The £1,000 Club: Which Old Phones Still Fetch Four Figures
The Phones Worth Over £1,000 Right Now
Most people would be happy to get £200 for their old phone. A very small group of sellers are getting back over £1,000 - and right now, in March 2026, that club has fewer members than you might expect.
Based on live pricing across our recycler network, the current headline figure belongs to the iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB, which is fetching up to £1,410. That's not a typo. Sit that next to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 1TB at up to £1,200 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 512GB at up to £1,070, and you've got the full picture of what the four-figure club looks like today.
It's a short list. But understanding why these specific devices hold value the way they do tells you a lot about how to buy smarter next time around.
What Actually Makes a Phone Hold Its Value?
Depreciation in the phone market isn't random. We see clear patterns across the thousands of devices listed on OnRecycle, and the phones that hold value best tend to share a handful of specific traits.
First, storage tier matters enormously. The iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB commands £1,410 while the 1TB version fetches up to £1,191 - a £219 gap for one storage bump. That's not just about capacity. High-storage flagship variants appeal to a narrower, more premium second-hand buyer who's willing to pay for the top configuration. Supply is lower, demand from that segment is consistent and prices stay firm.
Second, brand ecosystem loyalty drives resale. Apple and Samsung's top-tier devices benefit from huge installed user bases who want to stay in their ecosystem but can't always stretch to brand new. That sustained demand from within the ecosystem creates a floor under prices that cheaper brands simply don't have. Xiaomi's average trade-in value across our network sits at around £62, compared to Apple's average of roughly £255. The gap is structural, not accidental.
Third, the foldable factor. The Galaxy Z Fold7 commanding four figures isn't just about specs - it's about scarcity. Foldables are still a relatively small slice of the market. Fewer units sold means fewer second-hand units available, and buyers chasing the form factor pay a premium for it.
How These Prices Compare to What You Paid
Getting £1,410 back sounds brilliant until you remember the iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB launched at around £1,799. You're recovering roughly 78p in the pound - which, for a phone you've used for months or a year, is genuinely impressive.
Compare that to a mid-range phone bought for £400. If it fetches £80 at trade-in time, that's only 20p in the pound. The flagship buyer often comes out ahead on a straight cost-of-ownership calculation, especially if they upgrade regularly and sell quickly.
The key word there is quickly. Phone values drop fast in the first few months after a new model launches. According to research from GSMA, the average smartphone loses around 50% of its retail value within the first year. Top-tier flagships depreciate too - they just start from a much higher ceiling, so even after significant depreciation, the absolute number can still clear £1,000.
The Galaxy Z Fold7 illustrates this well. At launch it cost north of £1,700. Getting £1,200 back means you've lost around £500 in value - but you've also had a cutting-edge device in your hands. For context, a mid-range phone bought for £500 might return £60. The total cost of ownership can actually favour the flagship buyer who sells at the right time.
The Timing Window You Can't Afford to Miss
Here's something our team notices constantly: people wait too long to sell. The moment a new iPhone or Galaxy S launch is announced, prices for the previous generation start sliding. By the time the new model actually ships, you've already lost ground.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is still commanding four figures because it's the current flagship. The iPhone 16 Pro Max 1TB, by comparison, now fetches up to around £750 on our platform - still solid, but it crossed below the £1,000 line the moment the 17 series arrived. That window closed fast.
If you own a current-generation flagship and you're thinking about upgrading, the time to sell your phone is before the next model launches, not after. Manufacturers telegraph launch timelines pretty clearly - Apple's September cycle and Samsung's January-February Galaxy S window are well established. Set a reminder. Sell early.
Foldables follow a slightly different curve because the upgrade cycle is less predictable and the buyer pool is more niche. But the same principle applies: the longer you sit on it, the more value bleeds away.
Is Buying Flagship Actually a Smart Financial Strategy?
This is the question worth sitting with. Buying a £1,700 phone and recovering £1,200 sounds like a £500 loss - but reframe it as a £500 annual cost for the best possible device, and it starts looking different.
That said, the maths only works if you follow through on the sell. The UK has an estimated 55 million unused devices sitting in drawers, according to WRAP. Most of those aren't flagships, but plenty are. Every month a phone sits unused, its trade-in value drops. The financial case for flagship ownership falls apart the moment you stop treating the resale as part of the plan.
There's also a storage calculation worth making. The 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max commands a £219 premium over the 1TB version in trade-in value. If the 2TB model costs around £100 more to buy new, you're actually making money on that storage upgrade at resale - assuming prices hold. From the data we track, premium storage configurations consistently outperform at trade-in across both Apple and Samsung flagships.
One honest caveat: this strategy only works for the top tier. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 1TB fetches up to £1,209 right now - still in the club. But step down to a Galaxy S25 or an iPhone 16 standard model and you're looking at figures well below £500. The four-figure return is genuinely exclusive to a handful of configurations.
How to Get the Best Price for Your Flagship
Assuming you've got one of these high-value devices, the difference between a good price and the best price comes down to a few practical things.
Always compare. Our recycler network includes companies like Meelie Mobile, Gadget Reclaim, FoneHouse Services, SellMyPhone.org and many others - and prices between them can vary by £50 to £150 for the same device in the same condition. That gap is free money left on the table if you go straight to one recycler without checking.
Condition is everything at this price tier. A cracked screen on an iPhone 17 Pro Max can knock hundreds off the quoted price. Keep your flagship in a case, use a screen protector and keep the original box if you can - it genuinely affects offers. We've written more about the price gap between cracked and working devices on our blog if you want the specifics.
Also check whether the device is still under warranty or covered by AppleCare+. Some recyclers factor this in. And make sure you've removed your Apple ID or Samsung account before sending - devices locked to an account are worth significantly less, and some recyclers won't accept them at all.
If your phone is a current-generation iPhone or Galaxy Z Fold, check what it's worth today. You might be sitting on more than you think - get a quote on OnRecycle and see the live comparison across our full network in under a minute.
Published by The OnRecycle Team on 5th March 2026
