Buying a Refurbished Phone

TECH · GLOBAL

Buying a Refurbished Phone

Grades and battery health, checking it works, warranty and why it makes sense

Refurbished phones are the best value in mobile and the terminology is not standardised, which is where disappointment comes from.

Grades are each seller's own

Pristine or Grade A usually means near-new with minimal marks. Good or Grade B has visible wear. Fair or Grade C is functional with obvious scratches or dents.

Cosmetic grade tells you nothing about the battery or the components, which matter considerably more.

Battery health is the key figure

Ask for the stated battery health percentage. Around 85 percent or above is reasonable; below 80 the phone needs a new battery soon, which is a real cost to factor in.

Some sellers fit new batteries as standard, which is worth paying for.

Check it properly on arrival

Every button, both cameras, the speakers, the microphone, the charging port, wireless charging, the fingerprint or face sensor, and the screen for dead pixels or burn-in.

Confirm it is not locked to a previous owner's account, check the IMEI is not blacklisted, and confirm it is unlocked to all networks if that is what you bought.

Software support

Find out how many more years the manufacturer will issue security updates for that model. That determines how long the phone is safe to use, and an older model with one year left is not cheap.

Warranty and rights

Check the length and who provides it. Refurbished goods must still be as described and of satisfactory quality under consumer law.

Selling your old phone

Back it up, sign out of every account and remove any activation lock from the phone's own settings before doing a factory reset, since a locked phone is worth nothing to anyone.

Values fall fastest just after a new model is announced, so sell before an expected launch rather than after it.

Making one last

A case, a screen protector, avoiding heat while charging and a replacement battery at around three years will keep most phones useful for five or six.

Accessories and repairs

Screen and battery replacement is widely available and frequently costs a fraction of a new phone. Check whether a repair uses genuine parts, since some phones show a warning and lose features with non-genuine components.

Right to repair rules in the EU and UK now require parts availability for several categories.

Keep the invoice and warranty terms together, and photograph the phone on arrival.

Set up a backup on the first day rather than after something goes wrong.

Why it is worth doing

Manufacturing dominates a phone's lifetime footprint, so buying refurbished avoids almost all of it, and the saving against new is substantial.

Add a case and a screen protector from day one.

WHERE TO BUY

Ready to shop Reboxed? Use the link below to visit the official store.

→ Shop Reboxed — official site

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