Teardown Confirms the Trump Phone Is a Gold-Painted HTC U24 Pro
4 months ago by cannedtuna to c/technology
They do, just don't release phones in the States anymore. It's a shame because I really liked their phones.
"In May 2019, then-United States President Donald Trump announced that HUAWEI and several other Chinese companies were now on the “Entity List.” Companies on this list cannot do business with any organization that operates in the United States."
Oh good golly it's going to be a wonderful day today!
Edit: as ahornsirup pointed out, this isn't really relevant. I got crossed up searching HTC with Huawei somewhere along the line.
Well, HTC is Taiwanese so there really isn't much of a story there.
Haven't seen them here in Europe in over a decade I think.
Yes. Post-microsoft Nokias are/were made by Human Mobile Devices.
I'm not getting the new NSA phone, that's certain.
same here, it was a big thing in the us as a cheap non-google, samsung or apple phone until they banned most huwei tech for "spying potential", we know the us does it worst.
The Dream and Magic were the beginning of an era!
They were the beginning of a Dream that turned into a nightmare (first for HTC, then for consumers).
Fuck, remember when Android was genuinely open source and we had a little computer with mobile internet that fit in our pockets that we could install our own open source OS ROMs on? What an incredible time to be alive that was.
I really liked their phones.
Have I got good new for you! AND, it'll be gold ᶜᵒˡᵒʳᵉᵈ!
I thought they were called Google Pixels now since Google bought them for $1.1B in 2017.
Looks like HTC worked with Google on the first Pixel then sold them about half of the R&D talent and non-exclusive rights on the technology. So yes and no.
I didn't know the phones were real
They're only real if you're a journalist. The random sheep who pre-ordered them are never gonna get theirs. Mark my words.
They don't really, they pay ODM to design the phones. Trumps probably paid ODM to reuse the design.
My Taiwanese friend pushed these so hard, but at the time, isn't ready to jump ship to Android quite yet. I ended up getting an Xperia for my first android because nothing looked interesting enough from HTC. I kept waiting for that "one," but they just said fuck it we're not making shit anymore. They also tried to jump onto the crypto bandwagon with a built-in wallet or something. I dunno why anyone would need that when you have a bajillion software wallets.
They were my favorite when they were big. RIP
Against all expectations, the T1 is actually well priced when compared to the equivalently specced 512GB U24 Pro, and the only things you give up are the 60W fast charging and your dignity.
lol
Another great snip:
a phone designed in China, made in China, with the vast majority of parts sourced from China. I’m failing to find any stirring of American pride within me. I’ve certainly felt it before, so I can confirm that it is absent at this time.
The factories name is America
Well you're half right, America in Chinese is 美国，美 means beautiful.
Golden rain of fat man
It didn't. After customers started to post online, the media picked it up. Trump inc (co?) did the same thing with Trump watches and his Trump shoes. Both produce a rip-off product and only after being caught.
Fuck him!
Jimmy Carter was considered a complete failure by republicans. He had high inflation, high energy prices, high unemployment, and American lives lost in Iran.
Trump speedran that and the opposite party was not actively colluding to undermind him. I still haven't brought up Carter having to sale his farm and his brother.
He sold his brother? Damn
No, he stands by family. Anyone know how Don jr's wedding went?
i bet that’s the “assembled in the usa” bit. putting the battery in the phone
Or putting the phone in the box with the charger and manual.
I guarantee there is no manual.
Trump fans don't know how to read.
It’s for sure that’s all they’re doing.
Motorola and Google made a big deal about building a factory to do actual assembly in North Texas, and it still failed within a year.
If HTC/ trump were doing anything close to that they’d be screaming it from the hilltops.
And say what you will about the T1, but let’s give credit where it’s due. Trump Mobile aren’t gouging their fanbase…not yet anyway. Against all expectations, the T1 is actually well priced when compared to the equivalently specced 512GB U24 Pro, and the only things you give up are the 60W fast charging and your dignity.
Honestly the most shocking thing about it.
The most shocking thing is that buyers actually received their devices.
To my knowledge, no buyers have received their devices. Some media samples were sent.
most likely it has bloatware, and some spyware in the phone.
Don't give them credit for anything. They intended to keep all their money, and stiff the MAGA dummies. Then it hit the media in a big way, and they decided to get it done ASAP.
So they found a manufacturer that had enough inventory to fulfill the orders, and went with them. Under those circumstances it would almost certainly be a fairly recent model. Ten year old phones might not even have manufacturer support. The fact that they had so many hanging around means this model was probably a dog.
