Frequently Asked Questions
The Light Phone II is an unlocked, 4G LTE mobile phone. It's a simple phone with a few essential tools. It uses a unique e-ink display and has a completely custom typographic-based interface.
Whether you need a break from your smartphone or are ready to ditch the smartphone for good, the Light Phone II is designed for going light, enjoying quality time free of distractions. It's about using the right tool for the job.
Learn more about using the phone!
The Light Phone II uses a technology called "electronic paper," also commonly called E-Ink. It was made popular by e-reader devices like the Kindle. The screen is characterized by its low power requirements, high visibility & contrast, and wide viewing angle. When viewing the screen, there is no backlight like you would find on a smartphone.
It's completely legible in direct sunlight, which aligns well with the Light Phone. For viewing in low light, there is a screen light that automatically illuminates the interface.
The E-Ink screen has some unique characteristics to the technology itself, including screen refreshes, ghosting, and a slower cadence than our smartphone screens. These characteristics are not something everyone may be used to, and using the Light Phone feels very different than a smartphone, intentionally. Below is an example (animation) of what an E-ink refresh looks like:
The Light Phone II is an unlocked cell phone. It requires an active and compatible nano-SIM, as you might expect from a cell phone. The phone works standalone, without any need for an additional smartphone.
There is a dashboard website for managing your Light Phone, things like importing contacts to adding or removing the various tools that are available.
The Light Phone II can also used as a complement to your existing smartphone, for taking a break and going light, either by swapping your SIM between devices, or by getting a second phone number for the Light Phone II.
Note that iMessage will need to be disabled for iPhone users to ensure that your incoming messages come as SMS texts through the carrier and SIM card. We're sorry, but this is something out of our control because it is exclusive to Apple devices.
Out of the box, the Light Phone II's core functionality includes calls, messages (and group texting) as well as an alarm and hotspot.
There is a customizable toolbox menu for the phone in which you can add/remove various additional features to your Light Phone II. Currently you can add an alarm, calculator, simple music player, podcasts tool, Notes tool, Calendar and [Directions]. We will continue to roll out more utility oriented tools with ongoing software updates.
While considering additional functionality for the Light Phone II, it's important to remember all of the features it will never have. The Light Phone II will never have social media, internet browsing, email, news, or ads. There are no infinite feeds. Our tools are intentional, and there is a clear objective in opening the tool. There will never be an infinite feed. The device itself, with a small black and white screen, reflects this philosphy and inherently limits the phone's functionality.
The Light Phone II currently only supports an English keyboard/language on the device. You will be able to view incoming messages in a variety of languages and characters. We plan to expand our language support, thanks for understanding.
These are some common features we get asked about often.
Directions tool is currently available as an optional feature.
It may be possible to release a 'light' Spotify tool in the future, many of our users would love that. It does require their cooperation and support which is ultimately out of our control. Some users have put together a feature request on the Spotify site, please take a second to upvote if you'd like to see this happen.
It may also be possible to offer alternative messaging platforms like Signal, Whatsapp, Telegram etc. in the future, but we don't currently have plans or a timeline for that functionality.
The Light Phone II is available in two colors, black and light gray. These two colors match the lightest and darkest shades of the E-ink screen display.
The Light Phone II does not come in a "pure white" colorway like the original Light Phone.
Yep, the Light Phone II supports threaded group messages. You also have the option to add a custom name for the group or mute notifications from the group details page. Group messaging can be completely disabled (hidden from your recent activity) in the settings as well.
The Light Phone II does not display images. When you are sent an image to your Light Phone II, you'll see an icon indicating such. There is also an option to forward those images to your email, however, you cannot view the image from the phone itself.
There is also an option to auto-forward URL links sent to you, and you can manually forward any message to your Light Account email as well.
The battery life of the Light Phone II is approximately 1-2 days of 'light' regular usage. Long phone conversations, or using the phone as a hotspot, will drain the battery more significantly, as one might expect from smartphone use as well. Cell signal quality also has the biggest impact on battery life. The Light Phone II's battery size is 950mAh, which is much smaller than a smartphone battery which averages ~3,000mAh.
