Oasis Control

Edit for new review - the connectivity between app and mini has improved significantly! They really worked on fixing the connection issues, and although I wish you could choose to delay updates when you open the app sometimes, in general I have not had any issues with the app or the device in some time. Thank you for your hard work, devs! Previous review: I’ve had a really hard time in the past few months getting my oasis mini to connect with the app. It keeps telling me there was an issue, but not what the issue was. I’ve tried turning the mini on and off and attempting to reconnect, to no avail. The most recent time I was able to get the mini to play normally, I decided that I was not going to attempt to turn it off again, so that it would at least play the same playlist looped around, but I really miss being able to choose different templates, change the color scheme, etc. If the app was able to connect reliably, as it did when I first got the mini, I would be happy to change this review to 5 stars. Although it is fairly bare bones, if it was functional, it would be just fine. As it stands, I’m scared to turn off the mini in an attempt to freshly reconnect, in case it simply refuses to connect again and I’m left with a large nonfunctional paperweight with lights.

The Oasis Mini is a great concept and idea. The app that you have to use to operate it however causes me to question backing this idea on kickstarter. The designs that the oasis is capable of producing are really cool and there are heaps of designs available. Initially connecting the mini to the app is not overly complicated. There are pattern playlists that are automatically included in the app that are not customisable to the best of my knowledge nor can you remove them from your playlist. You may make customised playlists but nowhere that I’ve been able to find does it say there is a limit of 20 designs per playlist. So the time I have repeatedly spent making playlists is now fairly substantial because if you go over the 20 max limit it won’t play. There is nothing in the physical or digital manual to indicate this limit. This was a “learn as you go” piece of information. Also, there are constant download updates to the app. I have no idea what it is attempting to download but it hangs consistently at 1% and the Mini stops its current pattern. I have written the creators of the Mini and have not yet received a response for this issue to date. Hopefully I will be able to update this review to a better rating if they manage to fix the issue. Other wise I may try and sell my Mini to recoup some of my money, sadly.

There need to be more good reviews for this because it has a bunch of cool features and has a solid foundation to build on. I believe in supporting small companies and this is a really cool idea. The physical quality is very good. Solid body, strong magnet, many cool light settings, and I can tell the hardware is sturdy. The designs are even more impressive in real life and there’s a nice variety with many more to come I hope. Everyone who sees it at my house asks about it and is mesmerized by it. The concept is great, and filled with many features with unlimited potential. Version one just needs more work to actualize that potential. The Oasis app gets updated often and for good reason. It is far from perfect and there are quite a few bugs, but if you have a little patience you’re rewarded with a really cool decoration. If I typed out all of the imperfections, this would be a long review. What’s important is I get the impression that Oasis is on it and working everything out as fast as they can. For example I haven’t been able to use the feature that lets me control the ball with my finger but I look forward to it! I’d love to be able to make a design and permanently save it to a playlist.If you guys get this sorted by December, I’m gonna buy 10 of them to give as gifts. I play with it almost everyday and when it’s great it’s really great, and when it’s acting up it’s still a little bit better than so-so. I really look forward to more designs and usability.