Varna, Bulgaria, January 25, 2024 – New smartphone Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with S-Pen on the screen … (+)
This story was updated on August 29 with details of the sale of Google’s rival Pixel.
Samsung slashed the price of the Galaxy S24 just before the launch of Google’s Pixel 9 earlier this month. Now, just weeks before the release of the iPhone 16, the Korean company has reduced its flagship smartphone again.
The new offer is unusual in that it reduces the list price by a full $200, making the Galaxy S24 just $1,219.99.
Usually, these $200 discounts are saved for the Black Friday holiday shopping season, but we know that Samsung, Google, and Apple (occasionally) have been running several aggressive deals this year to lure away each other’s loyal customers.
The offer runs until September 2nd and only applies if you don’t have a phone to trade in. If you do, Samsung has increased the trade-in prices for your old device, as it has done several times this year. Here’s how you can save a lot when you buy the Ultra device:
- $650 for the Galaxy S22 Ultra
- $600 for the Galaxy S21 Ultra
- $500 for the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
- $400 for the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
As always, the pricing of Google’s Pixel lineup doesn’t match that of Samsung and Apple. Samsung, for example, charges just $300 for the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro. Considering the latter isn’t even a year old, these aren’t great numbers.
However, if you own a Pixel phone, Google is offering some good deals to trade in its old tech. The company is pricing the Pixel 8 Pro at $699, which is the highest price I’ve seen for it from all three companies. Even the Pixel 7 Pro is worth a solid $540.
For other brands, prices vary. For example, Google pays $635 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max while Samsung charges $500. However, for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Google only pays $360 while Samsung charges $650.
The reason for the increased trade-in prices is a new pre-order offer for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The company is also offering $350 in store credit when pre-ordering the foldable phone, as well as a free year of Gemini Advanced and 2TB of cloud storage. The latter is similar to what it offered to buyers of the Pixel 9, but the store credit is both new and significant.
As you might expect, the $350 coupon is worth almost as much as the $349.99 coupon for the Pixel Watch 3. Samsung is offering a very similar deal, giving away a credit worth some of its wearables.
Samsung’s $1,500 offer for the Galaxy Fold 6 is also still running. The company Koran revived its pre-order offer for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 in late July and extended it until September 9.
In short, foldable phone buyers can get double storage for free, an improved trade-in price for an old phone, and a $300 credit for a wearable device. A free year of Samsung Care+ is also included in the package.
Samsung says that represents an offer value of $1,500, but to get that amount you’d have to trade in a Galaxy Z Fold 5 for $1,200, which isn’t a smart move considering the phone’s new condition.
It will be interesting to see whether Apple enters the Android price war with its own enticing pre-order offer. The company usually relies on carriers to offer special deals to iPhone pre-orders, but there are signs that Apple is changing its stance on discounts on its hardware.
In May, the company launched a rare promotion that temporarily increased trade-in prices for old smartphones, which were surprisingly cheap compared to Samsung. That same month, Apple cut prices in China to keep up with competition from Huawei – an unusual move for Apple.
