Value retention league 2024: which 2024 phones hold their value best?
All 2024 phones we track, ranked by value retention — launch price versus live used-market medians, updated as listings change.
2024 Value retention league
29 phones · ranked by value kept per year · median depreciation 34%/yr
Why 2024 phones get their own table
The 2024 cohort is in the most dynamic phase of its price life: first owners are beginning to trade in, supply on the second-hand market is still expanding, and the successor generation is either announced or rumored. This is exactly when cross-generation comparisons mislead — a 2024 model can dominate an all-years table on raw retention simply because it has had less time to fall. A same-year league strips that artifact out and ranks these phones on how the market actually treats them relative to each other.
What the columns mean
Retention is the yearly rate at which a model holds its launch price, computed against the live median of used listings. The slope column shows the underlying depreciation speed — the figure that matters once a model's retention saturates near the top of the scale. The used median is what you would realistically pay today, drawn from current listings rather than a snapshot taken at publication. Follow any row through to its review for the spec-level reasoning behind the number.
What drives rank at two years of age
This is the stage where the market's verdict on each model crystallizes. Initial hype has burned off, battery degradation patterns are documented in the wild, and the software-support runway is easy to price. Models that rank well here tend to be those with strong successor demand spillover — a buyer who cannot afford the 2025 flagship shops one step down, propping up the 2024 price. Weak performers are usually models whose successors matched them closely at a similar launch price, leaving little reason to choose the older one.
Buying strategy for this cohort
For a buyer, a high-retention 2024 phone is a low-regret purchase: recent hardware, most updates still ahead, and a resale market that will still be liquid in two years. The trade-off is price — strong retention means smaller discounts. If budget leads, the 2023 league shows what one more year of age buys you in savings, and the all-years league gives the long-horizon perspective.