Concept → Reality · Rewritten

Nokia Unik and the phone back you could rearrange

In 2009, a French designer covered the back of a Nokia phone with 152 small squares that owners could swap for other colors and materials. Nokia had sold phones on that instinct for a decade. It never cut the cover into tiles.

The Design Blog editors

Orange-red plastic back cover of a CMF Phone 1 lying on a white surface next to four small screws, a round dial and a SIM tray

The removed back cover of a CMF Phone 1 with its screws, accessory dial and SIM tray; a related product released in 2024, not the Unik concept. AI-retouched from an image by Saketh938, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Verdict 2026

Still a concept

The Unik stayed a concept and Nokia never made it. Swappable phone backs did ship, from Nokia in 2012 and from Nothing’s CMF brand in 2024, but as single covers and not as a mosaic of tiles.

  1. 1998Nokia introduces the 5110, its first phone with replaceable faceplates, which it calls Xpress-on covers.
  2. 2009French designer Clement Logereau’s UNIK concept is published in December: a Nokia-branded phone whose back is made of 152 customizable squares.
  3. 2012Nokia announces the Lumia 820 on September 5 with exchangeable shells that change its color and can add wireless charging.
  4. 2013Motorola announces Moto Maker on August 1, a website for choosing the back, front and accent colors of a Moto X before it is assembled in Texas.
  5. 2014Microsoft completes its purchase of Nokia’s phone business in April.
  6. 2024Nothing’s sub-brand CMF releases the Phone 1 in July, with a back panel that unscrews and can be exchanged for another.

What it was

In December 2009, French designer Clement Logereau showed UNIK, a phone concept carrying the Nokia logo. The front was a glossy black slab. The back was a grid of 152 small squares, and each one could be taken out and replaced. Owners could change the color, the pattern and even the feel of the phone one tile at a time. The renders show backs laid out as stripes, a flag and a pixel-art alien.

The business idea was as clear as the design. Extra squares in metal, rubber and transparent versions would be sold in Nokia shops, so the phone became something to collect for. Gizmodo compared it to Lego and to trading cards in a schoolyard, and worried about children swallowing the pieces. It also noted that Logereau had added the Nokia logo himself to get attention. We found no sign that Nokia was involved.

The Unik was right that the back of a phone is never finished, and wrong only about how many pieces that takes.

Where the idea went

Nokia knew the instinct well. Its 5110 of 1998 was the company’s first phone with replaceable Xpress-on covers, and it kept the feature on youth-market phones for years. In September 2012 the Lumia 820 brought it to smartphones, with exchangeable shells that changed its color and could add wireless charging. Then Nokia itself left the business. In April 2014, Microsoft completed its purchase of Nokia’s phone business.

Others took customization in two directions. Motorola moved it to the factory. Its Moto Maker website, announced in August 2013, let buyers pick the back, the front and the accent colors of a Moto X before it was assembled in Texas, and listed wood among the back finishes. Nothing’s sub-brand CMF went back to the screwdriver. On its Phone 1, released in July 2024, the back panel is held by visible screws and can be exchanged for another, and stands, card holders and straps screw on the same way.

What it means now

The mosaic was never built, as far as we could find. A back made of 152 loose parts is 152 things to lose, and one shell does the visible job in a single piece. The products that followed changed the whole back at once.

What the Unik got right is the wish. People want the back of their phone to be theirs, and to be able to change it. Today that mostly happens outside the phone, in cases with exchangeable backplates and grips with swappable tops. The tile became an accessory.

The original post, summarized

Our December 2009 post covered Clement Logereau’s Nokia Unik, a concept phone whose back was made of 152 small squares that owners could swap for others in different colors and materials, including metal, transparent and rubber versions. It is summarized here rather than republished.

Backs you can change

The Unik’s tiles never shipped, but these two accessories let you change the back of a phone without changing the phone.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Picked for design.

  • RhinoShield Mod NX Modular Case for iPhone 17A bumper frame with a separate backplate that can be exchanged for another, so one case can change its look.View on Amazon
  • PopSockets Phone Grip for MagSafe, Knurled BlackA magnetic grip and stand with a knurled black top that can be swapped for other PopSockets designs.View on Amazon

Sources