Hello, my name’s Andrew, and these are the pros and cons of the Light Phone 3 vs the Wisephone 2 for phone addiction and digital minimalism.

Introduction

When I originally bought the Light Phone 2 back in 2021, the decision between that and the Wisephone was pretty straightforward, because they were so different from a functional perspective.

Mainly, the Light Phone was small and slow with a grayscale e ink screen for reducing eyestrain, where the Wisephone was large and fast with a more vibrant LED screen that caused it.

Features

But now that the Light Phone 3 is switching to a bigger OLED screen (a necessary tradeoff for adding a camera), the decision is not so obvious, and, on paper, either phone should be a good pick for anyone looking to cut down on screen time.

Because they both run a minimal operating system on top of Android that only allows you to access a few basic tools, like Clock, GPS, Music, and Notes.

Further bridging the gap, software distinctions, like the Light Phone 3 having Podcasts, may well change in future updates, while hardware differences, like the Wisephone 2 having multiple back cameras, aren’t likely to be a dealbreaker for most people.

Philosophy

So I started digging deeper into both companies and, ultimately, my decision on which phone to spend the next five years of my life with came down to one surprising attribute: SOUL.

That’s what this video is about—not a spreadsheet of nitty gritty specs, but a tale of two phones and the conflicting philosophies behind why they exist.

Light Phone 3

Unboxing the Light Phone 2 for the first time I experienced the unmistakable feeling of human-ness, like being given a quirky handmade present by a friend, rather than buying a mass-produced product off the shelf.

Founding

Which is no less than I’d expect from Joe Hollier, an introspective skater who founded Light Phone as an artistic middle finger to the rise of toxic smartphone culture and progressive intrusion of it into every aspect of daily life.

From the early lofi comedy sketches and goofy animated shorts lambasting tech addiction…

…to the unscripted interviews with co-founder Kaiwei Tang and dogged defense of radical minimalism, despite withering mainstream ridicule, it’s clear that the Light Phone has always been a labor of love.

Evolving

But where most groundbreaking companies gradually lose their soul through year after year of mundane updates, the Light Phone 3, with it’s odd sizing, grayscale UI, and stubbornly simple two-step camera, still feels like a complete anomaly.

Also, despite the more mature aesthetic, you can hear the same rebel tone in the LP3’s promo video, carried through by the retro styling, artist spotlighting, and, importantly, Hollier himself, who’s still clearly deriving joy from narrating the company’s content seven years later.

Promising

Coupled with these creative idiosyncrasies is the more practical fact that Light continues to seem interested in putting a priority on sustainability/ethics with the replaceable battery and screen.

Not to mention their shielding of user data and providing ongoing support for the Light Phone 2, which they easily (and cynically) could have left for dead.

So, all in all, they’ve done more to earn and keep my trust than any brand I can think of, and where other devices might “get the job done,” the care that Light puts into their phones makes me proud to own something so unique.

Wisephone 2

Honestly, despite being a Light Phone user, I wanted to give Wisephone a fair shake, but doing basic research on Techless felt something like reading a corporate manual extracted from George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.

Simultaneously saying everything, and, yet…nothing at all.

Founding

Incredibly, I was unable to find an “About Us” page on the Techless website to learn about their team, nor a single mention of the CEO, making me wonder whether the company was even run by human beings…

Perhaps a faceless AI generated the whole venture?

Unearthing founder Chris Kaspar’s origin story buried in a blog post, I was put off by one red flag after another, as the article mentioned, quote…

…the “rich 120-year history” of “Kaspar Companies,” the Super Bowl spot he filmed for Chick-fil-A, and his vision of giving parents a disturbing level of control over their kids’ lives through the Techless Family Portal.

Whether intentional or not, the brand’s squiggly circle logo looks like a direct ripoff of the 2015 book Essentialism by Greg McKeown…

…and the Wisephone 2 promo video was downright painful to watch with an unnamed spokesperson awkwardly delivering scripted lines overtop of some Miley Cyrus “Party in the USA” type stock music and zero comments.

Devolving

Then there’s the Tool Drawer for third-party apps, which sounds cool, until you realize it requires a $45/mo subscription for something that’s still in beta with no clear promises on what apps will be included.

For some, the full-sized Wisephone 2 might appeal more than the two-thirds scale of the Light Phone 3, but at the end of the day, it stands to reason that the FORM of a minimalist phone should follow its FUNCTION, and, to me…

If I’m trying to break the addictive patterns of smartphone addiction, then why would I want to use a device that looks exactly like a normal smartphone?

(Not) Promising

Also, where Light Phone feels decidedly punk, like Joe and Kaiwei are still working out of a garage somewhere…

…the Wisephone, with it’s invisible employees, missing FAQ page, stock photography, and press releases full of bland business jargon (”thought leadership,” “capital factory accelerator,” “B2C model”) sounds eerily similar to the paternalistic tech giants it’s claiming to replace.

Finally, circling back on the Techless Family Portal (also in beta, btw), I found the possibility of parents blocking numbers, deleting contacts, monitoring messages, and restricting apps to be less reassuring and more…straight up CREEPY.

Conclusion

Overall, while the Light Phone 3 and Wisephone 2 looked quite similar to me at first glance, it became clear after some research that, under the surface, the motivations driving these two companies couldn’t be more different.

Pros/Cons

With the Light Phone you’re getting a one-of-a-kind device made with love, mindfulness, and respect that’s designed to free you from toxic distractions, while still offering essential tools to promote creativity and organization.

But with the Wisephone that rebellious spirit is entirely absent, and although the phone itself has a few nice perks, like the extra back camera, larger screen, and Tool Drawer, it’s all tied into subscription fees and unethical controls that suit helicopter parenting more than digital minimalism.

Less “Techless,” and more “Soulless.”

Resources

That said, if you have a question about the Light Phone 3 vs the Wisephone 2, or about minimalist phones in general, let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading, catch ya next time. Peace!