Phonebloks: Modular, upgradeable smartphones

Phonebloks: Modular, upgradeable smartphones

At this point, you should probably watch the video below. In essence, though, you have a screen blok, and “the base” which the screen and other bloks plug into. You can replace, upgrade, or switch out any of these bloks at any time. If you want (or need) a new screen, just plug it in. If you want a larger battery, just buy a larger battery blok. If your CPU or GPU are getting a bit long in the tooth, just buy a new one. There are other interesting use-cases, too. If you don’t need a lot of local storage, you might opt for a small storage blok, which in turn lets you use a larger battery blok. Instead of a big and fast CPU, you might instead want to use that blok space for a larger and better camera.In an odd quirk of fate, a month after writing about upgradeable smartphones, an innovative fellow called Dave Hakkens has launched new modular smartphone concept called Phonebloks. The idea is that, instead of buying a sealed smartphone that has no replaceable parts and limited expandability, you would assemble your own smartphone from component “bloks,” which are essentially like digital Lego bricks.

The key concept here is choice. With current smartphones, you use them for two years, and then usually throw them away. With Phonebloks, you could theoretically keep the same “base” and keep upgrading the components for years to come — a lot like your desktop PC, in fact. Not only would this reduce electronic waste (a growing issue, thanks to our consumerist tendencies), but it puts a lot of power back into the hands of consumers. Rather than just eating what Apple and Samsung put on our plates, and asking for another serving every couple of years, we can choose what to consume and when we consume it.

Phonebloks, for now, are merely a concept. Hakkens is using a crowd-speaking platform called Thunderclap to show the industry just how many people would be interested in a modular smartphone — and that’s it. Whether the industry decides to act on the concept or not remains to be seen. As I’ve discussed previously, it’s very much in the best interests of phone makers and carriers to keep selling new (and incredibly expensive) phones every two years. But if there’s enough consumer interest, Phonebloks could possibly become a reality.

There are technical issues, of course. Some bloks, such as the battery and camera, would be easy enough to produce. Other modules, though, might need to be placed within a certain distance of the CPU (for timing reasons), and there might be a lot of driver and hardware co-dependencies (X modem can only be used with Y baseband which can only be used with Z SoC). There’s also the inherent weakness of a modular design — there isn’t much stopping the bloks from being snapped off, or being dislodged enough that they cause unpredictable errors. There are probably security issues, too, if someone can walk off with your storage blok.

None of these are deal-breaking issues, but they might be hard to fix and still retain a desirable form factor — to begin with, anyway. There will also be a big performance hit if you separate each of the components, and a sizable price increase (though it would be amortized over time, as you upgrade individual components). In short, it’s important to bear in mind that this is just a concept, and that Hakkens has no idea about whether such a modular smartphone is physically possible. It’s a fantastic idea, though, and I would be surprised if we don’t see something like this emerge in the next few years.