5 Smartphones With The Best Resale Value In 2026

Smartphone buyers looking for a new device in mid-2026 should not make a purchase before checking the resale market, especially at a time when brand-new devices may cost more than comparable models did last year. Vendors have been raising smartphone prices in the past few months because of the ongoing memory and storage crisis. Even Apple increased prices on some products, and there's speculation that some iPhone 18 models may be more expensive than expected in the fall. The summer of 2026 will bring several new handsets, including the Pixel 11 series, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Flip 8 foldables, and Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models and the first-generation foldable iPhone.

Shoppers looking to sell or trade in their current phone for a new model later this year should know about their device's relative resale value — in other words, how much a device has depreciated from its initial retail price. In this way, certain phone models stand above the rest, including several of Apple's recent iPhone offerings and one of Samsung's Galaxy devices.

Checking the secondhand market may also help you decide whether to buy a brand-new handset or purchase a used model. If you're a smartphone user who upgrades frequently, you'll want to know how much value your device will retain after a period of time. Even if you keep a phone for several years, buying a more expensive device with extra storage may pay off if that handset model tends to retain its value better than competing devices.

With that in mind, owning any of the following devices may help you get a good deal from a future sale. Also, buying any of these devices from the vendor or a carrier can be a good investment if you want a device with a reduced depreciation rate.

Launched in late February 2026, Samsung's Galaxy S26 series included the same three models as the previous Galaxy S series: the standard Galaxy S26, the Galaxy S26 Plus, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The base model is the only Android handset on our list. As of this writing, it sells on Swappa for $800 unlocked. That's the 256 GB variant, although, interestingly enough, the 512 GB option costs $799 around the same time. At $800 compared to the $899.99 launch price, the unlocked Galaxy S26's retained value is 88.9%. Locked models will have a lower average price, with a 256 GB model locked to Cricket selling for $549. Overall, the Galaxy S26's average price on Swappa is $675. That lowers the overall retained value to 75%.

While the Galaxy S26 made our list, Samsung fans who purchased the standard Galaxy S26 model this year still may not be thrilled with the depreciation rate for the base model, especially considering that the handset cost $100 more than its direct predecessor. The Galaxy S26 retains the overall design of its predecessor, offering a 6.3-inch OLED screen with 2,340 by 1,080 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and 2,600 nits of peak brightness. The phone features the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip paired with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage. On the back, the Galaxy S26 has three cameras: a 50-megapixel wide lens, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 10-megapixel zoom lens. The 4,300 mAh battery supports 25 W wired charging speeds. Finally, the handset offers seven years of software and security updates starting from the Android 16 version it ships with.

Also launched only a few months before our research here is Apple's newest budget-friendly iPhone, the iPhone 17e. The handset starts at $599 at the Apple Store for the 256 GB version, while the average price for the unlocked version is $579 on Swappa. That means the handset retained 96.66% of its value, significantly higher than the Galaxy S26 model. When taking into account all iPhone 17e versions on Swappa, the average price drops to $550. But even so, the retained value drops to 91.82%, which is higher than the Samsung phone.

This shows that a solid midrange phone can be a great deal for buyers looking for a more affordable high-end handset. The iPhone 17e may look identical to the iPhone 16e model, with its 6.1-inch OLED panel with a Face ID notch at the top and the single-lens 48-megapixel camera on the back. But the iPhone 17e received several key upgrades without a price increase. The budget iPhone comes with 256 GB of storage instead of 128 GB and, unlike its predecessor, features MagSafe support. The 4,005 mAh battery offers the same battery life as the iPhone 16e, up to 26 hours of video playback.

More importantly, the iPhone 17e features Apple's A19 chip that also powers the more expensive $799 iPhone 17, paired with 8 GB of RAM. This ensures the more affordable handset can offer a fast iOS 26 experience. Also, it'll run the new Apple Intelligence and Siri features in iOS 27. The iPhone 17e should receive at least five or six major iOS updates, if not more. Apple doesn't offer software guarantees, but the 2019 iPhone 11 series will run this year's iOS 27 update.

