The general public’s mental health has taken quite the downturn since the invention of smart phones. We have a near instant access to a boatload of knowledge just sitting in our pockets. It pushes us to constantly compare ourselves to everyone around us, trying to create the perfect life on social media. Okay, that’s enough preaching. I’m just as guilty as everyone else, and I probably won’t be breaking free of that anytime soon. But, for those of you who are bold enough to give up the constant connection, skateboarder Joe Hollier has the product for you.
The Light Phone ditches the light-up screen and constant internet availability for a cheaper, purposefully feature-less option. The screen uses the “electronic paper” technology, or E-Ink (what’s found on many of the popular e-readers). There is no backlight, so it can be viewed easily in high amounts of sunlight, but it also features a screen light that automatically turns on when it would be too dark to see the screen.
Rather than an App Store, the Light Phone features a simple customizable toolbox. Immediately after purchasing, the phone will be able to make calls, texts, run an alarm, and create a hotspot. You can add features like a calendar, notes, directions, calculator, and a simple music player. As of now, it only supports the English keyboard, though they do intend to expand on language support. Battery wise, the Light Phone is intended to last 1-2 days with light usage.
The Light Phone II (the current model) is an easy $300, much cheaper than nearly every phone on the market these days. They also offer their own plans, starting as low as $30 a month (unlimited text and call, 5GB of data), supported by the AT&T network. With that plan, you can ditch connection during just the weekend, or just the week. Or, of course, you can completely ditch your smartphone. It’ll probably make life quite a bit better.
“The Light Phone will never have social media, clickbait news, email, an internet browser, or any other anxiety-inducing infinite feed.“
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Featured Image Credit: Jenkem Mag via YouTube