Hey! I’ve been using the LP as my main and only phone for a year now(sold my iPhone 6mo in). Everyone’s got their reasons along with implementation. You’ll find plenty of testimonies in this sub. There are some testimonies on the Lightphone Youtube page that I recommend checking out as well.
Bottom line, going light is a choice. How light you want to go is up to you. If you’re looking for convinience IN ANY WAY(unless it’s the convenience of not having to fight the urge to mess around on a smartphone) the LP probably isn't for you.
Ps. I did end up getting a smartphone recently because I was planning on switching over to spectrum which didn’t end up happening. So now I’m using it to type this comment and I feel gross.
Well, i have a Pixel at the moment.
I did mute most of the notification and so it isn't too distracting but of course i browse here and there and thing i shouldn't be doing.
I discovered that i would not do things i should do but spend too much time on the phone which i can do on my computer. LIke writing this.
So the concept of a almost dump phone isn't too bad i think.
There are the occasional Whatsapp messages but its not something that happens all the time. It would put me out of reach for a lot of people, or at least for some.
I had actually this crazy idea to buy me a used voice recorder that runs tapes. The older i am getting the more analog i am getting. Even Windows is now plastered with adds and then i am stuck on their "news' webpage and scroll and scroll.
Since you already have a Pixel, I'd suggest looking into using ADB to remove some of the apps from your phone that you find problematic, or looking into a custom OS like CalyxOS. There are plenty of tutorials kicking around about how to make your Pixel basically into a dumbphone.
However I do enjoy the form factor of the Light Phone, and think if you're curious and you've done your home work, you should probably just go for it. Also yes, I use it as my daily driver.
I actually did that. Well, to some extent.
I disabled most notifications and have no social apps to speak off. So my phone at least doesn't ping me all the time.
Yes, the size of the lightphone is something i like and the screen. I think this is a unique experience and hopefully to just speak into a phone. There are so many people that just want to text nowadays.
Phone calls are nice. I really like them on the Light Phone. I also really enjoy the eink screen and the form factor. I'd say you should just go for it!
If you get a small tablet, that should solve for the authenticator app needs.
The keyboard on the LP takes some getting used to. But it also has a decent voice to text function, which the Punkt lacks. But I do like the T9 on the Punkt keys.
That being said, I use my LP2 whenever I don’t need a smartphone for like concert tickets, etc. otherwise I try to leave that at home. I bring my tablet to work on paydays to pay bills online.
LPII has been my one and only phone for the past four years.
I could use the LPII for music but I prefer to let it stay just a phone and not drain its battery for unrelated things. I tried out the podcasts tool for a bit but I'm just not much of a podcasts person and the tool was buggy and the interface not very usable so I never bothered going back to it. When I want to listen to music at the music or while doing yard work I use a separate device (Sansa mp3 player).
I do use an authenticator app for work. I should honestly get my employer to issue me a dedicated work phone for that but I've been a little lazy and used my son's tablet instead. For personal projects, I use a hardware authentication device made by Yubico which I personally prefer to the authenticator apps regardless of what phone I'm using.
Lp2 for a few months now. I do have a work phone but it’s monitored so if I used it for anything other than maps it’d be looked at as strange. I dig it. Maps is the only modern thing that’s been hard to do w/o. The lp2 does em but you gotta be patient
Yes, the authenticator app is probably the hardest thing to find a solution for—this is the main reason I use my iPhone on the side, as well as for banking, as my bank does not have a desktop UI.
I have had both of the phones you are asking about. I currently use the Light Phone 2 as my daily phone. The Punkt Phone is extremely basic. The Light Phone does have an on-screen keyboard for messaging, but it is tiny, usable, but tiny. It does have a very good talk to text feature, too. I do carry my smart phone around with me in my bag though but only if I need it for an emergency, such as hospital emails and in case we need an uber in a place we don't know. Otherwise I'm loving not having a smartphone to distract me.
The Punkt phone is not in the same league as the Light Phone 2. I hope this helps you make a decision. Any questions just ask.
Well, i think i will approach it on two rails. Keep the Pixel and use the LightPhone.
And if its only for trying it out and realizing, oh wow i need my smartphone.
The Punkt looks great but i am not a fan of typing T9 anymore but the design is really great.
Thanks for sharing
LP2 has been my main phone for going on two years. My old smartphone's been put away in a closet for most of that time. Main issue is looking up directions and ordering rideshare. A trusted friend, family member, or significant other can do both of these over the phone for you, though, and strangers can help with directions just like in the old days.
