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Why Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Is The Best Phone To Buy Right Now

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Samsung remains the savviest smartphone maker in the industry. 

The Korean company is not shy about inventing entirely new technology for its phones, going overboard on specifications, borrowing features from rivals, mocking competitors and, most importantly, shamelessly undercutting everyone else. 

For the Galaxy S20 it has done (almost) all of the above. 

In a time when smartphone manufacturers are creating new, powerful, affordable devices that stretch the definition of “mid range”, Samsung is adding every discount possible to the S20 to entice consumers to pre-order.

The key is trade-in prices. Samsung has temporarily upped what it will pay for your old phone if you pre-order any of the S20 variants. Trade-in prices have steadily improved over the last two years, but Samsung’s offers are some of the best I’ve seen. 

The Korean company will give you $600 for last year’s Galaxy S10, which was the retail price of the phone at the start of this month (Samsung discounted it to $439 when the S20 was announced). You’ll also get a $100 Samsung store credit to spend on something else (the new Galaxy Buds+ are $149, but it might be worth waiting to buy Google’s Pixel Buds 2). 

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All of that means you can get the 128GB S20 5G model for $399, a huge $700 saving. Samsung is offering similarly high trade-in prices for other phones too. You’ll get $600 for the S10+ and S10 5G - and the same for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. 

It’s less generous with Google’s Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL, which will net $300 trade-in. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will net a $600 saving, but who honestly trades in one current generation phone for another? It’s the same for the iPhone 11 range and the Note 10 5G - all of which are worth $700 in trade-in value. 

These are limited-time trade-in offers just for the S20 range (including the S20+ and S20 Ultra). Samsung's regular trade-in price for the iPhone XS, for example, is $250 - that’s a $350 difference. 

Comparatively Apple is offering $420 trade-in for the iPhone XS and Google doesn’t appear to have a trade-in option. 

Up against typically affordable devices this deal fares well. For example Samsung’s own budget option, the Note 10 Lite, is more expensive (priced in the UK at £529, about $685 US). Indeed, you’ll pay more for the OnePlus 7T Pro and even Apple’s 2018 iPhone XR. 

For a phone of the S20’s quality, which is a device that basically crams in every feature ever discussed in a design meeting, this is an objectively good deal.

 It also suggests what I’ve long suspected, that manufactures are dramatically cutting upfront costs to try and entice a consumer base that is increasingly weary of upgrading their phones.

The news that Apple’s budget iPhone XR was the world’s best selling phone of 2019 shows how deal-hungry buyers are. Samsung has responded in kind with this particular offer, but also its S10e and Note 10 Lite devices - alongside discounting the S10 range. 

We’ll likely see more discounts in 2020 when Google’s Pixel 4a and Apple’s next mid-cycle budget phones arrive, but for now, the Galaxy S20 is the best value phone your money can buy. 

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