The year 2024 has come to a close, and it’s worth taking a look back at the top smartphones of 2023 and how they held their value. SellCell, an online smartphone marketplace and price comparison site, has published a report that provides insight into how different brands fared in terms of depreciation.
Apple’s smartphones have a track record of holding their value better than Android flagships, and the iPhone 15 continued that trend. Three months after its release, the iPhone 15 had only lost 27.9 percent of its value, which is 27.1 percent less than other flagships. This range even outdid the iPhone 14 by 5 percent. The best model within the range was the 256GB iPhone 15 Pro Max, which depreciated by only 18.2 percent in the first three months. Various iPhone 15 models dominated the best depreciating phones of 2023 list.
The Galaxy S23 series also performed well in holding its value compared to other Android phones. It lost up to 32.8 percent less value than other Android flagships, making it a solid choice for those who don’t stick to one phone for long. The Galaxy S23 family lost 43.5 percent of its value in the first two months and another 1.5 percent in the third month. In contrast, the Galaxy S22 had depreciated by 46.8 percent in the first two months alone. The 256GB Galaxy S23 Plus was the star performer, losing only 35.3 percent of its value three months after it went on sale.
On the other end of the spectrum, the worst depreciating model among the handsets analyzed was the Galaxy S23 FE, which had depreciated an astronomical 68.4 percent three months post-release. The Google Pixel 8 saw its value plummet by 61.2 percent in the first three months, and what’s even more surprising is that it was outperformed by the Pixel 7a, which had lost 52.5 percent of its value during a comparable period.
Surprisingly, the OnePlus 11 also did better than the Pixel 8, with a depreciation of 48.5 percent in the first three months. However, this performance was poor enough to put the phone on the top 15 worst-depreciating phones of 2023 list. Some Galaxy S23 phones were also part of that list, but it could be argued that Samsung and third-party retailers offered discounts on the Galaxy S23, affecting its resale value.
