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The Light Phone 2 Minimalist Phone Review (6 Months Later)
Mar 31, 2025
- Get the Light Phone 2 right here (Paid Link): https://fas.st/t/dhkngm6C - Sign up for our emails to get awesome gear to your inbox here: https://gear43.com/email-signup - Get 10% OFF Tested Men’s Gear w/ code “GEAR43” on our shop: https://shop.gear43.com/ 0:00 - Introduction 1:05 - What I'll be talking about 1:27 - Exterior and Build Quality 3:45 - Software 7:32 - Emotional impact 9:24 - What you miss out on with this phone 10:32 - Justifying the high price
View Video Transcript
0:00
maybe it's a feature maybe it's a
0:02
downside I don't know oh I thought of
0:05
something I want to Google you can't do
0:07
it I'm not able to function in
0:09
modern-day Society I have had the Light
0:11
phone 2 now for a little over 6 months
0:13
and I think after me using it pretty
0:15
extensively my wife using it pretty
0:17
extensively I'm about ready to let you
0:20
guys know exactly what I think about it
0:22
and if it's worth you purchasing in
0:25
2025 but before we get too far into it I
0:28
do want to mention that the brand did
0:29
give me this device to test out however
0:32
no funds were exchanged and no
0:34
guarantees were made even that content
0:35
would be created about it and also I do
0:38
have a paid link down in the description
0:39
and the top comment if if any point in
0:41
this video you're ready to make a
0:42
purchase on this device because you find
0:44
that it's the right device for you not
0:46
because I want you to purchase it but
0:47
because it's the right thing for you I
0:49
do get a commission off of that if you
0:51
guys make that purchase so make sure to
0:52
use that link as it helps the channel
0:54
out with being able to create content
0:56
like this and finally if you're a guy or
0:58
really anyone that's looking to simplify
1:00
their life through daily carry gear this
1:02
is the perfect channel for you and let's
1:04
get on with it so I'm splitting this
1:06
video up into a couple different
1:07
categories first thing is kind of
1:08
external stuff like the body and the
1:10
quality of the device then the software
1:12
and how it works the emotional impact of
1:15
having a minimalist device like this
1:17
what exactly you're missing out on by
1:19
having the Light phone 2 and then
1:21
finally who is it for and of course I'm
1:24
going to try to justify its pretty hefty
1:26
price point so let's talk about the
1:28
device itself and the external sides of
1:30
it it's a 2.8 in e in display that is
1:33
3.8 in high 2.2 in wide and. 34 in deep
1:39
at 78 G it is an extremely lightweight
1:41
device and it even comes with a 3.5 mm
1:45
audio jack and on the inside you're
1:46
looking at a 950 milliamp battery which
1:50
gets you about 1 to 2 days of pretty
1:52
extensive usage considering the device
1:55
and then as for charging you are using a
1:57
micro USB device now keep in mind this
1:59
device was created originally in 2018
2:02
for a release in 2019 and that's why
2:04
you're seeing that micro USB now as for
2:06
my thoughts on those things it is
2:09
extremely compact like this thing just
2:11
goes Mi not missing in your pockets but
2:14
you don't even notice it's there I don't
2:16
think you realize how much you notice
2:18
things like I'm using the iPhone 15 Pro
2:20
which I'm actually filming this video
2:21
with and you are constantly aware of the
2:24
device in your pocket the Light phone 2
2:26
you put it in your pocket and you forget
2:28
about it as for the battery it is is
2:30
pretty respectable considering it's only
2:32
a 950 milliamp battery it has no
2:35
problems being able to last multiple
2:37
days and that really comes down to the
2:39
fact that it's an e in display device
2:41
which isn't always active and another
2:44
thing I noticed from the sound quality
2:45
both of it being plugged in but also of
2:48
its speakers is the sound quality of
2:49
those speakers is actually quite a bit
2:52
better than I was expecting especially
2:54
from a device like this when you open it
2:56
up and it looks a lot cheaper than it is
2:58
and I also appreciate the lack of blue
3:00
light I'm a big fan of iink displays
3:02
because your eyes just really appreciate
3:04
it in comparison to having normal blue
3:06
light on most smartphones now as for the
3:09
downside of the body and quality of the
3:11
device the lack of a camera is pretty
3:14
obvious we'll talk a little bit more in
3:15
the software side of things on this but
3:17
it it's a big drawback of not having a
3:20
physical camera other thing I didn't
3:21
like about the device itself not the
3:23
software is just it feels really really
3:26
cheap um the trade-off of course is it's
3:28
going to be much more light weight when
3:30
it's basically all made of plastic but
3:32
it does feel considerably cheaper than
3:35
say like an iPhone 15 Pro there is just
3:37
a noticeable difference in the feel of
3:40
