American visits a Walmart kiosk that claims to give you money for old phones and breaks down cash he made

A tech expert took a load of old phones to a kiosk at Walmart that allows you to trade them in for cash, and has shared how much he made.

Loads of us have old smartphones and devices lying around in drawers or gathering dust in closets. 

Occasionally, old tech can be worth a small fortune, like if you happen to have an original iPhone or iPod. 

However, even run-of-the-mill smartphones can still be resold, and the EcoATM kiosk is making it easier than ever, but do you get a good deal?

He took some of his ‘weirdest’ old phones along to the kiosk

Tech YouTuber Smokin’ Silicon headed out to his local Walmart, where he found the EcoATM and decided to see what price he could get for ‘some of the weirdest phones’ he’s ever reviewed. 

Included in the haul of unusual and obscure phones were a ‘government phone’ given to people on low incomes, an odd hybrid phone-console device, and a Mode phone that was ‘basically free’ but ‘overwhelms you with ads’ in exchange. 

Using the EcoATM is pretty straightforward; you follow the prompts on the screen, and it spits out a label that you attach to the phone. 

A sliding drawer opens up, and you connect the device via a charging cable, after which the door closes back up, and the machine scans the phone to determine the make and model, as well as checking to see that it’s working and looking at its overall condition. 

Then it’ll give you an offer based on that info – think of it as a bit like WeBuyAnyCar but for phones. 

If you’re happy with what it offers you, you press ‘yes’, scan your ID, and the money is yours. 

In the YouTuber’s case, some of the phones were so unusual that the kiosk struggled to identify them. 

It misidentified a cheap folding phone as a Boost Mobile Solaro 5G Plus, and the odd console/phone hybrid as a Zeepad Android Allwinner A13 Tab.

So, was it worth taking along the old tech?

A handful of the old phones taken to the EcoATM at Walmart were valued at just $1, including the ‘government phone’, the Mode Moxy M2307, and the console/phone. 

He was also offered $1 for his ZTE Aspect, which can’t legally be resold in the US, so recycling it for a buck wasn’t a bad offer. 

At the other end of the scale, the kiosk offered $85 for the iPhone 16e, which Smokin’ Silicon pointed out was a lot less than the $250-$300 resale value he could get for the phone. 

Interestingly, when he rejected the sale, the machine boosted its offer to $102, which showed that there could be a bit of room to negotiate if you happen to have an in-demand phone. 

He was also offered $20 for a couple of old Samsung devices.

In total, he made about $32, but that’s because he rejected some of the others, like the iPhone 16e. 

“I don’t really know if that is amazing for the amount of devices we sold, to be honest,” the YouTuber said. 

But it’s better than leaving them lying around gathering dust, right?

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