Most smartphones aren’t made to last. That is no surprise — slim frames don’t tend to hold up well against concrete.
The good news is that Google has your back. The Google Store offers credit for used smartphones, the only caveat being that you’re stuck with the search giant’s limited device selection. If you’re in the market for a Pixel 2, though, that might work to your advantage.
Here’s a guide to the Google Store trade-in program, and a full list of devices on offer.
You need to decide which smartphone you want to buy from the Google Store before you start a trade-in. Luckily, Google makes it easy: Head to the Store’s homepage, click the “Browse” button and select “Phones” from the drop-down menu. From there, choose the handset you intend on purchasing and click the “Buy” button in the upper-right corner.
Here’s a list of smartphones available from the Google Store:
After you make your selection, pick a color, and decide on a storage capacity, you are ready to kick off the trade-in process.
From any Google Store product page, click the big “Trade in your phone” link and select “Begin trade in.” From there, you will be asked to choose your old phone’s manufacturer — as of publication time, Google accepts Apple, Samsung, LG, Google, Huawei, and Motorola devices.
After you have narrowed down your phone’s maker, you will see a list of devices eligible for trade-in. Choose yours, and then enter a few basic details about its condition. In addition to the storage capacity and carrier, you will have to specify whether the screen works properly and whether or not the phone turns on.
Here are the estimated trade-in values you can expect:
Once you confirm all the details and receive a trade-in valuation, you are ready to ship your old phone to Google. Click through the next few confirmation buttons and choose your preferred shipping address and within the next few days, you will get a trade-in kit from Google with a prepaid shipping label and an envelope.
You have 30 days to ship your phone and once Google receives it, it takes about five days to review. Assuming everything checks out, you will see the trade-in credit applied to the primary credit/debit card associated with your Google Store account.
The Google Store’s trade-in process isn’t too complicated, but only if you heed the instructions.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.