Good Housekeeping UK
If you’ve ever looked at the price of a new smartphone and winced, consider going refurbished. Gone are the days when getting a second-hand model felt like a back-street deal where you may or may not actually have got a working device – there are now trusted websites that offer quality used phones with a year’s warranty, plus an easy returns process if you change your mind.
That’s right, shopping via Back Market, musicMagpie or Giffgaff saves you money on iPhones, Google Pixels or Samsung Galaxys, especially older models that are no longer available on the high street. Networks like O2, EE and Vodafone all sell refurbished phones, too. And that’s no surprise given the increasing demand, with research suggesting more than a million adults in the UK bought a refurbished phone between 2021 and 2022, with millions more considering one when it comes to their next upgrade.
Most of these handsets are pre-loved, but have been checked for faults, tested to make sure that they’re working and wiped of the prior owner’s data. And the experts agree: buying your smartphones renewed instead of new is also an eco-friendlier way of upgrading your gadgets.
“People are into having tech products to be connected to their friends, their family or to work, technology is everywhere,” Thibaud Hug de Larauze, the co-founder and CEO of Back Market, one of the most prominent second-hand technology marketplaces, tells Good Housekeeping. “So how do we make more with less while we need more tech products? We have to make them last longer.”
“I think the biggest challenge of the century is fighting climate change,” he adds. “If you have kids, you want them to enjoy their life and maybe have grandkids that will do the same, so our responsibility is to stop emitting too much Co2 emissions. And that means doing more with less.”
So, if you’re thinking about saving money on your next smartphone while shopping sustainably, you’re not alone. Last October, Giffgaff revealed that refurbished phones accounted for 77% of all the phones it had sold in 2022 to that point. Not sure where to start? Here’s what you need to know.
Tim Robberts
Unlike a new phone, which comes to you sealed, in an official box and untouched, a refurbished one has had a previous owner. The device has either been returned to a retailer or website due to that person changing their mind, using a trade-in service or due to an unexpected fault. If that last one concerns you, don’t worry: for a phone to be classed as refurbished it must be tested and fixed to working order, so important features like the battery, cameras, buttons and display will all be just fine.
Used phones are graded based on their physical condition – this usually goes from “acceptable” to “excellent,” although every site is different (more on that below). The devices that are graded as the best condition cost more to buy but come with a warranty that covers manufacturing faults, and most websites give you an easy returns process that lets you get a refund if you change your mind.
We wouldn’t implore you to trust the refurbishment process without having fully tried it ourselves, and we can attest to having great experiences when buying refurbished tech over the past few years. Whether that’s a refurbished MacBook Air laptop from Apple, used camera gear from MPB or an Apple Watch Series 4 smartwatch from Back Market, we’ve always found the gadgets just as reliable, and our bank account has appreciated the savings. You may find yourself getting a third-party charger rather than an official one, but we’d bet you’ve got the cables and wall plugs you need from your old handsets.
Refurbished iPhone 12
Refurbished iPhone 11
Refurbished Google Pixel
Refurbished Samsung Galaxy
Refurbished iPhone SE
There are two benefits to buying refurbished: savings and sustainability. It is usually the case that a pre-loved handset won’t cost as much when compared to going brand new. You can save even more money if you don’t mind having an older model, too. Take the iPhone as an example. The base handset in the latest iPhone 14 line-up starts around £800 if you buy it new, however, a refurbished iPhone 12 (which has an almost identical design) is available for under £400 on Back Market, and under £300 if you don’t mind seeing a few blemishes and getting it in “fair” condition.
Making tech go further, for longer, means it’s eco-friendly to buy a refurbished phone instead of a new one. You won’t single-handedly save the planet, but every little helps when it’s suggested that refurbished smartphones – due to reusing finite materials that are intensive to source, mine and move – can reduce a device’s overall carbon footprint and help to reduce e-waste from the manufacturing process. Plus, fewer unused handsets end up in landfills so soon after purchase. Research suggests that of the 16 billion phones found around the world in 2022, more than five billion would become waste that's thrown away instead of recycled.
There’s good news if you’re intrigued about shopping for refurbished phones in 2023 – they’re everywhere! Here are our favourite places to pick them up:
Don't forget about network providers too. It makes sense that phone companies get a lot of returns and trade-ins, and as a result, some of the biggest UK networks now offer refurbished handsets, all tested and covered by warranty. This includes EE, O2, Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse, Three and Mobiles. Don’t forget that if you’re only interested in iPhones, Apple has its own refurbished section.
Refurbished phones are always given a grading based on their physical condition – that’s how many marks, blemishes or scratches were picked up from the previous use. Every website or marketplace uses different ways of describing this, but most use a system from “good” to “excellent”. The devices with the most marks will be the most affordable, while pristine handsets always cost you more.
Take Back Market: there you’ll find every phone has a grading of “fair” (where there could be tiny scratches on the display and visible marks or dents on the phone’s case), “good” (where the screen is in perfect condition, but the body may have micro-scratches visible from 20cm away) and excellent (the display is in perfect shape and any micro-scratches on the body won't be noticeable from 20cm away). Every seller is vetted, but “excellent” phones get the most rigorous testing.
For comparison, Giffgaff uses a grading system that goes from “good” to “like new”, while Amazon Renewed’s spectrum goes from “acceptable” to “excellent”. We highly recommend checking the cosmetic condition of the product before buying.
To help you out when shopping for a refurbished phone, we’ve come up with a six-point checklist that you can use to make sure you’re getting a quality device:
- Choose your store: Look at the phones on the websites and providers above, check their policies and pick the one you like best.
- Check the grading: Once you’ve chosen, make sure you’re happy with its cosmetic condition and price using the grading system.
- Check user reviews: Read several user reviews, and if possible, also look for reviews of the company or the seller.
- Check battery health: Batteries don’t last forever. So, make sure the phone has battery health of at least 80% of its original capacity if possible. This should be noted on the listing and if not, we recommend you contact the vendor or seller to check their battery testing policies.
- Check the warranty: Aim to get at least a 12-month warranty so you’re covered in case of faults, but also check returns procedures.
- Check if it’s unlocked: Make sure your SIM works. Unlocked phones accept any, but some handsets only work with a single network.
Buying a refurbished phone is a fantastic way to save money while shopping in a more sustainable way and making tech last longer. We know how easy it is to get swept up in the latest phone releases, but if you don’t need the latest model with the latest specs, buying used no longer means settling for a poor experience. Marketplaces have vetting, testing and warranty policies, and we love that most offer a no-fuss returns process if the phone isn’t quite right. If budget is your priority, this is an ideal way of getting a cut-price flagship device. To us, going with refurbished smartphones often feels like a win-win.
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February 15, 2023 at 11:37PM
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What is a refurbished smartphone? - Good Housekeeping
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