What characterizes a cell phone as refurbished?

Do you know when you buy a new cell phone , one that has just left the factory, but it is defective and you have to send it back to the manufacturer and end up receiving a new one instead? Well, in a situation like this we can call the product reconditioned, remanufactured or refurbished.

The big point, however, is that, while you receive a new one to replace the one that came with a defect, the one you initially acquired goes through a process of review, cleaning and eventual replacement of the parts that had problems, or any other change necessary to be put up for sale again.

In other words, whenever a defective cell phone is sent back to the company that produced it, it automatically fits into this type of set, so to speak, but that’s not all.

When we talk about the reasons that make it a refurbished device, we also have other possibilities such as:

• Someone bought it and regretted it, so they returned it;
• It was a display cell phone in the store and that’s why it’s defective;
• During the assembly of the smartphone, a defect was discovered.

The reason doesn’t matter, but the big fact is that, if it was returned to the manufacturer and underwent repairs and new quality control, it cannot be sold as if it were new (both in terms of pricing and characterization), and That’s where it comes into this specific classification.

Therefore, every refurbished cell phone has a lower price even with all the additional products, and this happens due to the fault it presented, or has in some cases.

Refurbished vs used cell phone

A very common question when we talk about what a refurbished cell phone is involves the similarity between this terminology and a used device. The first thing we must keep in mind is that both are very different from each other, especially when we talk about how it works.

“Used” is the term for when he already has a ride with someone else, as the name suggests. Therefore, the worst it can have is scratches, marks or some problems with the CPU, internal memory/RAM or other parts.

Refurbished smartphones , however, are not used devices, but that doesn’t mean they are new either. It was purchased by one person, but when trying to use it, she realized there was a problem and, for that reason, sent it back to the company or store where she sold it.

After that, the device goes through the process we talk about as a new evaluation to overcome the problem and only then can it be sold again. And that’s why we can’t classify it as used, but it’s also not possible to say that it’s a completely new phone.

Is it advisable to buy this type of device?

The big question that remains, then, is whether a refurbished cell phone is worth it . And here, however, a lot depends; but why, or from what?

If we just analyze that it is a device sold cheaper, it makes up for being a good device — depending on the model — with a smaller investment than would normally be necessary. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with buying a smartphone like this as the stores and manufacturers themselves put it up for sale after giving it a makeover and subjecting the device to a new quality test.

But the big point you need to question is: if it passed a first quality test and still had a defect, what prevents it from having any problems again? Of course, you will have full support from the store where you made the purchase, in accordance with the Consumer Protection Code, but this is a point to ask yourself before making the purchase so that what is cheap does not turn out to be more expensive.

And just as it is necessary to be careful when buying a used cell phone , it is also essential to take several precautions with a refurbished one. So to know if buying a refurbished cell phone is worth it in your case, ask the following questions before purchasing:

• Does the store offer a guarantee on purchase?
• Is the price difference for this device much greater than that of a “normal” cell phone?

Furthermore, whenever possible ask to see the device and touch it, all to find out what level it is at and thus know whether it is worth it or not for you. But remember that this will only be possible with stores!

How to know if the device is refurbished

Another interesting point to keep in mind is that, you know those ads in unofficial stores that have a very low price? This may be the case when selling a refurbished cell phone, but people usually won’t tell you that this is the case and you end up buying a refurbished cell phone without even realizing it.

However, there are ways to find out, the only point is that you can only be sure after you have the device in your hands.

On iPhones, just go to “Settings” and “General”, select the “About” tab and find out more details about the smartphone. There you can reach “Model”, which has a sequence of numbers and letters that indicate everything about the device.

The first letter of this large code tells you what the cell phone is about, which could be:

• M — new device;
• F — reconditioned;
• N — launched to replace an iPhone that had a problem;
• P — was sold with a personalized message on the chassis, on the back of the device.

As for Androids, there is no specific code or location for this, so it is recommended to check if the box and accessories have the seal intact, as well as check if the protective films that come from the factory are still on the device. It’s that simple and you know the whereabouts of the device!