Light Phone 3

[Stefen_Maxwell]

Just curious what everyone's opinion is on the upcoming light phone 3. I have personally pre-ordered it since my current phone (cat s22) keyboard is rubbish. What are your thoughts on it, and what current phone do you have?

[rejectconvenience]

I'd be curious what you think of it, I've not been a huge fan of the design + price, but they seem wildly popular in the dumb phone space. I use some flavor of a custom rommed TCL Flip

[Stefen_Maxwell]

I'd be curious what you think of it, I've not been a huge fan of the design + price, but they seem wildly popular in the dumb phone space. I use some flavor of a custom rommed TCL Flip

I think of it as an investment in myself. I will miss my flip phone, but the company has shown that they support their products. Since I pre-ordered when it was cheap, I guess I can sell it if I don't like it. However, I am hoping it will be something I can use for the next 5+ years. I was considering buying a light phone 2, but I didn't like the lack of repairability, especially with the battery being unremovable. This new one has a lot of what I wanted, i.e., removable battery, a camera, and a flashlight. I am hoping they add charging app support for my electric car. Unfortunately, ever single charging company has their own stupid app, and it drives me crazy. I am not a fan of this requirement by so many car charging companies to require a smartphone. I doubt that will be added, but having nfc means it isn't impossible for some charging companies to be supported.

I own a TCL Flip 2 myself, but never figured out how to root it and install a custom rom. I like that phone a lot though. It has a better keyboard on it than the Cat S22 which I find depressing. lol

[rejectconvenience]

I didn't like the lack of repairability, especially with the battery being unremovable.

I was unaware they were unrepairable, that is terrible haha. I don't really love the idea of a "premium" dumb phone, like it kind of goes against the point to me. It's gonna be an abrasive experience no matter what you pick, so why pay extra, especially for a thing that can't be easily and cheaply fixed?

I am hoping they add charging app support for my electric car. Unfortunately, ever single charging company has their own stupid app, and it drives me crazy. I am not a fan of this requirement by so many car charging companies to require a smartphone.

Oh man, I never even considered electric cars, yeah, that is a nightmare... I have no idea if they will ever make a way around it. We've seen time and time again that newer cars love to sell your personal info from your phone, and given our data is valuable to them, I don't see them ever supporting alternatives.

[Stefen_Maxwell]

I didn't like the lack of repairability, especially with the battery being unremovable.

I was unaware they were unrepairable, that is terrible haha. I don't really love the idea of a "premium" dumb phone, like it kind of goes against the point to me. It's gonna be an abrasive experience no matter what you pick, so why pay extra, especially for a thing that can't be easily and cheaply fixed?

I get what you're saying. I think the idea that dumb phones should be cheap is a complicated topic. In my opinion, most people think of dumb phones as burner phones. They do work and I wish I was smart enough to get my flip to have a custom rom, but it does require me to do all the work. If I need or want to upgrade any packages on my rooted Cat, I have to do it and ensure it works with my system. That isn't an issue for me for the most part, but that also means I know how to get around my blocks. As someone trying to fight addictions, I don't want to know how to do that, so the light phone is really appealing to me for this reason.

Also, just because a lifestyle change is going to be abrasive doesn't mean the device has to be. I do like some creature comforts, even though it can't go on the internet. The company supporting the device long after my purchase is an awesome thing to me. Too many companies want to just stop supporting their products as soon as possible, and I don't want to be a part of creating all that e-waste. I have 2 dumb phones already, I want one that just works for the next 5+ years now. I do wish it was a flip phone though, but oh well, lol.

On the unrepairability of the light phone 2, just getting to the battery resulted in the e-ink being destroyed. Also, the battery is soldered to the board. All around bad design.

I am hoping they add charging app support for my electric car. Unfortunately, ever single charging company has their own stupid app, and it drives me crazy. I am not a fan of this requirement by so many car charging companies to require a smartphone.

Oh man, I never even considered electric cars, yeah, that is a nightmare... I have no idea if they will ever make a way around it. We've seen time and time again that newer cars love to sell your personal info from your phone, and given our data is valuable to them, I don't see them ever supporting alternatives.

It is. I hate the shitification of everything.

[rejectconvenience]

Also, just because a lifestyle change is going to be abrasive doesn't mean the device has to be. I do like some creature comforts, even though it can't go on the internet. The company supporting the device long after my purchase is an awesome thing to me. Too many companies want to just stop supporting their products as soon as possible, and I don't want to be a part of creating all that e-waste. I have 2 dumb phones already, I want one that just works for the next 5+ years now. I do wish it was a flip phone though, but oh well, lol.

This is a fantastic point, and it shines a perfect light on something that's easy to forget - it's all down to personal preference. I definitely see what you're saying, and I can see why the appeal of this particular phone is so great. I like to be able to tinker with my own stuff, so a phone that I can rom, replace the battery, etc. are really important to me, and I don't mind if it just sits there most of the time, I hardly know where it is half the time.

[Stefen_Maxwell]

Also, just because a lifestyle change is going to be abrasive doesn't mean the device has to be. I do like some creature comforts, even though it can't go on the internet. The company supporting the device long after my purchase is an awesome thing to me. Too many companies want to just stop supporting their products as soon as possible, and I don't want to be a part of creating all that e-waste. I have 2 dumb phones already, I want one that just works for the next 5+ years now. I do wish it was a flip phone though, but oh well, lol.

