Samsung offers some of the best iPhone alternatives on the market, directly competing with Apple in terms of phone durability, hardware, and camera capabilities. However, Samsung’s flagship phones, including the Galaxy S26 models launched in late February 2026, depreciate much faster than iPhones. For example, the iPhone 17 series is almost a year old, as Apple unveiled the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in mid-September 2025. But all four iPhone models have depreciated more slowly than most Galaxy S26 handsets, even the iPhone Air, which hasn’t received the same market reception as the other three.
The same phenomenon was observed in previous years. Companies that track the used smartphone market generally point to the iPhone’s greater value retention compared to its direct competitors, including Samsung devices. In other words, a smartphone buyer who isn’t loyal to one of the major mobile platforms, iOS and Android, and wants to buy a flagship phone with the lowest net cost of ownership should choose iPhones over Galaxy S handsets, even if the devices have the same starting price. The price paid to use the handset for a specific number of years would be the difference between the purchase price and the resale price. In this scenario, a user would get more money back on purchasing an iPhone than on purchasing a Galaxy S. They could then repeat the process with future models.
Consumers who regularly upgrade their devices after one or two years of use can benefit the most from this resale strategy. One year old iPhones would still work fine. After all, Apple keeps one-year-old iPhones in stock for an extra year. Buyers would still get more money for one-year-old iPhones than for one-year-old Galaxy S phones.
Galaxy phones depreciate almost immediately
In addition to a durable design and high performance, the iPhone also benefits from better long-term software support. Apple regularly provides iPhone owners with five or six years of iOS updates. The 2019 iPhone 11 series can be updated to iOS 27, which will be released in September 2026. Samsung has matched or even surpassed Apple’s practice. In 2024, Samsung has committed to providing major Android releases and security updates for high-end smartphones like the Galaxy S models for seven years. This should increase the value of Galaxy S handsets for buyers who want to use them for longer. But that hasn’t improved the Galaxy S’s depreciation rate.
The Galaxy S26 phones have depreciated faster than the iPhone 17 series, despite having been available in stores for about four months. Here are the average selling prices for all 256GB Galaxy S26 and 256GB iPhone 17 models according to Swappa, as of mid-July 2026:
- Galaxy S26: $612 (Swappa) versus $899.99 (starting price) — retained value: 68.00%
- Galaxy S26 Plus: $724 (Swappa) vs. $1,099.99 (starting price) – retained value: 65.82%
- Galaxy S26 Ultra: $875 (Swappa) vs. $1,299.99 (starting price) – retained value: 67.31%
- iPhone 17: $699 (Swappa) versus $799 (starting price) – retained value: 87.47%
- iPhone Air: $709 (Swappa) versus $999 (starting price) – retained value: 70.97%
- iPhone 17 Pro: $952 (Swappa) vs. $1,099 (starting price) – retained value: 86.62%
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,073 (Swappa) vs. $1,199 (starting price) – retained value: 89.49%
A review of the Swappa data above indicates that Galaxy S26 models have lost more than 30% of their value in less than six months, while three iPhone 17 models have depreciated by less than 15%. The iPhone Air is an exception, with a depreciation rate of almost 30%.
A used Galaxy S may be a better deal than a used iPhone
The other three iPhone 17 models were steadily sold out during the first three months of sales. The above data indicates that a different smartphone purchasing strategy may benefit some consumers. Buyers on a tighter budget may consider purchasing a used Galaxy S26 flagship instead of a cheaper Android phone. The Galaxy S25 FE starts at $649.99 before any discounts. A used Galaxy S26 may be cheaper and will offer better overall performance. The same consideration can be applied to previous generations of Galaxy S and iPhone.
An August 2025 SellCell report predicted that Samsung Galaxy S phones would by mid-2026 match the average retained value of the iPhone five months after its launch. The company looked at historical trends which showed that the iPhone depreciation rate increased from 24.7% in 2021 to 35.4% in 2024. At the same time, the Galaxy S depreciation rate improved from 51.9% in 2022 to 46.6% in 2025. However, estimates from SellCell could not have predicted the popularity of the iPhone series SellCell 17.
Additionally, even though the company believed Apple and Samsung’s flagship phones would have identical depreciation rates at five months, it still expected Galaxy S phones to depreciate faster than iPhones the longer they were used. SellCell predicted that the Galaxy S would only reach the nine-month depreciation rate of the iPhone in 2028. SellCell highlighted AI as one of the reasons Android phones have seen improvements in value retention. Apple’s Apple Intelligence and new Siri features revealed at WWDC 2026 for iOS 27 impressed early testers. They can play a role in retaining the value of the iPhone. SellCell acknowledged that the then-unreleased iPhone 17 series and future AI improvements could influence the iPhone’s depreciation rate.
