If you are looking to sell your LG smartphone, don't expect a good price. Online smartphones and tablets marketplace SellCell has published a report based on resale data from over 40 buyback companies and has come to the conclusion that compared to phones from Apple, Samsung, and Google, LG devices lose their value a lot faster.
The results are based on recent LG smartphones and most of them were released in the last two years. The data was segregated by the condition of the used phones - "like new", "good", "poor", and "faulty."
The flagships have been pitched against comparable Apple and Samsung handsets, and the mid-tier phones have been compared with last year's Google's Pixel smartphones. No matter the metrics, it's clear that LG smartphones are pretty bad at holding on to their value.
LG's last true flagship has only retained around 30 percent of its original value
LG smartphones estimated resale value
Let's start with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865-powered LG V60 ThinQ, the South Korean company's last true flagship that was released in March 2020. The 128GB model which had a launch price of $899, will only get you $279 in the "like new" condition, a value depreciation of 69 percent.
In comparison, Apple's latest high-end phone, the iPhone 12 Pro Max (128GB, "like new") that came out late last year, has only lost 15 percent of its value. iPhones generally tend to be better at retaining their value than competing devices. Samsung smartphones don't do as well. The 128GB Galaxy S21 Ultra is now worth around 54 percent of what it was at launch, a value loss of over 45 percent in just a few months.
Apple vs Samsung vs Google vs LG smartphone resale value
SellCell also notes that the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G 128 GB is the worst-performing non-LG smartphone. It has lost 61.4 percent of its $1,399 retail price in "good" condition.
Back to LG, the company's comparatively newer phones that it was apparently counting on to turn its fortunes around aren't any better than its premium phones. The Velvet 5G, which was released in May last year and has the Snapdragon 765G under the hood, is now worth $185 in the "like new" state, which represents a 69 percent loss in value.
Of all 2020 LG smartphones, the Wing has depreciated the most
The quirky LG Wing that has two screens and the same processor as Velvet, will only fetch you $285 in the best condition. We are talking about the 128GB model, which was $999 at launch. In contrast, last year's Google Pixel 5, which is also powered by the Snapdragon 765G, has a top buyback price of $405, which means its value has plummeted around 42 percent since release.
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Of all the "like new" smartphones, the 2017 LG V30 64GB has shed the most value. The phone, which had a price tag of $809 at launch, will only get you a paltry $61 now. LG's entry-level smartphones have unsurprisingly not done any better, losing up to 90 percent of their value in a short span of time.
LG, as you probably already know, is leaving the smartphone business. If you own an LG smartphone, the silver lining here is that the company has promised three years of software support for existing phones and it also plans to upgrade some of its handsets to Android 12 and Android 13.
The company was once the top performer in the smartphone space but struggled to keep pace with new competitors. Until recently, it was the third-largest vendor in North America, but Apple and Samsung had a considerable lead. Thus, it's something of a shock that most people don't want to keep LG phones as memorabilias.
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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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