The dark mode is crisp and easy to read. Kindles provide adjustments for fonts, font size, brightness (in dark and light modes), so it is easy to set up the way you wish. This is not unique to Oasis.
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I’m someone who reads for 2+ hours a day on an e-ink Kindle. I absolutely adore my Oasis (9th gen). I love the size and clarity of the screen, and I find the wedge shape makes it easy to hold. I have this case for it in a color that’s apparently no longer available. I actually read with the case off, since I can have it on or off in about two seconds.
I’ve not for one second regretted the purchase.
That said, the only way that I could justify buying it when I did was that I got good trade-in value for my old Voyage + Amazon often gives a 20% discount on a new Kindle when you trade + the Oasis was on sale at the time. That meant I could get the 32 GB Oasis for just under $155 (just a few dollars less than what the 32 GB Paperwhite goes for).
If I had to replace the Oasis tomorrow, paying full retail for whatever I was getting, I’d replace it with the Paperwhite. The Oasis is nicer, but not $100+ nicer.
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This is my experience too. It feels a bit more comfortable to me than the Paperwhite, with a more positive grip (fingers can curl around the bump). The fact that the screen reorients depending on which way you’re holding it means you can use it in either hand and be able to reach the physical buttons. Which are my other favorite feature. 
If I were buying a brand new Kindle tomorrow, would I get the Oasis? Probably not as I don’t use it as much as I’d like, so it would be hard to cost-justify. But if I used it every day? Absolutely. The reading experience, including backlighting, is much better.
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I had a Paperwhite and switched to an Oasis. I like the screen better and find it more comfortable to hold. But most importantly, I love the physical page-turn buttons!
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Love your review, thank you for sharing.
I don’t understand what you are saying here. Do you mean that the cover is also an additional battery? Does amazon ship Oasis with the cover or it’s a separate purchase? I’d think that the cover would be costly if it also acts as a battery add-on.
@Topre, the original Kindle Oasis had a “battery cover” that built in a battery into a wrap-around cover for the Oasis. Reference http://appinformers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Amazon-Kindle-Oasis-battery.jpg for a photo. It was kind of a cool design.
I may be wrong, but I don’t think the “battery cover” is a thing anymore. My current Oasis doesn’t have the connectors for it, I couldn’t find one for it the last time I looked, and I haven’t noticed that battery life is “bad” in any meaningful way.
I’m guessing it was an early design that didn’t catch on, and they decided it really didn’t matter.
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I am glad it is not a thing anymore. It would be weird trying to wrestle with another charging option (the battery in the cover, in this case).
Sorry, that bit is a little unclear in the review—as Robert said, only the original Oasis featured a split battery design where part of it was in the reader and part of it was in the case, which is why the case was included with it for the first time in Kindle history.
It worked pretty seamlessly; you only had to plug the device itself in, and as long as the cover was on it, charge would be sent to both batteries and you could see their respective levels in the settings.
The later two models ditched this approach and consolidated the battery into the device, at the expense of battery capacity—and you no longer get the cover when you purchase, meaning even less bang for your buck. Depending on your usage, you can often get better battery life from a new Paperwhite than a new Oasis, but both last much longer than most electronics so I don’t see that as a huge issue unless you frequently bring yours with you for extended trips with no access to charging.
I have a 2013 Paperwhite. I’d gotten out of the habit of reading on it, because the iPad is RIGHT THERE.
However, spurred by this topic, I have been reading on the Kindle for the past few days, and I am reminded that it is really a lovely experience.
Plus, it’s a seven-year-old device and it still seems to have a lot of life in it. Takes forever to open a book and the WiFi connection is a bit flaky, but neither of those are issues more than once or twice a week, and I can live with that.
I’ve had my eye on the Boox e-ink reader tho.
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I’ve seen several comments here about the Oasis being too big (won’t fit in a pocket, etc.) Am I the only one who would love a bigger Kindle? A DX w/o the keyboard would be wonderful. Just an 8 inch paperwhite. Anything with a screen that is just a bit bigger. I just use it at home, so it doesn’t need to fit into a pocket, jacket or whatever.
Or, you know, I could break down and get some glasses…
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I know what you mean there but 1) the iPad is bad for reading outdoor and 2) there are too many distractions when using the iPad.
I am with you. I wish the Oasis is not just 1" larger but 2" larger. The iPad mini size would be just wonderful. My eye sight is not as good anymore so I will be using larger font to read. And with larger font, I’d love a bigger size Kindle so I can have more text on the screen. That additional 1" for twice the price is not a good motivation to upgrade to the Oasis, though.
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I’m kind of amazed at the idea that a Paperwhite would fit in a pants pocket.
My iPhone 11 Pro (not the Max) is the largest device that will fit in mine.
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I love my Oasis. I started with the Paperwhite. It’s great, too, but the physical buttons and larger screen make it a more enjoyable experience.
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The only thing I care about is “page flip” speed. I read at a larger print size, so that needs to be pretty quick. I’m happy with my Oasis, but a really, really old Kindle was slow enough to be irritating.
Nope. I’d actually love a Kindle with a screen about the size of the plain ol’ iPad. Not the fancy iPad Pro, but the 9.7" that was the mainstay for a long time.
Yeah, I’m in this boat too. But even with my glasses, I still like a slightly larger print size and a bigger screen. Things like diagrams would work so much better with an increase in screen real estate.
No judgement regarding the people who commented about that, but I can say as somebody that used to weigh close to 300 lbs and now weighs closer to 200 that the size of pants pockets seems to scale linearly with one’s waistline.
Lots of things that used to be pocketable for me would now be in “cargo pants required” territory. 
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Mother’s Day Special - only PW is on sale. Oasis is still on full price. Ugh!
Generally consistent with the “premium product” strategy for the Oasis, but yeah - frustrating.
I see the Oasis going into sale price at intervals (unpredictable). Just watch. Probably depends on the country.
Jason Snell has thoughtfully reviewed various Kindle models over the years on his Six Colors website. When I was shopping for my first Kindle his analyses of positive and negative features on each allowed me to make an informed decision.
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Supposedly Prime Day is in June…
Came here to share this! He has some great analysis!