Trump's phone finally made its debut, with a tech influencer sharply criticizing it as "cheap and ugly" – this mid-range device from two years ago is being sold at a price matching Redmi's flagship models.
On June 13th, the evaluation agency Snazzy Labs released an evaluation video of the Trump T1 phone on YouTube. The digital blogger Quinn Nelson of this agency said that the T1 is just an HTC U24 Pro with a gold shell. The U24 Pro is a mid - range model launched by HTC (High Tech Computer Corporation), a manufacturer from Taiwan, China, two years ago.
Trump T1 evaluation (Source: YouTube)
During the evaluation, Nelson said that the real T1 has a cheap and ugly appearance. Specifically, the gold coating of the whole T1 has a serious color difference and uneven texture. The area around the lens ring is a bright yellow, while the plastic decorative ring around the lens is more like a bronze - yellow; the back cover has a reflective yellow tone, and the aluminum oxide middle frame is not even yellow, but more orange overall, which doesn't look good.
Trump T1 (Source: YouTube)
In addition, Nelson found that the fingerprint sensor of this phone has a factory - defect. Some apps may crash, and the pre - installed app of Trump's social media platform Truth Social will pop up frequently. The system update remains at the February 5th version.
However, from the perspective of hardware specifications, this phone is not "cheap". The T1 is equipped with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which is a previous - generation mid - range chip. It also comes with 12GB + 512GB storage, a 5000mAh battery, and a screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Nelson commented that the color calibration of the T1 is weaker than that of the iPhone, but it's not bad.
The T1 was launched on June 16th last year in the form of a deposit plus the balance. The price is $499 (equivalent to about 3371.84 RMB), and the deposit is $100. At that time, the official promised to deliver the phones around August 2025 and specifically emphasized "Made in USA", claiming that the phones were produced in Alabama, California, and Florida in the United States.
About 6 days after the release of the T1 phone, its official website quietly removed the "Made in USA" introduction and changed it to "Designed with American values". After about half a year, this move was publicly questioned by Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic congressman in the United States and a former professor at Harvard Law School, in a letter to multiple institutions including the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), accusing it of false advertising and suspected fraud.
In April this year, the official website of the T1 phone even directly removed the specific delivery date and changed it to "later this year". It wasn't until mid - May this year that the T1 started to be delivered in small quantities.
As shown in the following picture, there are some differences in the appearance design between the initial renderings and the final physical product of the T1 on the official website. The initial design of the T1's camera module was similar to that of the iPhone 13 Pro, but the camera module of the delivered real phone has a different layout, and the color around it has changed from light yellow to black, with the outer part outlined by yellow lines.
T1 introduction (Source: T1 phone official website)
01. Multi - focal - length lenses paired with a retro indicator light, plastic body is not scratch - resistant
The whole T1 is yellow. It has a decent grip feel. The back of the phone is made of plastic instead of glass, so it is very easy to get scratched. Its system is close to the native Android and runs relatively smoothly. However, the oleophobic coating on the screen is very poor, and fingerprint marks can be seen everywhere. The boot screen of the phone shows the T1 logo, with an Android - exclusive dynamic boot animation, which looks like a fluttering flag in terms of design.
T1 boot animation interface (Source: YouTube)
However, compared with the US - version Samsung Galaxy S25 FE at the same price range, the T1 is worse in terms of various performance scores, camera imaging, body workmanship, fingerprint function, and system updates. The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is a light - flagship phone launched by Samsung, which is between the Samsung A series (mid - low end) and the S25 standard version (flagship).
Compared with domestic phones, the Redmi K90 Max, a flagship phone under Redmi, is equipped with the Dimensity 9500 processor, an 8550mAh battery, and 100W fast charging. However, the price of the same memory version as the T1 is only 3699 RMB, which is basically the same as the price of the T1.
The T1 camera supports 1x and 2x zoom, and also has a 0.6x ultra - wide - angle lens. The photos taken have a time watermark and the T1 model logo in the corner. In addition, the phone still retains a green status indicator light. Nelson said that this function is rarely equipped on Android phones nowadays, and it is a practical retro design.
T1 camera (Source: YouTube)
In addition, the T1 also has an exclusive function called Tellihealth (telemedicine), which claims to be able to detect blood pressure with the phone's camera.
Before the T1 started to be delivered, there was a small episode when Nelson paid the balance: it was not possible to directly pay the balance and activate the relevant services. One had to subscribe to the paid package bound to the T1 to pay the balance normally. The first - month cost of this package is $47.45 (equivalent to about 320.63 RMB), and the total cost including taxes is $52.37 (equivalent to about 353.87 RMB).
