Check these features must before buying an refurbished or second hand cellphone!

When we talk about saving money on devices then usually refurbished or used goods would be the best choice of all. Flagship devices come with a very heavy price range then it becomes hard to afford for many of us. But there is always a way. That is why we buy used phones or refurbished phones. All you need to do is to stay alert when buying the device, if everything is okay with the situation and you get what you wanted, then Hurrraaahh! We’ll know some of the major key points to check before buying a refurbished smart phone or any used devices.

1. Buy from verified source (stolen or not): There are plenty of online market place for buying used goods or refurbished products, but all are not trusted sources. You gotta’ choice the seller depending on the rating. For example: The website you’re using to buy good should be very well known and verified. The person you’re contacting when dealing, should meet face to face. Otherwise what happens, you transfer the amount and they’ll just send you a piece of brick or dirt or something else.  So it is always better to meet the seller in person. Also it is a good practice to get to know about your seller, i.e.: Occupation, NID (National Identity), where he/she lives and so on.
2. Types of refurbish: There are two major types of refurbished phone can be found in the market. First one is Official Refurbished and second one is Unofficial Refurbished. Official refurbished means the phone has came from original service center of that brand. i.e.: Only Apple Inc. can releases official iPhone(Refurbished), if some other company repairs it and releases it then it’ll be counted as unofficial refurbished. So, an official refurbished good is always appreciable but the price is still high enough comparing to the local or 3rd party refurbished good. But the quality coming from an Official Refurbished can’t be compared to un-official one.
3. Inspecting the phone (scratched/gold/mint): Well, there are some standards of the refurbished or used phone on the market. This is called “Esthetic Condition”. More or less all markets maintain the prices according to the standard. The very basic scale is Scratched, Good, Very Good and Mint. Here, scratched is the lower in the scale and Mint is the top most on the scale. So, the prices keep varying depending on the esthetic condition. Must check the phone’s exterior condition before buying a phone so that you can avoid any dent, scratch, broken and so on.
4. Matching the S/N or IMEI on cover if have one: Always ask for the original box of the devices. Why it is necessary? Well, there are plenty of stolen phone in the market and you obviously don’t wanna buy a stolen phone and get caught by the local Police department. So, it is seen that, stealing the phone with a box is nearly impossible. And the S/N (Serial Number) of the device and IMEI both identity numbers are written on both on device and cover. How to find the IMEI number of any mobile devcie? Just check if those two matches or not. If not then you might need to get rid of the device. But in some condition, it is not possible for the seller to egt the box for some un-avoidable issue. Then just make sure that the person is telling the truth.
5. Checking authenticity in online IMEI checker: There are plenty of online sites where you can actually test or verify your IMEI number of the device and make sure whether it is an original verified devices or not. If you had chances, then just check the IMEI for once at least. Check IMEI in this website: https://www.imei.info/
6. Checking the OS: This might be the most important thing when buying a used or refurbished phone. Because you don’t know which seller is authentic as you’re not so experienced in the field, so anyone can play with your big money and cheat with you with a Clone phone or Chinese copy or Korean First copy? So, first thing is to check inside a phone is to check the OS. For example: if you’re buying an iPhone then there should be iOS installed on the device. Go to Settings>About, check the OS version, kernel version and check the UI if it really feels like an iOS or not. And if it is an Android phone, go follow the same process and check what is the Android version of the phone, is it matching with the stock specs or not, check the UI of the phone, and then you’ll get to know. Mostly, these clones are of Samsung, Apple, HTC and Sony.

Checking other specs (Camera, SIM panel, Microphone, Network, Connectivity, Accessories, Charger, Audio or charger port):

• Camera: It is one of the major things to check. Open the app and check for the shutter lag and natural color grading and the quality of the video. If it matches as per you observed on YouTube reviews then okay, if not then just abort.
• SIM Panel:Put the SIM card inside the SIM panel, check whether it is working perfectly or is there any loose connecting in between SIM card and holder.
• Microphone:Check the microphone by calling to a number and check if the person from opposite side can listen to you clearly.
• Network:Cheek the network strength on the phone. What happens, by the phase of time, the network chip becomes less powerful than it was at first. So, must check whether the signal strength is okay, if the phone is able to catch the 3G/4G/5G networks when inside the coverage.
• Connectivity:Such as Wi-Fi, BlueTooth, InfraRed, GPS and some other connectivity apps are pre-installed in almost every device. So, must take a look at that feature to check whether these features are working perfectly or not.
• Accessories:Usually a device comes with three common accessories such as: Earphone, USB cable and Charging Adapter. Must check if all the accessories are working perfectly or not.
• Audio or Charging Port: Must check for any dent, bend or broken issue on the ports of the device. And check after plugging the jack in, if the accessories are working as per it should.
• Check if it meets the service center or not: Service center is not a good place for any phone unless or until it is official service center. But if it’s not an official service then you really should take the issue under concern. Because repairer who works in those unofficial service points is quite unfamiliar with the device architecture plus they do not have any proper training experience on handing semi-assembled device. So, also ask for the answer if the device met service center or not, if then what for.

Have a nice day!