So many books, so many words. So few eyes, so little time. Looking to help you more efficiently take on your 2018 reading challenge, Amazon has just announced Audible audiobook playback is expanding to a wider variety of its Kindle ereaders.

The first generation Kindle Oasis, and the regular old Kindle, can now access Amazon’s audiobook service direct from the devices themselves, and playback content. This includes the Audible storefront, and is facilitated by connecting up to Bluetooth-enabled speakers or headphones, as neither device has a headphone jack.

It’s an interesting reveal, considering neither device previously has had any mention of Bluetooth functionality. Audible support was a key unique selling point of the 2017 Kindle Oasis, it’s worth noting.

250,000 spoken tales

The Audible store is now the go-to stop for digital audiobook content, offering 250,000 professional audiobooks for purchase. Amazon has continued to invest in the area too, commissioning its own new readings of stories – so you can see why it’d be keen to recoup the costs by making access to the service more widely available.

Quite exactly how Amazon has been able to “flip the switch” to enable the older devices to have this functionality remains to be seen. And you may well feel a bit miffed if you’ve bought the new pricey Oasis specifically for this feature, only to find the older ones will support it too with their next software update.

Still, for existing Kindle owners, you can’t knock a top feature upgrade like this. We’re waiting for confirmation comment from Amazon on how it’s been able to bring this new feature to older devices, neither of which have previously offered any audio support, and will update this post as we receive it.