Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
I knew it would happen , but I was n’t quite fain for just how trivial mySamsung Galaxy Z Flip 5would be worth a twelvemonth down the lineage . This has put an sharp end to my plan to trade it in for the brand newGalaxy Z Fold 6 .
It ’s not the only path Samsung has stiffed buyers outside the U.S. on deal - ins and preorder offers this year either . It ’s frustrating to see , and something that could guide me into the open arms of none other than Apple .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
My trade-in and preorder deals aren’t good
Let ’s talk about how much it will cost to trade in my most recent Samsung folding phone to get the late model . I be in the U.K. , where the gaudy Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 has 256 GB of reposition space and be 1,799 British punt . If I trade in my Galaxy Z Flip 5 , I ’ll get 380 Pound back , leave 1,419 pounding to give . Do n’t worry about a U.S. dollar changeover just yet , as I ’ll come back to it . For context , this is more than the retail toll of a 512GBGalaxy S24 Ultra .
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 cost 1,000 pounds when it was released about a yr ago , so its residual economic value is fairly poor , harmonize to Samsung . Used prices outside of Samsung ’s swop - in program are high-pitched and variegate well depend on storage space , circumstance , and colour . What ’s more , unlike last yr , I ’ll getlessstorage space in my unexampled phone , too , as there ’s no storage extrusion when you preorder . My omega Flip 5 came with a free rising slope from 256 GB to 512 GB .
Samsung ’s only preorder go in the U.K. is to give a class of accidental damage coverage or a free Neon FlipSuit shell and S Pen stylus for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 . Generosity is not Samsung ’s midway name in 2024 , at least it ’s not in the U.K .. If you ’re in the U.S. , though , Samsung may as well wrap your new folding phone up in hopeful paper , deliver it by come down the chimney , and be wearing a ruby suit and a big , blanched stick - on face fungus when it does .
Much better value in the U.S.
Right off the cricket bat , buyers in the U.S. will get the 512 GB Galaxy Z Fold 6 for the same price as the 256 GB model , which is the difference between a $ 1,900 phone and a $ 2,020 telephone . If I want to trade in a Galaxy Z Flip 5 , then Samsung will give me $ 700 for it , meaning a 512 GB Galaxy izzard Fold 5 costs $ 1,200 . Convert that human body over to British pounds , and it ’s 935 pound . You do n’t need a calculator to see that ’s a very bad difference .
I ’m aware there ’s sale tax to be added to the $ 1,200 terms , but even if that bring $ 90 , the final price still does n’t even come close to the cost of what I ’ll pay for alesserdevice where I live . I ’m sure there are all kinds of boring occupation - related divergence between the costs of sell a phone in the U.S. and in the U.K. , and Samsung manifestly needs to make a profit , but it ’s very hard to stomach a 500 pound ( or around $ 642 ) difference for less memory board space and not finger shortchanged .
Even if I had made a different equipment choice this fourth dimension last year , affair would n’t be better . If I had stay fresh myGalaxy Z Fold 4instead ofupgrading to the Z Flip 5 last twelvemonth , the trade wind - in value was basically the same , while if I had upgrade to a Galaxy Z Fold 5 , I ’d only get 550 British pound in patronage - in economic value . I ’d have to sell in the Galaxy S24 Ultra to get Samsung ’s most generous money - back offer of 640 lb , which is much closer to the $ 900 I ’d get for the same phone in the U.S. But at long last , which ever mode I wait at it , the U.S. trade wind - in and preorder offer aremuchmore likable .
Let’s see what Apple does
TheGalaxy Z Flip 5 is still a very beneficial phone , and if you own one , do n’t rush out to upgrade it to theGalaxy Z Flip 6 , as there are n’t that many differences . However , the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a definite tone onward over the Z Fold 4 and even the Z Fold 5 , and I enjoy the brief meter I spent with it ahead of the launch .
I enjoy it enough that if the trade - in and unlike offers had brought the price down for me more significantly , in line with the U.S. price , for case , then I ’d probably be writing a very different clause now . But as it is , I do n’t see much incentive to preorder a speech sound as expensive as the Z Fold 6 , specially when Samsung can rustle up cracking offers elsewhere in the humans .
There ’s something else in my mind , too . In just a few month ’ clock time , Apple will almost certainly announce theiPhone 16 series , and last year , its craft - in fling alone were appeal enough for me toupgrade my iPhone 14 Pro to the 15 Pro Max . If I ’m perish to kick upstairs to a stupidly expensive smartphone this yr , I ’m go to make it the one where I feel like I ’m start out good note value when I do so .
wait to see what Apple is going to do isnotwhat Samsung will want to hear from possible buyers , but as far as anyone buying outside the U.S. is concerned , it ’s arduous to think otherwise .
