle devices before, as none of them had Audible built in.

10. 3:58

    Now you can do that, and I found it very useful. I use the Kindle at home, and it's connected to the Bluetooth speaker, so it's playing out loud with any notification dings and dongs and syncs up perfectly with my Kindle reading experience as well. And to be honest, more and more of my reading now is done through audiobooks, so I really enjoy that integration. I see it as a vital part of the evolution of e-readers. For audiobook support, Amazon also had to increase the storage and memory on these devices.

11. 4:26

    From 4 gigs last year, the minimum is now 8 gigs, and you can expand it up to 32 gigs. 8 gigs will give you room for about 35 audiobooks, so that should be plenty for you to start with. With all of that functionality, there's still a hefty price attached to it. Even though they managed to do it for lower, from $289 to now $249 for the Kindle Oasis base model, it's still double the price from the Kindle Paperwhite, which does at least half of what it did before.

12. 4:53

    But I think for now you can justify it as you actually have additional functionality and performance compared to the other Kindles on the market. So to conclude, unless you really want the larger screen, which I appreciate a lot, or the water resistance, or the built-in Bluetooth for Audible support, I still think that Paperwhite for half of the price is still the best option out there. It gives you the same quality of the screen and also similar performance.

13. 5:19

    By the way, later this year Audible support will be coming to the original Kindle as well and not the Paperwhite. So Amazon is playing the kind of game here which I'm not a huge fan of. But for now, I think Amazon Kindle Oasis 2017 is the best e-reader out there today. From the metal build quality to an amazing larger screen and built-in audio and Bluetooth support through Audible, It's a great package. If you're looking to buy it and you want to get it quickly instead of waiting 2 to 4 weeks, which is the backorder at the moment on Amazon, if you live in a country where there's Prime Now available, just order it through there.

14. 5:54

    They have it in stock and you can have it in 2 hours. Thank you very much for watching. I hope you enjoyed this quick review and comparison with the Kindle Oasis. If you did, please give it a thumbs up. Leave your comment below on what you think is the best e-reader and what you value, whether it's a worthy upgrade. And also subscribe to the channel in order to see future videos. Thanks again, and I hope to see you next time.