Samsung Phones Depreciate Significantly Faster Than iPhones, Data Shows

Walk into any used phone marketplace in mid-2026 and the math becomes unavoidable: an iPhone 17 Pro Max that cost $1,199 new will fetch $1,073 on the secondhand market four months later. A Galaxy S26 Ultra that started at $1,299 has already dropped to $875. The difference isn't trivial—it's the gap between owning a phone cheaply and watching your investment evaporate.

Samsung and Apple have spent years trading blows on hardware. Both make durable phones with excellent cameras and fast processors. Both now promise years of software updates—Samsung recently committed to seven years of major Android releases for its flagship models, matching or exceeding Apple's track record. Yet when it comes to what your phone is actually worth after you've used it, the two companies tell completely different stories.

The numbers from Swappa, a secondhand phone marketplace, paint a stark picture. The iPhone 17 retained 87.47% of its $799 starting price after four months on the market. The iPhone 17 Pro held onto 86.62% of its $1,099 value. Even the iPhone Air, which hasn't generated the same excitement as its siblings, kept 70.97% of its $999 price. Compare that to Samsung's flagships: the Galaxy S26 dropped to 68% of its original $899.99 asking price, the S26 Plus fell to 65.82% of $1,099.99, and the S26 Ultra landed at 67.31% of $1,299.99. In less than half a year, Samsung's phones shed more than 30% of their value. Three of Apple's four new models lost less than 15%.

This pattern didn't emerge overnight. Market trackers have documented it for years—iPhones simply hold their value better than Galaxy S phones, even when the devices launch at identical price points and offer comparable features. For someone who isn't wedded to either iOS or Android, the math becomes a practical argument for choosing Apple. If you buy an iPhone, use it for a year, and sell it, you'll recoup significantly more cash than you would from a Galaxy S phone. That money can then fund your next upgrade. Repeat the cycle, and the total cost of ownership tilts decisively in Apple's favor, even if both phones cost the same upfront.

The phenomenon matters most to people who upgrade frequently—every year or two. A one-year-old iPhone still performs well and still commands strong resale prices, partly because Apple keeps previous-generation models in stock and partly because the broader market values them. A one-year-old Galaxy S phone, by contrast, has already lost substantial ground. For budget-conscious buyers, this creates an unexpected opportunity: a used Galaxy S26 flagship, available now for around $612 to $875, might deliver better performance than a new budget Android phone starting at $649.99, while costing less.

Samsung's improved software support hasn't reversed the depreciation trend, which raises a puzzle. The company's seven-year update commitment should theoretically make its phones more valuable to people planning to keep devices longer. Yet the secondhand market hasn't responded. Analysts at SellCell predicted in August 2025 that Samsung would close the gap with Apple by mid-2026, but the iPhone 17's unexpected popularity has derailed that forecast. The same report suggested Galaxy S phones wouldn't match iPhone depreciation rates at the nine-month mark until 2028.

AI may be reshaping the equation. Apple's new intelligence features, unveiled at WWDC 2026 for iOS 27, have impressed early reviewers and could be bolstering iPhone demand and value retention. Samsung has invested heavily in AI improvements too, but the market hasn't yet rewarded those efforts with stronger resale prices. For now, the gap remains wide—and for anyone calculating the true cost of owning a flagship phone, it's a gap that matters.