I propose to recall several already implemented ideas of modular smartphones and tablets, as well as to speculate a little about how such devices should look in an ideal world.
Hello everyone, Moto Z Play came to my test today along with three modules. I have already talked about each of them, and we had a first glance about the Z Play itself, so I will not repeat myself, and I didn’t really want to talk about it, just the topic of the article came to my mind during unpacking. When I connected one of the modules to the device, I began to remember what other implementations of modular smartphones were and how successful they were. I talked about some of them in the last article, so don't be surprised at some deja vu after reading?
Smartphone as a base
For the first time, the idea of using a smartphone as a 'brain' for an 'empty' laptop was implemented in the Moto Atrix 4G, I already recalled this model in one of my previous articles. I remember the 'base' was working with some special multifunctional version of FireFox. At that time, the product was niche and not very popular. But the idea was pretty damn beautiful.
Tablets 'with a twist'
Later, the same approach was used in Asus, but already paired with a transforming tablet working on Android. I really liked their PadFone line, but due to the high price, it, like the Atrix 4G Dock, remained a niche solution and eventually Asus abandoned it.
Convertible tablet and convertible laptop
I don't remember smartphones with detachable screens, but there are plenty of tablets. It all started again with the transformers from Asus, and then other companies joined in. Later, with the appearance of Windows 8, laptops were added to them: rotatable Lenovo Yoga, detachable keyboards in Acer Switch, etc. But in fact, with the help of all these manipulations, you could simply turn a laptop into a tablet and vice versa.
Individual modules
The idea behind Moto Mods is to add additional functionality through separate modules. We have already told them several times, so I will not repeat myself. In my opinion, the most interesting option is a module with an additional battery, and the niche one is a projector module.
Smartphone Review Motorola Moto Z
How would I like
In my opinion, the ideal option for a modular smartphone could be a concept like on a PC, when you independently choose each component and, with a limited budget, decide for yourself what to save on and what not. However, bringing such a solution to market would require a lot of consistency among the chipset, display, memory, battery and case manufacturers. Here, let me dream up, because this is unlikely to happen.
I would go with three screen sizes: 4.7, 5.1 and 5.5 inches and three resolutions: HD, FHD and 2k. For the body I would choose five basic materials and the same number of colors. Aluminum, plastic of several textures, something exotic like bamboo, etc. The inner filling would also be universal, so that each part has its own place and can be replaced without problems. And to all this he added some kind of retractable mechanism so that, if necessary, any part could be easily removed and replaced. This song can be continued forever, but let's be honest, no one will do this, even the PC market is now gradually moving away from self-collection in favor of ready-made solutions, because ordinary users have enough of them by the eyes.
What do you think, dear readers? Would fully modular smartphones be popular? Would you buy yourself such a device, provided that it came out cheaper than a ready-made solution?