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Comment by jmcphers | Hacker News Reader

I was really hoping for a Kindle with USB-C and page turning buttons; inexplicably this still does not exist.

The Oasis, with page-turn buttons, hasn't been refreshed since mid-2019; the latest Paperwhite, with USB-C port, was released two years later. I expect the next Oasis will have USB-C.

I was really hoping for a new Oasis in this announcement! I currently use a Voyage, a long-since-discontinued Kindle that was a hybrid of the Paperwhite and the Oasis, with a symmetric design and haptic page turn "buttons" on the left and right bezels.

With the arrival of the Paperwhite Signature Edition I'm wondering if Amazon is going to phase out the Oasis line entirely, just as they did with Voyage. It can't be selling that well as virtually every feature is now as good or better on the Paperwhite line.

Virtually every feature except for the physical turn buttons, which was always the feature that made Oasis so much better than cheaper Kindle models.

Thanks for mentioning this - I've been waiting many many years to upgrade my kindle until they released one with USB C. I didn't know they had one out now

The Kindle Paperwhite uses a USB-C connector. (It probably still uses USB 2.x for data transfer, though -- I'm not sure why that would matter to anyone).

I believe only the Kindle Oasis has physical page-turning buttons, and it (inexplicably) still uses Micro-USB. I suspect this situation is what the parent is referring to.

Is that really a big deal? Micro USB is a perfectly cromulent technology and cords cost a fraction of their usbc counterparts (plus everybody has a million of them)

Its not a huge deal, but I certainly strongly prefer to have USB C nowadays. I travel a lot and having a single type of cable is a real convenience. I tend to take an octopus cable (with type C, Micro and lighting) to fill the gaps, but when laptop, headphones, phone, tablet, power bank, gps; all use one type and Kindle uses another...

Suffice it to say I'm looking forward to the time when USB C is ubiquitous, even though it has some short comings.

I wouldn't buy another Kindle just for USB C though.

FYI the Kobo Libra 2 is just this if you don't need the Amazon ecosystem. If you do, you're out of luck for now though.

The main reason I stick with Amazon is that it has the best integration with my local library, which is where I get 90% of my books. Like most libraries, they are OverDrive based.

I can check out a book from the library on my phone and have it appear wirelessly on my Kindle moments later. Last I checked all non-Kindle devices require you to basically download an .epub file onto your computer and then sideload it with a cable to check out a library book, which is too much hassle for something I do several times a week.

I've had a pretty good experience with the Kobo Overdrive integration.

My process for checking out books on a Kobo is:

  - check out book on Libby app

  - go to Kobo

  - hit the sync button.

The last time I tried to check out a book for Amazon (admittedly a while ago) it was

  - check out book on Libby app

  - get redirected to Amazon & hit "borrow" <-- just a bit of extra friction

  - go to Kindle

  - hit the sync button

Well, that's sure an improvement from the last time I looked into this! Thank you, I'll check out Kobo.

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