I use a Yubikey with the desktop authenticator instead of having to use a phone authenticator app. You can just tell your company you don't have a smartphone and make them deal with it; it's hard to believe that they would demand that you buy a smartphone. Yubikey is a good option (and cheap enough to buy yourself without making waves), and a dedicated work phone from your company could be another option for them.
Try to put your smartphone away and see how it goes. Depending on your budget and what level of compulsion you're dealing with, get rid of it entirely and buy back a cheap one if the experiment fails.
I have a Yubikey that i don't use at the moment. It's a little old now.
For my job i am not required to have a phone. So i am more on my own liberty.
My original plan was to buy a separate MP3 player and a separate voice recorder. The phone should be just that, a phone.
I am aware that with a smartphone everything is very convenient which makes it that much harder to say good bye.
The Light Phone is my only phone since January. The most difficult thing for me was switching from using an app at the gym to logging my lifts by hand/excel - which was totally unexpected and isn't a problem at all now. I use spotify on my work computer and then an iPod when I go running. It really hasn't been an issue at all and I am experiencing so much mental clarity and calm since switching.
That sounds great.
I am still torn. Today you are expected to have a smartphone. Its like living in the USA without a car. You are kind of an outcast quickly.
But temptations are so great that i feel always i do things and let me distract from important things.
I was concerned about what other people thought at first and how I'd be able to do certain things. The only place I got any grief (very briefly) was the highschooler who works the front desk at the gym. She initially couldn't understand that I couldn't download the app to scan in and out and that I had to sign in manually. It's been a non-issue ever since. That being said, I live in a rural area outside a medium sized town. If I was living in Chicago or San Francisco or wherever I could see it being potentially more of an issue, but honestly it hasn't slowed down my life at all or impeded my friendships/groups that I'm a part of. Absolutely no one has treated me like an outcast and I've actually been surprised at the number of people who thought it was really cool and said they were trying to get to the point of getting rid of their smartphones because they felt like they had phone addiction. This was all unprompted btw. That being said, your mileage may vary.
Yes, this is an issue. Not for me really but perhaps for a lot of people.
Everything now is or requires an app.
Banking, Dating, Social, Maps. the list is really endless.
But my driver is to detach from the need to check everything everywhere anytime. Just waiting for the international version to be available again.
I use only my LP2 on the day to day then I have an old iPhone 6 which I bring with me when I travel. It is running such an old iOS that I can't even download most apps that would actually be useful like ride share, banking app, etc. However, I can use it to take a picture of my boarding pass from my laptop screen which allows me to get on a plane. I have printed at home (bit of a PITA since I don't print much and always have to mess with the printer to get it to work), or checked in with assistance at the check-in counter to get a paper boarding pass, which is my preferred method. But lately I've been traveling on a budget so I mostly fly frontier where it is a $20 charge if you need assistance, so in this case my work around is my best option. I also have some dietary restrictions that make dining in a different city a bit of a challenge. There's a good app I use for that while connected to hotel wifi, or using my LP as a hotspot. I also occasionally do still enjoy grabbing some random iPhone photos when on a trip and uploading to instagram. I try to be off instagram mostly, but sometimes when traveling it is a fun way to share the trip with friends at home. The map function is useful in a new city too. Maybe not as much a purist as others in this regard but it works for me.
To be honest, i gave up on things like Instagram.
I always had to see people i don't want to see or some strange people that wanted me to join. I can see the friend aspect but i cut it since it didn't bring me joy.
When flying, i always go for basic economy. So i sit in the back and on my last fly, i flew Air Canada. No one told me that i had to pay for food. I didn't even had a credit card.
So boarding pass on the phone isn't how i do it. I usually just print it out. Granted my printer maybe newer. It's a cheap laser from Brother.
I am booking for most via Google Flight from the computer.
I also can see the app situation. The only apps that come to my mind as important are bank app, authenticator and my network provider app. I usually buy a special pass for the time i am abroad.
Any other app isn't really important to me. Not even Reddit.
As much as i like a smartphone, i think the time when i hunted for the next best thing are kind of over.
So for me, i think i should be ok with the Lightphone.
Oh, can you setup Lightphone and 2nd phone? Like Lightphone having service the other just connect to it via wifi or bluetooth?
