Buying used and or refurbished smartphone

[RotBaron]

Anyone have a good experience with buying a used smartphone.

Mine is ok, but it’s a real pain to get it to charge, it has to be in right position with a pen under the cable where it connects to the phone.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Bizman]

Can't the charging jack of your phone be fixed by a professional? I've heard that there's spare parts available for some brands but not for some other so it's either hit or miss.

I'd say a refurbished one is a safer bet as it has gone through some professional testing and maintenance. There's always a reason for dumping a 'good' phone and most often it's that it doesn't work any longer as it should.

Another thing to consider is that many older phones don't get any updates. The manufacturers used to provide updates for a couple of years only especially for the cheaper phones. At least here in Europe there's been coming a change, I just read a review about mid priced phones with upgrades to at least two next Android versions. iPhones have had a bit longer OS support, about five years.

[Swoop]

Come back Nokia, all is forgiven.

[Maverick]

Is your phone capable of wireless charging? That way you bypass the cord all together. Mine hasn't had a cord used on it outside of traveling away from home.

[Vulcan]

I wouldn't touch an iPhone if my life depended on it, especially now that apple have decided they have the right to scan your phone for stuff ( https://thehackernews.com/2021/08/apple-to-scan-every-device-for-child.html )

[guncrasher]

I have probably about 20 phones from 2k to now.  only 1 I gave a way to a guy that wanted a better phone for his daughter, i wiped it clean.  have never bought a refurbished phone as there's good phones brand new that are even better and cheaper.  it all depends on what you want, I have an s20+, only got it because I dont carry my glasses and need a bigger screen..


semp

[Tec]

Have you tried a new cable?  If not that's step one.

[TequilaChaser]

I just ran across an article the other day about all the different smartphone manufacturers have designed or programmed them to make it seem like your battery is wearing out in 2 to 3 years of use...just trying to force  customers to upgrade to and purchase a new one


I also will never lay my hand on an iPhone....cannot trust Apple....imo!

I do love my Samsung NOTE 205G...I  can use it under water in the pool with out fear

I have been having a blast these past few months teaching young children and others how to tread water and how to swim in er using different swimming styles....plus it has been helping me with my physical therapy

[Bizman]

Just a reminder: Unlike the NiCd and NiMH batteries used in early cell phones, the currently used LiPo batteries don't like to be fully charged nor fully discharged. The best way to charge them is to let them drain down to about 30% and charge them up to 70% - or 20-80 if that's easier to remember, I guess the percentages aren't stone carved. Anyhow, not totally empty, not entirely full. That can triplicate the number of charging cycles which translate to "from empty to full". On the negative side there'll be much more plug-ins wearing the jack. But if you're careful and insert and remove the plug straight instead of the 45 deg angle most people seem to do the jack should last long enough.

[RotBaron]

Have you tried a new cable?  If not that's step one.

Yes I’ve tried several cables to remedy the problem, no luck...

Thank you for the replies.

[Drano]

I had the USB connector actually come loose on the PCB of one of my phones making it near impossible to charge unless I put weight on the cable a certain way. Eventually that didn't work either. Insurance covered it.

The batteries in these things just don't hold up more than a few years. Once they start flaking out the phone does too. The older Androids I've had could be taken apart with some difficulty and a good kit of cell phone tools. I'd replaced the batteries on my old Razr Maxx phones several times but the batteries I'd get off ebay were even worse!

Newer phones are about impossible to take apart without destroying them. Which sucks because generally all they ever need is a good new battery and they're good to go.

The only OTHER problem is the OS on the phones. Older phones likely won't get updates for the OS or security making them kinda risky for anything but using them as a phone.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[Chalenge]

You have the right-to-repair.

[Bizman]

The only OTHER problem is the OS on the phones. Older phones likely won't get updates for the OS or security making them kinda risky for anything but using them as a phone.

Security is not the only problem with older Android versions: Play Store is so smart that it doesn't even offer apps for unsupported versions.

I'm a PC tech but sometimes the customers have a tablet or phone they need help with and I've learned to do basic things. Sometimes it's hard to figure out the issue, like in the case an old lady had: Her laptop refused to connect to the WiFi. That was an easy fix, simply slide the WiFi button from Off to On... She wouldn't have worried too much unless also her tablet refused to do any banking, the apps for the two banks she used just didn't work. As tablets have looked the same since day one and hers was in mint condition, I spent quite some time trying to find the apps from the Play Store until I finally called the helpdesk of the bank. First question: Which Android version... D'oh!!! 

[Drano]

It's like trying to browse in today's internet with all the animated crap going on in every site you go to with a browser on Win98! It's just a no.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[Peanut1]

I wouldn't touch an iPhone if my life depended on it, especially now that apple have decided they have the right to scan your phone for stuff ( https://thehackernews.com/2021/08/apple-to-scan-every-device-for-child.html )

what are you doing on yer phone that you need to be afraid of?