Ten years after the first Kindles hit Amazon, the online-shopping giant is finally releasing the tablet of your dreams. A waterproof Kindle is coming to make your bathtub reading so much easier. Available for pre-order now, the Kindle Oasis can be yours on Oct. 31, so get ready to have some luxurious reading experiences this winter.
To be clear, you should not expect to take your new Kindle Oasis on your next deep-sea dive. The waterproof Kindle e-readers are rated IPX8, which means that they can survive sitting in two meters of fresh water for one hour. As BuzzFeed notes, "[g]etting splashed by the ocean at the beach shouldn't be a problem," but there are no guarantees that your Kindle Oasis would survive a dip in the Atlantic.
Not only is the Kindle Oasis the only waterproof e-reader Amazon offers, it's also the only Kindle model capable of storing Audible audiobooks. All of the waterproof Kindles come with Bluetooth connectivity, which will allow you to play your Audible titles on wireless speakers or headsets.
All of this luxury comes at an obvious premium. The Kindle Oasis will cost you $250 for 8 GB of storage and a 7-inch screen, making it three times more expensive than the $79.99 base-model Kindle. All of the new waterproof Kindles come with Wi-Fi connectivity and built-in Audible service. At $349.99, the most advanced Kindle Oasis comes with 32 GB of storage and free cellular connectivity, which will allow you to purchase, download, and stream new books on the go.
Kindle Oasis, $250, Amazon
Because the waterproof Kindles are larger than previous models, Amazon is also releasing a new set of water-resistant covers, which will double as handy reading stands. The $45 fabric cover is available in Charcoal, Indigo, or Sandstone, and the $60 leather cover comes in Merlot, Midnight, and Saddle Tan. The covers also launch on Halloween, so your Kindle Oasis doesn't have to spend one minute in its birthday suit.
Amazon is offering a pre-order bundle of the waterproof Kindle, which includes a power adapter and leather cover of your choice, along with the Kindle Oasis. The bundles cost $309.97 and $339.97 for the 8- and 32-GB models, and both are $20 cheaper than buying the items separately. With the Kindle power adapters currently priced at $19.99, it's sort of like getting one for free with the purchase of a waterproof Kindle and leather case.
Which books are you most excited to read on your Kindle Oasis? Let me know on Twitter!
