Buying a new phone could always be exciting. But considering the prices of these new smartphones, we always tend to skip the purchase. In this case, you can consider buying a refurbished phone. You might have seen the advertisement for the refurbished phones at various eCommerce portals. These phones are available at quite cheaper rates as compared to the brand new smartphones. Have you ever thought about it? Why are such branded phones available at a lower price on the same website?
First, let’s understand what a refurbished phone is. Generally, all online smartphone dealers provide you with 10 days of the return policy. It could be due to any reasons. Most of the time, customers return their phones due to any fault. Once the customers send their phone back to the company, they send it under various processes, including repair, testing, and certification.
Apart from this, companies also wipe out the previous user’s data; hence, there won’t be any issues with data theft cases, and it would be as good as a new phone.
Once it passes through all the processes, it is labelled as refurbished. These phones also come with a backup warranty. Hence, they are safe for usage. These phones are available for sale at comparatively cheaper rates. Nowadays, many online shopping portals offer these refurbished phones. Hence it is always considered a good deal to buy these phones if you cannot afford to buy new phones.
Here we will discuss a few things that you can look at before purchasing the refurbished phone.
Choose A grade phone.
We discussed above how various testings are done and got certified for sale purposes. Here generally, the grade these phones into three categories Grade A, Grade B and Grade C. This categorization is done based on various tests conducted on the phone and overall hardware condition. It also depends on the physical appearance of the phone. These A-grade phones are as good as brand-new phones but comparatively cheaper.
Buy from a trusted vendor.
Always prefer to buy refurbished phones through a trusted vendor. Since customers sometimes use these phones, there could be issues with them at any point in time. A genuine, trusted seller would always do certain quality checks before selling any particular refurbished phone. Above all, these sellers also provide you with a warranty from their end; hence, you can always contact the seller if you face any issue in the future during the warranty period.
Check return policy
Even if you are buying a refurbished phone, check about the return policy with the supplier. As we mentioned above, these are used phones, and you could face issues with them at any point in time after purchase. Any genuine or verified dealer will provide you with the warranty, even with a refurbished phone.
Check for additional freebies.
Many online and offline vendors such as loop mobile offer great discounts and free accessories, including a screen guard, a protective case, earphones, and USB cable. Hence make sure you check all the leading suppliers and their offers before making the final purchase.
Beware of stolen phones.
While buying the refurbished phone from an offline or online store, make sure to get the supplier’s proper invoice or bill. Also, make sure all the details regarding the phone and warranty are mentioned on the bill itself. Once you receive the phone, please check whether the phone comes in an original box with all the required accessories. If the original box is not available, make sure the handset’s IMEI code is mentioned on the bill. You can also check the IMEI code from your handset itself by dialling *#06#.
Get an original handset.
You might be trapped while buying the refurbished phone. Some dealers can offer you fake phones at very cheap rates by calling them refurbished ones. To make sure you have received an original phone, you can do certain checks. Once you receive the phone, check the phone’s settings option and look for the hardware information, whether it is the same as the manufacturer. Alternatively, you can also download the CPU-Z app from the play store to check all the hardware related information. This app is only available for android devices.
There is another option to check the hardware authenticity of your device. The majority of smartphones provide the feature service code to check the advanced menus of the handset. With service code ##4636##, you will get the details about the battery, phone and usage statistics.
This detailed checklist would certainly help you to buy your next refurbished iPhone. Make sure you do these above-mentioned checks while placing the order for the same.
If you are looking for the best alternatives to buy a smartphone, buying a refurbished phone would be a great option. You can definitely browse through various online and offline options before purchasing your phone.