Refurbished phones

[BiotechBen]

Hey guys, looking at getting a new phone, and it's gonna likely be an S22+, and I was looking at refurbs since it's a good discount off new and should still be in great condition.

The two I had in mind were Back market and Amazon Renewed store (looks like it's a marketplace of different refurb providers). Does anyone have experience with either that could tell me if it's a safe bet?

 

I'm not looking for flawless, but would like to be in the "well taken care of" area.

[SpookyCitrus]

If you're in the US(it may be a available in other countries too but I am not sure) look at Swappa.com, they typically have the best prices for used/renewed or mint condition phones. 

[Radium_Angel]

So long as it's compatible with your cell provider, I should think you are okay, you could ask the seller for the IMEI number to ensure it's not on the "blacklist" of stolen phones, but he may not give up that info.

[BiotechBen]

5 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

So long as it's compatible with your cell provider, I should think you are okay, you could ask the seller for the IMEI number to ensure it's not on the "blacklist" of stolen phones, but he may not give up that info.

I'm on TMobile so I shouldn't need to worry about compatibility so long as it is unlocked. 

[E-waste]

I'll just throw it out there: have you considered iPhone?

 

Why I recommend them, so far without equal competition from any other phone manufactuter except fairphone (not easily accessible) Apple offers the longest run of updates for security and bug fixes, for six years.

 

Go ahead.  Name another smartphone company that also offers six+ years of software support.  Right, there isn't one, yet.

 

Name another device that has built-in GPS calling and texting, and superior tracking-protection.  That's like negative points for android.

 

Name another company that develops a non-chromium / google chrome web browser, you have either Mozilla Firefox (not used as much) or on mobile, apple's safari has 23+% of that market.  Just 9% on mac laptop/desktop.  That 23% is what's keeping chrome from having a total monopoly on the web browser.

 

Name a smartphone brand, that,by default, has built in battery managment comparable to apple, there isn't.  They prevent booting your phone until it has 15%.  This helps prevent excess wear on your battery and you can stop charging at 80% with toggle in the battery settings.

 

iPhone is superior, causes (in theory) less upgrades neccesitated by no-longer-updates devices by at least an extra year, and tracking protection built in.

 

What features in android make it seem like the better option?  Is it Nova launcher?  What could it be?

[OhioYJ]

On 3/14/2023 at 2:10 PM, BiotechBen said:

I'm on TMobile so I shouldn't need to worry about compatibility so long as it is unlocked. 

Just watch the US / Global models. While they "work" band coverage can be different between some models, meaning coverage can be different.  

[OhioYJ]

2 hours ago, E-waste said:

Go ahead.  Name another smartphone company that also offers six+ years of software support.  Right, there isn't one, yet.

Well actually buying the correct Android device means you aren't locked into OEM software, and won't have to rely on the OEM for support or updates. I have devices that are 9 years old running updated versions of Android, and still getting updates thanks to the open source community. 

 

2 hours ago, E-waste said:

Name another device that has built-in GPS calling and texting, and superior tracking-protection.  That's like negative points for android.

GPS? Do you mean Wifi. I'll admit I have limited knowledge about iPhones, and it is dated, but I'm not sure GPS is the correct technology / term there. Wifi calling and Messaging can be done, though it's not something done by default. Quite frankly I-messaging just makes a mess of things, especially if people switch between OS devices in my experience. Not sure if it's changed, but last iphone my wife had, we turned it off. As actually receiving text messages is kind of important.

 

2 hours ago, E-waste said:

Name a smartphone brand, that,by default, has built in battery managment comparable to apple, there isn't.  They prevent booting your phone until it has 15%.  This helps prevent excess wear on your battery and you can stop charging at 80% with toggle in the battery settings.

Why? Perhaps it's an emergency and I want / need my phone to work? The only "special" thing I do to my devices is I slow charge them. Other than that I run them down (to at least 20% or lower), and charge them all the way back up. The 9 year old device I mentioned above, I have 3 of them, all still with good batteries. I have a stack of phones (as old as 7 years) that have been treated the same way, all with good batteries. Some devices are starting to include this (Samsung, that I know of), but honestly, I'm not seeing this as necessary.

 

2 hours ago, E-waste said:

tracking protection built in.

So honest question, as I said my Iphone knowledge / experience is limited, how (this seems to infer that it's better some how)? Every Android I've used, allows you to locate it, remotely lock it, place a message on the lock screen, or wipe it. Is there anything else you need?

[BiotechBen]

Finally pulled the trigger on the S22+, will be here Monday. Thanks everyone for the discussion.