Samsung has started selling its own certified refurbished Galaxy phones on Amazon.com recently as it simultaneously raised prices on the latest Galaxy S26 and Galaxy A models in the US. Taken together, the moves offer a lower-cost alternative to new devices without directly reducing new model price tags.
Refurbished Galaxy lineup and prices
Seven models from the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25 series are available, with prices ranging from $489 for a Galaxy S24 FE to $1,029 for a Galaxy S25 Ultra with 512GB. Refurbished variants of the Galaxy S26 are also on offer; despite the price hikes for new Galaxy S26 phones, Samsung has not raised the price of the refurbished S26 models. The gap between a certified refurbished Galaxy S26 and a brand-new one is now about $240, while the difference for the Galaxy S26 Ultra has widened from $200 to $300.
What the certified refurbished program delivers
Each refurbished model undergoes a large number of quality checks, receives a new battery and is backed by a one-year warranty. Samsung provides the same level of software support for refurbished devices, meaning a refurbished Galaxy S26 gets the same number of Android OS upgrades as a new unit.
Business reasons: squeezing more from existing inventory
Rising memory chip prices have pushed smartphone costs up, leaving companies like Samsung with little room to absorb costs or forego margins. Refurbishing and reselling devices lets Samsung extract more value from phones it has already produced, since refurbished units already contain memory chips that were purchased when the phones were first sold. The strategy arrives as Samsung is on track for its first ever annual loss and has cut device shipment projections for the year; stronger refurbished offerings should help move more devices while reducing the need to build new phones that require costly memory chips.
Limits of the approach and what it means for buyers
The refurbished channel depends on trade-ins, which in turn depend on new phone sales; as new sales decline, trade-in supply and the pool for refurbishment will also shrink. For customers, certified refurbished phones present a way to buy recent flagship models without absorbing the full impact of the company’s price increases. Apart from the expectation of unboxing a brand-new device, Samsung says there is effectively no difference in the user experience between the refurbished and new options.
