We tracked all of those costs across four representative phones to answer one question. What does each path actually cost per year of ownership? The results surprised us, and the cheapest phone on the shelf was not the cheapest phone to own for everyone.

How We Calculated Five Year Cost

Our formula counts five inputs. The purchase price is what you pay at a major retailer today without a contract. The resale value is what the phone realistically fetches on trade in or resale platforms after five years, based on how each brand has historically depreciated. Repair costs assume one battery replacement around year three, which nearly every five year phone needs. Accessory costs cover a case, a screen protector, and a charger, since most phones no longer include one. We deliberately excluded monthly plans, because your carrier bill is the same whichever phone you insert into it, and we excluded insurance, which we treat separately below.

The Five Year Cost Table

These are US figures, and UK numbers follow the same pattern with slightly higher repair pricing. Three findings jump out of this table, and each one deserves explanation.

Finding One: The iPhone Is the Cheapest Flagship to Own

This is the counterintuitive result. Even though all three flagships cost the same at the till, the iPhone finishes roughly $80 cheaper over five years, and the entire gap comes from resale value. Apple devices have historically retained value far better than any Android brand. Data from major resale platforms has consistently shown iPhones holding roughly twice the residual value of equivalent Samsung flagships at every age. The used market simply trusts iPhones more, partly because of Apple's long update history and partly because demand for used iPhones outstrips supply.

Treat these as directional estimates rather than guarantees, since resale prices move with each new launch. The pattern, however, has held for a decade.

Finding Two: The Budget Phone Wins Only if It Survives

At $74 per year, the Galaxy A26 looks unbeatable, and for careful owners it genuinely is. The risk is longevity. Budget phones now receive six years of software updates from Samsung and Google, which removes the old software death sentence, but their cheaper components still age faster. Slower chips feel their age by year three, and plastic bodies survive drops worse than titanium and aluminium. If your budget phone dies in year three and you buy another, your five year cost jumps to around $600 and the flagship gap narrows dramatically. The budget path rewards people who baby their phones and punishes people who do not.

Finding Three: Software Support No Longer Decides Anything

Five years ago this article would have ended differently, because Android phones received two or three years of updates while iPhones received six. That argument is dead. Apple, Samsung, and Google all now promise seven years of updates on flagships, and Samsung extends six years to many budget models. Every phone in our table will still be secure and functional in 2031. Buy on hardware and ecosystem preference, not on update anxiety.

The Costs Nobody Puts in the Comparison

A few smaller costs deserve honest mention. Apple accessories carry a premium, and official MagSafe chargers cost noticeably more than standard wireless pads. On the Android side, Samsung and Google cloud storage pricing now mirrors iCloud almost exactly, so ecosystem subscription costs are a wash at around $36 per year for the 200GB tiers on both platforms. Insurance is the biggest optional cost of all at roughly $100 to $200 per year, and for most careful owners of phones outside the four figure bracket it is money better saved toward the next device or a repair if one ever arrives.

The Verdict

If you buy flagships and sell them on, the iPhone is quietly the cheapest premium phone on the market, costing around $145 per year. If you want the absolute lowest cost of ownership and can accept midrange cameras and performance, a budget Samsung or Pixel A series phone kept for five years costs roughly half that. The most expensive path, by a wide margin, is upgrading any flagship every year or two without selling the old one, which pushes annual costs past $400. The phone matters less than the habit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an iPhone really cheaper than an Android in the long run? Against an equally priced Android flagship, yes, by roughly $80 to $100 over five years thanks to resale value. Against a budget Android that survives five years, no. The budget phone remains the cheapest way to own a smartphone.

When is the best time to sell my old phone? Depreciation is steepest in the weeks after a new model launches, so the ideal window is shortly before the next version of your phone is announced. Selling a one year old flagship just before its successor arrives typically recovers half your money.

Are carrier and contract deals cheaper than buying outright? Sometimes, especially with aggressive trade in promotions in the US, but the headline monthly price usually hides the phone cost inside a higher tariff. In the UK, buying the phone SIM free and pairing it with a cheap SIM only plan beats most contract bundles over two years. Always total the full contract cost before comparing.

Should I pay for AppleCare or Samsung Care? It depends on your history with phones. If you have broken a screen in the last three years, coverage usually pays for itself, since flagship screen repairs run $200 to $350. If you have never broken a phone, self insuring by simply saving the fee is statistically the better bet.

Do budget phones cost more in repairs? Individual repairs are cheaper, but budget phones are more likely to be written off, because a $150 screen repair on a $300 phone rarely makes sense. Flagships get repaired, budget phones get replaced.

How much does a battery replacement actually cost? Official replacements currently run $79 to $99 in the US and £69 to £99 in the UK across Apple, Samsung, and Google. It is the single best value repair in tech, since it effectively adds two years of life to a healthy phone.