The time gap between the news stories about Trump Media's terms and the release of the Trump Phone was only a month or less. Not enough time to put together something like that. My personal conspiracy theory has been that it was an attempt to embarrass the press. The phones were ready to be shipped and TM changed the terms to say there was no guarantee any "Device will be commercially released". They let that play out on the blogs for a while then released the phones. Now the narrative can be "look how wrong The Media was" instead of, "Look at how cheap these phones made in China are".
The validity of the “Assembled in the USA” markings aside, the big question for many is why can’t a smartphone be made in the US? Again, there are lots of reasons but the big ones are the absence of the necessary manufacturing base, the lack of expertise in the labour pool, and cost. Bringing any part of the production line to the US, even the simpler non-electronic components like the chassis and the back cover, would put upward pressure on the price of the final product.
And say what you will about the T1, but let’s give credit where it’s due. Trump Mobile aren’t gouging their fanbase…not yet anyway. Against all expectations, the T1 is actually well priced when compared to the equivalently specced 512GB U24 Pro, and the only things you give up are the 60W fast charging and your dignity.
why can’t a smartphone be made in the US? Again, there are lots of reasons but the big ones are the absence of the necessary manufacturing base, the lack of expertise in the labour pool, and cost.
Why didn't they just pray for them? Weird.
Supply-side Jesus, why have you forsaken us?
... oh, right, now I remember.
For the same reason we don't have an auto industry anymore. Outsourced everything for cheap labor.
Holy shit!
...HTC still makes phones?
It makes this supposedly being an American phone even more ironic.
Did people genuinely think they had created a bespoke bit of hardware? Wow.
That a bunch of idiots bought it to begin with should be telling enough.
Just now catching onto that? Well let me make your day by saving you money with Honey!
(Don't actually download Honey. It's just a tracking service)
Actually Honey is way worse than that. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk
Its a tracking service that steals money intended for someone else. If you want to support your favourite youtuber and click on their affiliate link for a product you want to buy, honey swaps out the affiliate identifier with its own and then "shares" a fraction of what they steal with you. Honey is fucking cancer.
The idiocy never ceases to amaze me. Just when I think I've seen it all, they find a new and ridiculous way to exhibit it.
It’s happening in Australia now as well
Pauline Hanson raised 2.5 million dollars from a lot of really stupid Australians yesterday. Apparently it’s legit as well, though we’ll wait and see.
Pablo Escobar phone 2 electric boogaloo.
They probably thought it would be made of actual gold as well.
I'm surprised it's a gold painted HTC phone from two years ago (good quality even if probably HTC had a warehouse full of unsold inventory that they were happy to repaint at huge discount) and not the cheapest shit that you can find on Alibaba with a soc from a decade ago and the ROM already preloaded with malware.
I am surprised it is actually a clone of something people have heard of. I was expecting something on the level of what you can get for $50 at Walmart.
It’s not even a clone, it’s literally a rebadged HTC
I can see the cross draw deaths in my mind. It is beautiful.
Also has the wrong number of stripes on the flag.
Counting is hard.
He didn't even paint it himself?
This is true for all things including his presidency
Made in China?
The shipping label was generated in America
HTC is Taiwanese, but the components are mostly from Southeast Asia and of course, Mainland China.
Ta, it seems that HTC have stopped manufacturing as of this year and the U24 stocks are still available but being run down in some markets (I read that as developing countries but it obviously includes the USA 🤔). Trump must have got a fire sale deal on an end of life model. A great deal for everyone!
Gyna.
Laughing and banging the table.
I'm shocked that it's real.
If they did that, it would trash the cell reception. Metal blocks signal.
wait. it's a real functioning phone?
Yes, with truth social pre-installed
So a two year old phone with junkware preinstalled?
Yeah that's what he said
Trump always find a way to scam his supporters
LOL $460 and two years old.
I love it when conservatives get fleeced, but not when their money goes to felon rapist pedophiles that use it to harm America.
That's not possible. Trump said there is no such thing as gold paint. That's why everything in the oval office is real gold.
Eh, it seems like a nothingburger TBH.
On the 2026 Scam Scale (TM), rebranding a 2024 phone as flipping it for $500 is… not even that high?
Gestures at Polymarket advertising on the White House lawn
For some reason, I assumed it would at least be made of some kind of metal. I should have known better lol
Fully expected it to be recycled Boost Mobile, complete with the chirp.
Honestly didn't expect the frame to be fully gold coloured. I'm curious if HTC just makes them for Dump Mobile from old parts.
Sounds like HTC paid ODM to design it, and ODM tweaked some cosmetics for the Trumps.
does it have an unlocked bootloader? if it does, it doesnt even seem like a bad deal
Against all expectations, the T1 is actually well priced when compared to the equivalently specced 512GB U24 Pro, and the only things you give up are the 60W fast charging and your dignity.
Grifters grifting
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I am genuinely surprised... I didn't know HTC even still existed
save