Light Phone 3

My minimalist phone hardware and software explorations

A minimalist phone?

I’ve been a Light Phone 2 user since the beginning. I noticed that smartphone addiction and constant notifications were making me anxious.

The Light Phone 2 was a great way to ditch all that noise and focus on the life outside of the screens.

I used it a lot. On and off it was my main phone for the better part of the last three years. I tried other minimalist phones too, but LP2 always convinced me to go back to it in the end.

I used it so much that the screen cracked a little, but it’s otherwise quite durable.

Minimalist Phone, Minimalist Interface

I love minimalist design. From the era of Dieter Rams, all the way through Apple and even Windows Phone — I always embraced clean, simple products.

The UI of the Light Phone is mostly text-based, with clean and clear typography, pretty big spacing and let’s say quite original flows.

The problems

After using the phone for so long I noticed some things that could be improved and make that experience even better for me. Let’s dive in.

Charging

Light Phone 2 uses Mini-USB because of its compact size. Fitting a USB-C port in there would’ve been a big compromise on the current design and cost.

But we’re living in a more USB-C world now than ever. Even the iPhone is supposedly switching to that port.

I’d say a Light Phone 3 would really need USB-C as standard.

Because USB-C is reversible, I’d also suggest switching the position of the port to the center of the device. Right now it’s…