Samsung Galaxy phones are getting a big trade-in boost: you’ll soon be able to sell them without buying a new one
- Samsung has just improved the terms of its phone trade-in program
- There is no longer any obligation to purchase and it is open all year round
- It has started in South Korea and France and more regions will follow soon
Are you tired of your Samsung phone and want to trade it in for something new? Samsung has just improved its Galaxy Trade-In program to offer more generous terms, making it a tempting option if you want to upgrade to one of the best Samsung phones.
One of the new changes is that you don’t have to trade in your old Samsung phone for a new one at all. No purchase is necessary, so you can simply trade in your old device for some cash if you prefer. However, you may have to wait a while for this; the program just started in South Korea and France, and Samsung says it plans to “expand to more regions through 2025.”
Previously, you had to buy a new Samsung phone through samsung.com or the company’s app when you traded in an old one. If you already had one in mind and wanted to upgrade, it probably wasn’t much of a problem, but it was less useful if you just wanted to get rid of an old device and leave it at that. And if you were to switch from a Samsung device to an iPhone or any other Android product, it wouldn’t have worked for you at all.
And there’s another improvement to the program: you can now get cash for your old phone all year round, wherever you are in the world. That used to be the case if you lived in the US or most other Western locations, but in South Korea the trade-in windows were locked at certain times of the year, limiting your options.
These windows were often tied to major product launches – like the one on Samsung Unpacked 2025, for example – but that is no longer the case.
Limited eligibility
This sounds like good news for anyone looking to get rid of their old Samsung device in 2025, whether or not they want to replace it with something better. But there’s a notable catch: it’s not all entirely positive.
The problem is that you can currently only trade in specific Samsung devices. This includes phones from the Galaxy S20, S21, S22 and S23 series. It also includes some foldable phones, including the Z Flip 3 to Z Flip 5, as well as the Z Fold 3 to Z Fold 5.
Oddly enough, neither the Galaxy S24, the Z Flip 6, nor the Z Fold 6 are trade-inable, even though they only launched last year. This means that the range of products eligible for the program is quite narrow.
That said, it’s still a better arrangement than before. While there aren’t many devices available for trade-in, you now at least have a lot more flexibility if you want to take up Samsung’s offer. If you were previously thinking about trading in your old device, this is a welcome change.