4 Companies That Made Modular Phones Before Fairphone

Fairphone, a Netherlands-based smartphone brand, is known for selling easily repairable Android phones. Its latest phone – the Fairphone (Gen. 6) – features 12 user-replaceable parts, such as the battery, screen, speaker and cameras, and even supports replaceable bottom back plate accessories. While Fairphone remains the only notable brand offering this level of modularity or repairability in 2026, it is not the first company to work with modular phones.

Several phone brands, from the largest to the most specialized, have attempted to develop modular phones over the years. While some, like Phonebloks, have remained largely limited to viral concept videos, others, like Motorola, have been more successful and have actually released several “modular” phones. There are also other smartphone brands, like Google, who have spent years trying to produce a truly modular phone, but have never quite succeeded. Here are some notable brands that made or tried to make modular phones before Fairphone, and what they achieved.

Google’s modular smartphone project is probably the best known and most ambitious. Called Project Ara, it essentially aimed to build a truly modular phone in which there was a main endoskeleton to which you could simply attach all the relevant parts, like the screen, battery, processor, and camera. It all started within the ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) team, then a Google subsidiary, Motorola Mobility. When Google sold Motorola to Lenovo, it retained the ATAP team, which continued to work on Project Ara. It was influenced by Phonebloks, a modular smartphone concept, and Phonebloks creator and designer Dave Hakkens worked as a consultant on the Ara project.

The Project Ara smartphone was supposed to debut in 2017 after delays; However, this never happened, after Google unceremoniously shut down the project in September 2016. Several prototypes emerged while Google was actively working on it; however, none have achieved the true modularity Google promised during the unveiling. The latest prototype and a developer version that Google showed off at I/O in 2016 deviated significantly from the original idea and included many non-upgradable parts, such as the CPU, GPU, antennas, sensors, battery, and display. It was an interesting and ambitious idea, but the technical challenges were simply too great to overcome.

While still a subsidiary of Google, Motorola offered semi-modular smartphones as part of its Moto Z line. Rather than being overly ambitious, Motorola opted for a more achievable approach. It basically sold regular smartphones with all the essentials you need for a good smartphone experience, but allowed users to expand the phones’ functionality with optional Moto Mod attachments. These Moto Mods were connected to the back of the phone using pogo pin connectors and magnets.

Motorola, along with third-party manufacturers, have sold many Moto Mods, including battery extension packs, speakers, camera accessories, projectors, game controllers, an Alexa-powered smart speaker, and much more. You can simply clip any of these Moto Mods to the back of a Moto Z phone and enjoy the extra features. Besides the original Moto Z, which launched the Moto Mods concept in 2016, the Moto Z Force, Moto Z Play, Moto Z2 Play, Moto Z2 Force, Moto Z3, Moto Z3 Play, and Moto Z4 smartphones were compatible with the Moto Mods ecosystem. The Moto Z4, launched in 2019, was the last Motorola smartphone to support Moto Mods. The company has not launched a Moto Z5 or any other phone with pogo pins and magnets to support Moto Mods. Although Motorola never explicitly revealed the reasons for removing Moto Mods, it was likely due to the moderate adoption of these expensive accessories.

LG doesn’t sell smartphones anymore, but the company has a history of trying weird and interesting concepts. The company offered its own take on modularity with the LG G5 smartphone, which included a removable bottom segment. You can replace the default background with one of the quick-install “Friends” modules. Some of the modules offered included Cam Plus and Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play. While the Cam Plus added an extra battery, more camera controls and better handling, the Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play module brought a 32-bit Hi-Fi DAC and amp.

The main drawback of the LG system was that you had to turn off the phone every time you wanted to replace the module. This was because removing the bottom segment removed the battery from the phone and you had to connect the new module before installing it. Although the phone itself was well reviewed, the concept didn’t take off and, aside from the G5, LG hasn’t launched any other modular smartphones. The follow-up to the G5 was a traditional Android phone, the LG G6. The company later tried other weird and interesting concepts, such as a dual-screen flip phone like the LG Wing or dual-screen case accessories for the V series, before stopping making smartphones in 2021.

Israel-based Modu was one of the first companies to build a modular phone in 2008. It launched two modular phones: Modu 1 and Modu T. The concept was to create a main phone that you could slide into different “jackets” to add features like a camera, GPS or even a larger screen. The Modu 1 was originally unveiled in 2008, but hit store shelves in 2009. It was a tiny, lightweight phone that included the basics: a keyboard, an OLED display, 2GB of storage, plus the chip, memory, and cellular hardware to make it work. For any other functionality, you had to get a jacket. Two jackets shipped with every Modu 1 purchase. Some of the jackets announced for Modu 1 included a “street-art” jacket with built-in speakers and an “express” jacket that fundamentally changed the look of the Modu 1 and its user interface to a more fun and playful look.

The Modu T arrived in 2010 and it was physically larger than the Modu 1. Its CPU included a resistive touchscreen and used Qualcomm’s Brew operating system. It offered a different line of jackets, including “Camerafy” to add a 5 MP camera, “Textify” to add a physical QWERTY keyboard, and “Sportify” to add fitness tracking and music player capabilities. Unfortunately, the company didn’t see much success and mounting debts forced it to close its doors in 2011. Google ended up purchasing Modu’s patents, which likely came in handy during the development of Project Ara.