Trump's $500 phone? it's just an htc, rebranded
The much-hyped Trump T1 phone, promising an 'America First' tech experience, has been thoroughly dissected, and the results are… underwhelming. Forget revolutionary innovation; what we found is a remarkably familiar device, stripped of its own identity and repackaged with a hefty dose of marketing.
The htc u24 pro connection: more than meets the eye
Initial speculation centered on the phone's resemblance to the Revvl 7 Pro. However, a design shift later pointed to the HTC U24 Pro, and a recent teardown by iFixit has confirmed the connection is far deeper than mere aesthetics. The internal components are virtually identical, to the point where an HTC U24 Pro motherboard seamlessly functions within the Trump T1's chassis. It's a Frankenstein phone, and it works.
The iFixit team, employing CT scans and meticulous examination, discovered the two devices are functionally interchangeable. They swapped the HTC U24 Pro’s mainboard into the Trump T1 and, remarkably, the device booted up without issue. This isn't just visual similarity; it’s a case of near-identical hardware.
Minor tweaks, significant omissions
While the core components are shared, there are a few superficial differences. The camera flash is slightly repositioned, and the speaker grille has a different shape – details unlikely to impact the user experience. Internally, Micron provides the chipset package for the Trump T1, while SK Hynix supplies it for the HTC phone. Functionally, however, both utilize the same Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Perhaps the most glaring difference lies in the battery. The Trump T1 uses a 19.35Wh battery manufactured in the Philippines, supporting only 30W charging. The HTC U24 Pro boasts a larger 17.23Wh battery, capable of 60W charging, and produced in China. This discrepancy highlights a key point: the Trump phone, despite its patriotic branding, isn’t exactly embodying ‘Made in America.’
A questionable origin story
The teardown firmly dispels the notion that the Trump phone is American-made. Trump Mobile has shifted its narrative, now claiming the device is merely “assembled” in the United States, a vague term that does little to quell the concerns about its true origin. Furthermore, the phone is likely not even manufactured by HTC. Having sold its mobile division to Google in 2017, HTC now primarily partners with Chinese Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) who handle design and production.
Trump Mobile is almost certainly utilizing the same ODM that produced the HTC U24 Pro, but HTC’s involvement is minimal, if any. It’s unlikely that American teams contributed significantly to the design beyond selecting the color scheme and adding a modified American flag on the back – one with eleven stripes instead of thirteen.
Is $499 a fair price?
The $499 price tag raises eyebrows. While comparable to the HTC U24 Pro’s 512GB version, it’s presented as a “promotional price,” leaving the future cost uncertain. The truth is, numerous $500 phones offer a more compelling value proposition, including the HTC U24 Pro itself – a device that’s readily available and demonstrably not a rebranded clone. The allure of a phone with a flag on the back simply doesn't outweigh the tangible benefits of a proven, well-regarded device.