I ditched my smartphone for something completely different - I’m never going back

The Light Phone 3 might be the best 'dumbphone' you can buy. The problem is that unless you're totally sure you want to replace your smartphone, it's probably too expensive.

I am obsessed with the idea of ditching my smartphone.

Although I am a technology journalist and review scores of gadgets each year, phones are in many ways the bane of my existence. Constant pings from various iPhone and Android devices, bleeps from smartwatches, endless scrolling apps and notifications about my health litter my waking hours, reminding me to get up and move, as well as the fact I have a lot of writing to do.

It’s ironic that the phones I have to write about often distract me from doing so.

That’s why I was so excited to test the Light Phone 3, the latest minimalist mobile phone from New York-based company Light. But after a month with my SIM inside it, I won’t be rolling back the clock and permanently using this stripped-back phone.

It’s a utilitarian black box with an OLED screen and stripped-back operating system that mainly displays plain black and white text. It can make calls and send text messages over 4G or 5G depending on your SIM plan, and for the first time Light has added a camera, the only function where the phone’s screen uses full colour. Otherwise, just like the E Ink Light Phone 2 that came out in 2019 and is still on sale, Light offers a few different apps that you can add or remove via an online dashboard accessed from a browser.

The kicker for many will be the price. While the Light Phone 2 costs $299, the Light Phone 3 was originally on sale for $599, now $699, introductory prices that will eventually rise to $799. That’s the same price as the iPhone 16. Less distraction does not equal cheaper, in this case.

There’s no app store here - no WhatsApp, no Google Maps, no Uber, no nothing. If you use every function you’ll have an alarm, calculator, calendar, camera, directions, directory, hotspot, music, notes, podcasts and a timer.

The direction tool uses Here Maps, while the directory looks up local businesses and amenities. Music must be loaded onto the phone (no Spotify in sight) so you’ll need an MP3 collection, and the podcasts can be added via the dashboard to pull in the latest episodes of your favourite pods.

For a minimalist phone, that’s already quite a lot. By comparison, the first Light Phone looked like a credit card and could only make phone calls.

There’s no app store here - no WhatsApp, no Google Maps, no Uber, no nothing.

This model also has NFC and a fingerprint sensor in the power/wake button, but neither are enabled at launch or the time of writing. Light is promising to send out regualr software updates to the phone for the next several years. I trust the firm, as it still updates the Light Phone 2, but beware that you'll be finishing an unfinished product.

Light doesn’t like the widely used term ‘dumbphone’ because it doesn’t consider it dumb to use such a simple device, and nor does it consider its simple devices dumb. Yet, Light is adding more and more functionality to its phones. So where does it stop?

I’ve had my SIM card in the Light Phone 3 for four weeks, and at times it has been invigorating. Other times I have been left pulling my hair out.

Often this frustration is not down to the performance of the phone but rather just how much modern technology services have their claws in me. That's not the Light Phone's fault, and it's unfair that its downsides aren't really anything to do with the idea of the product. Until you take away your smartphone, you might not realise just how much you rely on it every hour of the day - both as a tool and as a social crutch.

The best experiences I’ve had with the Light Phone 3 are when socialising and commuting. Without a smartphone, I immediately noticed when with friends or on the London Underground on the way to work just how much everyone is staring at their screens. The smartphone is a doomscroll time-suck and a killer of conversation. After a few tricky days of feeling like I needed my smartphone back, it felt good not to be staring at a screen, because although the Light Phone has one, it doesn’t do all that much.

I made more time to read books instead of scrolling, and was more likely to make an effort to chat in a social situation I felt shy in rather than look at my phone to escape. When I did pull out the Light Phone 3, reactions were surprisingly polarised: either “what the heck is that thing?” and derision, or “wow, I want one”; there was no middle ground. But the common ground was incredulity at the price.

Waving goodbye to WhatsApp is a challenge. In the UK, millions of people use WhatsApp instead of iMessage or old fashioned SMS, so when I put my SIM in the Light Phone, my messages dried up. This is less of an issue in the US where iMessage and SMS reign supreme - American buyers will still get messages coming through because millions use the text app on iPhone and Android.

It was a drag to gradually tell people I was not on WhatsApp. I stayed logged in on my laptop, treating WhatsApp like an email inbox I attended to each evening to reply to texts and to point people to send me an SMS instead. That said, I didn’t miss anything hugely important. Group chats are fun, but most of the time they are not time sensitive. If you want to make the change, people should understand, and will get used to texting you instead.

... this is a luxury lifestyle purchase for someone who is serious about replacing their smartphone, but doesn’t mind spending premium smartphone money to get it.

Texting on the Light Phone 3 is a little slow. The tiny virtual keyboard works well enough but there’s no autocorrect, and you can’t open links because there’s no browser. Instead, links sent via text are forwarded by default to your email inbox for you.

I really like the camera. With a physical shutter button, the screen springs into colourful life and it feels like an old-school compact camera. Shots have a calm, retro vibe to them, and the video recording isn’t bad either. It’s a far cry from shooting on a smartphone, but having a half-decent camera on a dumbphone feels great.

You can send and receive picture messages (MMS) but I discovered my Giffgaff plan doesn’t include MMS, so I couldn’t send any. If it works, they are also highly compressed and grainy, because the phone doesn’t support the rich communication services (RCS) standard needed for this.

It means you need to embrace the loss of certain modern messaging features rather than seek workarounds. I ended up calling people more often, which is lovely if the person actually picks up. I always have a better catch up on a call than over text. The call quality is great, though sometimes people on the other end said I sounded like I was muffled. Generally though there were no complaints.

The directions tool works really well thanks to GPS with pinch to zoom and accurate walking, driving and public transit options, and I easily shifted my podcast listening by connecting my wireless earbuds (there’s no headphone jack). If you think podcasts are distracting and don’t want them, you can remove the podcast app on the dashboard.

I used the alarm app, but I don’t buy all my music anymore, so I couldn’t listen to many new albums. You’ll have to commit to buying off sites like Bandcamp if you want to fully embrace the Light Phone life. It supports artists and will make you more mindful of what to listen to. The Light Phone 3 aims to make you more mindful, full stop - strip back the distractions and own a communications tool, with a few nice-to-haves.

Not having my banking apps was more of a headache for the day-to-day. You may find you need to keep your smartphone on hand or in your bag for apps like this, sort of defeating the point. But the hotspot app on the Light Phone works well to get your smartphone online if you really want.

A dial on the left side only turns the screen brightness up or down, while pressing it turns the camera's flash on an off to use as a torch. It will be surprised it Light will does not add more functionality to this dial down the line.

The phone charges via USB-C (hooray) and I got about two days on a charge, down to one if I was making lots of calls and using the hotspot tool. A cable is also needed to export your photos to a computer.

After a month thinking about and using the Light Phone 3, I just can't go back to a simpler phone, even though I want to.

The Light Phone 3 is for people who want a lifestyle change and can cope with the digital cold turkey. But the huge price increase over previous models, and other simple phones, is a sticking point. If you want to ditch your smartphone, you can buy handsets for well under £100.

I understand Light is a small company that needs to make money, and the Light Phone 3 is a niche device that will sell in small numbers, despite its loyal and vocal online community. The phone is a technological step up from the Light Phone 2, with a camera and exceptional build quality. It can’t cost $299. But $799 is unlikely to encourage curious buyers to commit, meaning this is a luxury lifestyle purchase for someone who is serious about replacing their smartphone, but doesn’t mind spending premium smartphone money to get it.

You can buy the Light Phone 3 from Light.