Tecno has combined one popular trend from the past – modular phones – with one trend that is popular now – ultra-slim phones – to create the Tecno Modular Phone. This is a concept built on the company’s Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology and is being showcased at the MWC as a platform for future innovations.
The core idea is this – current smartphones lock you into a particular set of hardware features. To get new hardware, you have to replace the whole phone. This concept system lets you add and swap components on a day-by-day and even minute-by-minute basis depending on what you need.
At the heart of this system are two Tecno Modular Phones – the Atom Edition is the silver and red one, while the Moda Edition is the geekier dark gray and gold model.
Tecno Modular Phone Atom Edition
The phones measure only 4.9mm thick, which is a full millimeter less than the Tecno Spark Slim. There is a matte finish glass on the back and a precision-engineered rectangular magnetic array to hold the add-on modules in place.
Unlike MagSafe, Tecno’s system uses a physical connection (pogo pins) for efficient power delivery that runs cooler than wireless charging. This makes better use of modules like the Power Bank, which doubles the usable battery life and measures only 4.5mm thick. A 4.9mm phone plus a 4.5mm power bank still is a fairly thin setup.
Tecno Modular Phone Moda Edition
Interestingly, Tecno decided to use a wireless data connection – the phone can do Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and even mmWave depending on what the add-on module needs. A power bank or a gaming controller doesn’t need to send a lot of data, so Bluetooth will be enough.
Then there are modules like the Action Camera and the Telephoto Lens, which need to send a live preview to the phone, so they need a high-speed, low-latency connection. Such modules can use Wi-Fi or mmWave – Tecno is keeping specifics under wraps for now.
While it wasn’t explicitly mentioned, you can see that the Atom Edition has only one set of power connectors, while the Moda has two. Some modules are so large that they cover the whole back, which means that you can only use one of them anyway. But future products that use this system could offer more or less customization options depending on the user’s needs.
The Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology is just a prototype to show off the hardware capabilities for now. If this ends up going to the production stage and it catches on, Tecno could open it up for other companies to add to the ecosystem.