Have you been eyeballing an upgrade to Samsung's
Galaxy Note 10+ or Galaxy Note 10? If so, you may be interested to know about
Microsoft's new trade-in promotion. Microsoft is offering up to $650 in trade-in credit towards a Galaxy Note 10+ or Galaxy Note 10, with the highest values being paid for a Galaxy S10, Galaxy Note 9, or an iPhone X series handset.
The maximum credit amount is even better than what
Samsung offers through its own trade-in program, which is $600 off when upgrading from (and trading in) a Galaxy S10+. Samsung also has a
spotty history with regards to its trade-in program, with some users venting on Twitter and Reddit about their experiences.
There is a catch to Microsoft's trade-in promotion, though. You can't initiate the claim online—instead, you have to trek to a physical Microsoft Store. By my count, there are 72 locations in the US, with only a single store in several states. Some states do not have a Microsoft Store location at all, such as Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and others.
A Microsoft Store employee will appraise your phone when you bring it in, and offer a credit amount. To be eligible, the fine print indicates the handset must be able to power on and be fully functional, without any missing or broken components. A cracked display and/or liquid damage will disqualify a phone for the trade-in program.
Click to Enlarge (Source: Microsoft)
The potential trade-in values are posted above. As expected, older generation handsets fetch lesser amounts, all the way down to just $50 for an
iPhone 6 Plus and
LG G7 ThinQ (the latter of which is not that old, really). In other instances, Microsoft is offering several hundred dollars, such as $350 for Google's original Pixel handset and $450 for an iPhone 8 and a
Galaxy S9 series phone.
This trade-in program is not restricted to US residents—Microsoft is also offering it users in Australia, Canada, and the UK (see the values above).
One thing to keep in mind is that even though the trade-in credits are generous in some cases, Microsoft is charging the full retail cost for the Galaxy Note 10+ and Galaxy Note 10. Prices are as follows...
-
Galaxy Note 10+ 512GB: $1,199.99
- Galaxy Note 10+ 256GB: $1,099.99
- Galaxy Note 10 256GB: $949.99
You may find there are better promotions out there, especially if buying more than one phone.
Verizon, for example, is offering up to $750 off a second handset when buying two Galaxy phones (albeit in the form of account credits spread out over 24 months). And sometimes you can take advantage of BOGO (buy one, get one) offers. So, be sure to shop around before committing to a promotion.