1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:06,480 Just last night, I was playing ping pong with my youngest daughter and thinking, 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:10,880 "Man, I need to put away the phone more often and just spend one-on-one time." 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:15,920 So, imagine my surprise when I come into the office today and I'm unboxing a 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:21,279 product that is designed for just that, the Light Phone 3. It's a phone, it's an 5 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:25,359 alarm, directions, calendar, notes, settings, and nothing else. Okay, 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,840 there's a few things it can do other than that, but it doesn't have a web 7 00:00:27,199 --> 00:00:34,320 browser and supports none of the social media or algorithmic news feed that 8 00:00:32,239 --> 00:00:38,160 tends to take up our lives. You can still watch YouTube. Please don't stop 9 00:00:36,559 --> 00:00:42,079 watching YouTube. You just won't be doing it on this phone. It's designed to 10 00:00:40,079 --> 00:00:49,120 give you the most thoughtful and intentional version of yourself. And I 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:50,480 really want to like it. Oh, lordy. For a 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:53,680 second there, I thought that was the phone. And I was like, "Oh, but I it's 13 00:00:52,399 --> 00:01:01,039 going to be pretty hard if it's this chunky." No, there it is. And it's still 14 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:04,879 pretty chunky. Wow. She is a bit of a 15 00:01:01,039 --> 00:01:07,600 thick boy. Ah, yes. A braided USBC to 16 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:07,600 USBC 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:14,640 cable. That is all. Sorry. Sorry. Point of 18 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:19,280 clarification. There is a SIM removal tool in this piece of paper. This is 19 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:23,680 actually my very first hands-on with a light phone. And other than the design 20 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:28,080 philosophy, it has very little in common with the Lite 2, which apparently they 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:32,880 will continue to sell. The interface is more complicated. You get the same home 22 00:01:30,159 --> 00:01:37,280 button, volume up, volume down, but now there's also a two-stage camera button 23 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:41,680 for the 50 megapixel rear sensor that apparently bends down to a 12 megapixel 24 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:45,360 final output. And they've got this little wheel on the left that apparently 25 00:01:43,439 --> 00:01:49,680 is used for screen brightness and to activate the flashlight. At the top is a 26 00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:54,240 power button as well as fingerprint sensor, but it should be noted that the 27 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:59,119 fingerprint reader, like quite a few other things, isn't working just yet. 28 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:02,560 There's also a mic up here for noise cancellation. Then at the bottom, we've 29 00:02:00,479 --> 00:02:06,560 got a USBC for input, as well as the main mic. The internals are pretty 30 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:10,800 standard for what you'd expect from an entry-level smartphone. It uses a 31 00:02:08,399 --> 00:02:15,680 Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 with six gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of storage, which should 32 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:20,720 contribute to a much more responsive experience in Light OS, but also 33 00:02:17,879 --> 00:02:25,599 contributes controversially to a much higher price than the older Light Phone 34 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:32,560 2. Another controversial decision was the switch from an e- in display to an 35 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:34,160 OLED display. monochromatic OLED, which 36 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:38,519 apparently will give it anywhere from two to three days of battery life, but 37 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:43,599 an OLED nonetheless. It is matte though, which 38 00:02:40,879 --> 00:02:48,879 gives it a more e- inky look, but it's still not e ink. Time to learn light OS 39 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:53,200 after a quick message from our sponsor, the talking points for whom I will not 40 00:02:51,120 --> 00:03:01,840 be receiving on my Light Phone 3 because usually they send them to me via Teams 41 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:02,840 and there's no Teams, just SMS. So, one 42 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:08,640 moment, please. And this is a fundamental flaw 43 00:03:06,159 --> 00:03:13,280 in this product for me is that no, I actually need to access data and a 44 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:17,680 browser for my daily life. Thank you, SLY, for sponsoring this video. If nasty 45 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,879 spring weather is getting you down, a vacation might be calling your name. So, 46 