Light Phone
 | This article contains promotional content. (April 2021) |
The Light Phone is a brand of mobile phones by Light; a startup company in Brooklyn, New York that creates technology products advertised as "designed to be used as little as possible".[1] The Light Phone was conceived as a reaction against problematic smartphone use, with the disclusion of apps and services such as email, social media, and web browsers being a key focus of the brand's production and marketing.[2]
Light Phone
Release
The Light Phone was announced on May 13, 2015 via Kickstarter and released some time in April 2017. During it's campaign, the Light Phone raised $415,127 from 3,187 backers, over double their goal of $200,000.[2]
Features & Specifications
The Light Phone was only able to make and receive phone calls, and store up to 10 speed dials. The phone came with a prepaid 2G SIM card with 500 minutes of call time and had it's own phone number. The phone's buttons were visible from lights behind them, and it featured a small two tone analog digital display. It also had a headphone jack for phone calls.
If the user wanted to have phone calls received by their smartphone sent to their Light Phone, they could install an app on the smartphone. This app could also display contact names if a number that the phone is receiving a call from has a name on the user's smartphone.The phone's buttons were visible from lights behind them, and it featured a small two tone analog digital display. It also had a headphone jack for phone calls.[3]
Light Phone II
The Light Phone II is designed to be a standalone mobile phone, unlike it's predecessor.[4] The project was crowdfunded, raising $3,513,838 USD by 10,732 backers. It 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 also runs on 4G. It can send and receive texts and calls, hold more than nine contacts, set alarms play music and podcasts, run a hotspot.[5]
Light OS
The Light Phone II runs an Android-based operating system called Light OS, developed by Light. Recently, consumers have found ways to jailbreak it to access Android.[6] In future iterations of Light OS, more features and services are planned to be added, including a calendar, notes, and ridesharing.[7]
References
- ^ "The Light Phone". www.thelightphone.com. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ a b Zelenko, Michael (September 4, 2019). "Light Phone 2: The high hopes of the low-tech phone". The Verge. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ Franco, Michael (May 20, 2015). "This credit-card-size phone does one thing, and one thing only". CNET. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "The Light Phone". www.thelightphone.com. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ^ Varghese, Daniel. "Can This New Dumb Phone Fix Your Smartphone Addiction?". GQ.
- ^ Tutorial: Android for the Light Phone 2, retrieved March 22, 2021
- ^ "Tool Availability Status". The Light Phone. Retrieved August 16, 2021.