I Gave Up My Smartphone For 2 Weeks: Light Phone III Review

Published on 10 Jun 2025, 0:30

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[LIGHT PHONE III REVIEW]

Twenty years ago I picked up a smartphone … and never put it back down. My smartphone puts the bulk of human knowledge at my fingertips; it unfolds or accepts an accessory to become a pocket workstation; and it lets me talk to anyone I’ve ever known through wireless earbuds, making sure I never miss a notification thanks to my wireless smartwatch. It is phenomenal and miraculous and everything my teenage self never dared dream possible – and it is ruining my life.

Maybe you’ve noticed it in your own experience. It’s not just the ceaseless litany of notifications, micro-dosing us with dopamine hundreds of times a day; it’s the apps with algorithms built expressly to keep us in our screens; the scrolling that, as Haley Nahman says: “... shortens our attention spans, which lowers our tolerance for stillness, which inspires us to scroll more. The irony of the phone is that it feeds and starves us both.”

That digital dependence has spawned a rebellion of sorts, in the rise of the “new dumbphone:” a specialty device purpose-built to insulate you from the attention-industrial complex. And this one is called The Light Phone. It’s the third such model from the company of the same name, and when I pre-ordered it last summer, I knew then that my video about it wouldn’t just be a review: it would be the first time since 2005 that I would purposely ditch my smartphone (er, all my smartphones) and try to live life a different way. And while I think I ultimately failed … that has less to do with the Light Phone than the kind of lifestyle that someone named “MrMobile” needs to lead.


[ABOUT MRMOBILE'S LIGHT PHONE III REVIEW]

MrMobile's Light Phone III Review was produced following thirteen days with a Light Phone III review sample purchased by MrMobile. The device received one software update during the review period, to Verison 502. Tested on T-Mobile US in New York City, Michigan and parts between.

MrMobile does not offer manufacturers the opportunity to preview, edit or approve content before publication. Neither Samsung nor any other manufacturer provided compensation in exchange for this coverage.


[LINKS]

What is rotting, if not rest? [Substack / Haley Nahman]:
haleynahman.substack.com/p/208...


[CHAPTERS]

00:00 The miracle (and misery) of the smartphone
02:17 A delightfully distinct phone
06:38 Two weeks of "Going Light" – cold turkey
09:53 Being better at being bored
11:54 Missing out
16:49 Meeting the makers
19:14 A successful failure
20:44 Shilling for robots
21:12 Outro & Disclosures


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[DISCLOSURES]

This post may contain affiliate links, which afford Future plc a commission should you make a purchase. This does not affect MrMobile’s editorial content. See Future's disclosure policy for more details:
futureplc.com/terms-conditions...

Additional information concerning MrMobile’s ethics policy can be found here:
mrmobile.tech/ethics

Additional information concerning MrMobile’s ethics policy can be found here:
mrmobile.tech/ethics

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