I grabbed Trump’s phone

You see a lot of interesting calls when you’re in the middle of the tech press.

I can think of two in particular that I did this past week: One was solid gold, with beautiful carvings. It was beautifully decorated, heavy – a true work of art. Another was Trump’s phone.

I know. The Trump phone. Which was announced about a year ago that has been sent to almost none. But when you interact with tech enthusiasts from all over the world, you find some rare things. And suffice it to say that someone was able to find this very rare device. They weren’t supposed to show it around, but they let me touch it for a few minutes recently.

Trump’s phone is a light, medium-sized Android device. It has curved sides reminiscent of Motorola Edge phones of yesteryear and a plastic back panel. The American flag and the Trump Mobile text are really cool and impossible to miss. Gold-colored medicine reads, I’m sorry to say, pee-ish in some lighting. It comes with a small, printed user manual in the box, which is cute.

This week, iFixit confirmed what we all knew in our hearts: Trump’s phone is a mid-range HTC phone it is a gold-colored medicine. Besides coming with Truth Social predownloaded (you can remove it), it looks and feels exactly how I would expect a phone of this type to look and feel.

As it happens, I met a tech YouTuber who goes by Technical Guruji that same week, who he also had a gold phone. But this was not just a gold painting job. It was solid gold, custom engraved with the image of the Hindu god Ram and his devotee Hanuman. I can’t say I’m living the iPhone gold standard, but as I ran my fingers over the beautiful graphics it was clear how much painstaking work went into it.

The gold iPhone I held is one of the series. Trump’s phone is one of the… other? It seems that only a few journalists and influencers received the call, which it was should start shipping to customers last month. We did not receive the phone we ordered almost exactly a year ago. There aren’t many other paying customers either. Trump’s phone is about to become a reality, but for now, it’s easier to find than a solid gold phone.

Do you have any inside information on Trump Mobile or Trump’s phone? Reach safely from your device to tips@theverge.comor our vision How you can help us page.