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:26,080 make sure you stay connected with Saley's eim plans. They're available in 47 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:30,239 over 180 countries, and setting it up is easy. Simply download the app, select 48 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:34,080 the plan that fits your needs, and with a few more taps, you'll be good to go. 49 00:03:32,319 --> 00:03:38,840 And if you're running into any issues, their 247 chat support is there to help. 50 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:43,760 So head on over to sale.com/shortcircuit or download the 51 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:46,959 app and use code shortcircuit to get 15% 52 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:49,200 off a sale eim data plan on your fully 53 00:03:46,959 --> 00:03:53,360 functional smartphone rather than your locked down be present smartphone which 54 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:58,560 isn't to say that this is a wrong choice. It's just a different choice. 55 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:05,840 And let's see what this choice might look like. I assume this is my app. 56 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:08,519 Really? Oh, okay. No, no, this is okay. 57 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:14,040 Okay, so this is phone. There's no contacts. No contacts. 58 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:21,199 Please, come on. M coming haptics, but pretty 59 00:04:17,799 --> 00:04:22,520 responsive. Whoa. You enter the phone 60 00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:30,639 number first, then the name. 61 00:04:26,199 --> 00:04:32,800 Okay. Call. Oh, right. One second. Throw 62 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:36,000 my SIM in here. Man, this really is the kind of product 63 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:39,759 that I desperately want to be excited about, but then I think about it for 64 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:43,199 more than two seconds and I'm like, how am I supposed to use this? Like, I was 65 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:47,440 thinking as we were starting this shoot, man, I should just throw my SIM in it 66 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:52,400 during the shoot and just keep it, right? Like, just try it. I was like, oh 67 00:04:50,479 --> 00:04:57,280 yeah, no, immediately I need to do something that I I definitely absolutely 68 00:04:54,560 --> 00:05:00,400 need my other phone for. Apparently, the speaker is supposed to be really good 69 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:05,360 cuz it has like a proper grill on it. Hello, wife. Do you want to just um say 70 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:08,240 something? I am about to get in the car to go to lunch with accounting. We're 71 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:14,160 going to McDonald's because apparently they have a Minecraft toy that somebody 72 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:17,120 wants. Okay. Well, that's good. How's 73 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:21,520 the mic quality for you? It's actually really good. I was It doesn't sound like 74 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:26,400 you're on uh I'm on speaker. Oh, okay. Well, here I'll take you off speaker and 75 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:28,479 maybe it'll be even better. Um a little 76 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:32,639 bit, but only because you told me to pay attention. I don't know if I would have 77 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:36,880 noticed otherwise. Okay, thanks wife. I think that'll be all. So, I'm struck 78 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:40,800 immediately by the fact that there is absolutely nothing to distract me in 79 00:05:39,039 --> 00:05:45,680 this interface. There's no notification shade. There's no multitasking to, you 80 00:05:43,759 --> 00:05:49,520 know, an app or a browser while I'm talking to somebody. That's it. When 81 00:05:47,919 --> 00:05:53,520 you're talking to someone, you're talking to them. This is an interesting 82 00:05:51,199 --> 00:05:59,440 one. When you scroll, instead of scrolling smoothly, it just takes you to 83 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:01,680 your next page. I assume this is just to 84 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:04,720 maintain continuity for the users who are on e- in displays because with the 85 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:11,039 hardware that's in here, there's no reason that they would have to do that. Okay, this is display brightness, right? 86 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:13,840 Oh, yeah. Okay. It definitely gets more 87 00:06:11,039 --> 00:06:18,639 e- in like when you turn the display brightness down. But man, I got to say 88 00:06:16,479 --> 00:06:23,360 one of the biggest benefits for me of using an e- in phone would be that I 89 00:06:20,639 --> 00:06:27,280 would like read, right? I'm not going to be reading any ebooks on this, right? Do 90 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:30,800 they have an ebook app? Ah, yeah, that's tough. Okay. Well, 91 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:36,639 here, let's look at some of the other apps. I can set an 92 00:06:32,919 --> 00:06:39,199 alarm 12:36, you know, whatever. And 93 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:42,560 then I can set it. Boom. It's set. One button to get rid of it. Do love that. 94 00:06:41,199 --> 00:06:45,800 The number of buttons you have to press to get rid of an alarm on the iPhone. 