I’m in love with the idea of ​​the minimalist phone movement. For a few years now, I’ve been considering upgrading from my regular smartphone to a less powerful device so I can be more present for my family, friends, and life in general. It’s an attractive idea, and the Light Phone II was the least-featured model I was most keen to try out.

However, I was concerned about spending hundreds of dollars on a phone that doesn’t do as much as my current, incredibly powerful smartphone. Did that experience convince me? Yes and no.

Lightweight Phone II

The Light Phone II is intentionally designed to add variety to your digital life, so you can break free from your smartphone addiction and focus on the world around you. Its minimalist design is impressive, its E Ink display is endearing if not frustrating, and the lack of social media, browser, email and camera removes what Light considers to be unnecessary distractions from your daily routine.

Per

• Minimalist design
• Unique E-Ink display
• Small form factor
• Distraction-free

Disadvantages

• Short battery life and charging via micro-USB
• Screen refresh and GPS are slow
• No camera, NFC or 2FA

Price, availability and specifications

Not cheap enough to take the plunge when it’s brand new

The Light Phone II looks amazing thanks to its minimalist design and I got compliments everywhere I went with it. It comes in two colors: black and light gray. Think of them as reversed versions of each other. And with the unique E Ink display, you can play even more with reversed black and gray in the settings.

You won’t find 5G connectivity inside the Light Phone II. It’s 4G LTE only, and if you buy the phone, make sure you select the correct country (as there are two different models of the phone – one is international) and that your carrier is listed as compatible. Here in the US, I’ve had no issues connecting to AT&T (along with T-Mobile and Verizon), as the big three are all listed as compatible, but Google Fi is not compatible, for example. For a complete overview, see the official Light compatibility list here.

If you’re not sure if you agree with the minimalist phone movement, $299 is a lot for a phone that can’t do even a fraction of what your smartphone can, but I also understand why it’s priced that way. As an independent manufacturer, costs can get completely out of control if you can’t keep costs down due to volume. That said, I would recommend getting a needed Light Phone II to try out, and Light sells refurbished units. Neither version is available on Amazon.

What’s good about the Light Phone II?

Promises are kept

The basic idea of ​​the Light Phone II is to reduce phone usage to refocus on life, and it succeeds. Light wants you to break the frequency of your mindless scrolling, and after the appeal of such a unique little device wore off, I found myself reaching for my phone less and less over time. I also really liked the E Ink display. It’s perfect in full sunlight, easy to read, and once you get used to the refresh lag, it becomes second nature to wait for a moment and not rush into what you’re trying to do. That’s the whole point.

After using the Light Phone II daily, I made it our emergency phone – the phone our kids always had with them when they went out. Knowing they couldn’t access social media or browsers was really reassuring.

It also has some helpful “tools,” some of which were added after launch because they were quality of life enhancers. These include an alarm, calculator, calendar, directions, hotspot, music, notes, podcasts, and a timer. I used them all, but I felt some modern must-haves were missing. And yes, GPS directions Do work.

What’s bad about the Light Phone II?

Modern life is about convenience

The problem with the Light Phone II is that it is designed to create friction between you and your digital life, and sometimes it is to good at it. The Light Phone II was first launched in 2019 (but still gets regular updates), and I think what I would have missed in 2019 might be different than what I’ve missed here in the present. I should add that while this phone might be a little dated based on its intended features, you wouldn’t notice it.

Smartphones can be helpful tools beyond mindless social media scrolling and endless notifications, offering access to digital tickets (airport and concert), NFC payments, and 2FA (two-factor authentication) for enhanced security. The Light Phone II doesn’t even try to offer those features, and while my focus was no longer so much on my phone, some of my attention was focused on how to deal with these new-but-old problems.

Additionally, the Light Phone II has a very small form factor, which, while cool looking, isn’t great for battery life. I generally got less than a full day out of the 950mAh battery – especially when using directions or Bluetooth – and had to plug the phone in often. Only in case there is no fast charging via micro USB here. The battery is rated for about three days standby – but even in standby I got a maximum of two days. It could be that I was provided with a refurbished handset to test, but there’s no way to know for sure.

When I was at home and using WiFi, battery drain wasn’t as bad since the phone wasn’t searching for signals through my thick walls. Speaking of WiFi, I also had to downgrade the security of my WiFi router to get it to even connect. Modern phones like the Pixel 8 don’t have this issue. The directions also took a while to determine my location, and then the navigation had to blink to update as the map and cursor moved with my car, which ended up being distracting. But the convenience of a camera was what I missed the most.

Should you buy it?

If you have money and courage

I know some of you are writing angrily in the comments that we all just need more willpower. The problem is that we have been trained for so long to expect so much from our digital technology that this is much easier said than done. But the Light Phone II or similar phones can be a good (if difficult) first step in breaking technological dominance.

Other phone companies in this space are players like Punkt, Mudita or Techless (who boast the Wisephone II, which is taking forever to officially release) that offer similarly stripped down experiences. All have completely different views on hardware and pricing. Some are low-cost phones, others imitate more modern smartphones with limitations and so on.

But if you have $299 to spare, you should definitely give it a try—or at least wait until the Light Phone III comes out next year.

Lightweight Phone II

The Light Phone II is intentionally designed to add variety to your digital life, so you can break free from your smartphone addiction and focus on the world around you. Its minimalist design is impressive, its E Ink display is endearing if not frustrating, and the lack of social media, browser, email and camera removes what Light considers to be unnecessary distractions from your daily routine.