Predating the launch of Moto Mods in 2016, the primary batch of Jolla The Different Half ideas included again covers with an additional E Ink show, an infrared digital camera, and an Offended Birds tie-in that activated themes and ringtones. However in all probability the most well-liked was a Blackberry/Nokia Communicator-style slider keyboard made and bought by two entrepreneurs from the unique Jolla neighborhood. That development is again in—at CES 2026, accent firm Clicks confirmed off a magnetic keyboard accent you’ll be able to slap on the again of any Qi2 or MagSafe smartphone, although it makes use of Bluetooth for connectivity.
Fairly a bit has modified in what’s achievable, not least extra bandwidth, extra functionality, and extra accessible, high-quality 3D printing. “We now have seven pogo pins [on the Jolla Phone] which provide the functionality to get energy out and energy in,” says Jolla CEO Sami Pienimäki. “So you are able to do perhaps wi-fi charging, and you may energy exterior circuit boards.” Pienimäki imagines E Ink interfaces or low-bandwidth radios on the again of its upcoming telephone—it has an I3C interface, which delivers bit charges as much as 12 megabits per second, permitting information to movement between the telephone and the mod, enabling new sorts of smarter modular equipment.
Jolla has promised to launch the ultimate telephone specs by the tip of the month, with delivery due for the primary preorder clients on the finish of June. Pienimäki teases that it’s “tempting” for him to launch certainly one of Jolla’s personal inside ideas for a TOH again cowl even earlier as “a showcase of what you’ll be able to really do.” (The Jolla Telephone would not have FCC approval within the US, however the firm is contemplating a US launch sooner or later.)
With greater than 10,000 preorders since December 2025, Jolla is again in enterprise however nonetheless removed from mainstream. So why, regardless of loads of web hype over time, did actually modular telephones by no means fairly take off?
“Throughout the LTE days, there was pondering that these units would morph into ‘cloud telephones,’ the place the remainder of the telephone may very well be cost-optimized,” Fieldhack says. “Swappable elements and decrease prices, as a lot of the compute could be achieved within the cloud.”
However issues modified as flagship telephones went from costing $350 to round $1,000. Each the digital camera and media manufacturing and consumption turned way more vital: “Nice shows, nice cameras, a number of cameras, extra reminiscence, higher sound and mics, in addition to extra elegant and skinny units—this isn’t simply achieved on a modular smartphone,” Fieldhack says. “There are enormous compromises, and telephones are thicker and heavier with much less efficiency. Then, agentic AI, on-device for decrease prices and higher safety, made modular design even much less optimum.”
Repairable Modules
%2520SOURCE%2520Julian%2520Chokkattu(3).png)
One sturdy and rising argument for true {hardware} modularity is repairability. One other European smartphone maker, Fairphone, has been making that case for over a decade. “It is about fascinated about how will we group the precise telephone itself into modules?” says Fairphone chief know-how officer Chandler Hatton. The most recent FairPhone Gen 6 smartphone is made up of 12 modules. A buyer sitting on the kitchen desk with a single T5 screwdriver (included) and a guitar choose can restore the telephone shortly, simply, and cheaply.
