What to Check When Buying a Used Phone
Smartphones are a key part of mod life merely with prices routinely in excess of £i,000 for the latest high-finish handsets, should you be considering cheaper secondhand or refurbished models instead?
These accept the potential to exist proficient for your wallet and the planet, equally whatsoever device that is given a 2d life instead of being recycled reduces its lifetime ecology impact and, with information technology, your footprint.
Amidst those probable to be mulling over their mobile phone options at the moment are many parents of children going back to school afterward the summer break. Starting secondary school in detail is traditionally a time when many kids receive their offset – or an upgraded – phone.
But when ownership secondhand, there are some potential pitfalls to avoid, then hither's what you demand to know to catch yourself a bargain.
Secondhand, pre owned or refurbished?
There are several different types of secondhand telephone. There are the preowned or used phones that are sold on when no longer wanted, typically via websites such every bit eBay or certain loftier street retailers.
Then at that place are those that are refurbished or reconditioned, which broadly come in two different types: manufacturer-refurbished and retailer-refurbished.
The get-go is a device that has been fully reconditioned to be "equally new", typically including a new battery and frequently a new outer casing. These are the most expensive blazon of secondhand phone and usually come with new accessories and a total warranty. If y'all just desire a new phone with a lower environmental footprint than brand-new, this is the selection to get for.
Retailer-refurbished devices are a step down. They are secondhand phones that have been tested to bank check they piece of work and repaired if necessary just they vary in condition. There are a not bad many more than retailer-refurbished models, and they are typically cheaper than manufacturer-refurbished phones. They are often sold using grades, which draw the external condition of the phone.
While the grades of secondhand phones are non legal definitions and therefore vary between retailers, here's what you tin roughly look:
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Grade A – virtually identical in condition to a new phone without marks on the outside, often with the original box and accessories. These are often customer returns rather than trade-ins.
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Grade B – in full working order but not in perfect nick. Typically there will be calorie-free scratches, dents or nicks. They may come with original accessories.
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Form C – in full working order but visibly worn and typically sold without their original accessories.
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Course D – too known as "for spares and repairs" or similar. These are broken devices sold for people to fix or gut for parts.
If you lot are thinking about a phone for your child, some would fence that you should get them a cheap handset that isn't going to concenter attention and appeal to thieves.
Parents often employ returning to school as an opportunity to upgrade their own phone and pass on their well-used handset to their child, and in many cases that may well exist the best bet every bit long as information technology is notwithstanding supported with security updates – although many kids would doubtless accept something to say about that.
What protections do you get?
Secondhand not-refurbished phones are typically the cheapest but be very careful when buying from private sellers as your legal protections are different to shopping with a business.
A private seller must not misrepresent the phone simply they do not have to disclose faults either. They are unlikely to provide a warranty simply you lot will be yet covered by any manufacturer'southward warranty that is left – unless, say, the previous possessor had a repair done that voided it. Information technology is also worth ensuring that the phone you lot are buying isn't stolen by checking its 15-digit identification number, chosen the IMEI, confronting a database of stolen phones through a service such as CheckMEND or like.
Make sure you lot inspect whatsoever listings carefully, read reviews or feedback of the seller and inquire questions if in dubiety.
Your rights when buying secondhand or refurbished from a concern are similar to when ownership new. Under the Consumer Rights Human action 2015, you have 30 days to return the phone if it isn't as described or fit for purpose, and if the phone develops a fault within six months, it is up to the retailer to prove it was error-free when sold. Retailers volition typically provide a 12-month or longer warranty, too, and you may yet be covered by the original manufacturer's warranty, if at that place is any remaining.
What to wait out for
When ownership a secondhand or refurbished telephone, there are a few things to go along an eye out for:
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Battery wellness Batteries habiliment out faster than the residuum of the phone, typically simply maintaining up to fourscore% of their original capacity subsequently 500 full-charge cycles, or about ii years charging every night. Has information technology been replaced?
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Charging port Check for signs of damage every bit the charging port volition be one of the first parts to article of clothing out or suspension.
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Buttons Check all the buttons work, fifty-fifty when you don't press besides difficult, as a faulty button could render the phone very difficult to use and may exist expensive to set.
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Network locks Cheque the telephone works with the mobile telephone provider of your choice as some smartphones are originally sold locked to certain providers and must be unlocked before existence used on some other.
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Repairs using unauthorised parts Not all repairs are washed by the manufacturer or using certified parts, which can cause bug.
Where to buy
The consumer body Which? published an article concluding month that mentions a number of names including the secondhand goods chain CeX and the retailer Game.
The latter's website this calendar week featured a range of refurbished handsets from companies such as Apple and Samsung. Game says it conducts 20 checks on all its refurbished phones, and that all preowned handsets come up with a 12-month warranty.
Also mentioned past Which? is Envirofone, i of the best-known names in this sector, which says it stocks "a colossal range of refurbished phones at a fraction of loftier street prices" and likewise provides a 12-calendar month warranty. This calendar week its website was listing phones fabricated past Apple tree, Google, OnePlus, Samsung and Sony, among others. Envirofone's original parent company, Redeem, went into administration in July terminal year but the UK assets, including the Envirofone make, were quickly snapped up past the It group TES.
Another well-known seller of refurbished smartphones is the website musicMagpie, which again offers a 12-month warranty. Information technology says it is "ane of the UK'south biggest sellers of refurbished iPhones, with over 150,000 devices sold a twelvemonth".
