Over a tenner ago , Dutch designer Dave Hakkens came up with the concept ofPhonebloks . The idea was to take the fundamentals of Lego pulley block and enforce them to make a modular smartphone so that users could swap individual components whenever . It was also point at reducing einsteinium - wasteland .

The project never materialize , but Google borrowed the premise and occur up withProject Ara . Itlooked fantasticand even paved the way for the FairPhone . However , after years of prognosticate teasers and company pastime , it was condemned to the Google Graveyard . HMD , the home of what was once Nokia , is now bringing it back with the HMD Fusion .

price at $ 299 , the telephone sells the idea of Smart Outfits . Depending on your specific need , these Smart Outfits can add wireless charge capability , a ring brightness level , or simply sturdy tribute for the Fusion . HMD read the “ possibility are endless , ” but given the account of such musical theme ( take : Moto Mods ) , we strongly suggest some affirmative caution here .

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HMD has engineered a organisation of six metallic tholepin on the otherwise au naturel telephone shell that service as the connexion point for these Smart Outfits . These customizable blocks will bump off storehouse later this year , but that ’s not the most promising part .

The Finnish ship’s company has developed an open - source platform for software integration and a computer hardware outfit that anyone can use to customize their HMD Fusion . The one with a customizable ring light is the Flash Outfit , while the IP68 - crystallise protective guinea pig is the Rugged Outfit .

Of of course , that ’s assuming you have access to a 3D printer and know a bit of three-D modeling stuff . If you ’re making a modular kit that also interact with the software , HMD will facilitate you with the necessary software package sauce , aka APIs .

To go with the customizability expression , the company has also designed the HMD Fusion with what it calls “ Gen 2 repairability ” in mind . An iFixit haunt kit is already on the table for DIY fancier , while the screw - based access organization means users can grapple with screen and battery replacements without having to displume their haircloth and deal with some nasty glue . It ’s essentially what we saw with theHMD Skylineearlier this twelvemonth .

The HMD Fusion itself packs fairly impressive firepower for the request price . It has a 108 - megapixel camera at the back and a 50 - megapixel selfie snapper , assisted by tricks like slow - motion capture and gesture acknowledgment support on the front camera .

The HMD Fusion is powered by a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 central processing unit , 6 GB of RAM , and 128 GB of onboard storage . you’re able to also insert a microSD menu of 1 TB capacity , and there ’s a 3.5 mm phone jack .

On the front , there ’s a 6.5 - in HD+ covert with a 90Hz refresh charge per unit . The phone has a 5,000mAh battery to keep the lights on , and it digest 33 - watt fast charging . The Fusion runs Android 14 out of the box and will meet two OS upgrades and surety update at a quarterly metre for an superfluous year .

The HMD Fusion in its Transparent Casual Outfit costs $ 299 and will be up for catch in the fourth quarter of this year , while the impertinent getup will be found at a late date . Meanwhile , if you have the customization itch , check out theCMF Phone 1 , which lets you make a rear carapace on your own with any and all the functional idle words you may opine .