After Apple’s Surprise and Shine event on Wednesday, which debuted the long-rumored foldable iPhone Duo with a starting price of $1,999, the conversation at my home has mainly centered on our mobile phone expenses and whether it’s worth upgrading.
Well, good news: There is a flashy phone on the market that is cheaper than the hyped-up foldable. OK, there are many well below that price, but do they operate on an outdated operating system? Are they painted gold?
Ring the alarms and throw the confetti; I am talking about Trump Mobile’s golden T1 Phone.
Read more: Trump Mobile and its T1 Phone Don’t Make Any Sense, Even for Trump Fans
The gold-colored mobile device was originally priced at an affordable $499. Due to a quiet price hike the provider implemented overnight, as first reported by The Verge, the Trump phone is now marked at $749. That’s a $250 increase, making the T1 a more expensive option over the iPhone 17E. Control your excitement.
A Trump Mobile spokesperson didn’t immediately reply to our request for comment.
Trump Mobile didn’t explain the cost increase, but the writing has been on the wall for some time. The company’s execs went on record earlier this year with The Verge that the initial $499 price tag was a temporary introductory price. It’s even possible for the T1 to become more expensive, with a price of up to $999 in the future. So, you know, embrace this price while you can.
That said, the company didn’t provide any firm explanation beyond that, leading us to speculate that this could be due to the ongoing global memory chip shortage driven by the AI boom, known as RAMageddon. Apple recently implemented an array of price hikes due to the RAM shortage, upping the price of its older iPhone lineup, iPads, MacBooks and more.
But the Trump phone isn’t in the same ballpark as an iPhone. In fact, the Trump phone is essentially a reskinned mid-level HTC handset.
This might be the worst possible shade of gold.
Corinne Reichert/CNET
After an almost year-long delay, the Android phone, originally advertised as made in the US, began shipping in May to members of the media, which included CNET (you can read the full review here), along with a few customers (who paid a preorder deposit of $100 for the device).
Once CNET’s experts were able to take a closer look at the T1, which is now labeled as being “assembled in the USA,” we confirmed what iFixit learned before us: The Trump phone was likely manufactured in Guangdong, China, and is nearly identical to the Taiwanese HTC U24 Pro. The latter handset was released to market two years ago and can be found for less than $600 at retailers such as Walmart and Amazon.
But are those HTC handsets I mentioned above painted gold? Do they come equipped with Truth Social on an outdated OS, while their casings are decorated with an American flag missing some stripes? I think not.
So, if you’re still in the market for Trump Mobile’s T1 phone, I advise you to get while the getting’s good. Before we know it, the Trump phone could be priced at around $1,000. I’m all for retro tech and nostalgia, but for all the outdated tech this phone is built on, that price tag is pushing it when newer phones on the market, sporting more impressive bells and whistles, are clocking in at a price that’s way lower.
