Light introduces its latest minimalist phone, now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps | TechCrunch

While Apple prepares to introduce AI-powered features for iPhones, another company is taking the opposite approach: Instead of making phones with more tech, it’s opting for less tech. lightsThe maker of minimalist phones with e-paper screens is announcing its latest model, the Light Phone III.

Like its earlier counterpart, the Light Phone III offers a simple black-and-white display, with no access to social media, the Internet, or email. But unlike Light’s older phones, the Light III has a larger OLED display and an NFC chip to make room for future payment devices, as well as a camera to capture those moments you won’t want to miss by leaving your smartphone at home.

Light co-founder Joe Hollier says the goal of the new device is to improve its usability and performance. The new Light III is larger than the previous model, about the width of most iPhones, but much smaller; it’s more like a BlackBerry in its form factor. The team says this will make texting easier while holding the phone upright. Also, the AMOLED screen only lights up white pixels, which combined with the matte glass will make it feel similar to the old Light Phone II.

“It’ll actually retain all the features that people love about e-ink screens, [with it] “It’s very different from a glossy smartphone screen,” Hollier said.

Hollier, along with Kaiwei Tang, founded Light in September 2014, initially as a Kickstarter project to help people kick their smartphone addiction. Between the first two models, the Light Phone I and Light Phone II, the company has shipped over 100,000 devices, with the latter accounting for nearly two-thirds of sales.

The beauty of the Light Phone is that it doesn’t force you to give up useful aspects of modern-day smartphone technology, such as built-in access to maps and navigation, calls, texting, notes and voice notes, calendar, timer, alarm, calculator, hotspot and a simple music player and podcast tool. Instead, it offers a way to avoid technology that some people would prefer to live without: the call of social media apps, clickbait news and a web browser connecting 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. Higher-priced plans are also available for $45/month or $70/month for 5GB or unlimited data, respectively.

The phone is particularly popular among people aged 25 to 40, most of whom use it as their primary phone, often in conjunction with a tablet or laptop computer for extended Internet access. A younger group may switch to their light phone when they need to take a break, such as when trying to go “offline” for a weekend or vacation, but do not want to be without a way to contact people or get in touch in an emergency.

The Light Phone III will be aimed at the large segment that is already using a non-smartphone as their main device.

Like its other devices, the Light Phone will appeal to privacy-conscious people. When you use features like directions and navigation, Light pays for its users to receive that logic privately. This means tech giants like Google are not tracking and sharing your data when you use features like these.

Aside from the new form factor and OLED screen, the camera is the most notable addition. It’s not on par with the cameras found in high-end smartphones like the iPhone or Google Pixel; instead, it’s a center-focus camera without zoom that feels more like a point-and-shoot. Pressing the dedicated shutter button halfway focuses the photo and pressing it fully takes the picture.

Another new feature is the Light Wheel, which lets you adjust the brightness of the screen by turning a knob as you move outside or inside, making it brighter or dimmer.

The larger phone now has more antenna bands, so there’s only one phone model this time, not separate models for North America and Europe. The sides of the phone’s casing are made of aluminum, and the speaker grille on the bottom is made from recycled plastic. The Light Phone III has large loudspeakers for listening to music or podcasts or using the speakerphone.

The power button now includes fingerprint ID, making it easier to open and use the phone. The 5G-enabled phone also has 6GB of RAM (up from 1GB in the Lite Phone II), 128GB of storage (up from 8GB), and more modern Qualcomm chips.

Meanwhile, the battery, which is about twice as large as 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, while the Light Phone II costs $299. However, the latter will still be sold for those who prefer the e-ink version.

“We raise the question: Can a phone last five years or 10 years? Things like metal, more quality materials, removable batteries, and we’ve also improved the way we replace the screen — and other components — as easily as possible,” Hollier said. “We’re trying to make this a more durable phone. And at that point, you know, the $799 price point really embodies that.”

Early users of the Light Phone III will be able to preorder the new device for $399 — a 50% discount. Like crowdfunding, these preorders will help Light move toward its first mass production with Foxconn. There will be a total of three production runs by the end of November, and orders are expected to begin shipping in January 2025.

From 2015 to 2024, Light has raised nearly $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), Scott Belsky (Adobe), Wisdom Ventures, Dave Freed (Paglang), Pete Davidson (SNL), Able Partners, Gengles, Heroic Ventures, Hinge Capital, White Bay Group, New Lab Ventures, SOSV, as well as Foxconn. As of 2022 – the last valuation used to raise equity – Light was valued at $24 million, pre-money.

Full specifications of Light Phone III:

Dimensions: 106mm x 71.5mm x 12mm
Weight: 124 grams
Network: 5G + 4GLTE
Display: 3.92” AMOLED (1080×1240)
Screen: Matte Glass
Port: USB-C 2.0
Camera: 50 meters back / 8 meters front
SIM: Nano SIM + eSIM
Memory: 128GB / 6GB RAM
Battery: 1800 mAh
Sound: 2 mics (noise cancellation), 2 stereo speakers
Features: GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Fingerprint ID
Materials: Aluminum, Glass, Sorplas Recycled Plastic
Chipset: Qualcomm SM 4450
IP Rating: IP 54