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As Apple cook to insert its AI - powered feature for the iPhone , another company is taking the polar access : or else of building a phone with more engineering , it ’s prefer for less . Light , the Divine of the minimalist phone with an e - newspaper screen , is announcing its newest model , the Light Phone III .
Like its early counterpart , the Light Phone III offer a bare sinister - and - whitened display , without accession to social media , the internet or electronic mail . But unlike Light ’s older phones , the Light Phone III sport a larger OLED presentation and an NFC chip to make way for succeeding payment tools , as well as a camera for snapping moments you would n’t desire to escape by give your smartphone at place .
The goal with the newfangled gimmick is to improve its useableness and carrying into action , says Light co - father Joe Hollier . The fresh Light Phone III is larger than anterior models , approximately the breadth of most iPhones , but significantly shorter ; it ’s more like the BlackBerry in terms of its configuration factor . That will make texting on the phone easier while curb it vertically , the team says . In addition , the AMOLED screen only unhorse up the white pixels , which , blend with a lusterlessness glass , will feel more like the older Light Phone II .
“ It actually will keep a lot of the characteristic that hoi polloi have it off about the e - ink screen , [ with it ] feel much unlike than a glossy smartphone screen , ” Hollier said .
Along with Kaiwei Tang , Hollier founded Light in September 2014 , ab initio as a Kickstarter project for people look to break off 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 account statement for close to two - thirds of those sales event .
The Light Phone ’s charm is that it does n’t force you to give up useful aspects of modern - day smartphone engineering , like work up - in approach to function and navigation , calls , texting , notes and voice note , a calendar , timer , alarm , calculator , a hotspot and a simple music player and podcasts tool . alternatively , what it offers is a path to head for the hills the variety of technology some would rather do without : societal media apps , clickbait news and the call of a web internet browser connecting you to the internet .
Light telephone set owners can use the unlocked twist on their own bearer , or they can opt for Light ’s $ 30 per month phone design with 1 GB of data point . There are also higher - price plans at $ 45 / month or $ 70 / calendar month for 5 gigabit or straight-out information , severally .
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The phone has niche appeal among an audience of 25- to 40 - twelvemonth - old , the majority of whom use it as their elementary phone , often alongside a tablet or laptop figurer for their expanded internet access . A smaller group may switch to their Light phone when they need to take a break , like when attempt to go “ offline ” for a weekend or vacation but do n’t want to be without a way to reach people or be reach in case of an exigency .
The Light Phone III will target the larger demographic that are already using the non - smartphone as their chief gadget .
Like its other equipment , the Light Phone will also attract to the privacy - tending crowd . When you apply a feature like directions and pilotage , Light pays to get that logic privately for its drug user . That mean tech giants like Google are n’t tracking and sharing your data when you use these sorting of features .
Besides the new form factor and OLED projection screen , the camera is the most notable addition . It ’s not on par with those found in high - death smartphones like the iPhone or Google Pixel ; instead , it is a heart - focus photographic camera without zoom that feel more like a point - and - shoot . Pressing the dedicated shutter button a half jam focuses the picture and a full wardrobe takes the picture .
Another newfangled feature article is the light-colored wheel , which let you conform the brightness of the screen by turning a knob when you ’re go outside or inside , make it brighter or dimmer .
The big phone now sports more antenna bands so there ’s only one phone model this clip , not separate ones for North America and Europe . Around the side of the earpiece ’s case is atomic number 13 , with recycled charge plate making up the talker grille at the bottom . The Light Phone III has declamatory loudspeakers for listening to music or podcasts or using the speakerphone .
The king button now includes a fingerprint ID , making it uncomplicated to reach the sound and utilize it . The 5G - enabled phone also have 6 GB of RAM ( up from 1 GB in the Light Phone II ) , 128 GB of memory ( up from 8 GB ) and more - modern Qualcomm chips .
Meanwhile , the barrage fire , about double the size of prior versions , is substance abuser - replaceable or users can ship their phone back to Light to have it replaced for them , belike for less than $ 50 .
All the upgrades make the novel equipment more expensive : The Light Phone III is $ 799 compared with the $ 299 Light Phone II . The latter will still be sell , though , for those who prefer the e - ink version .
“ We impersonate the question : Can a speech sound last five age or even 10 long time ? matter like the metal , more quality materials , the removable shelling , and we ’ve even improved how screens could be replaced — and other components — as much as possible , ” Hollier order . “ We ’re trying to make it a more sustainable phone . And to that point , you know , the $ 799 price full stop really does embody that . ”
early adoptive parent of the Light Phone III will be capable to preorder the new gadget for $ 399 — a 50 % discount . Similar to crowdfunding , these preorders will aid Light move toward its first lot production political campaign with Foxconn . There will be a total of three product runs until around late November , and orders are await to begin shipping in January 2025 .
From 2015 through 2024 , Light has evoke around $ 11 million from more than 80 VCs and holy person , including Bullish VC , Twitter carbon monoxide gas - founder Biz Stone , Lyft Centennial State - founder John Zimmer , Tim Kendall ( Facebook / Pinterest ) , 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 last valuation used to raise equity — Light was valued at $ 24 million , pre - money .
The Light Phone III ’s full specs :
Dimensions : 106 mm x 71.5 millimetre tenner 12mmWeight : 124gNetwork : 5 G + 4GLTEDisplay : 3.92 ” AMOLED ( 1080×1240)Screen : Matte GlassPort : USB - C 2.0Camera : 50 m rear / 8 K frontSIM : Nano SIM + E - SIMMemory : 128 GB / 6 GB RAMBattery : 1800 mAHSound : 2 mics ( randomness cancellation ) , 2 stereo speakersFeatures : GPS , Bluetooth 5.0 , NFC , Fingerprint IDMaterials : Aluminum , Glass , SORPLAS Recycled PlasticChipset : Qualcomm atomic number 62 4450IP Rating : IP 54