95 00:06:44,319 --> 00:06:51,840 It's like, why? Oo, pictures. Okay, hold on. 96 00:06:50,479 --> 00:06:58,080 We'll try we'll try taking our own. There's also a selfie camera, by the way. 8 megapixels on that one, I think 97 00:06:54,880 --> 00:07:00,199 it is. Oh, wow. This has like a very 98 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:05,440 Polaroid kind of feel to it. Is that Is that intentional or is 99 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:12,919 that just cuz it's like a crappy camera? Oh my god. Hold still. It says to take a 100 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,919 picture. Whoa, 101 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:21,919 buddy. That is the worst this picture I 102 00:07:19,599 --> 00:07:25,360 have ever seen. You know, I always take this picture in this challenging 103 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:29,520 environment with the lights shining at me from the studio and everything. I 104 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:34,240 want to see like what kind of detail can be picked up. Like, see, that's a funny 105 00:07:31,599 --> 00:07:41,599 thing is the resolution actually is not bad, but there's so much noise and the 106 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:43,599 color is atrocious. 107 00:07:41,599 --> 00:07:48,880 So, they do say it's supposed to be like a film camera. Like a film camera. Yeah. 108 00:07:47,039 --> 00:07:56,560 Yeah. Well, a film camera would have done a better job than this. share media 109 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:59,280 and I can send via MMS I guess right 110 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:04,080 like it doesn't do email right yeah no email so getting the full quality 111 00:08:02,319 --> 00:08:08,160 version of the photo off is like no you plug in dude like a you know like a 112 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:11,120 camera like a digital camera maybe that's just because of the light 113 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,000 directly into the lens I'm going to take a picture this way 114 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,280 okay 115 00:08:17,479 --> 00:08:21,360 right does it auto rotate 116 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:30,800 Uh, now it's a pretty square display, 117 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:33,159 okay? It's 1080 by like 12 something, so 118 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:39,200 you don't really need to rotate it, but I would like to. They They did 119 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:43,120 succeed in giving it kind of a filmic look. Let's try the selfie camera. Oh, 120 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:49,519 can you launch the camera just by pressing the camera button? Yes, you can. Thoughtful. Oh, you can record 121 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:53,920 video. I can already tell you that this is going to look like absolute butt 122 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:58,240 chunks. Can already tell you that this is going to look like absolute butt 123 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:01,680 chunks. The audio is great though. Ivonne was right. You know what? The 124 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:06,720 preview is worse than the actual recorded video. That's That's not that 125 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:08,240 bad. Okay. I do not like this. It's 126 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:15,480 completely taking over my screen when I'm changing the volume. I don't need to 127 00:09:09,839 --> 00:09:15,480 be present adjusting my volume slider. 128 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:22,000 The selfie camera doesn't do the funny hold thing and actually looks a lot more 129 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:26,600 like a modern smartphone camera. Interesting. Wonder if that was a choice 130 00:09:23,839 --> 00:09:33,519 or they just didn't code the like multi-exposure and then edit tom foolery 131 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:36,360 into the selfie cam calculator. Wow. 132 00:09:33,519 --> 00:09:40,720 Hey, it's like Apple never made a new calculator. Okay, here. Let's add a 133 00:09:38,399 --> 00:09:46,560 calendar event. Oo, that was that was a that was 134 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:50,320 a delay. I can't say where it is. Oh, yeah. There it is. There it is. Okay. 135 00:09:47,839 --> 00:09:55,399 Okay. But I can't navigate there. I can't take an Uber there. That's tough. 