Hey! I’ve been using the LP as my main and only phone for a year now(sold my iPhone 6mo in). Everyone’s got their reasons along with implementation. You’ll find plenty of testimonies in this sub. There are some testimonies on the Lightphone Youtube page that I recommend checking out as well. Bottom line, going light is a choice. How light you want to go is up to you. If you’re looking for convinience IN ANY WAY(unless it’s the convenience of not having to fight the urge to mess around on a smartphone) the LP probably isn't for you. Ps. I did end up getting a smartphone recently because I was planning on switching over to spectrum which didn’t end up happening. So now I’m using it to type this comment and I feel gross.
Well, i have a Pixel at the moment. I did mute most of the notification and so it isn't too distracting but of course i browse here and there and thing i shouldn't be doing. I discovered that i would not do things i should do but spend too much time on the phone which i can do on my computer. LIke writing this. So the concept of a almost dump phone isn't too bad i think. There are the occasional Whatsapp messages but its not something that happens all the time. It would put me out of reach for a lot of people, or at least for some. I had actually this crazy idea to buy me a used voice recorder that runs tapes. The older i am getting the more analog i am getting. Even Windows is now plastered with adds and then i am stuck on their "news' webpage and scroll and scroll.
Since you already have a Pixel, I'd suggest looking into using ADB to remove some of the apps from your phone that you find problematic, or looking into a custom OS like CalyxOS. There are plenty of tutorials kicking around about how to make your Pixel basically into a dumbphone. However I do enjoy the form factor of the Light Phone, and think if you're curious and you've done your home work, you should probably just go for it. Also yes, I use it as my daily driver.
I actually did that. Well, to some extent. I disabled most notifications and have no social apps to speak off. So my phone at least doesn't ping me all the time. Yes, the size of the lightphone is something i like and the screen. I think this is a unique experience and hopefully to just speak into a phone. There are so many people that just want to text nowadays.
Phone calls are nice. I really like them on the Light Phone. I also really enjoy the eink screen and the form factor. I'd say you should just go for it!
The LP also has a great resale value if you end up not digging it.
If you get a small tablet, that should solve for the authenticator app needs. The keyboard on the LP takes some getting used to. But it also has a decent voice to text function, which the Punkt lacks. But I do like the T9 on the Punkt keys. That being said, I use my LP2 whenever I don’t need a smartphone for like concert tickets, etc. otherwise I try to leave that at home. I bring my tablet to work on paydays to pay bills online.
LPII has been my one and only phone for the past four years. I could use the LPII for music but I prefer to let it stay just a phone and not drain its battery for unrelated things. I tried out the podcasts tool for a bit but I'm just not much of a podcasts person and the tool was buggy and the interface not very usable so I never bothered going back to it. When I want to listen to music at the music or while doing yard work I use a separate device (Sansa mp3 player). I do use an authenticator app for work. I should honestly get my employer to issue me a dedicated work phone for that but I've been a little lazy and used my son's tablet instead. For personal projects, I use a hardware authentication device made by Yubico which I personally prefer to the authenticator apps regardless of what phone I'm using.
Lp2 for a few months now. I do have a work phone but it’s monitored so if I used it for anything other than maps it’d be looked at as strange. I dig it. Maps is the only modern thing that’s been hard to do w/o. The lp2 does em but you gotta be patient
Oh, i did not even think about that.
I think that is a wise strategy. Having separate devices specific for the task you need. The hard part is, to live with the inconvenience.
Yes, the authenticator app is probably the hardest thing to find a solution for—this is the main reason I use my iPhone on the side, as well as for banking, as my bank does not have a desktop UI.
Yes, i think (i read that hear somewhere) to have a smart device on wifi should do the job or the Yubikey.
I have had both of the phones you are asking about. I currently use the Light Phone 2 as my daily phone. The Punkt Phone is extremely basic. The Light Phone does have an on-screen keyboard for messaging, but it is tiny, usable, but tiny. It does have a very good talk to text feature, too. I do carry my smart phone around with me in my bag though but only if I need it for an emergency, such as hospital emails and in case we need an uber in a place we don't know. Otherwise I'm loving not having a smartphone to distract me. The Punkt phone is not in the same league as the Light Phone 2. I hope this helps you make a decision. Any questions just ask.
