What is and how to Identify a Refurbished Android phone

Whether you are planning to buy a new smartphone or fairly used android phone, you should be very careful in selecting your choice because of the high rate of
refurbished android phone in the market so you won't go home with a fake android phone purchased with your hard earned money.
Phones of different model and specifications from different mobile phone companies are now numerous in the market including the refurbished ones. It means you should
be vigilant so as not to fall victim of the fake one.

I know the question going through your mind right now. What is a refurbished phone and how will i check or know if a phone is refurbished? Don't worry yourself
because everything will be explained in detail.

What is a refurbished phone?

They are phones that are previously damaged in the course of manufacturing them and/or are returned by the customer after being used for a while. So the
manufacturer accept them probably because of the warranty given to them, repair and package them and resell it in Factory refurbished batch. This type
is known as Factory refurbished phones

Another type is the one produced locally by phone repairers. They look for faulty phones, repair them and change their casing to make it look new. Sometimes,
they try and produce a phone that looks like the international or big brand ones like Samsung, apple, etc by importing some smartphones from country like korea then
attach fake box, fake software and accessories with them.

How to Identify a Locally Refurbished phone

Follow the tips below to identify a refurbished phone anytime you see them

• Firstly, check the weight of the phone because locally refurbished phone tends to be lighter than original ones
• Check the quality of the phone especially the quality of the casing.
• If you have LTE coverage in your area check if the phone support LTE band.
• Locally refurbished phone always give this funny sound when navigating or pressing the touchscreen keypad. They sound different from the original
• The backlight are always brighter than the original ones. you should use this for samsung phones
• Check the sound it give when switching on the phone. Korean phone makes alot of noise
• Navigate to About Phone in the settings and check if the model name is same as the one in the casing
• Check the specs of the phone from a genuine Android phone review blog
  and relate them to what you see. Specs like: Os, Android version, RAM, ROM, etc

How to Identitfy a Factory refurbished phone

This only work for big smartphone companies like samsung, LG etc.

• Open the phone dialer app
• Type ##786# or *#*#786#*#* (it will take you to RTN Screen)
• Scroll down to Reconditioned status
  
  • Yes - Your phone is refurbished
  • No - your phone is not reburbished but factory new

Do you know there are some people who prefer the Factory refurbished one? probably because of the high cost of the recent smarphones. See the screenshot from a mobile forum below

Mobile Forum Disccusion

 Are you onced a victim of refurbished phone or you know more about it. Let's hear from you.