| The Light Phone Inc. | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Electronics (B2C) |
| Hq Location: | Brooklyn, New York |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
The Light Phone is a brand of mobile phones by The Light Phone, Inc., a startup company in Brooklyn, New York, founded by Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang, which creates technology products advertised as "designed to be used as little as possible".[3] The Light Phone was conceived as a reaction against problematic smartphone use, with the discussion of apps and services such as email, social media, and web browsers being a key focus of the brand's production and marketing.[4]
The Light Phone was announced on, via Kickstarter, and released sometime in April 2017. During its campaign, the Light Phone raised $415,127 from 3,187 backers, over double the initial goal of US$200,000.
The Light Phone is only capable of making and receiving phone calls and stored up to 10 speed dial numbers. Upon launch, it came with a prepaid 2G SIM card with 500 minutes of call time, assigned to a separate phone number. The Light Phone comes with no applications aside from basic text and call functionality and a simple tool for setting up alarms. The Light Phone features a small two-tone analog-digital display and a headphone jack to assist with phone calls. Buttons on the phone are made visible by light fixtures inside the phone case.
There used to be a smartphone application allowing for redirection of calls from the user's smartphone to the Light Phone, displaying contact names if any are found. This app is no longer accessible, and the dedicated page was removed from the Light Phone website.[5]
The Light Phone II was announced in March 2018. It was designed to be a standalone mobile phone, unlike its predecessor.[6] The project was crowdfunded, raising $3,513,838 by 10,732 backers, and eventually shipped in September 2019.[7]
The Light Phone II comes in two colors, light grey and black, and has a 2.84-inch two-color e-ink display. It can connect via Bluetooth, a headphone jack, cellular, or micro USB. It supports 4G, since 2G is no longer widely supported. It can send and receive texts and calls, hold significantly more contacts, set alarms, play music and podcasts, and run a Wi-Fi hotspot. The phone's software is continuously being developed by Light, which has led to new tools such as a calendar, directions, directory, and notes tool. The phone's tools are managed through an online dashboard.
On October 30, 2023, pgLang announced via a short video on their X and Instagram accounts that they had collaborated with The Light Phone to create a limited-edition "pgLang" branded version of the phone. The run of 250 phones was released on pgLang's website November 2, 2023. In addition to the phones new branding, they are also come with a Magic 8-ball-inspired fortune-telling feature which will respond to yes-or-no questions after the phone has been shaken.[8]
The Light Phone III was announced for pre-orders on June 11, 2024 with an expected ship date in January of 2025. This is the first time they've announced a new phone without a crowdfunding model. Unlike the previous version of the phone, the Light Phone III will have an AMOLED display instead of e-ink. It also will have both a front and back facing camera with a dedicated shutter button. The expected price of the phone is double the cost of the previous model.[9]
The Light Phone II runs an Android-based operating system called Light OS, developed by The Light Phone, Inc. Consumers have found ways to jailbreak it to access Android. In future iterations of Light OS, more features and services are in consideration to be added, including music streaming, WhatsApp, and ridesharing.[10]