This modular phone has detachable rear to shed weight when needed

Smartphone designs have hit a bit of a bottleneck when we consider any radical evolutions. Yes, we do have the foldable form factors and the exciting rollable designs, but there’s got to be more than just flamboyance to a phone’s design that appeals to the users. Belarusian designer Andrey Avgust wants us to look beyond the eye-candy appeal, and into a function that is important in everyday usage.

His phone design takes a very simple design approach with a rectangular shape akin to the older Sony Xperia line-up of phones. The shape is dominated by edgy corners and an off-white skin which points towards a targeted market of professionals who prefer class over other things. The USP of this phone is its modular character which allows it to be like a drop-top convertible car. The big block of body on the back can be separated when not needed for a lighter device in hand!

Designer: Andrey Avgust

This separable unit of the concept phone could have more beefy hardware like extended RAM, gaming-centric GPU and of course a battery pack to keep the phone well juiced for the day. When the device sheds its weight, it will be perfect for having a good balance of digital detox while not giving up on important notifications. Then when required, the module can be attached to the phone, ready for hardcore, gaming, 8K video recording, or anything that requires extra firepower.

There’s a single big camera sensor on the rear (and not a multiple-camera setup) reinforcing the fact that it is indeed meant for corporates who don’t like extra fluff in whatever they own. On closer inspection it is evident, the camera sensor has plenty of room to move the lens for ideal focusing – be it while taking macro shots or capturing portraits.

On the downside, the smartphone design does seem to be a bit thick by 2022 standards. This again makes me believe it will only be able to attract power users or gamers who don’t mind the extra thickness and weight. That said, Andrey has got the in-depth crafting of the phone from scratch in the multiple streams uploaded on YouTube. So, budding designers looking forward to learning how to do it, the uncut streams will be of great help!