Trump T1 Phone is now confirmed to be a modified HTC U24 Pro
The internals of the Trump T1 Phones are almost identical to those of the HTC U24 Pro, which was first launched in 2024. The similarities go well beyond the obvious visual elements, as the two devices can interchange parts without any apparent issue.After doing a CT scan, tearing down the two phones, and running a close-up analysis of their displays, iFixit put an HTC U24 Pro mainboard inside a Trump T1 Phone. The Frankenstein phone worked without a hitch, confirming that the two devices don’t share just visual similarities but are also functionally identical.
There are some minor differences
The Trump T1 Phone and the HTC U24 Pro torn down. | Image by iFixit
There are also several rather small differences between the two phones. On the outside, you can quickly spot the slightly moved camera flash and the different shape of the speaker grille. These don’t seem to have any practical impact on the devices.Similarly insignificant in terms of specs and performance, the Trump T1 Phone uses a chipset package supplied by Micron, while the one inside the HTC phone is made by SK Hynix. The two components are still identical and feature a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, 12GB RAM, and 512GB storage.
The only significant difference is that the Trump phone has a 19.35Wh battery made in the Philippines, which supports only 30W charging. The cell inside the HTC U24 Pro has a 17.23Wh capacity, supports up to 60W charging, and it was made in China.
Not made in America, nor by HTC
The Trump T1 Phone working with an HTC mainboard. | Image by iFixit
The teardown confirms that the Trump phone was certainly not made in America, despite the initial marketing claims. Trump Mobile has already changed its stance, saying the device is only assembled in the United States, though it is unclear what that means exactly.More importantly, the T1 Phone is most likely not made by HTC, despite the similarities. Back in 2017, the Taiwanese company sold its mobile business to Google and stopped its first-party manufacturing. Instead, the company started working with Chinese Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) who create the designs and build the phones with the HTC brand.
Trump Mobile is most likely working with the same ODM that manufactured the U24 Pro, but HTC is almost certainly not involved with the device. However, it’s also unlikely that American teams helped guide the design of the Trump phone beyond the color choice and adding an American flag with 11 instead of 13 stripes on its back.
The price makes sense, for now
I’m not surprised that the Trump phone is a version of an existing device, but I’m now even more curious about its $499 price. That’s pretty close to what HTC asks for the 512GB version of the U24 Pro, but it’s also listed as a “promotional price.” What the non-promotional price will be is still a mystery, but to reveal it, Trump Mobile would need to start delivering the phone to everyone who preordered it.I’d argue that there are many $500 phones that are a better deal than the T1 Phone, including the HTC U24 Pro, which you can just buy and use right now. Regardless of your design preferences, that’s a compelling argument in favor of the device that’s made and assembled in China.
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