Light, creators of the iconic Light Phone, announced the release of the Light Phone III in a press release that also included a wistful, evocative commercial highlighting the brand’s emphasis on helping customers focus on real life.
If you’re just a casual follower of the dumb phone market, the announcement might come as something of a surprise. After all, the Light Phone II is still selling briskly, even remaining back-ordered at some retailers an impressive five years after its initial release. (Regarding the II, the company says, “Planned obsolescence remains an outrage to us,” and that they will “continue to sell, support, and service our older models.”)
The Light Phone III is available for pre-order now and expected to ship in January 2025. Designed to “make going light even easier,” it comes loaded with a few added features that many Light Phone users are sure to find compelling. A chunkier, bulkier metal frame adds to the phone’s durability, backing up the brand’s vow to design products that last virtually forever.
Plus, LPIII pivots from e-ink to a larger matte AMOLED display to improve performance while still restricting distraction. They’ve also added a camera with a “genuinely fun” dedicated shutter button and further future-proofed the design with a USB-C port, fingerprint ID, 5G, and an NFC chip to support digital payments.
With QR codes still swarming restaurant menus (hate), cashless POS taking over cafes, and endless group chats continuing to be inescapable features of modern life, these are significant improvements to be sure. But according to Will Stults, co-founder of dumbwireless , the Light Phone II will still attract its fair share of devotees: “The E-ink aesthetic is what a lot of people adore about the current Light Phone.”
So, I guess the question now is: how light do you want to go?
Light Phone III is available for pre-order now. It’s currently priced at $399, which is expected to go up to $799 after July 15, 2024. If you’re interested, we’d recommend getting yours before then, for obvious reasons.