Andrew Hoyle/CNET
With the iPhone 11 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 coming in at or over $1,000 and even the “affordable” OnePlus 8 Pro costing $899, I wished to see what stage of telephone I may get with out spending a fortune. So I went on a hunt with $650 of CNET’s cash (thanks, guys!) to see what high quality of handset you may get whenever you purchase used. I’m based mostly within the UK, so I largely used eBay and a service referred to as MusicMagpie that buys outdated, undesirable telephones, refurbishes them and sells them on. There are comparable companies within the US similar to Gazelle. It additionally signifies that the telephones had been paid for in kilos, however I’ve given foreign money conversions all through for reference.
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Without additional ado, this is what I obtained.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Amount paid: £120 ($150, AU$230)Originally launched: April 2015Purchased from: eBay, from refurbishing companyAdvertised situation: Grade A, “excellent” Actual situation: Almost as new. No scratches on glass entrance or again, no notable scuffs to metallic edging, slight beauty put on to metallic edge round digital camera unit. Screen and headphone jack in good order. MicroUSB energy socket is perhaps unfastened and typically requires cable to be jiggled earlier than it fees. Do I belief it?Despite the slight problem with the charging cable, this telephone performs nicely and all the pieces else is in good working order. I’ve had no surprising crashes or different glitches that might trace at defective {hardware}. I’d don’t have any drawback utilizing this as my major telephone.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Amount paid: £56 ($70, AU$110)Originally launched: March 2014Purchased from: eBay, non-public sellerAdvertised situation: “Used”Actual situation: Aside from a few small marks on the top-right and bottom-left corners, only a few noticeable indicators of wear and tear and tear on the telephone casing. Display, charging port and headphone jack all in good working order.Do I belief it?Absolutely. I’ve had no crashes, no restarts and the telephone appears simply as clean to make use of as I keep in mind it being after I reviewed one other mannequin again in 2014.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Amount paid: £50 ($60, AU$95)Originally launched: September 2015Purchased from: eBay, non-public sellerAdvertised situation: “Used — condition is excellent”Actual situation: Minor put on to the rubber backing materials of the telephone however in any other case no main marks to talk of. Screen is scratch-free and works nicely. The battery, nonetheless, appears to have critical points. Multiple occasions the telephone has shut down with out warning, regardless of the battery stage being over 50%. The telephone would then flash up a battery empty image and never activate till plugged into an influence supply. At which level it might show the identical battery stage (over 50%) and would let me restart the telephone. On different events, it might energy on solely to right away shut down once more.Do I belief it? No. It’s tough to pinpoint whether or not the problems I’ve seen to date are to do with an getting older battery (which might be anticipated to an extent in a six-year-old telephone) or one other problem completely. Regardless, having the telephone shut down like it is a main drawback, and I would not be snug utilizing it, not understanding if it is going to give up with out warning.It’s a disgrace because the Moto X’s “Pure Edition” Android — a pared-back model of the working system — operates extraordinarily easily for such an outdated gadget, with no noticeable lag as you swipe round. This telephone doesn’t qualify as “excellent” situation and I’ll be trying to ship it again for a refund — watch this house.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Amount paid: £75 ($95, AU$145)Originally launched: September 2014Purchased from: eBay, refurbishing companyAdvertised situation: “Grade B: good condition — The housing may have slight scratches and scuffs; There may be signs of scratches on the screen which may have been picked up from day-to-day usage.”Actual situation: Almost no noticeable indicators of wear and tear and tear on the physique or show of the telephone. Came with a display protector preapplied. The battery has aged, nonetheless. The telephone shut down with out warning and on restart displayed the message: “This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power. Performance management has been applied to help prevent this from happening again.” Do I belief it? Not actually. The warning message is an indication of an aged battery, and the result’s that efficiency might be throttled on the telephone to cease additional crashes. Or, within the settings, I may decide to place up with extra crashes, with out the efficiency being throttled. Neither is a perfect choice.The “battery health” part within the telephone’s settings says the batter has a most capability of 91% in comparison with when it was new, which does not appear too unhealthy. However, the “unexpected shutdown” message is repeated in the identical settings menu. My choices could be to only put up with the problem and proceed with a throttled telephone, or try to have the battery changed by Apple or a third-party firm. Apple quotes a worth of £49 ($49, AU$79) for battery alternative which is rather a lot to spend, on condition that the telephone was solely £75 to start with.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Amount paid: £215 ($270, AU$415)Originally launched: April 2017Purchased from: MusicMagpieAdvertised situation: “Good — This product has signs of wear and tear but has been fully tested and is in great working order.”Actual situation: Very minor scratches to the show and a few small chips to the corners of the metallic edging. Display itself is in full working order, as is the digital camera, the USB-C charging port and the headphone jack. Do I belief it? In my first few hours with the telephone I’ve discovered zero points with the handset. I’d be completely snug utilizing this as my major handset. What have I realized?As with something, you get what you pay for. The Galaxy S8 works extraordinarily nicely and comes with the peace of thoughts of a 12-month guarantee from MusicMagpie. But at £215 ($270), it was the most costly of the bunch by far.The Moto X was an enormous disappointment, regardless of its low £50 worth. It’s not in working order and I might not be capable of use this telephone as my major gadget. The iPhone’s battery problem is according to what’s anticipated of an older battery and the telephone will a minimum of be completely usable, albeit with throttled efficiency, for a while. Not too unhealthy for £75.Both the HTC One M8 and Galaxy S6 have to date proven zero points and I’m wanting ahead to placing them by additional checks to see simply what you may get out of used telephones at these costs. If you are shopping for used telephones your self, it is price remembering that there are professionals and cons nonetheless a lot you spend. An older telephone will value you much less, however aged batteries and different potential {hardware} faults could imply you are probably not getting the discount you hoped for. It’s additionally necessary to keep in mind that these older telephones will not have current variations of Android on board. That not solely signifies that some new apps will not be appropriate together with your telephone, however the telephones could not have necessary safety updates that would go away you weak.