Amazon Kindle Oasis E-reader Leaks Early, Buoyed By Battery Case With 20-Month Standby Time

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first alerted us to the existence of a new flagship e-reader last week with the following tweet:

Heads up readers – all-new, top of the line Kindle almost ready. 8th generation. Details next week.

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 4, 2016

We now know, thanks to a leak from Amazon China, that the e-reader is called the Kindle Oasis. At first glance, the Oasis looks a bit ungainly with its asymmetric design -- at its thinnest point, the Oasis measures 3.4 mm which expands to 3.4 millimeters at its thickest point. We don’t know how this will affect holding the device in your hands, but we do know that the device can used in either a right- or left-handed mode, with the screen rotating 180 degrees to compensate for either position.

The Oasis carries with it a 300dpi display and a backlighting system that includes 60 percent more LEDs. It weighs in at 0.29 pounds, which is over 25 percent lighter than the current generation Voyage.

What’s most intriguing about the Oasis, however, is its battery case. The external case partially explains the varying thickness of the Oasis, and attaches via magnets. The optional leather-clad accessory, which comes in three colors (black, brown and red), can provide up to an incredible 20 months of standby time when connected to the Oasis.

For now, that’s all we know about the Oasis, but it should only be a few short days before Amazon spills all the beans during its official unveil.