• The Light Phone III has been unveiled and is available for pre-order Stateside.
• The new iteration features a new display, camera, and supports 5G.
• The device carries a 50 percent discount to pre-order for $399.

The Light Phone, as a concept, is a device that has always intrigued us. For those unfamiliar, it is designed to a simpler version of a smartphone that ditches all the unessential elements in an effort to help its users focus on other things instead of staring at their phone screen.

There is now a third iteration in the form of the Light Phone III, which has gone up for pre-order in the United States for a rather pricey figure of $399. Oh, that is also at a 50 percent pre-order discount, with the regular asking price rising significantly to $799 (~R14 839).

So what is on offer from the Light Phone III?

This latest model features a black and white 3.92″ OLED display (1240×1080) that replaces the E Ink option that was present on the previous generation.

Added to this is the integration of a 50MP camera on the rear and 8MP selfie one up front for the this time in the series, along with a USB Type-C port, fingerprint sensor of ID, a flashlight, an NFC chip for mobile payments, and support for 5G.

Other specifications include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2, 6GB RAM, 128GB onboard storage, 1 800mAh battery, and support for a nano SIM and eSIM.

Crucially, however, the Light Phone III does not support any form of social media.

If you do plan on buying this new device, you won’t be able to do so in an official capacity in South Africa, although it is listed as one of the regions where the Light Phone III will be supported. To that end, the Light company says Rain, Vodacom, and MTN are the three carriers that will be able to support the device.

While the Light Phone III has received several impressive upgrades from the previous generation, it is also far more expensive. With it costing in the same range as a premium mid-range smartphone, it will be interesting to see if the new iteration will prove as popular as the past two.