Dorsum Market, meanwhile, is essentially a marketplace for smaller refurbishers, and its website was this calendar week list more than than 1,300 smartphones with an average price of £228. It offers a "12-month minimum" warranty.
When looking into retailers and websites, bank check out the reviews on sites such as Trustpilot. On Trustpilot this calendar week, Envirofone, musicMagpie and Back Marketplace all had "fantabulous" scores of iv.6 to 4.7, while CeX had a score of 4.three.
Which? points out that in improver to the various retailers and websites, most major UK networks will also have deals on refurbished handsets, although you lot will exist tied into a contract with that network.
Beware old phones
One of the biggest bug with buying secondhand or refurbished models is that smartphones accept a limited software support life.
Disappointingly, most manufacturers will only provide updates for their smartphones for three years from release – not from the point you buy it. The exceptions are Samsung, which provides at least 4 years of updates for a large range of its flagship and mid-range smartphones launched since 2019, and Apple, which typically supports all of its smartphones for at least five years from release.
Smartphones contain a treasure trove of information relating to every attribute of modern life, so you should not exist using a model that no longer receives updates every bit it will exist vulnerable to hackers.
"Malicious actors are becoming better at exploiting devices left to age without protection, and this is not something to be taken lightly," says Jake Moore, a cybersecurity specialist at the internet security and antivirus visitor ESET.
"Phone updates practise far more than many people may ever realise, as they patch multiple bugs in the background which have come to the attention of developers. Once security updates are no longer applicative, your phone enters a danger zone, making it a example of not if but when." Unpatched devices remain vulnerable to things such every bit information theft and other serious issues.
Before ownership a secondhand smartphone, find out when information technology was first released and how long it will receive updates for equally many two-year-old smartphones could finer only be safe to employ for a single year.
Before you start using a pre owned phone
If you end upwards ownership a preowned or used phone, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre offers advice nearly what to practise before yous commencement using it.
It says information technology is a good idea to erase all the personal information on it (of form, this may have already been done) by performing a "factory reset". This reset will delete the previous owner's information and settings, including messages, contacts, photos, browsing history, wifi codes, passwords and any apps they installed. This will also ensure your phone is in the best possible state before you start using it.
However, if you buy a secondhand telephone that's not refurbished, you lot need to make sure it doesn't take an activation lock yet on it. All Apple phones and nigh good Android phones cannot exist set up again later on a mill reset unless the telephone has been removed from the previous owner's account and the activation lock has been deactivated. It is a organisation that stops thieves resetting stolen phones and selling them on.
The ethical and repairable alternative
If your motivation for ownership a refurbished phone is more than to exercise with the environment than the price, the Fairphone 3+ is a viable alternative, costing £399.
Fabricated past a Dutch social enterprise from recycled materials, Fairtrade gold and disharmonize-costless minerals, the Fairphone 3+ is the most ethical smartphone you can buy. It has a user-replaceable bombardment, just like the good onetime days, and is made of modular parts that y'all can swap out yourself with the included screwdriver if something breaks. It will even become v years of software support from release, pregnant you should get at to the lowest degree four more years of utilize.
Top picks and how much they price
If y'all are convinced that a refurbished phone is for you lot, make sure you shop around and buy direct from a reputable retailer such every bit Apple, a mobile phone network such equally O2 or a specialist refurbisher such as musicMagpie. Here are my picks of the currently bachelor models.
iPhone 11 Pro
Price: £759
If you want a manufacturer-refurbished iPhone, the Apple refurbished store is the simply identify to get them. Stock varies, with the best available at the fourth dimension of writing being 2019's iPhone 11 Pro at £759 with 64GB of storage. At the fourth dimension of its release in September 2019, information technology price £i,049 and was the best pocket-sized telephone bachelor. It has a 5.8in screen, 12-megapixel triple rear photographic camera, reasonable battery life when new, and Face ID confront recognition.
It will probably receive software updates until at least September 2024 – and probably beyond that date – meaning you lot volition get iii-plus years out of information technology. Annotation that it does non have 5G.
iPhone SE (2020)
Cost: £248-£320
The best-value Apple telephone is the iPhone SE (2020), which still has an older design but was released in April 2020 and should receive updates until at least September 2025.
It was an accented deal when new, costing £399 for 64GB, and matching the iPhone 11 on processor and software. It has a comparatively small iv.7in screen, the sometime-style iPhone home button with Touch ID fingerprint scanner, a 24-hour interval'due south bombardment (when new) and a simple 12-megapixel camera on the dorsum.
Shopping effectually, yous can discover it retailer-refurbished for as low equally £248, with "pristine" examples around the £320 mark. Y'all should get at to the lowest degree four years of software updates. The bombardment can exist replaced by Apple for £49 to go on information technology going longer downwardly the route. Note that it does non have 5G.
Samsung Galaxy S10e
Cost: £170-£300
One of the best-value retailer-refurbished Android phones is the Samsung Galaxy S10e. It was good on release in March 2019, featuring a smaller design, a more reliable traditional fingerprint scanner and a decent camera on the dorsum.
New, it had a day'southward battery, solid performance and a good screen. Samsung'due south four-year software update policy ways it should receive support until at least March 2023, pregnant you should get nigh 2 years employ out of it. Prices range from about £170 to £305 for pristine examples. A battery replacement by Samsung will cost £99, or about £60 at third-party repair shops.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/aug/21/how-to-buy-a-secondhand-smartphone-and-what-to-look-out-for
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