Light Phone III enters market via Andrew Yang’s Noble Mobile with data rebate model
The Light Phone III is now available for immediate purchase through Noble Mobile, requiring a two-year contract at $50 per month. The carrier rebates $1 for every gigabyte of data used below a 20GB monthly limit, marking the first time the device ships without upfront hardware costs.
Minimalist hardware manufacturer Light Phone has partnered with Noble Mobile, a carrier founded by entrepreneur and politician Andrew Yang, to distribute the Light Phone III. The collaboration allows for immediate shipment of 500 units as of Tuesday, eliminating the need for upfront hardware payments. This arrangement addresses previous supply chain constraints, including wait times and an ongoing RAM shortage, which previously estimated delivery delays until September for direct purchasers.
The device is available through a two-year Noble Mobile contract priced at $50 per month. The carrier’s business model incentivises reduced data consumption by rebating $1 for every gigabyte of data used below a 20GB monthly limit. Users can apply these rebates as cash or credit card points, aligning with the device’s design philosophy of intentional usage. Light co-founder Joe Hollier described the partnership as on-brand, noting the device is engineered to be used as little as possible.
Since launching last spring, Light Phone has shipped 20,000 devices. The Light Phone III features an OLED screen, replacing the e-ink displays of previous iterations, and includes front- and back-facing cameras. The camera system incorporates a physical shutter button and lacks AI sharpening or beauty filters, aiming to replicate the experience of a traditional point-and-shoot film camera. Founders Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang, who met in 2014 at Google’s 30 Weeks incubator, designed the hardware to appeal to users seeking a middle ground between hyperconnected smartphones and basic feature phones.
The device supports basic functions including calls, texts, a directions app, and a directory app. However, it does not support RCS texting, relying instead on SMS. This limitation means messages are not end-to-end encrypted and media files are compressed, which may impact the experience for users in group chats or those communicating with iPhone users. Despite these drawbacks, the company reports that many customers use the Light Phone as their primary device, with some maintaining a secondary smartphone for specific applications.
Hollier and Tang have observed varying user behaviours, including a trend where customers maintain two phone numbers to balance work and personal life. The founders emphasise that the device is not intended to replace all technology but to remove the attention and advertising layers associated with modern smartphones. The partnership with Noble Mobile represents a significant shift in accessibility for the Light Phone III, offering immediate availability and a pricing structure that rewards minimal data usage.
