Samsung Galaxy S5 Sold "New" Appears to Be Refurbished: Would You Keep It?

Dalton on 28/03/2019 - 13:20
Last edited 28/03/2019 - 13:22

Hello Bargain Hunters.

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S5 off eBay. The phone was sold as Brand New in Box (suspect) but the seller had some good reviews, so I went with it. The phone looks good, but it's not brand new. It's defiantly an S5: I installed the latest Marshmallow stock ROM, a hardware analyser app tells me all the right things, and the IMEI is an S5 IMEI. But the battery looks fake (no NFC I can detect) and the headphones are S6 and probably fake.

The screen is clear but the light sensor seems slower to respond than the light sensor in my genuine S5.

I think I have enough data to get my money back, but I think I can talk the seller into giving me a partial refund.

I only bought this phone to get me through the next year and wouldn't be unhappy if it didn't last more than that. Warranty is 30 days.

What would you do?

Poll Options

  • 18
    Get a partial refund and keep it
  • 6
    Drop it like a hot stone
Mobile Mobile Phone Samsung Android

Related Stores

eBay Australia
eBay Australia
Marketplace

Comments

  • trustnoone on 28/03/2019 - 13:38
    +1

    Hard to know without knowing how much you paid for it, if you're happy with the phone as it is, I'm thinking a partial refund will be fine, as long as it doesn't look water damaged (red sticker).

    • Dalton on 28/03/2019 - 13:41

      That's a good point. Thanks.

      I paid about $180 for it, by the way.

      • scrimshaw on 28/03/2019 - 13:58
        +1

        $180 sounds like the normal market price for a used Galaxy S5 anyway.

        The problem with the old S5 is that new, genuine batteries are very hard to source now. There's over 9000 listings on eBay but probably only 5% of them are actual Samsung batteries.

        Another thing I'd check is for signs of AMOLED burn-in (usually in notification bar area), that's usually quite common on old Samsung's and that can only be fixed when the LCD display has been replaced. Crappy repair jobs however can compromise on the water resistance.

        • Dalton on 28/03/2019 - 14:09

          Thanks Scrimshaw, I've been buying batteries from Extreme Cells in Germany. They aren't fantastic, or cheap but they're okay and work better than the knock-off Samsung batteries you mention.

  • spackbace on 28/03/2019 - 14:25

    Good a link to the ebay listing?

    • Dalton on 28/03/2019 - 14:39

      This feels like evidence of my foolishness, but here it is:

      By the way, I didn't pay the advertised price.

      • spackbace on 28/03/2019 - 14:44
        +3

        Yeah 97% feedback isn't great

        Check the negatives here

        Avoid. Used items sold as "new and unopened", postage delayed deliberately.
        Phone is useless as it says "European SIM only" and I'm in Australia
        2nd Hand Used Phone repacked in fake boxing. No response from seller, beware
        not a new phine
        4 weeks still no phone. Item coming from China and not Australia as advertised.
        Phone did not work correctly on Telstra network.
        Suspect not genuine. Meant to be unlocked, wont work on Telstra. Not as descri
        GUYS DON'T BUY, REFURBISHED PHONES DESCRIBED AS NEW. They are deceitful sellers.

        I could go on…

        Get a refund from Paypal/eBay, item not as described. That listing doesn't mention refurb anywhere (though it does say the OS has been updated, that wouldn't normally be the case).

        Get a refund and buy elsewhere, you don't know what you have

      • josetann on 28/03/2019 - 15:00
        +2

        It's true that 97% isn't great. But there is enough decent feedback that I would have taken the risk if the price was right.

  • djkelly69 on 28/03/2019 - 16:23
    +7

    It's defiantly an S5

    My phone is defiantly an S7, as much as I tell it to be an S10.

  • Dalton on 28/03/2019 - 20:01

    Thanks to all voters and commenters. I'm going to keep the phone and am getting a small refund that will pay for a better battery.

  • zzyss on 28/03/2019 - 20:56
    +1

    To a certain extent, this is on you, because there's no way that there would still be a viable "brand new" S5. They would've stopped manufacturing them the year the S6 came out (what's that now, 4 years ago?) and even if there was one sealed in box sitting around gathering dust the battery would be so far gone as to be unusable.

    I just had to explain the exact same thing to my father in law who insisted that there was a "brand new" Galaxy Note 5 on eBay (he wants a new Note, but can't afford the newer models).

    Partial refund is a good outcome given the device itself is in decent nick and working. Chances are it's a factory refurb which means at least they did an OK job of putting it back together and used decent components (albeit highly unlikely to be genuine, as you discovered with the battery).

    One other thing to check is which region (country) it's from. B28!!! and all that. Kidding. I.e. if it's not a local model there's a possibility that the reception won't be as good as a local model because the local frequencies aren't fully supported. But more likely than not that's just being nitpicky. Not even sure if it mattered that much back then.

    • Dalton on 28/03/2019 - 22:07

      Good points. I appreciate your thoughts.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join