The Light Phone II is unlocked. It is not limited to any specific carrier, as long as the SIM and carrier are compatible, any 4G VoLTE capable Nano-SIM should work fine.
There are two models of the device, optimized for North American or the rest of the world (International Model).
We've built a compatibility checker that will, at a high level, let you know if it is compatible with your region. We tried to verify the largest carriers in the region as well, but we highly recommend double-checking with your carrier where you plan to use the device before purchasing.
Compatibility Checker
We understand how confusing this can be. You can email support@thelightphone.com if you have any specific questions.
Network: 4G LTE (LTE FDD + VoLTE)
North American Model: B2, B4, B12, B13, B17, B25, B26
International Model: B1, B3, B5, B7, B8, B20, B28
(unlocked phone, carrier agnostic)
Screen: E-Ink
Dimensions: 95.85 x 55.85 x 8.75mm
Weight: 78g
Battery: 1-2 days of regular use; up to 7 days standby (950 mAh)
Operating System: Light OS
Connectivity: GPS, Bluetooth (4.2), Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
Memory: 1GB RAM / 8GB ROM Battery: 950 mAh S.A.R. Value: Head: 1.20 W/kg & Body: .52 W/kg
Charging Port: Micro USB
Waterproof: IPX3 (splash resistant)
Headphone Jack: Yes
Colors: available in black and light gray
The Light Phone II has both Bluetooth & wifi capabilities. There is also a headphone jack. Bluetooth controls (i.e. changing volume, skipping song etc. from headphones or speaker) is a work in progress, but you can certainly take calls or listen to podcasts/music tool.
The Light Phone II does support Wifi tethering as a personal hotspot to other devices. Although there is wifi, the device will never be able to browse the internet.
There are two models of the Light Phone II optimized for various regions of the world.
Please use the compatibility checker linked below that will let you know which model is compatible with your region or carrier. We tried to verify the largest carriers in the region, but compatibility may not be limited to the carriers listed. We highly recommend double-checking the network bands with the carrier where you plan to use the device before purchasing.
Compatibility Checker
NOTE: International users will be responsible for any additional custom's fees/duties/or sales tax that may be required for delivery. This cost is out of our control, thanks for understanding.
We understand how confusing this can be. You can email support@thelightphone.com if you have any specific questions.
The Light Phone II currently only supports an English keyboard/language on the device itself. You will be able to view incoming messages in a variety of languages and characters, but you can only respond to texts using an English QWERTY style keyboard. It does support additional characters as well (i.e. à, á, â, ä etc.).
The Light Phone II ships unlocked without a SIM card. The package includes a Light-branded micro USB cable and a SIM pin. It does not include a wall adapter.
The Light Phone II costs $299.
The phone does require an active, compatible SIM card, which is not included.
We do offer an optional $30/mo plan that may be of interest to you (US only). A lot of users swap their existing SIM to the Light Phone II as well.
Unfortunately for international buyers, there may be additional customs fees and taxes that you will be responsible for upon receiving your shipment. Thank you for understanding.
Please also take note of our return policy before purchasing, which is that we can only accept returns for defective phones.
As a super small company, we can only currently take returns for manufacturer defects. This means that we can not accept returns for simply being disappointed in the product or no longer interested. Thank you for understanding.
The Light Phone II is a great phone for parents to give to children as an alternative to a smartphone.
The Light Phone II does not display images, have a camera, an internet browser or any access to social media or other apps.
Parents can protect their children from additional tools, which are only accessible through the password-protected online Dashboard.
There is not currently a way to monitor the GPS location or phone history of a phone remotely from the dashboard website, but we are certainly open to considering other parent-oriented features like this in the future.
At the start of 2020 we set out to learn about the environmental impact of the Light Phone II as it relates to climate change. We began by carrying out a study focussing on carbon emissions from the different phases of our device’s life, from production to disposal.
We are proud to offer the option to carbon offset your Light Phone II at the point of sale. Light matches this 1-to-1 with our users. You can read the full report and learn more about how we came to the number of 61kg of CO2 as well details about our offset partner Hudson Carbon.
Existing users can also retroactively offset their Light Phone II! Click Here to offset an existing Light Phone II.
