The camera is not just a removable lens

The magnetic module weighs 39 grams and contains its own sensor, storage and battery. Pull it from the rear of the phone and it can be attached to a helmet, handlebar, strap, pendant or one of RugOne's accessory mounts.

It records at up to 2.7K and 30fps through a 133-degree ultrawide field of view. RugOne also includes software stabilization, 360-degree horizon lock, timelapse, slow motion, loop recording and a pre-record feature.

There is 64GB of storage inside the camera itself, so it does not need the phone beside it every time it records. Footage can later be transferred back to the Xsnap 7 Pro's 512GB internal storage.

That is what separates the idea from the usual modular-phone experiment. The camera still works when the phone is somewhere else.

The phone doubles as its charger and viewfinder

Standalone recording time is rated at up to 40 minutes. Docking the module in the phone charges it from the Xsnap 7 Pro's 9,300mAh battery, with RugOne claiming as many as 20 full camera recharges under its test conditions.

The company converts that into a headline figure of up to 800 minutes of cumulative recording. Real-world results will obviously depend on how heavily the phone itself is being used.

Wireless monitoring works at up to roughly 50 metres in suitable conditions, turning the phone's 6.67-inch AMOLED screen into a remote viewfinder through the Xsnap Go app.

This is still a serious rugged phone underneath

A MediaTek Dimensity 8400 sits inside alongside 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The 6.67-inch AMOLED panel runs at 120Hz with a 1,220 x 2,712 resolution and a claimed peak brightness of 1,700 nits.

The main 9,300mAh battery supports 45W wired charging and up to 50W wireless charging.

Removing the action camera does not leave the phone without normal photography hardware either. RugOne includes a stabilized 50MP Samsung GN9 main sensor, a 64MP infrared night-vision camera and a 32MP selfie camera.

The price of carrying two devices as one is 477 grams

The Xsnap 7 Pro measures 19.1mm thick and weighs 477 grams. Those figures are difficult to disguise. This is an exceptionally heavy phone even by rugged-device standards.

Its IP68 and IP69K ratings are joined by MIL-STD-810H certification. RugOne rates the phone itself for immersion to two metres for up to 30 minutes under controlled conditions, while the detachable camera is rated for five metres without an additional housing.

The Kickstarter campaign opened on September 7 with a limited €799 Super Early Bird offer. RugOne says global retail availability will follow in October, with an official European retail price of €1,099.99.

It is hard to imagine this design becoming mainstream. For hikers, cyclists, field workers or anyone already carrying both a rugged phone and a compact action camera, that may be completely beside the point.