Key Takeaways
- The Light Phone 3 offers upgrades like an OLED screen and cameras for a more modern experience.
- Other hardware improvements include a metal frame, 5G, and an NFC chip
- You can pre-order the product for $399, but it’s only shipping in January 2025.
Light — the creator of the intentionally stripped-down Light Phone 2 — launched the phone’s successor on Tuesday. Although still minimalist to reduce distractions, the Light Phone 3 includes a number of upgrades to make it more relevant in 2024, most noticeably a switch from e-ink to a 3.92-inch, black-and-white OLED screen. This is primarily to improve refresh rates, although the company has also added a scrollwheel to adjust brightness, which can be clicked to trigger a flashlight.
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The Light Phone 3 moreover has cameras now, specifically a 50-megapixel unit on the rear, and an eight-megapixel shooter on the front. Both have a fixed focal length with center focus, and while there’s a dedicated two-step shutter button, you’re not even meant to edit the photos or videos you shoot on-device.
Other hardware improvements include a metal frame, USB-C, 5G support, fingerprint recognition, and an NFC chip that could eventually support mobile payments, according to The Verge. Internal specs include a Qualcomm SM 4450 processor, 128GB of storage, 6GB of RAM, and a replaceable battery.
Even the software interface is a little less minimalist. There are now dedicated apps for music, notes, podcasts, calendars, and navigation, and the company is reportedly looking to integrate Spotify, Uber, and Lyft. Other future possibilities include sending voice notes, Beeper for messaging, and hooks for generative AI, although none of these things are guaranteed to come to fruition.
Pricing and release date
Pre-orders for the Light Phone 3 are already open at a cost of $399, but the device is still very much in development and won’t ship until January 2025. Its final retail price could be as high as $799, but Light co-founder Kaiwei Tang tells The Verge that this might come down if the company can sell enough units to reduce production costs.
There could be some chance of that. Tang claims that the Light Phone 2 is actually selling better than ever, despite it being five years old. The follow-up is likewise meant to have a long shelf life, any sudden industry shifts notwithstanding. It could in theory last up to 10 years, which is one reason why it has a replaceable battery, and why the screen and USB-C port are engineered to be easy to repair.
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