Google Pixel 9 vs Pixel 8: How Much Did One Year Cost?

The Real Cost of Keeping Your Pixel for One More Year

Here's a number worth sitting with: Google averages £160 across 73 models on OnRecycle. That's a healthy average — but it hides a brutal truth about how quickly individual models lose their value as each new generation lands.

The Pixel 9 launched in August 2024. The Pixel 8 launched in October 2023. That's roughly a year between them — and that single year of age difference translates into a very real gap in what recyclers will pay you today. If you're a Pixel owner sitting on either device, knowing that gap isn't just interesting. It's the difference between cashing in at the right moment and watching another chunk of value evaporate.

So we pulled the data, ran the comparison and here's exactly what one year costs you.

Pixel 9 vs Pixel 8: The Current Resale Gap

At the time of writing in March 2026, the Google Pixel 9 (128GB) is fetching up to around £280-£310 through the better recyclers on our platform. The Pixel 8 (128GB), at roughly 17 months old, is sitting closer to £130-£160 for a working handset in good condition.

That's a gap of somewhere between £120 and £180 depending on condition and which recycler you pick — which, by the way, is exactly why comparing quotes matters so much. We see spreads of £40-£60 between the highest and lowest offers for the same device all the time. The worst offer isn't always from a dodgy outfit; sometimes it just reflects that recycler's current stock position.

Back to the headline figure though: the Pixel 8 has lost roughly half its resale value compared to where the Pixel 9 sits now at a similar point in its own lifecycle. One year. Half the value. That's not unusual in the Android market, but it's still a sharp reminder of how depreciation works in practice.

Does Google's Seven-Year Update Promise Actually Slow Depreciation?

Google made a big deal of the Pixel 8's seven-year software update commitment — the longest in the Android world at the time. The Pixel 9 carries the same promise. In theory, longer software support should slow the rate at which a phone becomes obsolete, which in turn should prop up resale values. In practice, it's more complicated than that.

The recycling and refurbished market doesn't price phones purely on software longevity. Recyclers price based on what they can resell the device for, and buyers in the refurbished market care about hardware specs, camera quality and screen condition far more than whether the phone will still receive Android updates in 2030. A Pixel 8 with a cracked screen and outdated camera specs compared to the Pixel 9 Pro is still going to struggle, regardless of Google's update schedule.

That said, the seven-year promise does appear to be having a modest stabilising effect on the Pixel 8's floor value. We're not seeing the kind of cliff-edge drops you get with some Android brands at the 18-month mark. The Pixel 8 is holding its value better than, say, a comparable OnePlus or Xiaomi device at the same age — and the software story is at least part of the reason buyers are still willing to pay a reasonable amount for it in the refurbished market.

Thing is, "modest stabilisation" and "protected from depreciation" are very different things. The Pixel 9 is still worth roughly twice what the Pixel 8 fetches right now. Google's update promise softens the landing; it doesn't stop the fall.

The Steepest Drop: When Does a Pixel Lose the Most Value?

From the data we track across our recycler network, the sharpest depreciation for Pixel devices tends to happen in two windows. The first is in the three months immediately after launch, when early adopters who bought on day one start to feel the sting of the new model premium fading. The second — and this is the one most people miss — is in the two to three months before a new model launches, when rumours and leaks start circulating and the current flagship suddenly feels a generation behind before it technically is.

For Pixel 9 owners, that second window is approaching. Google typically announces its next Pixel in August, which means by May or June 2026 you'll start to see Pixel 9 quotes softening as recyclers factor in the imminent arrival of the Pixel 10 series. If you're thinking about selling your Pixel 9, the sweet spot is probably the next six to eight weeks — not because the phone is failing, but because timing the market is just as important as condition when it comes to resale value.

Pixel 8 owners are already past both of those windows. The good news is that the rate of decline from here is slower — you're on the long, gradual slope rather than the steep cliff. But waiting another six months won't suddenly recover value. If you want to sell your Pixel 8, now is as good a time as any, and probably better than this time next year.

The Environmental Maths: Why Selling Sooner Makes Sense Beyond the Money

There's another angle here that doesn't get enough attention. The UN estimates that 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally in 2019, and that figure has only grown since. Every phone that sits in a drawer waiting for the "right moment" to be sold is a phone that can't be refurbished, reused or properly recycled. The materials inside it — cobalt, gold, rare earth elements — are sitting idle while miners extract more of the same from the ground.

Selling your Pixel 8 or Pixel 9 now doesn't just put money in your pocket. It puts a working device back into the circular economy. Someone else gets a capable phone at a fraction of the new price, the recycler gets a sellable handset and the planet avoids one more extraction cycle. That's not a small thing.

Google's seven-year update promise actually makes this argument stronger, not weaker. A Pixel 8 sold today will remain a genuinely useful, secure and supported device for years to come in the hands of its next owner. It's not going to a landfill. It's going to someone who wants a reliable phone without paying flagship prices — and it'll keep getting updates until 2030. That's a genuinely good outcome.

How to Get the Best Price for Your Pixel Right Now

Condition is everything, but most people underestimate how much a screen protector and original box can move the needle. Recyclers grade devices on arrival and a phone that arrives clean, with no deep scratches on the camera module and a screen that's free of cracks, will consistently land at the top end of the quote range. We see this all the time on our platform — two identical Pixel 9 handsets quoted on the same day, one in pristine condition and one with a scuffed back, can differ by £30-£40 in final payment.

The other thing most people get wrong is accepting the first quote they see. According to our own data, the spread between the highest and lowest recycler quotes for mid-range Google devices regularly hits £50 or more. That's £50 left on the table for the sake of not spending two minutes comparing. Don't do that to yourself.

Use our comparison tool to get a quote for your phone and see offers from dozens of recyclers side by side. It's free, it takes about 60 seconds and there's genuinely no reason not to. Our network includes recyclers like Gadget Reclaim, SellMyPhone.org, Vendi and many more — all competing for your device, which means better prices for you.

One practical tip from our team: lock in your quote sooner rather than later if you're selling a Pixel 9. Quotes are live prices and they move with the market. A quote you get today reflects today's demand. A quote in August — when the Pixel 10 is being announced — will reflect a very different market. Check the prices now, even if you're not ready to post the phone yet, so you know what you're working with.

Published by The OnRecycle Team on 10th March 2026