There is a handset maker working to transition the elderly from feature phones to smartphones. There is also a handset maker who still makes feature phones for those who want no nothing to do with a smartphone or do not know how to use one. And then there is The Light Phone Inc.
To call The Light Phone Inc.’s Light Phone II a feature phone is even a bit much because it is very much less. While mobile phone makers are trying to make people spend more time on the phone, the Light Phone II is designed to be used as little as possible.
The company described it as a premium, minimal phone and it sure is. It has nothing that will distract you from the physical world. The phone has no access to social media, email, newsfeed, or even an internet browser.
While so, it being a 4G device allows your other devices to leverage its data via hotspot tethering, so you can still connect your laptop or tablet to it to send job-saving emails and whatnot.
The phone has an e-ink display and lets you do what phones are meant to do in the first place: voice calls and texts. If you know anything about e-ink, you will know input texts are not its strong suit. It can be quite lagging to a point of frustrating and you eventually will minimalize texting. Not sure if this is an intentional “feature” or not. But one thing for sure is that it will save battery and it is 100% readable when under the sun.
The phone may be super minimal but it is not so cruel as to leave you entertainment-less. It has Bluetooth connectivity and a headphone jack, thus allowing you to enjoy music either with wired or wireless headphones.
It has a few other tools, including a calculator, an alarm, a notes tool, a minimal music player, a podcasts tool, and believe it or not, turn-by-turn navigation, which you can add from a dashboard website.
The Light Phone II is presented in a minimal but sleek design, and it is available in two versions: North America and International, and in two colors: black and light gray.
It is available as an unlocked device for US$299 but if you need a SIM plan, The Light Phone Inc. can also offer you one for US$30-70 a month. If you are interested, you may pre-order the device with delivery in early September for the NA version and October for the International version.
Images: The Light Phone Inc.
