HMD has a new phone on the horizon, the . If you simply look at the tech specs, it’s a decidedly middle-of-the-road device with a great $299 price tag and a few great additions like easy repairability and a 5,000 mAh battery, but those aren’t the greatest things about the phone. That would be the metal pins across the bottom rear of the phone and what they represent.
The Fusion is not really a modular phone because you simply can’t build one; some parts are permanent. Instead, we get the next best thing. Like Motorola’s Moto Mod system before it, you can switch out the back of the Fusion with customizable shells that are integrated with the phone’s OS, software, and hardware.
Some of the shells HMD has announced are mostly cosmetic and colorful, while others offer a degree of functionality like a ruggedized body or integrated Qi2 charging. Others, like a gamepad or a shell with a ring light integrated right into the camera app, bring features to the Fusion that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
And still, that’s not the best part. The system is fully open hardware. Everything you need to design a shell and develop software to power something new and different is free from HMD and free for you to use to make your own products. Using free resources from and Google alongside a 3D printer is all you need to design and develop something great—or at least great to you.
The one problem is that this innovation comes from a small player like HMD. I like what HMD has been trying lately, and I think its products offer good value when it comes to buying a nice phone. There are things I don’t care for, and no company is perfect, but I’m warming up to its products.
But let’s be honest for a moment; nothing a company like HMD does will make much of a difference. There are three companies making phones that matter: Samsung, Apple, and Google. For the actual hardware and feature set, even Google doesn’t make much of a splash, and it is important only because it fosters Android itself.
There’s always a chance that a phone like the Fusion will gain attention, but it’s a very slim chance. With an idea this good, that’s a shame. The people working for Samsung who design phones are incredibly bright and full of ideas, but somewhere out there is someone who would do something better because they’re doing it for fun. They aren’t working; they’re just trying things because they can. Without any budget to adhere to, a person with some simple tools and a curious mind can do something better than all the engineers at a company like Samsung.
We see some innovation from companies that are doing things differently every year. None of it ever matters because the Samsungs of the world refuse to take a chance the same way OnePlus did back in the day or the way HMD is doing right now.
I’d love to buy a Galaxy model designed for makers and tinkerers. I already spend a lot of my free time goofing around with electronics, and it’s a large part of my background. I don’t know what I could “invent,” but I know I would have a lot of fun while trying and failing. And I know I’m not alone.
Instead, I’ll be when it goes on sale here in the U.S. later this year. If you like to “mess” with stuff, you might want to do the same.
A mid-range phone with a twist
The HMD Fusion has a great price and comes with decent middle of the road specs. It also has a trick up it’s sleeve for the makers out there.