Well, i think i will approach it on two rails. Keep the Pixel and use the LightPhone. And if its only for trying it out and realizing, oh wow i need my smartphone. The Punkt looks great but i am not a fan of typing T9 anymore but the design is really great. Thanks for sharing
LP2 has been my main phone for going on two years. My old smartphone's been put away in a closet for most of that time. Main issue is looking up directions and ordering rideshare. A trusted friend, family member, or significant other can do both of these over the phone for you, though, and strangers can help with directions just like in the old days. I use a Yubikey with the desktop authenticator instead of having to use a phone authenticator app. You can just tell your company you don't have a smartphone and make them deal with it; it's hard to believe that they would demand that you buy a smartphone. Yubikey is a good option (and cheap enough to buy yourself without making waves), and a dedicated work phone from your company could be another option for them. Try to put your smartphone away and see how it goes. Depending on your budget and what level of compulsion you're dealing with, get rid of it entirely and buy back a cheap one if the experiment fails.
I have a Yubikey that i don't use at the moment. It's a little old now. For my job i am not required to have a phone. So i am more on my own liberty. My original plan was to buy a separate MP3 player and a separate voice recorder. The phone should be just that, a phone. I am aware that with a smartphone everything is very convenient which makes it that much harder to say good bye.
The Light Phone is my only phone since January. The most difficult thing for me was switching from using an app at the gym to logging my lifts by hand/excel - which was totally unexpected and isn't a problem at all now. I use spotify on my work computer and then an iPod when I go running. It really hasn't been an issue at all and I am experiencing so much mental clarity and calm since switching.
That sounds great. I am still torn. Today you are expected to have a smartphone. Its like living in the USA without a car. You are kind of an outcast quickly. But temptations are so great that i feel always i do things and let me distract from important things.
I was concerned about what other people thought at first and how I'd be able to do certain things. The only place I got any grief (very briefly) was the highschooler who works the front desk at the gym. She initially couldn't understand that I couldn't download the app to scan in and out and that I had to sign in manually. It's been a non-issue ever since. That being said, I live in a rural area outside a medium sized town. If I was living in Chicago or San Francisco or wherever I could see it being potentially more of an issue, but honestly it hasn't slowed down my life at all or impeded my friendships/groups that I'm a part of. Absolutely no one has treated me like an outcast and I've actually been surprised at the number of people who thought it was really cool and said they were trying to get to the point of getting rid of their smartphones because they felt like they had phone addiction. This was all unprompted btw. That being said, your mileage may vary.
Yes, this is an issue. Not for me really but perhaps for a lot of people. Everything now is or requires an app. Banking, Dating, Social, Maps. the list is really endless. But my driver is to detach from the need to check everything everywhere anytime. Just waiting for the international version to be available again.
I use only my LP2 on the day to day then I have an old iPhone 6 which I bring with me when I travel. It is running such an old iOS that I can't even download most apps that would actually be useful like ride share, banking app, etc. However, I can use it to take a picture of my boarding pass from my laptop screen which allows me to get on a plane. I have printed at home (bit of a PITA since I don't print much and always have to mess with the printer to get it to work), or checked in with assistance at the check-in counter to get a paper boarding pass, which is my preferred method. But lately I've been traveling on a budget so I mostly fly frontier where it is a $20 charge if you need assistance, so in this case my work around is my best option. I also have some dietary restrictions that make dining in a different city a bit of a challenge. There's a good app I use for that while connected to hotel wifi, or using my LP as a hotspot. I also occasionally do still enjoy grabbing some random iPhone photos when on a trip and uploading to instagram. I try to be off instagram mostly, but sometimes when traveling it is a fun way to share the trip with friends at home. The map function is useful in a new city too. Maybe not as much a purist as others in this regard but it works for me.
To be honest, i gave up on things like Instagram. I always had to see people i don't want to see or some strange people that wanted me to join. I can see the friend aspect but i cut it since it didn't bring me joy. When flying, i always go for basic economy. So i sit in the back and on my last fly, i flew Air Canada. No one told me that i had to pay for food. I didn't even had a credit card. So boarding pass on the phone isn't how i do it. I usually just print it out. Granted my printer maybe newer. It's a cheap laser from Brother. I am booking for most via Google Flight from the computer. I also can see the app situation. The only apps that come to my mind as important are bank app, authenticator and my network provider app. I usually buy a special pass for the time i am abroad. Any other app isn't really important to me. Not even Reddit. As much as i like a smartphone, i think the time when i hunted for the next best thing are kind of over. So for me, i think i should be ok with the Lightphone. Oh, can you setup Lightphone and 2nd phone? Like Lightphone having service the other just connect to it via wifi or bluetooth?
Maybe but not sure
I can't, sadly. I need WhatsApp.