It’s a well-established fact that Android phones offer much worse resale value when compared to iPhones. But there are certain brands and models within the Android world that take a nosedive within their first year of release. So, instead of being taken by surprise with an unexpectedly low price when selling off your current phone, it’s better to know the real market value beforehand — and you can even use this price data to make the most of your next smartphone purchase as well.
This is a non-exhaustive list of Android phones and brands that will get you probably the worst resale value at the time of writing this post. The included ballpark figures are based on price history and insights available on various public outlets, like Swappa and BankMyCell, and are only indicative. The exact price for your particular device can vary based on a myriad of factors and may not even come close to these estimates if you’ve stumbled upon this story weeks after its publication. As always, your mileage may vary.
The Pixel 6 phones are the talk of the town right now, and it’s only natural to give in to the temptation to pick one up — they’re that good. But if you’re coming from an older Pixel, you’d be lucky if you could even get back a third of what you originally paid. That’s especially true for the Pixel flagships from 2019 and before that have lost a major part of their value — even their trade-in estimates on Google’s own online store aren’t any better.
However, this doesn’t apply if you currently hold a budget Pixel 4a and 5 series phone from last year. Despite being more than a year into their life cycles, they’ve retained their resale value surprisingly well. And even some older Pixels are also fetching a better price than they did last month, so if you’ve got a Pixel 3 or 4 series phone lying around, this might be a good time to sell it off.
Here are our estimates for various used Pixel phones up for grabs at this point.
- Pixel 5: $370-450
- Pixel 4a 5G: $240-330
- Pixel 4a: $230-280
- Pixel 4 XL: $190-250 ↑
- Pixel 4: 180-240 ↑
- Pixel 3a XL: $90-140
- Pixel 3a: $80-130
- Pixel 3 XL: $90-150 ↑
- Pixel 3: $80-120 ↑
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Motorola
Motorola is once again trying to break into the premium segment, but its true flair still lies in the budget and mid-range tiers, where it’s got some good stuff on offer. Traditionally, Motorola’s cheap phones have held their value better than their flagship siblings, but that’s been on the slide lately. Several recent Moto G series phones are losing as much as 40% of their value in their first few months itself, and it’s worse for year-old budget phones.
The inflated MSRPs of flagship and upper-mid-range devices from Motorola severely affect their resale value down the line. Instead of mending ways, the company has applied the same formula to its budget phones as well, bringing the same effect to its more popular phones. Our price estimates for some recent Motorola phones should give you an idea:
- Moto Z4: $140-210
- Moto Edge 2020: $240-350
- Moto Edge+ 2020: $350-400
- Moto G Stylus 2020: $120-160 ↑
- Moto G Play 2021: $80-120
- One 5G Ace: $160-$220
- Moto G Stylus 2021: $190-210
- Moto G Power 2021: $100-160
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Moto G Play 2021 Moto G Stylus Moto Edge
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Moto G Stylus Moto G Power Moto G Pure
Nokia
Nokia’s revival didn’t pan out the way people (or HMD) expected it to. The company hasn’t managed to sell a lot of phones in the last couple of years, and that shows in the pre-owned market as well. If you’re going to sell your Nokia, chances are there won’t be a lot of interested buyers, and that generally means you won’t get a good price for your phone. It’s common for used Nokia phones to easily go down to half of their launch prices (or even less), as indicated in the list below:
- Nokia 2.4: $75-100
- Nokia 4.2: $80-100
- Nokia 5.3: $65-95
- Nokia 5.4: approx. $170
- Nokia 8.3: approx. $250
Buy the newest Nokia phones at Amazon
Nokia XR20 5G Nokia 5.4 Nokia 2.4
OnePlus
For the longest time, OnePlus was the undisputed leader in the mid-range category, with its super-limited but sought-after lineup of devices that translated into a handsome resale value. But that was until a few years ago, and a lot of changed with OnePlus in recent years. Now you can find OnePlus phones at various price points, but the company has lost its charm due to a series of controversial decisions it has taken in the last year or two. The following figures are what you can expect if you’re thinking of selling off your OnePlus phone:
- OnePlus 7T: $140-260 ↑
- OnePlus 8: $240-330 ↑
- OnePlus 8 Pro: $400-$450
- OnePlus 8T: $340-400
- OnePlus N10 5G: $150-180
- OnePlus N200: $140-$200 ↑
Buy renewed OnePlus phones at Amazon
OnePlus Nord N10 5G OnePlus 8 OnePlus 8T
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OnePlus 9 Pro OnePlus 9OnePlus N200
Samsung
You kind of expect Samsung to be among the worst performers when it comes to making the most out of your old phone. While that unfortunately still stands true for your Galaxy phone, things aren’t as bad this time — at least for a few models. The Galaxy S20 FE is still going strong even though Samsung is expected to launch its follow-up any time now. You can also get a good price for the Galaxy S21, though that can’t be said for any other Samsung device, be it a mid-ranger or an older flagship. See it for yourself:
- Galaxy S21: $450-570 ↑
- Galaxy S21+: $500-670
- Galaxy S21 Ultra: $660-800
- Galaxy S20 FE: $350-440 ↑
- Galaxy S20: $340-440
- Galaxy S20+: $400-500 ↑
- Galaxy S20 Ultra: $500-640
- Galaxy Z Flip3: $550-700
- Galaxy Z Flip: $310-430
- Galaxy A52: $290-360
- Galaxy A42 5G: $210-270
- Galaxy A51: $150-210
- Galaxy A71: $170-260
Buy renewed Samsung phones at Amazon
Galaxy Z Flip3 Galaxy Note20 Ultra Galaxy Z Fold3
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Galaxy S21 Ultra Galaxy S21+ Galaxy S20 FE Galaxy Z Flip3 Galaxy A52 Galaxy A42
The dead squad
If not for its peculiarly expensive phones, Sony is pretty much a dead brand in the smartphone space, forming a trio with LG and HTC. There’s still a market for LG phones, albeit a small one, and the prices you’re going to get there likely won’t meet your expectations, but that’s what you get for a defunct brand. Things look slightly better for recent Sony phones (though don’t get your hopes high), but good luck getting anything out of your handed-down beat-up HTC phone.
- LG Velvet: $170-250 ↑
- LG G8 ThinQ: $120-170
- LG V60: $250-310
- LG Wing: $250-350
- Sony Xperia 1 III: $900-$1000
- Sony Xperia 1 II: $570-620 ↑
- Sony Xperia 5 II: $510-620
Buy renewed LG phones at Amazon
LG G8X ThinQ LG V60 ThinQ LG Wing
Buy the newest Sony phones at Amazon
Xperia PRO-IXperia 5 IIThese low resale prices may be good news for shoppers, but they are going to sting the people who bought their phones at full MSRP the most. Some brands are notorious for offering deep discounts within weeks of launch, which kills the product’s resale value. If you’re getting a new phone from one such brand, it’s best to look out for discounts so that you can keep your loss to the minimum when you decide to sell it. But if you’re trying to get rid of one, you can give trade-ins a shot, especially when companies get extra generous with their offers for picking one of their premium phones.
UPDATE: 2022/01/04 23:12 EST BY KARANDEEP SINGH
Late-December prices
We’ve updated the device prices to reflect any changes as of late December. The ↑ icon indicates that you’re likely to get a better deal for that particular phone right now as compared to what we saw in November.
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