This is a fantastic point, and it shines a perfect light on something that's easy to forget - it's all down to personal preference. I definitely see what you're saying, and I can see why the appeal of this particular phone is so great. I like to be able to tinker with my own stuff, so a phone that I can rom, replace the battery, etc. are really important to me, and I don't mind if it just sits there most of the time, I hardly know where it is half the time.

I can not count how often I have left my phone at my desk at work and have forgotten about it. I am going to have to be more careful with this new light phone. It is way too expensive to replace if it decides to grow some legs, lol.

I am glad you can see my point, as I can see yours too . At some point, I should get around to install a custom rom on this TCL phone I have. I wish it had a flashlight .

[Catbattle]

Just curious what everyone's opinion is on the upcoming light phone 3. I have personally pre-ordered it since my current phone (cat s22) keyboard is rubbish. What are your thoughts on it, and what current phone do you have?

It's an interesting piece of hardware, that's for sure. For the people not willing to jump through hurdles with things like QR codes on dumbphones, it provides less friction than going full 2000's with a nokia or modern flip phone. With that said, a lot of the appeal of the light phone 2 to me was the e-ink display, so i'm a little less interested, but I understand going full kindle is probably too weird for most people.

Seems like a lot of thought was given to its design though. I just hope it's more repairable than it seems, but since their last phone was their flagship for over 5 years, I hope that means it'll kick around for a while. I think we're getting close to the ideal of a modular semi-smart phone, which can do all the essentials and not much more, which would be pretty cool and a much easier switch for most people. A smartphone as a tool instead of a lifestyle is still what they're aiming for, so I'm curious to see reviews pour in.

with that said, it's still so much more expensive than much better phones, so it's hard to justify spending double what my used 21+ cost (200) for even the cheapest preorder price of 400. Hopefully it works out for you though, very curious to hear your impressions since it is admittedly pretty neat, I like the physical knob for brightness adjustment most of all.

[Stefen_Maxwell]

Just curious what everyone's opinion is on the upcoming light phone 3. I have personally pre-ordered it since my current phone (cat s22) keyboard is rubbish. What are your thoughts on it, and what current phone do you have?

It's an interesting piece of hardware, that's for sure. For the people not willing to jump through hurdles with things like QR codes on dumbphones, it provides less friction than going full 2000's with a nokia or modern flip phone. With that said, a lot of the appeal of the light phone 2 to me was the e-ink display, so i'm a little less interested, but I understand going full kindle is probably too weird for most people.

Seems like a lot of thought was given to its design though. I just hope it's more repairable than it seems, but since their last phone was their flagship for over 5 years, I hope that means it'll kick around for a while. I think we're getting close to the ideal of a modular semi-smart phone, which can do all the essentials and not much more, which would be pretty cool and a much easier switch for most people. A smartphone as a tool instead of a lifestyle is still what they're aiming for, so I'm curious to see reviews pour in.

with that said, it's still so much more expensive than much better phones, so it's hard to justify spending double what my used 21+ cost (200) for even the cheapest preorder price of 400. Hopefully it works out for you though, very curious to hear your impressions since it is admittedly pretty neat, I like the physical knob for brightness adjustment most of all.

I hope more thought went into it design than into the 2. I wish it was an e-ink screen as well, but I can see why they didn't. From what I heard, texting was just awful on the 2. I will happily make a review on here when I get it. If it isn't more repairable, I am going to be so disappointed.

I think looking at other phone like that is kinda apples and oranges if the 3 lives up to the hype. A used, massive produced phone compared to a small production, new phone are not easily comparable on price. It is a voting with one's wallet situation. I want to support a company that seems to care about their products and for their continued existence. Hopefully, this isn't copium, but that is an extra thing that I look at. If it fails to meet my expectations, that perhaps it is all just copium, but time will tell.

I am glad that your 21+ is working for you. Have you installed lineagOS on it? What apps do you have on it?

[Catbattle]

I hope more thought went into it design than into the 2. I wish it was an e-ink screen as well, but I can see why they didn't. From what I heard, texting was just awful on the 2. I will happily make a review on here when I get it. If it isn't more repairable, I am going to be so disappointed.

I think looking at other phone like that is kinda apples and oranges if the 3 lives up to the hype. A used, massive produced phone compared to a small production, new phone are not easily comparable on price. It is a voting with one's wallet situation. I want to support a company that seems to care about their products and for their continued existence. Hopefully, this isn't copium, but that is an extra thing that I look at. If it fails to meet my expectations, that perhaps it is all just copium, but time will tell.

I am glad that your 21+ is working for you. Have you installed lineagOS on it? What apps do you have on it?

Fair enough. If the phone is good, I 100% support voting with the wallet, I mostly meant from the perspective of an average consumer. Though, I think enough people resent their phones for screen time addictions that it's a pretty sizable market. Seems like a solid product so far, and a decent enough company, but we'll see. The light phones before this one have done decently, after all. And yes, here's hoping for repair ability.

I should look more into alternative OS's for android, but I'm mostly happy with my 21+ for now, keeping the apps minimal to what i need/actually use (camera, bluemail, discord + whatsapp, firefox, chess, pokemon go, banking, etc.). Has been interesting trying different apps (tiktok, snapchat, instagram, popular mobile games, etc.) and seeing how little benefit they actually provide me. Definitely need to look into alternative android distros for my tablet though. Considering I basically only use it for drawing, it's disappointing how laggy it is even though its only a couple years old.