Buying a Refurbished Mobile Phone

MechEng on 16/01/2017 - 11:55

Hi fellow bargainers

I currently own a BB Z10 (yes I know!) Since Whatsapp is ditching BB, I am forced to get a new phone. I was looking at mobiles in the mid range, but as now I can't afford to buy anything expensive. I am after a decent camera and battery life, I do not play games and mostly use maps, internet and photos. I came across the 20% off ebay sell and Certified Tech direct catched my eyes. Their prices are ok, and sell a range of phones. I am wondering if some of you have bought refurbished phones from this or other sellers and what have been your experience?
Thanks!

D

Mobile

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 16/01/2017 - 12:44
    +5

    Some people bought refurb Galaxy notes from a previous sale and some got decent ones while others got AMOLED screen burn in. Which is to be expected, as AMOLED has a finite lifespan.

    Your experience will vary depending on luck and mobile phones generally cannot be refurbished very well by a 3rd party, things like screens and logic boards are quite expensive to repair and a 3rd party repair job can sometimes be shoddy if they use off-brand parts to cut costs.

    I would strongly consider options like:

    a Xiaomi Redmi Pro 4 for like $210
    a high-end Lenovo ZUK2 with 64GB of memory for around $220~240
    a mid-end ZTE Axon 7 from Officeworks for less than $250

  • apple2016 on 16/01/2017 - 13:57
    +1

    You could look at manufacturer refurbished mobile phone.
    I would advice against 3rd party refurbished mobiles as you will not be able to go to manufacturer for warranty.

  • CLoSeR on 16/01/2017 - 14:11
    +2

    Moto G4 Plus is an excellent mid range phone, the software is almost stock android which makes it very fast.

    https://www.mobileciti.com.au/mobile-phones/motorola/moto-g-…

  • MechEng on 16/01/2017 - 22:56

    Thanks everyone for the inputs.
    By now I should probably change the title to "Help me find a phone"
    What do you guys think about these phones against the g4 plus 32gb? Appreciate your inputs!
    Ta!
    S.Galaxy S5
    Huawei GR5
    Galaxy J5 Prime
    Huawei GR3
    LG K10

    • POSITIVEVIBESONLY on 16/01/2017 - 23:33
      +1

      I'll would definitely recommend the G4 plus over any of those models.
      G4 Plus is a relatively new phone with close to stock android.
      S5 is way too old to start using right now and Touchwiz OS has too much bloatware, so I'm taking out the J5 Prime too.
      Huawei GR3 battery is only 2200, so that's not enough for the avg user.
      LG has had boot problems on it's older phones so I'm not touching them unless it's a V20, plus it's specs are just not on par with all the other phones.

      Which leaves only the Huawei GR5 and G4 Plus, with very similar specs I defs would go for the Moto near stock andriod OS over the Huawei OS.
      G4 always has the bigger screen at 5.5" over the 5".

      Hope this clears it up for you.

      The two closer contenders are defs the ZTE AXON and XIAOMI redmi pro, both very respected Chinese brands and very good reviews with the G4.

      • MechEng on 16/01/2017 - 23:44

        Thanks for your comprehensive explanation! I'll look into those two with more care. Cheers

        • scrimshaw on 17/01/2017 - 00:48
          +1

          If your budget is in the $300 range, another great phone to look at is the Xiaomi Mi5 and the Mi5s

          These are a cut above the budget Redmi series and have much better cameras. But they sacrifice the SD card slot. Review

          That being said I own the Galaxy S5 and also have the Moto G4 Plus. Both are good phones in my opinion, but they have their own pro's and cons.

      • [Deactivated] on 18/01/2017 - 09:29

        Nothing wrong with the s5 updated to mm and still going strong.

        Decent battery life and id you have an issue with the launcger you can always change it, I'm issuing ñ nova launcher

        • POSITIVEVIBESONLY on 18/01/2017 - 16:21

          That's true but it is an older phone where support for it will most likely be cut off before any of the other models listed.

        • [Deactivated] on 18/01/2017 - 16:46

          @innerserenity: huawei dont have a good reputation for updates on their range of handsets for a long period of time.

    • CLoSeR on 17/01/2017 - 06:29
      +1

      The software alone with the Moto G4 Plus is a reason to choose it over the others in this list.

  • MechEng on 17/01/2017 - 09:12

    thank you all!

  • LYRICALRAVER on 21/01/2017 - 06:59

    what is the point of taking a chance with 'slightly' cheaper refurbished phones and hoping the phone holds up, when you can spend a bit more and get a brand new phone with warranty? doesn't really add up to me…

    • MechEng on 23/01/2017 - 11:37

      I get your point, but if you buy a grey import warrranty can be an issue, so the question may be is the warranty of a refurbished better than a grey import?

      • scrimshaw on 26/01/2017 - 02:22
        +1

        grey imports can still be under statutary warranty, but under this strict condition: the seller in question is an Aussie business (say, Kogan, DWI Australia, eGlobal) they still have to give you a full 12 months warranty, even though the phone is not an aussie model

        if you are buying from some chinese store on Aliexpress than there's probably also no warranty… except for the very short buyer protection period of around 60 days.

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