The all-new Samsung Galaxy S21 lineup has arrived, with prices starting at $800 and rising sharply from there. Granted, that’s $200 below the S20’s starting price of last year, but still a pretty penny.
As usual, the big carriers have rolled out their various free-with-trade-in and buy-one-get-one offers, and at least one smaller carrier is sweetening the deal with discounts and freebies. Below I’ve rounded up what I consider to be the best Galaxy S21 preorder deals available right now. (For a more complete list of options, see CNET’s roundup of where, when and how to preorder the Galaxy S21.)
Forget the S21; get an S20 instead. Instead of marking down the price, Samsung is discontinuing the S20 lineup — despite it being a terrific, top-rated phone (with a microSD card slot, something the S21 lacks). That means closeout discounts are imminent, and deals on refurbs will be even better. At Back Market, for example, the unlocked Galaxy S20 starts at $585, a price that’s nearly $100 below where it was just yesterday (!) and that includes a full 12-month warranty. You might also want to consider the Galaxy S20 FE, currently $599 unlocked and a CNET Editors’ Choice.
Wait. Last year, it was literally a matter of weeks after launch when bigger, better S20 deals started rolling out. Although the S21’s lower starting price might result in smaller discounts, I’ve never seen a Galaxy phone release that wasn’t followed by better prices in the weeks and months following. If you’re not in a big hurry, it pays to be patient.
For sake of simplicity, all the deals below are focused on the Galaxy S21 with 128GB, but they apply to the S21 Plus and S21 Ultra as well (unless otherwise noted). In most cases you’ll just add $200 and $400, respectively.