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Samsung's Galaxy S20 buyback scheme promises half your money back

If you take care of it.

Samsung has launched a buyback program for the Galaxy S20 that would make it quite a steal -- provided you take care of it. Here's how it works: If you buy any of the Galaxy S20 phones on Samsung's store, you can return it any time within 24 months. Provided you've kept it in good shape with "no damage beyond normal wear and tear," Samsung will credit 50 percent of the full retail price to your payment account.

The deal means you could get from $500 off for the Galaxy S20 5G 128GB, up to $800 off of the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G 512GB. That effectively gets you these expensive phones for as little as $500 for the entry-level Galaxy S20 -- better than most OnePlus or Xiaomi flagships these days.

It's clear that the coronavirus crisis has taken a bite out of Galaxy S20 sales, which is terrible timing for Samsung as these phones were just released. On top of that, the S20 Ultra has received some pretty tepid reviews. Samsung has tried other ways to mitigate the lockdown impact, most notably by offering in-home trials in South Korea. It's also rolling out an at-home repair service specifically for its foldable devices.

In any case, if you were looking at buying an S20 to keep you in touch during this crisis, now might be the time -- just be careful not to drop it.