In recent months, smartphone brands came out with modular devices that can be attached to smartphones for enhancements. OPPO and vivo came out with their respective telephoto lens attachments, Hasselblad Teleconverter and ZEISS Telephoto Extender, helping their phones increase their zoom capabilities for clearer close-up photos.
Zooming in on MWC trends
At the Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona last week, another smartphone brand TECNO took the challenge and revived the Modular Phone Concept last seen 10 years ago with the LG G5 and Moto Z. The news might be exciting, but my skepticism kicked in and asked if it will work this time around.
In 2016, LG introduced the LG G5 also at Mobile World Congress along with its modular peripherals. The bottom of the G5 is removable and serves as a slot for mods like the LG CAM Plus with a camera grip and physical shutter button and the LG Hi-Fi Plus. Yup, those are the only two mods available for the phone.
On that same year, Motorola unveiled the Moto Z with its set of modular devices called MotoMods. Unlike the LG G5, the mods can be simply attached to the back of the Moto Z through a combination of magnets and pogo pins. They even have more offerings than the LG like the JBL Soundboost 2, a projector, 360 degrees camera, gamepad, wireless charger (years before Apple’s MagSafe) and a Hassleblad True Zoom camera.
I already had doubts that they would get a positive market response. Here’s why:
First, both LG and Motorola’s mods were quite pricey. The phones already cost around P30,000-P35,000 and customers must shell out at least an additional P5,000 more for a mod.
Second, LG’s production of 2 mods doesn’t fully maximize the G5’s modular system. Not counting on the LG Friends’ other devices which can be controlled by Bluetooth, I thought LG just wasted the opportunity, and money to truly maximize the concept.
Third, if LG wanted to continue this concept for their next phone models, they would have to continue the G5’s design. This means the mods that fit on the G5 should also fit the G6 and G7. Obviously, that didn’t happen when the G6 was released a year later because LG had already given up the modular phone concept.
This is where Motorola somehow succeeded. Their mods can simply attach to the back of the Moto Z, like a phone case. And because they have a lot of mods available with new products coming out every year, there were more options to choose from. Users who want to upgrade to a Moto Z2 or Moto Z3 can still use their mods from the Moto Z.
Which led to the next problem. Motorola was stuck with the phone’s size and design for their next Moto Z models. Their only differences are the display, thickness, and phone internals. The thing is, customers usually want something new with the designs of their phones. Look how people complain about the same designs of the iPhones or the Samsung flagships for years. Also, one of the newer Moto Z phones weren’t truly fit with the mods because of its slight changes in the design.
Motorola was serious about its modular concept, but after 3 years of being in the smartphone market they cancelled it in 2019.
Back to TECNO, I was impressed by their modular concept by using magnets, pogo pins and wireless connectivity. Unlike Motorola which only uses one mod at a time, at least two TECNO mods can be attached to their concept phone. Some of the mods can be placed in different areas of the phone where there are magnets and they can even be placed on top of each other like battery packs.
It sounds good, and according to visitors including my fellow tech media colleagues who where in Barcelona to cover the event, the mods actually work. Not perfect but at least everybody can see that it is a possibility.
Modular as the norm?
But let’s go back go back to the question – will modular phone concepts like TECNO’s become accepted by the mainstream market? Even at this point of technological advancement, I would say no. It would still be a niche market, like most techies who got the LG G5 and the Moto Z series.
Having said that, how it may work with the mass market?
- A phone brand cannot do it on its own. TECNO, which is under its mother company Transsion Holdings can use its other brands like Infinix to use its modular tech. The more user base touched by these brands, the more potential customers for their modular phones they can sell. BBK Electronics which controls OPPO and vivo can do the same thing if ever it throws its hat in the game.
- Form an alliance with other phone brands that believes in modular phone concept. If more phone brands get into the game, the better their chances of gaining attention of the mainstream market. It could also possibly lower down the prices of the mods from the suppliers.
- Open it to third party accessories manufacturers. I don’t know how this will work but if these third party companies also get into the picture, they may even produce mods that are not produced by the phone manufacturers.
Honestly, I am not holding my breath. Maybe the consumer market will be able to have a positive reception on Modular Phone Concepts by the time I become a grandfather. By that time, GenZs and Generation Alpha who are more technology adept than we are would be able to adapt to it quickly.
Until then, the Modular Phone Concept still remains… a concept.
Reg Against the Machine is a monthly column by Reggie Ramos, veteran tech commentator and founder of Digital Reg.
Image generated using Google Nano Banana.