If you’re feeling buyer’s remorse over that shiny new smartwatch or fitness band and wish you’d actually bought a Microsoft Band 2 instead, you’re in luck. Microsoft launched a trade-in program for its Band 2, offering discounts toward the purchase of the band when you trade in your old wearable.
The program is powered by CExchange, and the website has a wide variety of smartwatches and fitness bands available. Fitbit, Garmin, Samsung, and Jawbone wearables can all be traded in to get a Band 2, though Microsoft is offering quite a lot more trade-in money for those who abandon the Apple Watch.
The 38mm Apple Watch with Milanese Loop is the best trade-in offer, as Microsoft is prepared to front the entire $250 cost of the Band 2. The price drops to $200 for the 42mm Apple Watch with a white strap, and down to $150 for the 38mm Apple Watch Sport with a blue strap.
Fitbit is the other wearable brand that will get you a good trade in offer. Microsoft will hand over $120 for the Fitbit Surge and $75 for the Fitbit Charge HR. The rest of the Fitbit lineup has a trade-in value of less than $15, but the Fitbit Charge is strangely the lowest valued wearable at $7.20.
Original Band customers can trade-in the older version of the wearable for a $35 discount code.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear S are the only two other wearables with more than a $25 trade-in value — the Gear S2 is not available for trade-in. If you have any other wearable, we would recommend checking out other recycling or auction services before using Microsoft’s trade-in service.
All the wearables need to have the factory charging device and be fully operational to receive approval. You need to send off your wearable to CExchange for review before you receive the trade-in value.
Microsoft launched its first wearable before the Apple Watch, but has not managed to gain the same market success. It is not even in the top five wearable manufacturers, below Fitbit, Xiaomi, Garmin, and Samsung in sales according to the latest results.