136 00:09:52,720 --> 00:10:00,480 How do you find that balance, right? Cuz like there's certain things that I would 137 00:09:57,839 --> 00:10:03,440 need this to be able to do cuz otherwise I'm just going to have to carry a second 138 00:10:01,839 --> 00:10:09,360 phone in my pocket. And by the time I do that, this has accomplished nothing. But 139 00:10:05,839 --> 00:10:11,680 if it can do those smart doing things, 140 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:15,519 then all of a sudden it becomes not the distraction-free phone. And it's not 141 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:20,800 just not being able to take an Uber. I use alternate messaging platforms for 142 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:23,120 almost everyone that I talk to, whether 143 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:27,680 it's iMessage, cuz I happen to currently be on an iPhone right now, or Discord, 144 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:31,040 or WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Like, I literally wouldn't be able to 145 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:36,000 coordinate with my badminton group and get signed up because it fills up in 146 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:38,800 like 4 minutes, right? cuz I won't be on 147 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:43,000 Facebook Messenger. We talk about how smartphones have kind of destroyed the 148 00:10:40,959 --> 00:10:47,760 in-person social lives of the younger generation. But what I'll tell you is 149 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:53,279 that if I didn't have my smartphone, that would destroy my social life way 150 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:55,519 more because how would I like meet up 151 00:10:53,279 --> 00:11:03,440 with anybody? I would tell them to call me and they'd be like, "Oh my god, 152 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:06,720 call you're like 40, not 60." Oh yeah, 153 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:10,079 no two factor. Oh, only SMS-based 154 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,519 two-factor. So 100% I would have to 155 00:11:10,079 --> 00:11:15,519 Dude, I didn't even think all this stuff. You like brainstorm stuff to 156 00:11:13,279 --> 00:11:19,680 throw at me during this. Oh my god. Yeah, I could I couldn't I couldn't get 157 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:25,320 a two-factor verification code. Okay, music though. Music. Let's talk about 158 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:28,000 music. You can upload songs on the light 159 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:31,600 dashboard. Ah, the light dashboard. So it's a web app you access on your 160 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:36,880 computer in order to interface with the phone. You can upload music, add apps, 161 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:40,399 and edit your contacts, which will be a good way to do that because it'll be a 162 00:11:38,399 --> 00:11:46,040 little slow on here. Okay, so we got Crab Rafe. Let's go. I'm going to try to 163 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:49,040 pair my Bluetooth headphones. It has 164 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,600 Bluetooth, right? Yes. Yes, it has 165 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:54,079 Bluetooth. All right. See if it 166 00:11:55,320 --> 00:12:03,279 works. That was an appropriate number of clicks to get back to the thing I was 167 00:11:58,959 --> 00:12:05,560 just doing. Can I Can I Oh, there we go. 168 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:10,519 Oh, wait. No, it's coming through the phone. Sorry, my noise cancellation is 169 00:12:08,079 --> 00:12:14,320 on. So, I Okay, but what the heck? What? No, this is just the 170 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,639 Bluetooth menu. I want to switch the audio 171 00:12:18,279 --> 00:12:24,639 output. Okay, well, that's not good. I mean, the AirPods are just lowkey the 172 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:28,480 most popular wireless headphones on planet Earth. So, 173 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:34,000 uh, the fact that it does not immediately work with those is not great. I'm sure they're going to work on 174 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:37,279 that as well as implementing something with the NFC chip. Like, it has an NFC 175 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:42,760 chip, but right now it doesn't really do anything. I think the bigger issue for 176 00:12:39,519 --> 00:12:45,519 me is even if my headphones did work, no 177 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:50,320 Spotify, no YouTube Music, no music apps. So, you literally just need to put 178 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:54,800 all your music on here and then like what the scroll wheel I can't even use 179 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:59,440 to scroll through my music list. So, like, is there a way to organize it 180 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:03,920 other than just like search, man? So, the interface is like somehow actually 181 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:08,480 worse than an OG iPod. Hey, does it do like speech to 182 00:13:05,959 --> 00:13:15,399 text? Period. It really does. Oh, wow. It even managed to get the inquisitive 183 00:13:12,079 --> 00:13:19,120 tone of my voice and put a question 184 00:13:15,399 --> 00:13:20,800 mark. Oh, but then it also put a random 185 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:26,480 comma there and put a random period there. So, your mileage may vary. It can 186 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:28,880 do podcasts, so that's something. And 