Kindle Oasis WiFi vs 3G / 4G Free Cellular Connectivity
The first and most important difference between Kindle Oasis WiFi + Free Cellular Connectivity and Kindle Oasis Wi-Fi only is in connectivity. The way how these two versions of Kindle Oasis connect to the internet is different. Kindle Oasis needs access to the internet in order to download ebooks and magazines from Amazon and other internet websites.
Also, Kindle Oasis needs access to the internet to download audiobooks from the Audible website. Audible has the biggest selection of audiobooks in the world. Audible is owned by Amazon.
Kindle Oasis Wi-Fi is able to connect to the internet only through Wi-Fi wireless connection. The Kindle Oasis Wi-Fi + Free Cellular Connectivity is able to connect to the internet through 3G / 4G / 5G cellular network and through Wi-Fi wireless connection. This means that a Kindle Oasis Wi-Fi + Free Cellular Connectivity gives you greater freedom—you are connected to the internet virtually everywhere you go.
There is a difference in price between these two versions of Kindle Oasis. Kindle Oasis WiFi + Free Cellular Connectivity is more expensive.
Therefore, Kindle Oasis with Wi-Fi only connection will be good enough for most people. You can download books to your Kindle at home or any Wi-Fi hotspot.
On the other hand, people who travel a lot may prefer to have cellular connectivity on their Kindle in addition to a Wi-Fi connection. For those people, having cellular connectivity available on their Kindle devices is a convenient way to download ebooks or magazines at airports, railway stations, and bus stations. It is also a cheaper way to download files to the Kindle Oasis since most of the airports charge access to their Wi-Fi networks.
Downloading books on Kindle Oasis
The most convenient way of downloading ebooks and audiobooks is to download them directly from the Kindle store to your Kindle device.
Kindle Oasis needs access to the internet only when downloading books, audiobooks, or magazines.
Once you have downloaded your ebook or magazine in your Kindle Oasis you don’t need a connection to the internet anymore. Audiobooks are much bigger digital files than ebooks so downloading an audio book to the Kindle Oasis takes a longer time than downloading an ebook.
There is another way of downloading ebooks to Kindle Oasis. It is an indirect download and it is a less convenient way of downloading.
First, you download ebooks to your computer and then connect your computer to a Kindle device with a USB cable. Once Kindle is connected to the computer with a wired connection you simply transfer the ebook to Kindle.
This method is sometimes the only possible way to download ebooks in some older models of Kindle ebook readers such as Kindle DX. Amazon has discontinued support for some very old Kindle models in Canada. If your old Kindle is still in good working condition and you wish to continue to use it then this is the way to download books.
You can also download textbooks in pdf format - Kindle Oasis supports pdf files.
Kindle Oasis Size
Kindle Oasis size is 7 inches. It is currently the biggest Kindle ebook reader. The other two models, Kindle basic model, and Kindle Paperwhite come with a 6-inch screen.
Kobo Clara and Kobo Nia come with a 6-inch screen. Kobo Libra H2O has a 7-inch screen. The Kobo e-reader with the biggest screen ( 8 inches) is Kobo Forma.
Similar sizes are Nook e-readers from Barnes and Noble.
However, many people like to read ebooks on a large screen (around 10 inches). There is a high public demand for reading devices with a large screen at an affordable price. Currently (in 2024) there is a high demand for big-screen ebook readers.
There are a lot of tablets with large displays on the Canadian market but it is much easier to read books on an ebook reader than on a tablet. It is less eye strain when you read a book on an ereader, especially when you read outdoors in bright sunshine or dim environments since ereaders come with E-ink screens and tablets come with LCD screens.
There are only a few models of ebook readers with a screen bigger than 10 inches in Canada. Onyx and Sony are offering a few models of ebook readers with big screens. However, they have a much higher price than Kindle and Kobo e-readers.
Kindle DX was the biggest Kindle e-reader which Amazon has ever manufactured. The size of its screen was 9.7 inches. That screen size is much bigger than Kindle Oasis size. Amazon discontinued that ebook reader in 2013. Probably, the reason was the high manufacturing costs of Kindle DX and therefore selling price was high as well. Amazon's philosophy for ebook readers is simple: make a decent ebook reader at an affordable price.
These days you can buy only used models of Kindle DX on eBay. The only way for some models of Kindle DX to access the internet was through a free 3G network – there was no option to connect Kindle DX to broadband internet using Wi-Fi connection networks. Since Amazon has discontinued support for Kindle DX, you can download new books in this Kindle only by downloading them first to your computer and then transferring them to Kindle, as I explained earlier.
The good news is that Kobo has just announced a new ebook reader Elipsa. The Elipsa comes with 10.3 inches E-ink display. It is the biggest Kobo ebook reader so far.
Updated: January 11, 2024