Want more money for your old handset? Buy an iPhone instead of Android, survey suggests

In brief: It's one of the most enduring and often passionate rivalries among tech consumers – Apple versus Android. According to a new report, iPhone users can boast an advantage over those who prefer Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and the others: Apple phones tend to have a higher resale value, making them a better investment.

People tend to do one of three things with their old phones when upgrading to a new model: They either retain it by keeping the handset as a backup or giving it to a friend or family member, it's recycled or donated, or it's sold or traded in, either to a third-party marketplace, a carrier, or the company that made it.

A new survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) found that more than twice the number of iPhone owners sold or traded in their device compared to Android owners – 41% vs. 17%.

The findings suggest that there are more and better options for trading in older iPhone models than Android equivalents, something that backs up other reports examining at handset value retention.

CIRP's survey also found that 53% of Android owners held on to their old phones, 13% more than iPhone users, and 30% of Android devices are disposed of, while the figure is 19% for iPhones.

The report concludes that monetizing an old Android phone is "not a winning proposition," meaning few of them are sold or traded in. Another CIRP report found that people generally hold on to iPhones longer, which highlights the strength of their value retention.

Like new cars, smartphones lose their value quickly. A report from SellCell found that the iPhone 15 Pro Max (256GB) held onto its value better than any handset from last year, losing 18.2% of its price three months after launch. The best Android model of 2023 was the Samsung S23 Plus 256GB, losing 35.3% of its value in the first three months post-launch.

On average, across all model variants, the iPhone 15 phones lost 27.9% of their value after three months, the Galaxy S23 series lost 44.5%, the Pixel 7A lost 52.5%, and the OnePlus 11 lost 48.5%. The worst performer was the Galaxy S23 FE, losing 68.4% of its value.