the device it has a nice matte finish to
3:42
it but it is still plastic okay so let's
3:45
talk through the software of the device
3:46
and everything that the device can do on
3:48
the software end of things so you have
3:50
talk you have text which are both
3:51
sitting in actually in the same
3:53
application so you can see like your
3:55
your phone call history in the same
3:57
place as you're texting it's actually
3:58
kind of interesting you do have have
4:00
directions it's not maps but it's
4:02
directions so you can get like a
4:03
turn-by-turn navigation to get you to
4:05
different places but it's not going to
4:06
be your normal kind of navigation that
4:08
you're used to it has podcast as well
4:10
it's not a searchable podcast but it
4:12
uses the Apple podcast API and you go in
4:15
and you basically subscribe to different
4:17
podcasts and then they start downloading
4:19
to your device you can also of course
4:20
play mp3 music on it it has Hots spot
4:23
and Bluetooth which I think is actually
4:25
really important because a lot of people
4:26
are going to find they probably are
4:27
going to want to have a full-fledged
4:30
like iPad as a secondary device so being
4:32
able to throw a hot spot to that iPad
4:34
from the lightone is really really nice
4:36
so the iPad doesn't have to have its own
4:38
service it also has an alarm function
4:40
calculator function calendar voice memos
4:43
a notes and then of course a directory
4:46
and it should be mentioned there is
4:47
absolutely no social media and it
4:49
doesn't have a web browser okay that is
4:52
a lot so let me talk about the software
4:54
the things that I do and that I don't
4:55
like about it now number one thing that
4:57
I like about it is it removes
4:59
distractions from your life it is pretty
5:01
wild I'm going to talk a little bit more
5:03
about the emotional aspect of it but
5:04
really really start to notice how much
5:06
you've been depending on your smartphone
5:08
and you kind of are addicted to the
5:10
smartphone of having to constantly check
5:12
for notifications out the
5:14
woo and you notice that when you really
5:17
can only get notifications from texting
5:20
and calling and some other little things
5:22
here and there you're not checking your
5:24
phone all the time cuz honestly people
5:26
aren't text texting you all that much
5:28
it's generally on WhatsApp Facebook
5:30
Messenger all these other places which
5:31
you just can't get on this device you're
5:33
just not getting notifications it's
5:35
pretty cool I also noticed I really
5:38
appreciated the inclusion of podcast Now
5:40
podcast especially the way they have it
5:42
set up isn't really a distraction it is
5:45
nice to be able to listen to your
5:46
podcast on the phone and it works really
5:48
well especially since it's so
5:49
lightweight you don't really notice it
5:50
on you it's pretty sweet however you're
5:52
not able to search podcast on there so
5:54
you don't get yourself lost in it as for
5:56
the downsides to it texting is a pain
6:00
like it's nearly impossible to text on
6:02
this thing you are spending most of your
6:04
time calling when you have this device
6:06
because it just annoys you so much that
6:07
you're texting which I guess might kind
6:10
of be a good thing I guess if you're
6:12
wanting a minimalist device like this
6:13
maybe you're not wanting to text maybe
6:15
it's just better to call really quick
6:16
and just be done with the conversation
6:18
but texting is not great on this thing
6:20
we did also find keeping our own service
6:22
was a bit iffy Light phone does have
6:24
their own cell phone service that you
6:26
can purchase along with the device but
6:29
keeping your own service it's kind of
6:30
iffy it's in and out on if any service
6:33
is 100% sure able to just kind of swap
6:36
out your sim card we did have some
6:38
issues with my wife on getting that
6:40
service transferred so make sure when
6:42
you're purchasing it that your service
6:44
is completely compatible they have a
6:46
list on their website actually of all
6:48
the different services that are 100%
6:49
compatible and some that might be ify
6:51
and we're going to talk about this a
6:52
little bit in a moment but another
6:53
downside to it is you're you do miss out
6:56
on a lot of applications that are kind
6:58
of mandat in the modern world I'm
7:00
talking about things like two Factor
7:02
authentication applications you know
7:04
getting into like your storage unit or
7:06
like Apple pay or things like that is
7:08
just you miss out on those that might be
7:11
mandatory and then the final downside to
7:13
the software is scrolling isn't great
7:14
the refresh rate on this thing is pretty
7:16
low which means that scrolling sometimes
7:19
you just scroll past where you would
7:21
want it to it's kind of frustrating but
7:23
again it makes it so that you don't want
7:25
to be on your phone so maybe it's a
7:29
feature maybe it's a downside I don't
7:32
know but we've talked about the outside
