There's a little tip making the rounds today: If you pick up a used Galaxy S20 somewhere like Swappa or eBay, where they run around $500, you can get yourself a brand new Galaxy S21 for just 0 more. That's because Samsung's trade-in values for the smaller Galaxy S20 are outrageous, earning you $700 toward an $800 phone.
The company doesn't treat other devices or manufacturers quite so well, but it's one of the best trade-in values out there, probably second only to T-Mobile's promotion, and you don't have to mess around with bill credits or anything like that. In fact, if you splurged for a more expensive S20+ or S20 Ultra over the base model, you actually won't get any more cash for it:
Samsung devices:
- Galaxy S20: $700
- Galaxy S20+: $700
- Galaxy S20 Ultra: $700
- Galaxy Note20: $700
- Galaxy Note20 Ultra: $700
- Galaxy Note10: $550
- Galaxy Note10 5G: $550
- Galaxy Note10+: $550
- Galaxy S10: $550
- Galaxy S10 5G: $550
- Galaxy S10+ $550
- Galaxy S10e: $550
- Galaxy S20 FE: $550
- Galaxy A71: $350
- Galaxy Note 9: $350
- Galaxy S9: $350
- Galaxy S9+: $350
- Galaxy Note 8: $250
- Galaxy S8: $250
- Galaxy S8+: $250
- Galaxy S8 Active: $250
- Galaxy A51: $200
- Galaxy A51 5G: $200
- Galaxy S7: $200
- Galaxy S7 Active: $200
- Galaxy S7 Edge: $200
Google devices:
- Pixel 4: $350
- Pixel 4 XL: $350
- Pixel 3: $200
- Pixel 3 XL: $200
- Pixel 3a: $200
- Pixel 3a XL: $200
Apple devices:
- iPhone 12: $700
- iPhone 12 Mini: $700
- iPhone 12 Pro: $700
- iPhone 12 Pro Max: $700
- iPhone 11: $550
- iPhone 11 Pro: $550
- iPhone 11 Pro Max: $550
- iPhone XS: $550
- iPhone XS Max: $550
- iPhone 8: $350
- iPhone 8 Plus: $350
- iPhone X: $350
- iPhone XR: $350
- iPhone 7: $250
- iPhone 7 Plus: $250
- iPhone 6S: $200
- iPhone 6S Plus: $200
- iPhone SE: $200
On top of that, you also get $100 in Samsung store credit and one of those new SmartTags with your pre-order. In total: It's a pretty good deal for you, and not such a great deal for Samsung. If you are hoping to upgrade from an S20 (or just have one and you're entertaining the idea) and don't want to deal with bill credits, spending $100 to upgrade to a newer model is probably an easy decision to make.
Keep in mind, it's not all upsides. The S21 loses a few features over last year's phone, like no MST for payments, a drop in screen resolution, and no microSD expandable storage, but for some of us, it's a small price to pay for the latest Snapdragon 888 and an extra year of software support.
Considering how much more quickly the trade-in value falls for older devices on Samsung's list, it might even be cheaper in the long run to upgrade now and again next year, for a potentially lower overall cost compared to a two-year upgrade — though who knows what next year's offers might be.
Source: Samsung