Samsung’s Bespoke Studio could be the modern version of Moto Maker that never existed

Smartphones have evolved a lot in recent years, both in form and function, and I’m excited about the new era with foldables, especially flip phones. I have a lot of good things to say about this new wave of phones, but I can’t say I’m a fan of all the bland colors on flagship phones. Seriously, when’s the last time you looked at a phone and said, “Wow, that’s beautiful?” And no, limited edition phones don’t count here.

We have to go from the existing and rather boring color scheme for phones. Google’s Pixel phones that used to come in fun colors like “Really Blue” and “Purple-ish” are now seen in some unsaturated pastel options that leave me wanting more. Manufacturers like Samsung and OnePlus have dropped many great colors, robbing us of shades like Stunning Red and Cloud Blue that we had for the OnePlus 6 and Galaxy S20 series respectively. Many other manufacturers have followed suit, and it’s times like these that make me wish I had Moto Maker around.

Moto Maker in 2023 would have been perfect

Moto Maker was truly one of the best things Motorola had to offer. It was a service that allowed you to make your phone truly your own by choosing from many different materials and colors for the back panels for different Moto X and Moto G series phone models back in the day. You can choose from materials like wood, plastic, leather, etc., to truly customize it to your specifications. You could even get an engraving or add a personalized greeting to your boot screen to make sure your phone is one of a kind.

I remember spending hours on the Moto Maker website, customizing the Moto X with bizarre combinations in hopes of buying a custom Motorola phone after I finished college. It truly was the pinnacle of customization in the tech space, with nothing else like it. It’s safe to say it was ahead of its time because modern-day customizers like Nike ID and the Xbox Design Lab weren’t a thing of the past and only showed up years after Motorola dropped its service. I’m still a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a custom Motorola phone before the company cut its service following a series of unfortunate events and facility closures to cut operating costs in 2014.

I wish the Moto Maker was still around for modern Motorola phones, or at least Motorola had thought about bringing it back for some of its new devices. Motorola didn’t exactly have its best foot in the smartphone game to bring back the Moto Maker all this time, but it could have done with the Moto Razr+. What better phone to rekindle the Moto Maker spirit than a fun and popular foldable like the Razr+, right? Well, Motorola didn’t think so, which is why we only got the phone in two colors instead. The ability to customize the Razr+ with different back panels and colors would have added to the impressive storyline of Motorola’s comeback, so I think it’s definitely a missed opportunity.

How Samsung can right the wrong with its Bespoke Edition phones

As someone who loves customized products, you will often find me customizing a gadget or accessories that I would never buy. What I really want is a full-fledged customizer like Motor Maker in 2023. The closest we have these days is Samsung’s Bespoke customizer, but it’s a shame the company is only letting you throw its Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 smartwatches into the mix right now.

Samsung’s Bespoke customizer, in case you’re wondering, lets you choose from three or more color schemes for the back panels and chassis. It’s a good start, but it could be a lot better with more customization options. Asking for a phone with a wood or leather panel is perhaps not the best idea considering how it would affect things like IP ratings and wireless charging in modern phones, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Being able to customize devices with more fun colors would be a great start. The existing colors offered for the company’s Bespoke Edition phones look great, but are extremely limited. I would gladly pay a premium and choose the Bespoke Edition over the regular color if I could get a Galaxy Z Flip 4 in, say, red or purple. I’d also love it if Samsung allowed us to customize things like the buttons, camera dock, and S Pen and make them pop with contrasting finishes.

The engravings are also not part of Samsung’s bespoke customizer and I hope that changes soon. It’s not something completely unheard of as we’ve had them as part of Moto Maker back in the day. In fact, even Apple is letting you add engraving to some of its devices now in 2023. Come on, Samsung, now it’s your turn. Finally, I’d like to see support for multiple devices in Samsung’s custom customizer, at least in some way. The company only lets you customize the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Watch at the moment, which is a shame given its huge portfolio of devices and accessories that may need a touch of customization.

Samsung Bespoke Edition phones have been available for quite some time now and they already have a personalization device to handle the basics. It’s just about improving it by adding some options. The lack of a competing customizer in the market means that now is the best time to offer something truly unique and gain an edge over the competition. I recently highlighted how Bespoke Edition phones are one of the reasons I’m more excited about the Galaxy Flip 5 than the Moto Razr+ and I really hope we get better customization options.

An improved Bespoke customizer would not only allow us to get better phones, but it would also help Samsung create more hype around the upcoming foldable, which appears to be only a marginal improvement over their predecessors. Seriously, all the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 rumors point towards familiar phones that could use a touch of customization to set themselves apart. The last thing Samsung would want right now is to lose the edge in the foldable space in favor of new options, and I truly believe that a fun new way to personalize phones would allow them to offer something new and at least buy them some much-needed time to improve their foldable for next year.

The limits of a personalized phone

It’s easy to put on your creative hat and come up with ways to personalize your phone, but it’s also important to consider the limitations of a service like this, especially when you look at the scale at which Samsung operates. The first and most obvious thing to consider, aside from the increased cost and low resale value, of course, is the time it takes to deliver a custom unit. Rolling out of a retail store or courier with a custom phone isn’t going to be possible for obvious reasons, which means you should be looking at lead times of at least a couple of weeks to a month (or more), depending on demand.

Quality control will also be a big part of the process, as many things could go wrong with custom finishes. Motorola had a dedicated facility to manufacture and ship the Moto Maker phones, and it would be interesting to see how Samsung tackles that with its volumes. Finally, it is also worth measuring the actual demand for Bespoke Edition personalized phones. The fact that these custom phones cost more than the regular variant means they will never have the same kind of demand as the cheaper ones.

Not to mention, the growing custom accessory market is also a huge barrier to entry likely preventing Samsung and others from going out and having a full customization program. After all, it’s relatively cheaper and even easier to install a custom skin from Dbrand than spending hundreds more on a custom finish. I, for one, would still prefer a custom factory finish to avoid covering the premium, reflective glass back with “expensive tape,” but I doubt I’ll have enough advocates here. Perhaps Samsung could come up with its own customization program for cases and accessories?

I’m sure there will be many more challenges to overcome with an undertaking as massive as this, but I wouldn’t count on anyone but Samsung to address them. I hope to see some substantial changes for the Bespoke Edition phones, starting with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5. The least I expect from them is the existing customizer with some new finishes for the newest model. We’ll soon find out what Samsung has in store for us, as the company is preparing to launch some new devices during the Unpacked event taking place in Seoul, South Korea. You can reserve your unit for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 by hitting the link below to be one of the first to receive your purchase with a $50 discount. I’ll have more to talk about the phone’s design and its color variants once it’s official, so stay tuned.