One of the benefits of working on a full-size desktop is the ease of upgrading. This isn't the case for smartphones: if you want new features, you'll probably need a whole new device. But what if you don't? HMD's new phone, the Fusion, attempts to take this angle. It can be supplemented with “outfits” that enhance it for photography, durability, or gaming.
The Fusion comes with a casual outfit in the box, which is essentially a translucent protective case. His other outfits are a little more impressive, with features unlocked by six POGO pins on the back of the device. The Flashy Outfit features an LED light ring around the rear camera, which can be flipped forward for selfie mode. It's also a plastic case, although much more functional.
The game outfit is a little more extreme. This is an external controller in an expandable format, like the Razer Kishi, but which uses this proprietary connector instead of Bluetooth or USB-C. The protective suit is basically just an Otterbox case with lots of padding and a few lanyard rings.
HDM
Currently, only the Flashy Outfit and alternate Casual Outfits are available for purchase on the HMD Global Store. And promising modular upgrades that never materialize are kind of a song stuck on loop, as I'll show later. But if you want to create your own – perhaps using a 3D printer – you can use the Development Toolkit, which includes an API for at least some software features. HMD appears to be courting third-party developers and manufacturers, if the submission form is anything to go by.
The Fusion also makes a strong case for repairability, with four guides already posted on iFixit for relatively simple repairs for the screen and battery, among other parts. It's definitely in the “affordable” camp, if not entirely budgetary, at $300 USD without any of the extra trimmings. This is all positive…but I can’t help but think we’ve been here before. And never for very long.
We've been here before
Modular smartphones have been attempted by larger companies that have invested more. Companies like Motorola, which tried a very similar POGO pin configuration for its line of Moto Mods accessories on the Moto Z. These add-ons included obvious extras, like an extended battery and speaker, as well as a familiar-looking controller. There were also wilder ones, like a picoprojector or a Polaroid brand photo printer.
Jim Martin/Foundry
The Moto Z launched in 2016, but it wasn't the only modular phone to release that year. LG's G5 has been called “the boldest flagship phone ever” by Engadget. Its design was even more radical: the bottom could be removed, which also removed the battery. This marks a welcome return to user-replaceable batteries from a time when smartphones could really suck up the juice. But you can also swap out a camera grip with physical buttons (but no additional lenses), a larger speaker, or a VR visor. Talk about ambitious!
But as you may know, the G5 turned out to be a failure. In its basic smartphone form, it failed to impress critics, and most features beyond easily replaceable batteries never actually materialized. The phone “failed to generate sales” according to some reports, the company returned to more conventional designs, and I wouldn't be surprised if the G5 contributed to LG's ignoble exit from the smartphone market five years later late. Motorola also discontinued the Z line after three years.
Chris Martin/Foundry
Others have tried a phone that can be easily upgraded. Phonebloks tried to create a fully modular phone, with parts sliding in and out everywhere. It became Project Ara back when Google owned Motorola and was apparently heading towards a consumer version at one point…but eventually disappeared. Parts of the design may have made it to the Moto Z.
The Fairphone is perhaps a more practical example, if only because it focuses on reduced environmental impact and easy repairs for the user. you can't really expand its functionality, but you can replace a broken battery or screen with simple tools. It's now in its fifth generation and the company still sells at least a few replacement parts for the Fairphone 2.
Henry Burrell/Foundry
The most popular example of multi-device modular upgrades for smartphones might be Apple's Magsafe. Although it only handles tethering and charging, it has at least remained consistent over the past four years and has become so widespread that you can also get cases and adapters for most Android phones. Slowly – oh so slowly – it sort of opens up in Qi2.
Modular phones are incompatible with modern design
Will we one day have truly modular smartphones? And by “modular” I mean upgrades and parts that can persist across generations, or even across brands. The truth is, that’s probably not the case. We have a few factors that are fundamentally inconsistent with the kind of options we get on things like desktops, cars, or laptops.
Firstly, a modern smartphone requires an absolutely incredible amount of engineering, almost all of which is tailored to each model. Although some parts can be used interchangeably – including the processor, camera module, smaller components like the soldered USB-C port, etc. – most cannot. Each phone requires a greater or lesser degree of specific design and many parts designed specifically for that model.
And this design also has very specific goals. Manufacturers are constantly working to make phones thinner (if not smaller), and at the same time, more durable and less prone to breakage, with larger and more durable batteries. These goals in themselves can be contradictory: the infamous “explosive” Galaxy Note 7 was an example of a battery design flaw in a phone that was too thin.
Adding modular capability to this is a near impossible task. Damn, I just make these phones possible getting it repaired by a technician is already a challenge, as we've seen on the latest Pixels. Adding modular components with any type of access to internal components might simply be a bridge too far. This is probably why the Fusion uses external POGO pins… something I remember fondly from the Nexus One almost fifteen years ago.
Unless you're willing to make huge design compromises, or go with a relatively independent vendor like the Fairphone and forgo the latest and greatest technology, this might be as good as it gets in terms of modular smartphones. Unless there is a giant leap forward in current technology, we won't get truly modular designs anytime soon.