The T1 comes with a SIM card, which corresponds to the $47.45 package mentioned above. This card is pure white and has no any logo or text. The phone box comes with a phone case and a T1 quick start guide. The phone box is printed with "Assembled with American craftsmanship". The instruction guide is just ordinary printed paper, and it is obvious that the toner is running low. Nelson said that it looks like it was temporarily printed by an inkjet printer.
T1 SIM card (Source: YouTube)
The T1 comes with an SCG fast - charging head, which is marked as made of gallium nitride material and has a maximum output power of 30 watts. The paper instruction manual for the Trump Mobile, model SGG - 06, explains the content in great detail, listing even the basic operations one by one. It is obvious that it is designed for elderly users.
For example, the manual details how to make a phone call. Users first click the phone icon on the main interface, then click the dial pad, enter the number or the first letter of the contact, select the contact, and then click the call button. It's like a beginner's tutorial.
The phone also comes with a USB - C to USB - C braided data cable, but the cable has poor flexibility and is stiff when bent.
T1 data cable (Source: YouTube)
Previously, there were widespread rumors on the Internet that the T1 is just a re - branded T - Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G, which is designed and produced by the Chinese ODM manufacturer Wingtech. However, when Nelson compared these two phones, he found that the overall quality of the Trump T1 is significantly better. Their screens, headphone jack positions, camera modules, and internal hardware are all different.
02. The internal structure of the phone is highly homologous to the HTC U24 Pro, and the rumors of device eavesdropping are ruled out through actual tests
After a simple hands - on evaluation, Nelson conducted an actual disassembly test on the T1. The test found that the internal structure of the T1 is highly similar to that of the HTC U24 Pro to the naked eye. There is one detail difference: the back cover of the Trump T1 is fixed with screws instead of the traditional plastic welding.
The positions of the flash and the microphone of the T1 have been adjusted, but the flash lamp bead itself has not been changed, only the diffuser on the back cover has been replaced. At the same time, the positions of the NFC module, wireless charging coil, camera module, and bottom components of these two models are all the same.
Nelson further disassembled the T1 motherboard. Its motherboard layout, wiring, and component arrangement are exactly the same as those of the HTC U24 Pro, and the motherboards of the two phones are interchangeable.
Comparison of the motherboards of the HTC U24 Pro (left) and the T1 (right) (Source: YouTube)
The core difference between these two phones lies in the battery. The battery model of the HTC U24 Pro is BTE - 4602, with a rated capacity of 4450mAh and a rated power of 17.23Wh; the battery model of the Trump T1 is BTE - 5007, which has a larger battery capacity but a slower charging speed.
According to Shahram Mokhtari, the chief disassembly technician of the online repair community and DIY repair platform iFixit, who reported on June 10th, after disassembling and comparing the T1 and the HTC U24 Pro, he also found that the shapes of the components, the arrangement positions of the components, the screw positions, and even the pasting positions of the anti - disassembly stickers of the two are all exactly the same, and only the battery, the core hardware, is different.
Comparison of the batteries of the T1 (left) and the HTC U24 Pro (right) (Source: iFixit)
As of now, HTC has not made any statement about the T1 product. Mokhtari said: "There are two possibilities: First, HTC sold the design copyright of the U24 Pro to Trump Mobile; second, in my opinion, it is more likely that HTC itself does not hold the design copyright of this model."
In summary, even though the official claims that the T1 is assembled by a team in Florida, USA using about ten types of components, it does not mean that the T1 is "Made in USA".
The T1 uses a dual - battery interface design, which is common in high - power fast - charging models. There is no easy - pull glue reserved for both batteries, so the disassembly process is relatively troublesome. However, the adhesive of the back glue is not strong, and the batteries can be removed intact with isopropyl alcohol.
After removing the battery, Nelson took the opportunity to investigate the cause of the fingerprint sensor failure that occurred during the evaluation of the T1. The under - screen fingerprint module of this phone is integrated in the corresponding position of the motherboard. After disassembly, it can be seen that there is no protective film on the surface of the module, and the hardware appearance is intact.
Therefore, he judged that the cause of this failure is probably not hardware damage, but a system - level adaptation problem, which causes the fingerprint module to fail to interact normally with the security encryption area.
At the end of the evaluation video, Nelson expressed his opinion on the previous rumor that the T1 has a built - in eavesdropping program. He said: "I personally don't agree with this statement. It's not that I trust the professional ethics of Trump Mobile, but with the technical ability of this company, it simply can't develop such a complex malicious program."
Because this phone is essentially an HTC model with a new shell. If the T1 brand uses some unscrupulous and low - cost ODM manufacturers and secretly implants malicious programs in the firmware