Cell Phones

Previously owned Cell Phones - re certified

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  • Jul 20th, 2022 10:58 pm
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Jan 24, 2007
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Previously owned Cell Phones - re certified

Hi need some expert advice.

Just got a recertified phone from Telus, Samsung S21 5G, 128 GB

Is there anyway to check its condition - how old, screen time, and whatever one should check.

I am a senior and not too conversant with all this - so any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Bob
Last edited by sheriffabc on Jul 20th, 2022 1:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Apr 17, 2014
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On iPhone there is a battery strength in the settings app. There would probably be apps in the Google Play Store on Android that would do the same but I'm not sure how accurate they would be.
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Nov 28, 2013
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Yup, it's entirely phone dependent, so you'll need to tell us what phone, first, before we can help you out.
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Nov 1, 2006
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sheriffabc wrote: Hi need some expert advice.

Just got a recertified phone from Telus.

Is there anyway to check its condition - how old, screen time, and whatever one should check.

I am a senior and not too conversant with all this - so any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Bob
Doesn't Telus offer a warranty with their pre-owned phones. IIRC, one year warranty and 30 day moneyback?
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Jan 24, 2007
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wearysky wrote: Yup, it's entirely phone dependent, so you'll need to tell us what phone, first, before we can help you out.
Yes, sry should have mentioned that in the original post - have edited it now.
Samsung S21 5G
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Mar 2, 2017
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Was the pre-owned phone listed as "Like New", "Great" or "Very Good"? From comments I've seen on RFD and elsewhere along with my own experiences suggest that "Like New" will be a <30 day return and will be untouched factory OEM. "Great" or "Very Good" can be hit or miss and parts could have been replaced and may not be OEM quality. I vaguely recall one complaint that the OLED screen had been replaced by a low quality LCD.

To check if it's OLED, show an all black image, crank the brightness and see if you see any light bleed. This website gives some more details. But that's not going to confirm the screen is OEM or even a high quality OLED.

DevCheck will give a variety of info, including a manufacturing date and a battery cycle count. But a low cycle number is only going to show the battery was replaced, it won't confirm quality.
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Jun 4, 2013
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Some stores even Best Buy have 3rd party selling on their website where the like new condition or great condition is often misleading. Since is 3rd party selling Best Buy do not do refund or exchange on these items and you have to go through the 3rd party seller who sold you the device. Personally I would never buy a used device no matter how cheap it is. I would rather buy a brand new phone that's last year flag ship model. Lot's of store like Samsung do offer last year device at a discount if you wait for a deal. Or get the pixel A series phone on google they are pretty good.
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Nov 28, 2013
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sponge5307 wrote: Some stores even Best Buy have 3rd party selling on their website where the like new condition or great condition is often misleading. Since is 3rd party selling Best Buy do not do refund or exchange on these items and you have to go through the 3rd party seller who sold you the device. Personally I would never buy a used device no matter how cheap it is. I would rather buy a brand new phone that's last year flag ship model. Lot's of store like Samsung do offer last year device at a discount if you wait for a deal. Or get the pixel A series phone on google they are pretty good.
Buying certified pre-owned from carriers and buying used from stores are two very different things.
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Aug 2, 2004
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I wouldn’t worry too much about it

Just use the phone, if there are problems, you will know in the first 30 days

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