Light Phone 2 Review: A “Really” Light Phone

Published on December 11, 2019
Light Phone 2 Review: A “Really” Light Phone
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Settle for a bit of fear. This is what I felt at least as I was using Light Phone 2, a feature phone which removes the apps and notices we use every time we wake up. Finally, the depression left me and I became more active and involved in what I did.

The Light Phone 2 is a 4G phone with an E Ink display or you can say a dumbphone. Calls can be made and texts can be sent from it, and that is it.

It’s dumbly expensive for $350, especially if you find feature phones for under $100. But, I’m in love with something about Light Phone 2. Use it for a couple days, then you feel the need to keep a hand on your mobile.

Exploration

The first mobile of Light is suitably named Light Mobile. Everything looks lovely, but everything you can do is make calls. It is inevitable that the follow-up of the Brooklyn business brings text functions to an environment where texting is king. But this is not all the phone funded by Indiegogo.

From ride-sharing apps and Google Maps to calculator and even music app, the Light team understands that many of us have other conveniences every day. These are not products that trap us on Instagram or Twitter but are interactions that are end-to-end. That is why no camera remains, either. Although cameras can be excellent tools, they become disruptive as people take pictures, post them to social media, and count how much thumbs they get.

Now, Light OS capabilities are pretty much light. You can send texts, set an alarm or make a call. However, further features are on the move, perhaps by the end of the year. These include a Find my Phone services, calculator, a hot spot, third-party ridesharing apps, a MP3 Player and directions.

The MP3 player may have the ability to play tracks from a single playlist instead of discoverability functionality. It may be an integration with Spotify or other music streaming platform. In this way, you cannot spend too much time looking for music on the phone.

I will review this segment later this year because unfortunately, none of these features are currently available. There is a chance that other resources, including speech charts, notes, the diary, a forecast report and a vocabulary, will also be included on the phone. But there is no certainty.

This, however, is one of the Light Phone 2’s most interesting aspects. Many devices have no access to services such as ridesharing applications or directions. Others that are, including Nokia devices running KaiOS, have applications that don’t assist with screen time constraints like YouTube and Facebook. The Light Phone 2 offers you the world’s best.

Usage

You can add a passcode if you want on the lock screen. You are welcome to use your phone app, alarm, and configuration if you tap the center button on the right side.

Something that will disturb the process is, as you set up, you will have to go to the Light Dashboard on a computer. Here you can connect to contacts with your iCloud account. Android owners can upload VCF file to the Light Dashboard after downloading it from services like Google Contacts. In a matter of minutes, my contacts synchronized to the Light Phone 2.

Light Phone 2 can be used as a secondary device and connects your number to network services like Vodafone and AT&T. If you don’t want to deal with providers, Light still provides a Light Phone Plan that costs $30 a month.

Talking about phone, t reminds me of Windows Mobile, which only has a few icons and is purely text based. It looks modern, stylish and efficient. Tap a contact and you can view a conversation thread with call or message options. You have to be patient because it is a little sluggish to click anything on this E Ink display. It takes a second or two more time to wake the display than I want but these little things do not matter for me.

Call quality is good, but not so loud as I would like the speaker. You must hope that the other person isn’t a soft speaker at the other end.

Battery

I had a single charge on Light Phone 2 for three days. It’s good if you compare it to a smartphone but bad if you take another E Ink device’s battery life. On the other hand, a Kindle may last for weeks. Still, I have more than enough to use this device for three days without charging. Light claims the device lasts for up to 7 days at standby.

Instead of a Micro USB port, I do believe Light should add an USB-C charge port. I’ll still have a Micro USB to charge a Light Phone2 while I can charge my all other devices like smart phone, computer or webcam with USB-C. It wasn’t really difficult for Light to include USB-C. Because smartphones that cost $160 come with USB-C port.

Relief

It may seem like I didn’t have the finest Light Phone 2 encounters, more focused on an E Ink screen. While the problems are true, I really enjoyed my time on the phone while it was doing its job. It must reduce my addiction to my smartphones so I can concentrate on the people and the environment.

Light Phone 2 cannot be used as an alternative for smartphones. For people who do not use SMS to chat with friends and relatives, it is not the only option. It would be a blessing to have third party messaging apps.

But it all depends on how well the next “tools” work and how many come. Light Phone 2 will be offering something you won’t find on a dumbphone with privacy and digital wellbeing in mind if Light will add functionality such as links to ridesharing applications, maps, and other critical end-to-end interface resources.

Price

The Light phone 2 is $350 and can be purchased from the website of Light. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are lobbying for the phone, but Sprint customers are not lucky.

If you don’t want to negotiate with your provider, you can purchase a Light Phone Plan for $30 a month. You will not be able to sync your personal phone number.

Light has a generic guarantees restricted to one year from the date of purchase that cover production defects.

Final Words

The Light Phone 2 is a popular phone with a high price. Nonetheless, the value will increase when Light launches additional apps.

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