Inside Trump’s $499 T1 phone: Gold outside, HTC inside
A teardown by iFixit found that the T1 is nearly identical to the HTC U24 Pro, an Android smartphone launched by Taiwanese electronics company HTC in 2024.
- Jun 19, 2026,
- Updated Jun 19, 2026 12:19 PM IST
The Trump Mobile T1, marketed as a new entrant in the US smartphone market, appears to be far less original than its branding suggests.
A teardown by iFixit found that the T1 is nearly identical to the HTC U24 Pro, an Android smartphone launched by Taiwanese electronics company HTC in 2024. Apart from a handful of cosmetic and component-level changes, the two devices share the same underlying design and hardware.
Initial similarities emerged after iFixit examined the two phones using an industrial X-ray computed tomography scanner. A physical teardown confirmed the findings, revealing that the internal layouts and most components were either identical or closely matched.
The most visible differences are largely cosmetic. The Trump Mobile T1 comes with a gold-coloured exterior, a slightly altered chassis and differently shaped openings on the speaker grille. It also carries Trump Mobile branding, distinguishing it from HTC’s original device.
Under the hood, however, the T1 closely resembles the U24 Pro.
The HTC smartphone was launched with a 6.8-inch display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM and storage options of 256GB and 512GB. It also featured a triple-camera setup comprising two 50-megapixel sensors and an 8-megapixel camera, along with a 4,600mAh battery.
The Trump-branded phone has similar specifications, although iFixit found some differences, including a marginally larger battery.
The teardown also indicated that several components used in the T1 were manufactured in the Philippines. This could be part of an effort to limit dependence on Chinese-made parts, particularly batteries and other components that are commonly sourced from China.
The HTC U24 Pro was launched at $469.99 in 2024. The Trump Mobile T1 is now being sold for $499, representing a premium of about $29 despite being based on hardware that first entered the market two years ago.
HTC was once among the world’s leading Android smartphone manufacturers but has seen its position in the global handset market diminish over the years.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine
The Trump Mobile T1, marketed as a new entrant in the US smartphone market, appears to be far less original than its branding suggests.
A teardown by iFixit found that the T1 is nearly identical to the HTC U24 Pro, an Android smartphone launched by Taiwanese electronics company HTC in 2024. Apart from a handful of cosmetic and component-level changes, the two devices share the same underlying design and hardware.
Initial similarities emerged after iFixit examined the two phones using an industrial X-ray computed tomography scanner. A physical teardown confirmed the findings, revealing that the internal layouts and most components were either identical or closely matched.
The most visible differences are largely cosmetic. The Trump Mobile T1 comes with a gold-coloured exterior, a slightly altered chassis and differently shaped openings on the speaker grille. It also carries Trump Mobile branding, distinguishing it from HTC’s original device.
Under the hood, however, the T1 closely resembles the U24 Pro.
The HTC smartphone was launched with a 6.8-inch display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM and storage options of 256GB and 512GB. It also featured a triple-camera setup comprising two 50-megapixel sensors and an 8-megapixel camera, along with a 4,600mAh battery.
The Trump-branded phone has similar specifications, although iFixit found some differences, including a marginally larger battery.
The teardown also indicated that several components used in the T1 were manufactured in the Philippines. This could be part of an effort to limit dependence on Chinese-made parts, particularly batteries and other components that are commonly sourced from China.
The HTC U24 Pro was launched at $469.99 in 2024. The Trump Mobile T1 is now being sold for $499, representing a premium of about $29 despite being based on hardware that first entered the market two years ago.
HTC was once among the world’s leading Android smartphone manufacturers but has seen its position in the global handset market diminish over the years.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine