Smartphones aren’t necessarily thought of as an investment. You don’t purchase your device hoping to make a profit. However, how much money you’ll get for reselling your phone should be something you at least consider.
A new study from musicMagpie analyses the resale values of many popular smartphones to determine which ones retain their value best.
iPhones are the clear leader, retaining a higher percentage of their original price, but there are some Android devices that are worth a pretty penny, too.
On average, iPhones lose approximately 43 percent of their value in the first 12 months and 61 percent after 24 months. That’s far ahead of any Android devices, so if you’re looking for a phone that’ll net you as much cash as possible when you’re done with it, an iPhone is definitely the smart choice.
When it comes to Android devices, Samsung is the best at holding value, but it’s not even close to Apple. In 12 months, Samsung devices lose 64 percent of their original price. After two years, they’ll lose an average of 76 percent. Interestingly, they lose much more after one year, but the difference between the first and second year is closer than with Apple devices.
OnePlus and Google are rather close in terms of the resale value after 12 months at 64 percent and 67 percent, respectively. After two years, OnePlus devices depreciate by 81 percent, while Google phones drop by an average of 79 percent.
Bringing up the rear is Huawei. The company’s devices depreciate by a staggering 74 percent after the first year and 88 percent after year two. If resale is something on your radar, you might want to rethink buying that Huawei phone.
The individual devices follow the same trends as the brands, but it is interesting to dig in a little deeper and see which iPhones and Samsung devices are worth the most over time.
In terms of devices, the iPhone 8 Plus loses the least value. It only depreciates by 38 percent after one year. Tied at 39 percent are the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.
The first Android device to make the list is actually the OnePlus 7T, which loses about 50 percent of its value after 12 months.
As far as individual phones that lose the most value, the Huawei P20 sits atop the throne, losing 84 percent of its original value after a year.
In addition to breaking down the top and bottom phones, the study from musicMagpie also includes a search option that lets you look up a specific phone.
If you’re curious to see how much value your phone has retained, head to the musicMagpie depreciation report and type your phone’s model into the search box near the top of the page.