Is a Light Phone in your future?

My first reaction when I heard the term Light Phone was of something really cool, like a smartphone with a built-in lightsaber. Unfortunately, there is no lightsaber, and the phone really isn’t that smart, which is the point. It’s really meant to be a “light” version of your current smartphone.Call it the anti-phone. The Light Phone seeks to remove text messages, email, and constant alerts from your everyday world when you need a little more quiet and privacy. It offers minimal features, such as receiving and making calls, and a digital clock on the tiny dot-matrix display screen. The Light Phone aims to extend your current smartphone in situations where you don’t need, or want, a computer in your pocket.

The Light Phone is about the size of a credit card. It measures 3.4 inches x 2.0 inches and weighs just over an ounce. It contains a white-on-white touch screen that displays only a keypad and the clock. Ten numbers can be held in memory for speed dialing. You’ll need to set those up if you plan on making many outgoing calls with the device. It doesn’t appear to have any type of contacts app, or even a menu of any type. A micro USB port is available for charging, and the phone can live for 20 days in standby mode on a single charge. A MediaTek 6250 CPU powers the unit.



The Light Phone is the brainchild of Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang, who have formed the Light company, to promote the product. The developers are seeking funding of $200,000 to begin production of the Light Phone on a large scale. Currently, they have reached nearly half that amount. If they can meet their funding goals, the phone is expected to be available mid-2016. You can preorder one now for a rather expensive $100 from the Light website. It is unclear if that will be the final price.

The device is essentially a prepaid phone, and comes with 500 free minutes. It uses GSM, which means you will be limited to either T-Mobile or AT&T as your service provider for the Light Phone.

Admittedly, there are situations where a device like this would be practical. It would be an ideal first phone for a school-age child. The parents could provide the child with a phone, and not have to worry about him or her playing games or texting in class. It would also make a good extension phone if you wanted to leave a phone in a specific location, for example, the garage. Hiking, camping, or working out are other practical uses for the Light Phone. Basically, any activity when you want to have a phone handy for emergencies or important calls, but don’t want to risk damaging or losing your expensive smart phone.

The biggest hurdle for the company is the competition. It’s not like other companies haven’t thought of this concept before. The Light Phone competes with a multitude of $20 prepaid phones from major retailers and service providers. The phone is rather sleek looking, offering an all-white case and display. So, the cool factor could come into play. It resembles something Apple might have designed. However, I still think appeal could be limited. If only they included an actual lightsaber, I’d be first in line.