Outdated “hearts”, i.e. mobile processor, insufficient memory capacity, low-resolution sensor. All of this would be easily influenced if one of those who toyed with the idea of a modular smartphone were to succeed. At the beginning of everything was Phonebloks by Dave Hakkens, the idea of a smartphone assembled from fully replaceable module parts, thanks to which the volume of electrical waste would be reduced: the user would not have to exchange a damaged or in any way malfunctioning phone for a new one. The closest to making this vision a reality was Google.
The revolutionary mobile phone was already being worked on by Motorola, which the American technology giant had under its wing at the time. The development team of Motorola retained even after the sale of this brand to the Chinese Lenovo and continued to work on the idea of a “lego” mobile phone. Google’s goal was to produce a cheap modular smartphone with a selling price of no more than $50, i.e. roughly CZK 1,000 according to the exchange rate at the time. For a long time it seemed that we would actually see such a phone. However, Google’s effort ended at a dead end, as the company abruptly ended Project Ara eight years ago.
Even so, some real attempts have reached the market. In 2016, the LG and Motorola brands took care of them. The first mentioned modularity was conceived in the sense of a design with a retractable lower part of the device, which could be replaced with another module, for example with a better camera or battery. But the modules were expensive and their offer was quite limited, and LG did not expand it in any way. The successor to the first effort, which was the LG G5, thus retained only a module with a replaceable battery.
It was then that Motorola introduced the Moto Z smartphone, to the back of which special Moto Mods modules were attached to expand its capabilities. However, even this feat did not last long, although some of the modules were indeed interesting. For example, a module with an Insta-share projector, which turned the phone into a portable cinema.
In the course of time, other different visions of the modular smartphone were created. For example, industrial designer Lee Huang from Shenzhen, China, designed a device whose properties the user would determine by inserting a module into a hole in his body. If it was a real undertaking, the modules of the Jojo concept would stand out in terms of compactness compared to those from Motorola.
This year marks ten years since Google’s modular smartphone was widely speculated. The company has long hinted that it will actually launch its modular smartphone. However, even after this time, the idea of such a device is not completely dead. One of the proofs is last year’s design by a Finnish designer who goes by the pseudonym KudeKube. The concept is equipped with four small and four large modules on the back, which, like the front module with the display, are attached to the motherboard with magnets.
