diff --git a/src/Lifecycle.js b/src/Lifecycle.js
index 54ac605c65..2ea8aa190a 100644
--- a/src/Lifecycle.js
+++ b/src/Lifecycle.js
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import Modal from './Modal';
 import sdk from './index';
 import ActiveWidgetStore from './stores/ActiveWidgetStore';
 import PlatformPeg from "./PlatformPeg";
+import SettingsStore from "./settings/SettingsStore";
 import {sendLoginRequest} from "./Login";
 
 /**
@@ -440,7 +441,9 @@ async function startMatrixClient() {
 
     Notifier.start();
     UserActivity.start();
-    Presence.start();
+    if (!SettingsStore.getValue("lowBandwidth")) {
+        Presence.start();
+    }
     DMRoomMap.makeShared().start();
     ActiveWidgetStore.start();
 
diff --git a/src/MatrixClientPeg.js b/src/MatrixClientPeg.js
index 882a913452..12301e3716 100644
--- a/src/MatrixClientPeg.js
+++ b/src/MatrixClientPeg.js
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class MatrixClientPeg {
         // try to initialise e2e on the new client
         try {
             // check that we have a version of the js-sdk which includes initCrypto
-            if (this.matrixClient.initCrypto) {
+            if (!SettingsStore.getValue("lowBandwidth") && this.matrixClient.initCrypto) {
                 await this.matrixClient.initCrypto();
             }
         } catch (e) {
diff --git a/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js b/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js
index 9fe83c2c2d..3bdcf542b1 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js
@@ -584,6 +584,8 @@ var TimelinePanel = React.createClass({
     },
 
     sendReadReceipt: function() {
+        if (SettingsStore.getValue("lowBandwidth")) return;
+
         if (!this.refs.messagePanel) return;
         if (!this.props.manageReadReceipts) return;
         // This happens on user_activity_end which is delayed, and it's
diff --git a/src/components/structures/UserSettings.js b/src/components/structures/UserSettings.js
index 809b06c3d6..0aa564cc85 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/UserSettings.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/UserSettings.js
@@ -84,6 +84,13 @@ const SIMPLE_SETTINGS = [
     { id: "enableWidgetScreenshots" },
     { id: "pinMentionedRooms" },
     { id: "pinUnreadRooms" },
+    {
+        id: "lowBandwidth",
+        fn: () => {
+            PlatformPeg.get().reload();
+        },
+        level: SettingLevel.DEVICE,
+    },
     { id: "showDeveloperTools" },
     { id: "promptBeforeInviteUnknownUsers" },
 ];
@@ -644,7 +651,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
             <div className="mx_UserSettings_toggle" key={setting.id}>
                 <SettingsFlag name={setting.id}
                                   label={setting.label}
-                                  level={SettingLevel.ACCOUNT}
+                                  level={setting.level ? setting.level : SettingLevel.ACCOUNT}
                                   onChange={setting.fn} />
             </div>
         );
diff --git a/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
index 47de7c9dc4..7241e7cd4c 100644
--- a/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
+++ b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
 import { MatrixClient } from 'matrix-js-sdk';
 import AvatarLogic from '../../../Avatar';
 import sdk from '../../../index';
+import SettingsStore from "../../../settings/SettingsStore";
 import AccessibleButton from '../elements/AccessibleButton';
 
 module.exports = React.createClass({
@@ -104,9 +105,13 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         // work out the full set of urls to try to load. This is formed like so:
         // imageUrls: [ props.url, props.urls, default image ]
 
-        const urls = props.urls || [];
-        if (props.url) {
-            urls.unshift(props.url); // put in urls[0]
+        let urls = [];
+        if (!SettingsStore.getValue("lowBandwidth")) {
+            urls = props.urls || [];
+
+            if (props.url) {
+                urls.unshift(props.url); // put in urls[0]
+            }
         }
 
         let defaultImageUrl = null;
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
index ab89e402ae..0e9442edb9 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
@@ -487,6 +487,7 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
 
     sendTyping(isTyping) {
         if (!SettingsStore.getValue('sendTypingNotifications')) return;
+        if (SettingsStore.getValue('lowBandwidth')) return;
         MatrixClientPeg.get().sendTyping(
             this.props.room.roomId,
             this.isTyping, TYPING_SERVER_TIMEOUT,
diff --git a/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json b/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
index 623dd92613..e29be2da45 100644
--- a/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
+++ b/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@
     "Enable widget screenshots on supported widgets": "Enable widget screenshots on supported widgets",
     "Prompt before sending invites to potentially invalid matrix IDs": "Prompt before sending invites to potentially invalid matrix IDs",
     "Show developer tools": "Show developer tools",
+    "Low Bandwidth Mode": "Low Bandwidth Mode",
     "Collecting app version information": "Collecting app version information",
     "Collecting logs": "Collecting logs",
     "Uploading report": "Uploading report",
diff --git a/src/settings/Settings.js b/src/settings/Settings.js
index f21e94ea4a..177a90ef5d 100644
--- a/src/settings/Settings.js
+++ b/src/settings/Settings.js
@@ -362,4 +362,9 @@ export const SETTINGS = {
         displayName: _td('Show developer tools'),
         default: false,
     },
+    "lowBandwidth": {
+        supportedLevels: LEVELS_DEVICE_ONLY_SETTINGS_WITH_CONFIG,
+        displayName: _td('Low Bandwidth Mode'),
+        default: false,
+    },
 };