Light’s newest gadget is intended to serve as a replacement for your smartphone

What’s the story

Five years after the successful launch of Light Phone 2, the company is launching its successor, Light Phone 3.

Co-founder Kaiwei Tang announced that the new model will have an improved display, camera and other important features.

The minimalist design of the Light Phone series appealed to users looking for simpler smartphone operation.

The Light Phone 3 is currently available for pre-order in the US for $399 (approximately £33,300) and is expected to ship in January 2025.

Improved display and camera

The most important improvement to the Light Phone 3 is the new display.

The previous E Ink screen has been replaced with a 3.92-inch black and white OLED display with a resolution of 1080×1240 pixels.

Tang revealed that almost half of their users found the E Ink screen refresh rate too low, which led to this change.

The new OLED panel offers a faster refresh rate, providing users with a more familiar experience.

Future-proof features and potential app integration

The Light Phone 3 comes with several future-proof improvements, including an NFC chip for potential payment integration and a USB-C port.

The device also allows you to replace the battery yourself, extending its life.

Other features include a fingerprint scanner, Qualcomm SM4450 processor, 128GB of storage, and 6GB of RAM.

The Light team is also working to integrate simple tools for calendar, navigation, music, podcasts and notes into the device.

A vision of simpler smartphone use

Despite the additional features, Tang hopes that the Light Phone 3 will continue to serve its primary purpose of helping people disconnect from their smartphones and constant notifications.

He states: “I’m not trying to design old phones. I want to design all this modern technology from scratch and eliminate all the nonsense.”

The retail price is set at $799 (£66,700), but the company hopes to sell enough to reduce production costs and then lower the final price.