As Apple prepares to introduce AI-powered features to the iPhone, another company is taking the opposite approach: Instead of building a phone with more technology, it’s opting for less. Lightthe maker of the minimalist phone with an e-paper display, announces its newest model, the Light Phone III.
Like its predecessor, the Light Phone III offers a simple black-and-white screen, with no access to social media, the Internet, or email. However, unlike Light’s older phones, the Light Phone III has a larger OLED screen and an NFC chip for future payment tools, as well as a camera for moments you wouldn’t want to miss by leaving your smartphone at home.
The goal with the new device is to improve its usability and performance, says Light co-founder Joe Hollier. The new Light Phone III is larger than previous models, about the width of most iPhones, but significantly smaller. it’s more BlackBerry-like in terms of its form factor. This will make it easier to text the phone while holding it vertically, the team says. In addition, the AMOLED screen illuminates only the white pixels, which, combined with a matte glass, will look more like the older Light Phone II.
“It will actually retain many of the features that people love about the e-ink display, [with it] it feels very different from a glossy smartphone screen,” Hollier said.
Together with Kaiwei Tang, Hollier founded Light in September 2014, initially as a Kickstarter project for people looking to kick their smartphone addictions. Between the first two models, the Light Phone I and Light Phone II, the company has shipped more than 100,000 devices, with the latter accounting for about two-thirds of those sales.
The appeal of the Light Phone is that it doesn’t force you to give up useful aspects of modern smartphone technology, such as built-in access to maps and navigation, calls, text messages, notes and voice memos, a calendar, a timer, an alarm clock, a calculator, a hotspot and a simple music and podcast player. Instead, what it offers is a way to escape the kinds of technology some people would prefer without: social media apps, clickbait news, and the call of a web browser that connects you to the internet.
Light phone owners can use the unlocked device on their own carrier, or they can opt for Light’s $30 per month phone plan with 1GB of data. There are also higher priced plans at $45/month or $70/month for 5GB or unlimited data, respectively.
The phone appeals to a 25- to 40-year-old audience, the majority of whom use it as their primary phone, often alongside a tablet or laptop for extended internet access. A smaller group can switch to their Light phone when they need to take a break, such as when they’re trying to go “offline” for a weekend or vacation, but don’t want to be left without a way to reach people or contact them in an emergency .
The Light Phone III will target the larger demographic that already uses a non-smartphone as their primary device.
Like its other devices, the Light Phone will also appeal to the privacy-conscious crowd. When you use a feature like directions and navigation, Light pays to get that logic private for its users. This means that tech giants like Google don’t track and share your data when you use these kinds of features.
Aside from the new form factor and OLED display, the camera is the most notable addition. It’s not on par with those found in high-end smartphones like the iPhone or Google Pixel. Instead, it’s a non-zoom center focus camera that’s more like a point-and-shoot. Pressing the dedicated shutter button with a half press focuses the photo and a full press takes the photo.
Another new feature is the light wheel, which allows you to adjust the brightness of the screen by turning a knob when you go outside or inside, making it brighter or dimmer.
The bigger phone now has more antenna bands, so there’s only one phone model this time, not separate ones for North America and Europe. Around the side of the phone’s casing is aluminum, with recycled plastic making up the speaker grille at the bottom. The Light Phone III has larger speakers for listening to music or podcasts or using the speakerphone.
The power button now includes a fingerprint reader, making it easier to open and use the phone. The 5G-capable phone also has 6GB of RAM (up from 1GB on the Light Phone II), 128GB of storage (up from 8GB) and more modern Qualcomm chips.
Meanwhile, the battery, about twice the size of previous versions, is user-replaceable, or users can send their phone back to Light to have it replaced, likely for less than $50.
All the upgrades make the new device more expensive: The Light Phone III costs $799 compared to the Light Phone II’s $299. The latter will still be sold, however, for those who prefer the e-ink version.
“We ask the question: Can a phone last five years or even 10 years? Things like metal, higher quality materials, removable battery and we’ve even improved the way screens – and other parts – can be replaced as much as possible,” said Hollier. “We’re trying to make it a more sustainable phone. And at this point, you know, the $799 price tag really embodies that.”
Older Light Phone III users will be able to pre-order the new devices for $399 — a 50% discount. Similar to crowdfunding, these pre-orders will help Light move into its first mass production series with Foxconn. There will be a total of three production runs until around the end of November and orders are expected to start shipping in January 2025.
From 2015 to 2024, Light has raised approximately $11 million from more than 80 VCs and angels, including Bullish VC, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer, Tim Kendall (Facebook/Pinterest) , by Scott Belsky (Adobe) , Wisdom Venture, Dave Free (pgLang), Pete Davidson (SNL), Able Partners, Gaingels, Heroic Ventures, Hinge Capital, White Bay Group, New Lab Ventures, SOSV and Foxconn. As of 2022 — the latest valuation used to raise equity — Light was valued at $24 million, pre-money.
The full specifications of the Light Phone III:
Dimensions: 106mm x 71.5mm x 12mm
Weight: 124g
Network: 5G + 4GLTE
Screen: 3.92” AMOLED (1080×1240)
Screen: Matte Glass
Port: USB-C 2.0
Camera: 50 meters back / 8 meters front
SIM: Nano SIM + E-SIM
Memory: 128GB / 6GB RAM
Battery: 1800 mAH
Sound: 2 microphones (noise cancellation), 2 stereo speakers
Features: GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Fingerprint ID
Materials: Aluminum, Glass, Recycled SORPLAS Plastic
Chipset: Qualcomm SM 4450
IP rating: IP 54