187 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:33,399 you can always tell the priorities of the creators of products like this. It's 188 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:38,079 like no distractions, but definitely podcasts. But music is going to be a 189 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:42,480 sucky experience. But podcasts, we got you. Like look at this. Look at this 190 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:47,360 podcast app compared to the music one, dude. We got like subscribe podcast. We 191 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:53,240 got our Bluetooth. Okay, that wasn't the music one. Sync trigger. We can sync 192 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:55,360 them in the background. We can 193 00:13:53,240 --> 00:14:00,600 synchronize. We got settings. We can autoplay the next episode. Dude, the 194 00:13:58,079 --> 00:14:05,720 creators, they like their podcasts. Oh, don't do that. There are a 195 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:09,839 few more things to talk through. It's IP54 water resistant. It's more 196 00:14:08,399 --> 00:14:14,320 repairable than their previous one. The screen's apparently easier to repair. 197 00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:19,040 The battery is easily replaceable. So, that's pretty cool. But the elephant in 198 00:14:16,639 --> 00:14:24,320 the room is, of course, the cost. at $600 to $800 depending on if you buy it 199 00:14:22,639 --> 00:14:30,560 at launch or if you buy it at retail later. This is right up there with some 200 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:32,800 flagship class Android smartphones, many 201 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:38,480 of which could be pretty easily configured to, you know, prompt you for 202 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:42,800 distractions or disable apps or whatever else. Whether you have the discipline to 203 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:46,880 do those things or not, well, that's kind of down to you. And that's where 204 00:14:44,399 --> 00:14:51,760 the Light Phone is supposed to shine. But for me, I just don't see how I could 205 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:55,600 make this work. It's funny. I actually got a WhatsApp message from someone 206 00:14:53,600 --> 00:15:00,160 saying that they will not be contactable on WhatsApp anymore because they just 207 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:03,519 switched to a light phone. Moved to a dumb phone. No more WhatsApp text or 208 00:15:01,839 --> 00:15:07,760 call going forward. I said, "What the Text so unsecure." Uh they said, 209 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:13,760 "Fair point. Had to do it." I said, "I give you 3 and 1/2 weeks." That was on 210 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:17,600 March the 26th. I'm going to call him right now and find out if he's off it 211 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,600 yet. I'm going to call him on WhatsApp. See if he gets the call. You know what? 212 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,880 No, I'm doing this entirely wrong. I'm doing this totally wrong. Hold on. 213 00:15:24,079 --> 00:15:31,600 Calling from my light phone. Yo, I'm on ShortCircuit. I'm uh 214 00:15:29,279 --> 00:15:34,720 unboxing the Light Phone 3 and I was just kind of wondering, is that the one 215 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:39,600 that you went with for your dumb phone? You're on it right now. So, this could 216 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:44,880 be the very first Light Phone to Light Phone 3 call because as far as I can 217 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:48,399 tell from spending some time with this thing, nobody is going to use 218 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:51,440 this thing, dude. He says, "You got to be out of your mind." Yeah. Yeah. See 219 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:55,199 that? That's what I'm talking about. So, are you off it yet? You're not off it 220 00:15:53,079 --> 00:15:58,320 then? Oh, the reception apparently sucks. Well, I'm getting so much insight 221 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:02,959 cuz he's been using this thing for a week, man. This is This is great. I should make you use the products before 222 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:06,320 I unbox them every time. Dude, I gave you 3 weeks, I think. Right. Do you 223 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:10,360 think you're going to make it? You're going to stick with it? All right. 224 00:16:08,079 --> 00:16:18,399 Thanks. Okay, I'll let you go. Wow. He describes the experience of 225 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:20,240 using it as quote a show and then says, 226 00:16:18,399 --> 00:16:27,720 "But I'm sticking with it. I hate phones. I was getting like 800 messages 227 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:32,240 a day." So, there you go. For the right 228 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:33,600 user, there it is. Light phone 3. I just 229 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:37,839 don't think I have the discipline for it. But I do have the discipline to tell 230 00:16:35,519 --> 00:16:41,120 you to subscribe to ShortCircuit. Don't miss a single video.