“That both phones turn on and are completely functional with swapped motherboards. Caught red-handed, hook, line, and sinker.” Tech reviewer Zack Nelson dismantled the Trump Mobile T1 smartphone and concluded the $749 device is a rebranded HTC U24 Pro.
Zack Nelson Dismantles Trump Mobile T1 Phone in YouTube Teardown
Popular technology YouTuber Zack Nelson, known online as JerryRigEverything, put the Trump Mobile T1 through a rigorous inspection in a nine-and-a-half-minute review video posted on Wednesday. Nelson evaluated the device through scratch tests, a durability check, and a full teardown. During the examination, the reviewer placed the handset side by side with an HTC U24 Pro, noting a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, according to Boredpanda.
Scratch tests on the T1 screen produced visible marks at Mohs hardness level six, with sharper grooves appearing at level seven. The handset survived the channel’s signature bend test. Opening the internal casing exposed an identical hardware layout to the 2024 Taiwanese model down to the screw count, battery placement, and motherboard architecture. The most definitive moment of the teardown occurred when Nelson swapped the motherboards between the two phones, finding that both units booted up immediately.
Zack Nelson compared Trump’s $499 T1 phone with the HTC U24 Pro, uncovering striking similarities in their designs and internal components.The handset’s flawed American flag design also led Nelson to question Trump’s patriotic branding. pic.twitter.com/TzDEy9YdwL
That both phones turn on and are completely functional with swapped motherboards. Caught red-handed, hook, line, and sinker.
Zack Nelson, YouTuber
Marketing Claims and Price Tag Changes Since Launch
The T1 smartphone entered the market following months of delays and pricing adjustments. Initially unveiled by Donald Trump in June 2025 as a patriotic alternative to mainstream technology, the device was marketed in early press releases as proudly designed and built in the United States. The website language shifted to state that the phone was designed with American values in mind and shaped by American innovation with American teams helping guide quality and design.
Don Hendrickson, one of the founders of Trump Mobile, told The Verge that the company only ever stated it was a goal to manufacture in America. Trump Mobile is not directly part of the Trump Organization, which is run by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. At the same time, the retail price for the handset increased from $499 at its initial announcement to $749 following its shipping release.
Device Features Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and Flawed Flag Design
For the $749 price point, consumers receive a device carrying a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, 512GB of internal storage, and a 5,000 mAh battery. The camera configuration features a 50-megapixel main sensor, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto lens offering 2x optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel front-facing camera. CNET managing editor Patrick Holland described the phone’s design aesthetic as sometimes looking like a urine sample.
Nelson drew attention to visual inaccuracies on the rear panel’s printed American flag. The national symbol featured on the back of the device contains 11 stripes rather than the standard 13 representing the original colonies. The reviewer noted this alongside Section 8(i) of Title 4 of the U.S. Code, which establishes that the banner should never be utilized for advertising purposes.
Political Commentary and Industry Response to the Phone
Throughout the video, Nelson interspersed hardware testing with political commentary, addressing the president’s legal history and past controversies. He referenced a New York jury finding Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024, an event that had initially made him reluctant to purchase the handset. A spokesperson for HTC previously informed The Verge that the company does not design or manufacture phones for third-party entities.
Everything is so dumb. Calling this phone American-made is such an easy-to-disprove, low-hanging, effortless lie and such a blatant cash grab. He legitimately thinks we are all super stupid, and yet maybe we are.
Zack Nelson, YouTuber
The president himself has not commented on the Trump Mobile phone.
#Trump's #phone has arrived: a regular plastic #device in a #gold tone that was supposed to have a metal finish. Users are complaining about the cloudy plastic. pic.twitter.com/efUiynFnGU
Not to mention that a data breach exposed every buyers personal information and only about 3,000 of them sold 😭😂