Samsung Will Soon Offer Phone Rentals Instead Of Sales

If you’re interested in acquiring the Samsung Galaxy S25 but prefer not to pay the full price upfront, Samsung is reportedly considering a rental option for their upcoming models along with other Galaxy phones.

Details about this smartphone subscription service emerged during CES 2025. Samsung’s CEO, Han Jong-hee, announced that the company intends to roll out this service at the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event within two weeks, based on information from ETNews. This service, tentatively named the “AI Subscription Club,” is set to launch in February, following its initial introduction in South Korea.

While “AI” appears to be a misinterpretation, the final name may not be confirmed yet. The planned subscription service would enable customers to pay a monthly fee for any phone, allowing them to trial it before committing to the total cost. The specifics regarding the monthly rates or the presence of tiered subscriptions—similar to popular streaming services—remain unclear. Additionally, this subscription model is expected to extend to tablets as well.

Samsung’s initiative resembles a previous attempt by Apple to create an iPhone hardware subscription system, which was pursued by the Apple Pay group since 2022 but was ultimately scrapped due to software difficulties and regulatory hurdles. Meanwhile, Google also had a subscription offering for Pixel phones known as Google Pixel Pass, but that service ended in 2023.