diff --git a/src/Lifecycle.js b/src/Lifecycle.js
index a7f90f847d..b8494ce9f5 100644
--- a/src/Lifecycle.js
+++ b/src/Lifecycle.js
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import ActiveWidgetStore from './stores/ActiveWidgetStore';
 import PlatformPeg from "./PlatformPeg";
 import { sendLoginRequest } from "./Login";
 import * as StorageManager from './utils/StorageManager';
+import SettingsStore from "./settings/SettingsStore";
 
 /**
  * Called at startup, to attempt to build a logged-in Matrix session. It tries
@@ -499,7 +500,9 @@ async function startMatrixClient() {
 
     Notifier.start();
     UserActivity.sharedInstance().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 391d089cc6..574f05bf85 100644
--- a/src/MatrixClientPeg.js
+++ b/src/MatrixClientPeg.js
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ 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();
                 StorageManager.setCryptoInitialised(true);
             }
diff --git a/src/Notifier.js b/src/Notifier.js
index 6a4f9827f7..2322311769 100644
--- a/src/Notifier.js
+++ b/src/Notifier.js
@@ -85,7 +85,11 @@ const Notifier = {
             msg = '';
         }
 
-        const avatarUrl = ev.sender ? Avatar.avatarUrlForMember(ev.sender, 40, 40, 'crop') : null;
+        let avatarUrl = null;
+        if (ev.sender && !SettingsStore.getValue("lowBandwidth")) {
+            avatarUrl = Avatar.avatarUrlForMember(ev.sender, 40, 40, 'crop');
+        }
+
         const notif = plaf.displayNotification(title, msg, avatarUrl, room);
 
         // if displayNotification returns non-null,  the platform supports
diff --git a/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js b/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js
index 44741ad521..c939d31f94 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/TimelinePanel.js
@@ -613,6 +613,8 @@ const 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/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
index 5b299c2570..80f5c43d0c 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/dialogs/UserSettingsDialog.js b/src/components/views/dialogs/UserSettingsDialog.js
index 1c4509eee5..a24c18c8b2 100644
--- a/src/components/views/dialogs/UserSettingsDialog.js
+++ b/src/components/views/dialogs/UserSettingsDialog.js
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import VoiceUserSettingsTab from "../settings/tabs/user/VoiceUserSettingsTab";
 import HelpUserSettingsTab from "../settings/tabs/user/HelpUserSettingsTab";
 import FlairUserSettingsTab from "../settings/tabs/user/FlairUserSettingsTab";
 import sdk from "../../../index";
+import SdkConfig from "../../../SdkConfig";
 
 export default class UserSettingsDialog extends React.Component {
     static propTypes = {
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ export default class UserSettingsDialog extends React.Component {
             "mx_UserSettingsDialog_securityIcon",
             <SecurityUserSettingsTab />,
         ));
-        if (SettingsStore.getLabsFeatures().length > 0) {
+        if (SdkConfig.get()['showLabsSettings'] || SettingsStore.getLabsFeatures().length > 0) {
             tabs.push(new Tab(
                 _td("Labs"),
                 "mx_UserSettingsDialog_labsIcon",
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
index bf2fc8bd37..e1a7f559f8 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
@@ -475,6 +475,7 @@ 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/components/views/settings/tabs/user/LabsUserSettingsTab.js b/src/components/views/settings/tabs/user/LabsUserSettingsTab.js
index d272d74d29..23b5e516cd 100644
--- a/src/components/views/settings/tabs/user/LabsUserSettingsTab.js
+++ b/src/components/views/settings/tabs/user/LabsUserSettingsTab.js
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export default class LabsUserSettingsTab extends React.Component {
                     {flags}
                     <SettingsFlag name={"enableWidgetScreenshots"} level={SettingLevel.ACCOUNT} />
                     <SettingsFlag name={"showHiddenEventsInTimeline"} level={SettingLevel.DEVICE} />
+                    <SettingsFlag name={"lowBandwidth"} level={SettingLevel.DEVICE} />
                 </div>
             </div>
         );
diff --git a/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json b/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
index 343e75bcf3..e34ed093e7 100644
--- a/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
+++ b/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@
     "Show developer tools": "Show developer tools",
     "Order rooms in the room list by most important first instead of most recent": "Order rooms in the room list by most important first instead of most recent",
     "Show hidden events in timeline": "Show hidden events in timeline",
+    "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 116526b63a..2c911dda80 100644
--- a/src/settings/Settings.js
+++ b/src/settings/Settings.js
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
 } from "./controllers/NotificationControllers";
 import CustomStatusController from "./controllers/CustomStatusController";
 import ThemeController from './controllers/ThemeController';
+import LowBandwidthController from "./controllers/LowBandwidthController";
 
 // These are just a bunch of helper arrays to avoid copy/pasting a bunch of times
 const LEVELS_ROOM_SETTINGS = ['device', 'room-device', 'room-account', 'account', 'config'];
@@ -373,4 +374,10 @@ export const SETTINGS = {
         supportedLevels: LEVELS_DEVICE_ONLY_SETTINGS,
         default: false,
     },
+    "lowBandwidth": {
+        supportedLevels: LEVELS_DEVICE_ONLY_SETTINGS_WITH_CONFIG,
+        displayName: _td('Low bandwidth mode'),
+        default: false,
+        controller: new LowBandwidthController(),
+    },
 };
diff --git a/src/settings/controllers/LowBandwidthController.js b/src/settings/controllers/LowBandwidthController.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c7796a425a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/settings/controllers/LowBandwidthController.js
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+import SettingController from "./SettingController";
+import PlatformPeg from "../../PlatformPeg";
+
+export default class LowBandwidthController extends SettingController {
+    onChange(level, roomId, newValue) {
+        PlatformPeg.get().reload();
+    }
+}