This week, Samsung announced that the Galaxy S24 series has joined the Certified Re-Newed program in the US. These phones have been repaired by Samsung engineers with 100% genuine parts, have a brand new battery installed and have a 1-year manufacturer warranty.
And keep in mind that the S24 generation is slated for 7 major updates – Android 15/One UI 7 is currently rolling out (after a short hiccup), which leaves six more years of support. The question is whether the extra cost of the new models is worth the upgrade.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,020, the 512GB variant is $1,140. On Samsung.com, there is a free storage upgrade, so the 512GB variant sells at the 256GB price – $1,300. You can also get up to $630 in trade-in credit, if you have an old phone you want to get rid of. However, Amazon has a better no-trade-in price of $1,220 for a 512GB phone – that is only $80 more than the refurbished S24 Ultra.
We have a detailed Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. S25 Ultra comparison article, as well as a video to help you decide which phone is the better pick. Newer is not always better – just check the S Pen features. The new model has a slightly flatter, larger display (6.9” vs. 6.8”) and a 50MP ultra-wide camera, but the one major upgrade is the chipset (Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. 8 Gen 3).
The renewed Samsung Galaxy S24 starts at $620 for a 128GB phone and is $50 more for the 256GB variant. Samsung.com has the free storage upgrade offer for the Galaxy S25 too, so comparing the 256GB models, the renewed S24 is $130 cheaper than a new S25.
For a detailed comparison, check out our Galaxy S24 vs. S25 head-to-head article and video. In short, there’s the new chipset with more RAM (12GB vs. 8GB) and a thinner design (7.2mm vs. 7.6mm) with slightly better battery life.
There are no renewed Galaxy S24+ units available at the moment, so let’s just have a quick look at the Galaxy S25+. Samsung.com and Amazon price the 256GB model. Samsung offers up to $630 trade-in credit.
We’ll wrap up with a quick look at the Google’s new mid-ranger. The Pixel 9a is still too new for proper discounts, but Best Buy throws in a $100 gift card, which is almost as good.
That said, offers on the higher-end Pixel 9 have dried up – last week you could get 128/256GB for $650/$700, but now the base model is $800. At $150 more than the “a” phone there is a discussion to be had, but right now you either want the 9a or you wait a few weeks for Pixel 9 deals to return.
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