Galaxy S10e owners get shafted in the Galaxy S20 trade-in program

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S20 series two days ago. While the phones aren't yet available for purchase, early birds can reserve the phones, and wait a while for pre-orders to start. The company is heavily pushing its trade-in program on the reserve page, too, but that's a slight issue with that: Galaxy S10e owners get the short end of the stick.

Samsung is offering just US$300 for the S10e in its Galaxy S20 trade-in program, and that's, well, a d*ck move. The S10e was launched alongside the S10 and S10+ last year. It also cost US$750, just US$150 less than the S10 which is eligible for US$600 in trade-in.

For some perspective, US$300 is the same amount Samsung is offering for the Pixel 3. The Pixel 3 was released five months before the S10e, with inferior hardware. It also cost US$799, just US$50 more than the S10e. 

Another phone with a US$300 trade-in value is the iPhone X, Apple's flagship from 2017, and a rival to the Galaxy Note 8. The Galaxy Note 8 isn't eligible for trade-in. The Note 9 is, but only for US$300, just like the S10e. The iPhone XS Max was the Note 9's competitor, and it has a trade-in value of US$600.

There are a couple other issues with the trade-in program. For one, owners of the iPhone Xr or even the newer iPhone 11 aren't eligible.

Yes, trade-in programs are designed to reflect real-life value as much as possible. But then, one sees that the Pixel 4 can be had for US$399 on T-Mobile right now, while Samsung offers US$600 for it, and that throws all logic out the window.

Galaxy S10e on sale now at Amazon
Pixel 4 on sale now at Amazon