Entire Vision

We are seeing a revolution in apps and games, thanks to new development tools that have

made it possible for people with basic programming skills to get into app development. As a

result, smartphones get obsolete within a span of 2-3 years as they are unable to support the

heavier processing requirements of newer apps. This results in people discarding their fully

functional phones which causes a lot of electronic waste.

To counter this problem, Dutch Designer, Dave Hakkens has come up with an innovative new

smartphone concept which he calls PhoneBloks. The phone consists of detachable blocks

that are plugged in together on a common base just like you make something from

Lego.According to Hakkens, this ‘LEGO-like’ phone will allow users to customize and

assemble a phone to cater for their individual needs, as well as reduce wastage from

discarding old phones. Each of the components of the smartphone, i.e Battery, Camera,

Processor, Memory, Bluetooth, WIFI etc are all made into separate removable blocks. Hence,

to make any configuration for your smartphone, you can buy the blocks of your choice and

build your customized smartphone.

However, the biggest advantage of such a design is that the smartphone can always be upgraded over the years by buying heavier

processors and memory blocks and replacing them on your phone. This would prevent the phone from getting out-dated or

obsolete and reduce the overall electronic waste from the world.

PhoneBloks concept also makes it easy for you to repair your smartphone if any of its component malfunctions or if there is some

sort of breakage. Hakkens also gave the concept of a “Block Store”, a hardware store where users will be able to purchase

upgrades and spare blocks of their choice and keep their phones running. This is currently not possible in case of traditional

smartphone designs where you might have to trash your phone if a critical components, such as the screen, breaks. Hence, the

advantages and the possibilities with this new design are endless.

The phone is still a concept though and the designer is looking for support through crowd-speaking. He is hopeful that if a lot of

people show their interest in such a concept, companies will get interested to work on something like this and this phone might

become a reality in near future. So head up to their website and show your support!

Check out more pictures and video of this interesting concept below and tell us your views in the comments section.