As Trump’s T1 phone won’t be made in America, why not make a cheaper one at home?

You can build it anywhere you want (as long as it's mainly manufactured in China)

Earlier this week, The Trump Organisation announced the launch of its own mobile phone service, cleverly named Trump Mobile, and its first handset, the T1.

The astonished world was even treated to a preview of the T1, which looks either like a handsome bar of gold bullion or a low-quality render of a yellowy phone, depending on your perspective. Its chief features are an uneven bezel and a curious formation of camera lenses spread further apart than a deer’s eyes.   

The key USP seemed to be that it was proudly made in the USA, with the website stating this quite clearly: “Our MADE IN THE USA ‘T1 Phone’ is available for pre-order now.” This claim was considered doubtful by anyone who knows anything about phone production.

The Verge was the first publication to spot that this claim had been proudly wiped from the website, in favour of the more ambiguous “brought to life right here in the USA”.

Leaker Max Weinbach, who suggested the T1 could be based on the Wingtech Revvl 7 Pro, believes the Trump-branded phone will be made in one of three Chinese cities.

In any case, according to Wired, for one, there’s only one phone that’s entirely made in America (proudly or otherwise), and that’s the Liberty Phone from Purism, which retails at around $2,000. And if you honestly believe the T1 will have a similar bespoke manufacturing process for a mid-range price, I have another gold phone to sell you.  

So with the country of origin sticking point out of the way, why not just make your own Trump T1 phone for less?

Here’s what you’ll need.

1. A budget handset

The first step is to identify a T1-comparable handset.

The freshly-launched Trump Mobile site features the phone’s specs – or at least some of them. There’s no information on the phone’s processor, which is odd as that’ll dictate the phone’s responsiveness and how well it can handle demanding tasks. It’s key to user experience. But who needs a high-quality user experience when you have a majestic gold (coloured) phone? So forget about that.

Here are the key specs we do know:

• 6.8-inch AMOLED screen
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 50Mp main camera
• 5000mAh battery
• 256GB internal storage

None of these specs would look out of place on a $499 phone, but you can get the same or better from many cheaper handsets.

Leaker Max Weinbach thinks the T1 is based on Wingtech’s Revvl 7 Pro. However, GSMArena comparisons suggest the phone is likely to be a hybrid between this and the regular Revvl 7.

The good news here is that while the T1 is priced at £372/$499, the Revvl 7 costs only £162/$218 and the Revvl 7 Pro £196/$264.

The bad news is that PCMag stingily termed the Revvl 7 Pro as only “a decent affordable phone”.

So we say: treat yourself. Last year’s Samsung Galaxy A35 has an MSRP of £339/$399.99.

That’s still considerably less than the T1, and it has a user experience we can vouch for and comparable, or better, specs:

• One UI 6.1 (based on Android 14) with software updates until 2029
• 6.6-inch display, 2340×1080, AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Exynos 1380 processor
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB storage

• Cameras:

  • 50Mp main sensor
  • 8Mp ultrawide
  • 5Mp macro
  • 13Mp selfie camera
• Up to 4K @ 30fps rear video
• Dual-SIM
• Micro-SD card slot
• 5000mAh battery
• 25W charging
• 161.7 x 78.0 x 8.2 mm
• IP67 water and dust resistance

2. A picture of a flag

Looking at the T1 render, it’s not clear why the time is displayed twice on the home screen, or whether there will be a choice of patriotic wallpapers for the proud T1 owner.

We can’t promise that you can replicate these features precisely, which may mean only seeing the time displayed once on your phone. But if you can take a blurry photo of a flag, you are more than halfway there.

3. A gold phone case

But it’s not a Trump phone unless it shimmers like a spray-tanned jowl. So head over to Temu and pick up this “stylish and elegant” gold case for just £2.55.

For a more authentic experience, you can spend £4.19 on a can of gold spray paint from Amazon and then your phone will still whisper class (or at least a word that sounds a lot like it), even if you remove the cover.

Total cost

By our maths, you shouldn’t be paying more than £205/$275 for a DIY Trump phone kit. Go for the mid-range Samsung Galaxy A35, and we’d say it should cost you £350/$410, even with a can of spray paint thrown in.

In the meantime, for a better buy, check out our round-ups of the best budget phones and the best mid-range phones.