Ideaz

Most smartphones today force people to compromise. If you want a good camera, you may end up with less battery. If you want a rugged phone with satellite calling, you might lose slimness or advanced features. My idea is a modular smartphone, similar to framework laptops, where the phone has a base unit (screen, processor, memory) and users can attach extra modules only when required. For example, while trekking you could add a battery pack and satellite calling module, or at an event you could attach a high-end camera module with optical zoom. This way, the smartphone can adapt to different situations instead of locking users into fixed features.

The people who benefit from this are travelers, trekkers, students, photographers, creators, and everyday users. Travelers and adventurers get better safety and battery life, photographers get professional-level cameras when needed, students can add more storage or projector modules for work, and casual users can enjoy a lightweight device for daily use. Even manufacturers and the environment benefit, since modular phones would reduce electronic waste — instead of buying a new phone every two years, users can just upgrade or replace parts.

This idea matters to me because as a mechatronics engineer, I believe technology should adapt to human needs, not the other way around. I have seen modular systems in robotics and laptops make work more flexible, and I imagine the same concept applied to smartphones. Our needs change depending on where we are and what we are doing — so why shouldn’t our phones change too? A modular smartphone would give people the freedom to get the right feature at the right time, without ever compromising.