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With the iPhone 11 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra coming in at over $1,000 and even the “affordable” OnePlus 8 Pro costing $899, I wished to see what stage of cellphone 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 will get whenever you purchase used. I’m based mostly within the UK, so I principally used eBay and a service referred to as MusicMagpie, which buys previous, undesirable telephones, refurbishes them and sells them on. There are comparable companies within the US corresponding to Gazelle. It additionally implies that the telephones had been paid for in kilos, however I’ve given forex conversions all through for reference.

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What $650 price of used telephones appear to be

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Without additional ado, this is what I bought.
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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 steel edging, slight beauty put on to metallic edge round digital camera unit. Screen and headphone jack in excellent order. Micro-USB energy socket is perhaps unfastened and typically requires cable to be jiggled earlier than it fees. Do I belief it?Despite the slight challenge with the charging cable, this cellphone performs nicely and every little thing else is in excellent working order. I’ve had no surprising crashes or different glitches that might trace at defective {hardware}. I’d haven’t any downside utilizing this as my important cellphone.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Amount paid: £56 ($70, AU$110)Originally launched: March 2014Purchased from: eBay, personal 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 damage and tear on the cellphone casing. Display, charging port and headphone jack all in excellent working order.Do I belief it?Absolutely. I’ve had no crashes, no restarts and the cellphone appears simply as easy to make use of as I bear 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, personal sellerAdvertised situation: “Used — condition is excellent”Actual situation: Minor put on to the rubber backing materials of the cellphone 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 cellphone has shut down with out warning, regardless of the battery stage being over 50%. The cellphone would then flash up a battery empty image and never activate till plugged into an influence supply. At which level it could show the identical battery stage (over 50%) and would let me restart the cellphone. On different events, it could energy on solely to instantly shut down once more.Do I belief it?  No. It’s troublesome to pinpoint whether or not the problems I’ve seen to date are to do with an ageing battery (which might be anticipated to an extent in a six-year-old cellphone) or one other challenge completely. Regardless, having the cellphone shut down like this can be a main downside, and I would not be comfy utilizing it, not figuring out if it will stop 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 previous machine, with no noticeable lag as you swipe round. This cellphone doesn’t qualify as “excellent” situation and I’ll be trying to ship it again for a refund — watch this area.
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 damage and tear on the physique or show of the cellphone. Came with a display screen protector preapplied. The battery has aged, nonetheless. The cellphone 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 shall be throttled on the cellphone 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 cellphone’s settings says the batter has a most capability of 91% in comparison with when it was new, which does not appear too dangerous. However, the “unexpected shutdown” message is repeated in the identical settings menu. My choices can be to only put up with the difficulty and proceed with a throttled cellphone, or try to have the battery changed by Apple or a third-party firm. Apple quotes a value of £49 ($49, AU$79) for battery substitute which is rather a lot to spend, on condition that the cellphone 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 steel 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 cellphone I’ve discovered zero points with the handset. I’d be completely comfy utilizing this as my important handset. What have I discovered?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 costliest of the bunch by far.The Moto X was an enormous disappointment, regardless of its low £50 value. It’s not in working order and I’d not have the ability to use this cellphone as my important machine. The iPhone’s battery challenge is consistent with what’s anticipated of an older battery, and the cellphone will not less than be completely usable, albeit with throttled efficiency, for a while. Not too dangerous for £75.Both the HTC One M8 and Galaxy S6 have to date proven zero points and I’m trying ahead to placing them by additional assessments to see simply what you will get out of used telephones at these costs. If you are shopping for used telephones your self, it is price remembering that there are execs and cons nonetheless a lot you spend. An older cellphone will value you much less, however aged batteries and different potential {hardware} faults might imply you are probably not getting the cut price you hoped for. It’s additionally necessary to do not forget that these older telephones will not have current variations of Android on board. That not solely implies that some new apps will not be appropriate together with your cellphone, however the telephones might not have necessary safety updates that might go away you susceptible.