Is the Trump T1 just a gold-plated HTC phone?

Trump’s phone made headlines again over the past week iFixit tore it up And I found it to be almost identical to HTC U24 ProIt is a Taiwanese phone released in mid-2024. I have done a review T1 phone Last month, although it worked well as a middle-of-the-road phone, we have some relevant thoughts here.

iFixit’s results match CNET’s benchmark test, first and foremost, which also suggested a very close match with HTC’s phone:

Geekbench v.6.0

T1 Trump mobile phone 1,195 3,443HTC U24 Pro 5G 1,141 3,213

The Geekbench results for the Trump phone put it on par with the HTC U24 Pro 5G and also showed that it has an octa-core processor, which could be the best. Snapdragon 7 third generation Released November 2023 – Trump Mobile not specified.

The specifications of the Trump phone that we know also mirror the HTC phone. According to Trump Mobile websiteThe T1 phone has these specifications:

• 6.78-inch AMOLED screen
• 50 MP wide-angle camera
• 8MP ultra-wide camera
• 50MP 2x telephoto camera
• 50-megapixel front camera
• 5000 mAh battery
• No name Qualcomm Snapdragon chip

These are the specifications of the HTC U24 Pro phone:

• 6.78-inch AMOLED screen
• 50 MP wide-angle camera
• 8MP ultra-wide camera
• 50MP 2x telephoto camera
• 50-megapixel front camera
• 4600 mAh battery
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 third generation chip

What (and where) is Trump’s phone?

The public relations firm working with Trump Mobile, which expedited deliveries of Trump’s phone last month, told CNET on Wednesday that it no longer works with the company. The Trump Organization and Trump Mobile did not respond to my requests for comment, including when the phones will actually ship to all customers who paid a $100 deposit to pre-order a phone. It seems that only a few people got their phones, mostly the media.

CNET received a phone call from Trump NBC News I got one, Bloomberg I got one, and recently, Snazzy Labs got the T1 last week, a month after the phones were supposed to be replaced It has been shipped For customers. I scoured the internet for actual customers who received the phone – according to The Guardianover 27,000 people have deposited $100 – but can only find… Disaffected, people phone less.

Snazzy Labs has uploaded a very comprehensive file YouTube video Last week, the phone was also demolished to find almost the same thing: Aside from the Trump Phone’s larger battery capacity and custom back cover, Snazzy Labs shows that the phone’s internals and exteriors are identical to HTC’s.

He says in the video: “The similarity between these two phones is uncanny.”

When Trump Mobile launched in June 2025 with Mobile plan $47.45 per monthIt initially announced that the Trump Phone would be manufactured in the United States and would be launched in August 2025. But when it became clear that manufacturing smartphones domestically on a large scale was not possible, Trump Mobile dropped the idea. Claim “Made in USA”..

In mid-April, it was redesigned Trump Mobile website I offered a T1 phone with a new lookits third redesign. Among other things, one of my criticisms when I tested This phone There was a lack of information about it, including not knowing where it was made or by whom.

There is no mention on the phone packaging, manual, website or the device itself anywhere that it was manufactured. The box says it’s “Assembled in the USA,” but we don’t know to what extent — whether the parts were put together in the US, or whether the phone was just put in its box.

“The only place the T1 could be manufactured in the very short time of the brand’s existence, in the limited quantities it is produced, and at the same price as the U24 Pro, is in factories with pre-existing tooling and production lines for this phone,” iFixit concluded after scanning and tearing the phone apart, suggesting that it will likely be manufactured in Guangdong, China.

The statement “Assembled in the USA” is probably similar to the statement “Shipping this week”: true for one or two parts and customers.