Having the iPhone 17 Pro Max on the list isn't a surprise, considering the Pro Max models are routinely among the best-selling iPhones in Apple's lineup. Starting at $1,199 for the 256 GB version from Apple, the unlocked 256 GB iPhone 17 Pro Max sells for $1,173 on Swappa, which puts its retained value at 97.83%. The average price on Swappa is even higher, at $1,307, but that's because the iPhone 17 Pro Max comes in several storage capacities, ranging from 256 GB to 2 TB. The highest capacity version costs $1,999 at Apple.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max's retained value in mid-July 2026 may seem even more surprising considering that Apple introduced the iPhone 17 series in September 2025. The iPhone 18 Pro Max should be unveiled in about two months. But the iPhone 17 Pro Max has been one of the most popular iPhone 17 models in Apple's lineup. BGR's own checks over the course of nearly three months have shown that the iPhone 17 Pro Max was consistently sold out in several markets between September and December 2025, including the United States.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max offers the best possible iPhone hardware and a new design. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models feature a new aluminum chassis with a built-in vapor chamber. The handsets come with Apple's best mobile processor, the A19 Pro, which is paired with 12 GB of RAM. The iPhone 17 Pro models also feature the best camera systems available on iPhones, offering users three 48-megapixel lenses (wide, ultra-wide, and zoom), and an 18-megapixel sensor on the front. Finally, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the largest battery in an iPhone, a 5,088 mAh unit that supports wired charging speeds of up to 40 W.

The smaller 6.3-inch iPhone 17 Pro has an even higher retained value than the Pro Max version, according to Swappa listings. The unlocked 256 GB iPhone 17 Pro sells for an average price of $1,085, which represents 98.73% of the handset's $1,099 retail price. As a reminder, Apple eliminated the 128 GB storage tier from the iPhone Pro model last year, and thus, the $999 entry price. The average selling price for the iPhone 17 Pro is $1,218 on Swappa, when taking into account all storage options and carrier models. Like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the iPhone 17 Pro comes in several storage options, topping out at 1 TB.

The iPhone 17 Pro offers almost identical hardware to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The main differences are size-related. The iPhone 17 Pro has a 6.3-inch display instead of a 6.9-inch screen and the resolution is lower (2,622 by 1,206 pixels instead of 2,868 by 1,320 pixels), though the pixel density is virtually identical at approximately 460 pixels per inch. Otherwise, the OLED panel offers the same high-contrast experience, 120 Hz refresh rate, and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness as the Pro Max version. The battery is also slightly smaller, at 4,252 mAh on the U.S. models (which are eSIM-only).

Notably, during our weekly stock checks in the December 2025 quarter, the smaller iPhone 17 Pro has not been sold out on Apple's website as often as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple caught up with demand sooner for the iPhone 17 Pro than for iPhone 17 Pro Max and the standard iPhone 17 model.

This brings us to the base iPhone 17 model, which is arguably the best standard iPhone Apple has released since it introduced the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models. The unlocked 256 GB iPhone 17 sells for $791 on Swappa as of this writing, which is slightly lower than the $799 price tag at Apple. In other words, the handset retained 99% of its value about 10 months after its release. The average selling price on Swappa is slightly higher, at $856. But that's because the handset is also available in a more expensive 512 GB variant.

Anyone following the iPhone 17 since its release should not be surprised to see the phone retain its value so well. The handset shares several core specs with the iPhone 17 Pro. It offers users the same display quality as the smaller iPhone 17 Pro and comes with 256 GB of storage instead of 128 GB. Apple doubled the flash memory without raising prices last year. The phone also gets the same 18-megapixel selfie camera as the Pro models but features only two 48-megapixel lenses on the back instead of three. Unlike the Pro variants, the base model does not have a new aluminum-and-glass design on the back, nor does it offer a vapor chamber. The iPhone 17 comes with the same A19 chip as the iPhone 17e and features a 3,692 mAh battery.

While Apple caught up with iPhone 17 Pro demand in fall 2025, the iPhone 17 was consistently sold out between September and December. But that was not surprising, given the set of specs above.

iPhones have historically kept their value better than Android devices. When looking for the handsets with the best resale value in July 2026, we expected several iPhones to appear on the list. Indeed, four of the five models are from the iPhone 17 family. We looked at Swappa listings for all models to level the playing field. The website offers plenty of data for each smartphone, including average prices as well as graphs that show buyers how prices can fluctuate. While Swappa isn't the only marketplace dealing in used handsets, a fully comprehensive resale picture across every marketplace is difficult to produce. SellCell, eBay, Gazelle, and BackMarket are other places that offer similar information.

Also, given the small percentage differences between the top four handsets, which are all iPhone 17 models, the ranking above may change from day to day when looking at Swappa figures. The Swappa prices above were valid at the time of writing, but they may change without notice.

We'll also point out the important caveat when it comes to prices. We judged the retained value of every handset on the list by comparing the Swappa prices for the cheapest unlocked models and the overall average price to the official price of each handset. However, the Swappa price represents what users would actually pay for the handset, while the official price doesn't include taxes. That means buyers shopping at Apple and Samsung would pay slightly more for these five handsets. But even so, the Swappa listings paint a good picture of the used smartphone landscape in the U.S. ahead of the upcoming smartphone launches in 2026.