Being modular isn’t its best trick

HMD is not a household name in the US. The company came to the limelight in 2016 when it took on the task of making Nokia-branded phones. Fast forward to 2024, and the once-legendary brand has been reduced to a mere stamp on underwhelming, low-spec budget devices. But HMD isn’t going anywhere. Last year, the company titled itself “Human Mobile Devices” and made the bold move to build self-branded smartphones instead of continuing to bank on Nokia’s legacy. In came a spate of HMD devices, including the HMD Barbie phone, HMD Skyline, the HMD Pulse series, and the HMD Fusion — the subject of this article.

At first glance, the HMD Fusion isn’t much of a looker. It’s a nondescript rectangular slab that doesn’t really have any standout design elements. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll see that the phone has a pogo pin connector at the back and clearly visible screws that are just begging to be opened. These two elements form the whole appeal of the HMD Fusion, a modular phone with a strong focus on repairability.

When I hear mods, I immediately think of Motorola and the Z series — or, more recently, CMF and its Phone 1. HMD wants to bring back the modular era with the Fusion, and even though the snap-on accessories the company offers aren’t as cool as what Motorola had back in the day, the fact that they’re available for free with the budget phone is a nice touch. There’s no add-on speaker or a battery case. Instead, the HMD Fusion offers four “outfits”: “Casual,” “Flashy,” “Rugged,” and “Gaming.”

In India, where I live, HMD offers all of them bundled with the phone at no extra cost. However, if you’re in Europe, you might have to buy them separately.

Anyway, I received the Casual, Flashy, and Gaming outfits with the review unit. The Casual outfit is really just a plastic cover for the phone. It doesn’t perform any tricks like the other two do, which are more interesting.

The Flashy outfit, as the name suggests, adds a ring light to your device. It’s a color-changing RGB rectangular LED attached to a hard silicone case. The light itself fits around the primary camera setup and can be pulled out to face you when you’re taking selfies. The good thing is that, unlike third-party mobile ring lights that require batteries or an external power source, the HMD Fusion’s Flashy Outfit draws power directly from the phone through the pins.

When connected, you’ll see a bulb icon in the camera app of the phone, tapping which turns the ring light on/off. You also get additional options to change the color and brightness level of the light. During the day, I could hardly notice any difference between photos and videos taken with the ring light on and those taken without it. Its effect is most apparent in low-light situations, especially with the different color options you can choose. Honestly, I would say it’s a cool gimmick to have, but nothing that adds dramatically to the phone’s functionality.

You can easily do without the Flahsy outfit by adding more lights and color effects to your photos and videos with the scores of photo editing apps out there. In fact, you would probably be better off with that option.

While it’s fairly easy to snap on the Flahsy outfit, it’s such a snug fit that you really have to fight with it to get it off the phone. I made a couple of people around me try to take the Flashy Outfit off the Fusion, and everyone struggled with the task. At one point during my testing, a pogo pin (one of six) from the outfit came flying out as I pulled it apart from the phone. The light still worked, but I’m afraid regular switching between outfits could cause more damage to the pogo pins or the phone’s connector itself.

Fortunately, the Flashy outfit has an unintended use case, if you ever manage to break all the pins: the ring light acts like a phone stand, but only when it’s placed horizontally.

The Gaming Outfit was more useful during my time with the HMD Fusion. Like the Flashy Outfit, it is powered by the phone’s pogo pin connection. The controller itself is pretty standard, with joysticks, a D-pad, action buttons, triggers, and more. A 3.5mm headphone jack is a nice touch, which, by the way, also features separately on the phone.

I played Asphalt 8 using the controller and found it to be a surprisingly pleasant experience. There was no lag, and the controls were very responsive. The controller itself doesn’t suck too much power and has a nice grip on it.

It’s great that the Gaming Outfit is part of the package and not something one has to buy separately. That’s because you can’t dock any other phone in it. It’s only compatible with the HMD Fusion. You have the option of connecting the controller via a cable to another Android phone or an Android TV to play games. I’m not sure I’m ever going to do that, but it’s good to have the option.

I went to the India launch of the HMD Fusion after having freshly watched “Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy” on Netflix. The documentary is a reality check on how tech brands ensure we buy new devices every year and the impact our endless purchases are having on the planet. On the opposite side of the spectrum, HMD is one of the few smartphone makers pledging sustainability with long-term availability of parts for its devices.

While many states in the US enforce strong Right to Repair laws that mandate parts availability, we have yet to see the likes of Apple and Google openly announce pledges for their respective devices. DIY repairs are still a gray area for the big phone makers, with recent regulations forcing them to the table. So, I really appreciate the fact that HMD has promised to offer repair parts for the Fusion for seven years. In fact, the ease of repairs might be the phone’s best trick.

HMD has partnered with iFixit to make repair parts and manuals available for the Fusion till 2032! Since iFixit isn’t everywhere, HMD will form different repair partnerships in other countries where the phone is available.

Apart from repairability, HMD also promises sustainability. The company has confirmed that future versions of the Fusion, whenever they launch, will be backwards compatible with the current modules, a.k.a “Outfits.” Enthusiasts can even 3D print their own Fusion modules using the company’s software toolkit that includes key dimensions, hardware interface, and software development APIs required for creating the outfits.

The HMD Fusion is a $249 phone and features the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip. For the most part, the phone works just fine, but it’s not snappy or anything. The UI of the phone feels laggy at times, and I very much hate the pre-installed bloatware.

Another negative aspect of the phone is that it promises only two years of software updates. That’s way too little for a device these days, especially if competitors like the Nothing Phone 2a offer three years of updates. Heck, the cheaper Samsung Galaxy A15 gets four years of software updates. I wonder what use will seven years of parts be if the software experience of the phone deteriorates in a couple of years.

In conclusion, I’m certainly intrigued by the HMD Fusion. It stands out not for its performance or design but for its focus on repairability. Its occasionally laggy UI and limited software support hold it back from being one of the best cheap phones out there, but the unique pogo pin system and interchangeable “outfits” add an interesting twist.