7:33
and the inside of the device now let's
7:35
talk about the emotional impact that
7:37
having a device like this is so a
7:39
minimalist device is not for everyone
7:43
it's for people that find themselves
7:44
just spending too much time on their
7:46
phones they constantly feel like they
7:48
need to be checking on their phones
7:49
they're getting stressed because they're
7:51
constantly being on their phones so the
7:53
Light phone 2 is for somebody that is
7:54
wanting to 100% get away from that and
7:57
so with that the emotional impact is
7:59
that you do feel considerably more free
8:02
from distractions you spend a lot more
8:04
time being in the moment you're not
8:06
thinking about things constantly it's
8:08
for example like you're you're like
8:10
walking down a pathway and you're like
8:12
oh I thought of something I want to
8:13
Google you can't do it you have to go
8:16
back and like write it down and Google
8:18
it later and you start to kind of decide
8:20
is it really that important for me to
8:22
look that thing up right now uh because
8:24
I'm going to have to write it down I'm
8:25
have to go home I'm going to have to
8:26
look it up and you start realizing all
8:28
these things that you don't have to have
8:30
that information overload you don't have
8:33
to know that Sports core you start to
8:34
live much more in the moment and you
8:36
realize how ridiculous it is that we
8:39
spend so much time having to just inject
8:41
so much information into our lives that
8:44
said the downside to it is there is
8:45
definitely an anxiety component to it of
8:48
feeling like you might run into a place
8:50
where you don't have everything that you
8:52
need like going back to the applications
8:54
that this device is missing you might
8:57
find like oh I can't get into into my
8:59
storage unit or oh I don't have tracking
9:03
for that package that I'm trying to pick
9:06
up from the post office and isn't there
9:08
I just don't have access to it because I
9:10
don't have my email on there so it's a
9:11
really interesting thing you kind of get
9:13
that anxiety a little bit in the side of
9:16
I'm not able to function in modern-day
9:18
Society because modern day Society has
9:20
moved so much towards Reliance on people
9:23
having full-fledged smartphones now what
9:25
are you missing out on by having this
9:27
device camera I think number one that is
9:30
the reason why I'm using my iPhone 15
9:32
Pro and I'm back to it is I Rely pretty
9:34
heavily on my camera you're not going to
9:35
be able to Capture Moments say you're
9:38
out with friends or family and you just
9:39
want to capture a moment that you're in
9:41
for all of eternity you're not going to
9:43
have that unfortunately with the Light
9:45
phone too and that is a pretty big
9:47
bummer all right so who is this device
9:50
for it is for somebody who is truly
9:54
truly just sick and tired of having
9:56
their smartphone on them all the time
9:57
having that information overload all the
9:59
time wanting to get away from just the
10:02
stresses that having a modern-day
10:04
smartphone gives you the light phone 2
10:06
does that it's going to just cut you
10:08
right down to texting and calling and
10:10
just barely anything else um you might
10:13
have some withdrawal symptoms honestly
10:16
for a couple weeks as you kind of get
10:17
used to not having that information on
10:19
you all the time but I think it's for
10:21
somebody that's really wanting to start
10:22
getting a healthy relationship with this
10:24
digital age but if you're somebody that
10:26
wants to have all that information and
10:28
you're just looking for a funky device
10:30
you probably should steer clear of this
10:32
thing and I'm also going to go ahead and
10:34
justify the price to you so this thing
10:36
is $299 which seems like it's pretty
10:38
expensive it has micro USB not USBC it
10:41
has a tiny little display all this stuff
10:45
and it's worth mentioning that it
10:47
probably actually does cost that much I
10:49
doubt their margins are actually that
10:51
high they have to have somebody that's
10:52
maintaining the software on these
10:54
devices and then also most smartphones
10:57
iPhones Androids all those things the
10:59
devices are taking a lot of your
11:00
information and that's getting sold off
11:02
to other companies and that's not and
11:04
that's one of the way they're able to
11:05
recoup a lot of the cost of their
11:06
devices and able to discount it a free
11:09
phone is not a free phone if a free
11:11
phone is a free phone you are the
11:13
product so that is really why this
11:16
device is more expensive is they're not
11:18
taking all of your data and then selling
11:19
it to a third party like the phone
11:21
you're probably holding in your hand
11:22
right now does and if you want to see a
11:24
review on another eink device you might
11:26
want to check out this one right here
11:27
it's the supernote Manta and I'm a big
11:29
fan of it