- \r\n
- Reputable Retailer: Ensure the second-hand iPhone is bought from a retailer that performs thorough checks and offers a warranty.<\/li>\r\n
- IMEI Check: Verify the phone\u2019s IMEI to ensure it\u2019s not lost or stolen.<\/li>\r\n
- Unlocked Status: Check if the phone is unlocked by navigating to Settings.<\/li>\r\n
- Battery Health: Assess battery health via Settings > Battery.<\/li>\r\n
- Speaker and Microphone Test: Play music and record a voice note to test functionality.<\/li>\r\n
- Camera Test: Request a photo or video test to ensure the camera works.<\/li>\r\n
- Warranty Verification: Check any remaining warranty details via Settings.<\/li>\r\n
- Avoid Private Sellers: Steer clear of private sellers without proper checks and warranties.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nAre refurbished iPhone devices reliable?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/olia-nayda-e0SPKX4yn2o-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nYes, but only if you buy from a reputable retailer.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Here at musicMagpie, for example, we carry out an extensive 90+ point check to make sure every refurbished iPhone<\/a> we sell works perfectly and back it up with our 12 month warranty.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Before buying a refurbished phone, always check:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
- \r\n
- Has the phone been checked for faults?\u00a0<\/li>\r\n
- Does it come with a warranty?\u00a0<\/li>\r\n
- What are the company or seller\u2019s reviews like?\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
If you\u2019re buying from a private seller, make sure to ask about the phone\u2019s history and any checks they\u2019ve carried out. We\u2019ll tell you how to do this in the next few sections.<\/p>\r\n
Check out our huge range of iPhone models, including a refurbished iPhone 14<\/a>, refurbished iPhone 13<\/a>, refurbished iPhone 12<\/a> and refurbished iPhone 11<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nHow do I check if an iPhone is lost or stolen?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
All reputable retailers will check a phone\u2019s status before selling it. For example, we cross-reference every phone we sell against national lost and stolen databases via PhoneCheck.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Checking a phone\u2019s status is a little trickier if you\u2019re buying from a private seller, but not impossible:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
- \r\n
- Ask the seller for the phone\u2019s IMEI. Ideally, they\u2019ll provide a recording of themselves retrieving the IMEI number. If they refuse to provide the IMEI number, consider it a warning and move on!\u00a0<\/li>\r\n
- Use an IMEI checking service to verify the phone\u2019s status. Most of these services will charge a small fee but it\u2019s worth it for the extra peace of mind.<\/li>\r\n
- Use a credit card to make your purchase if possible. This will give you more protection if anything goes wrong.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nHow do I check if an iPhone is unlocked?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/lorenzo-rui-J7xrBW_oYJc-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBuying an unlocked iPhone means you can use it on any network, whereas a locked phone can only be used on the network it\u2019s locked to.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Almost all major retailers will make it clear upfront whether the phone you\u2019re buying is unlocked or not.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
If you\u2019re buying from a private seller and they haven\u2019t disclosed the phone\u2019s status, the easiest thing to do is ask. If you have access to the phone, you can also go to Settings > Tap Mobile Data > Mobile Data Options. If you see an option titled ‘Mobile Data Network\u2019, then the phone is unlocked.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nHow do I check an iPhone\u2019s battery life?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
You can check an iPhone\u2019s battery health by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Sadly, batteries don\u2019t last forever so there\u2019s a strong chance it may sit below 100%. There\u2019s no reason to panic though; if it\u2019s above 70% then it should still do the trick.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Apple suggests most iPhone batteries will remain at peak performance for 500 charge cycles, which works out at roughly two years.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As with all other potential faults, we at musicMagpie check the battery health of every refurbished phone before putting it up for sale.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nHow do I carry out an iPhone speaker and microphone Test?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/freestocks-KQK2F0u7WPo-unsplash-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTo test an iPhone\u2019s speaker, play some music through the phone and\/or make a call. If the sound is quiet or crackles then there might be a problem.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Testing the microphone is as simple as recording a voice note and playing it back.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Again, most retailers will test the speaker before putting the phone on sale and will have something in place (like our 12 month warranty) to cover you if something doesn\u2019t work properly.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
If you\u2019re buying from a private seller, ask for a video of them playing music through the phone and recording a voice note.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nHow do I carry out an iPhone camera test?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As with all of the faults above, all reputable retailers will test an iPhone\u2019s camera before selling it. They should also provide a warranty to cover you if something goes wrong.<\/p>\r\n
It\u2019s a little trickier if you\u2019re buying from a private seller, though. You could ask them to record a video of themselves taking a photo, or to use an app like TestM<\/a> (full disclosure: we haven\u2019t tested this app ourselves) to provide a diagnostic report.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nHow do I carry out an iPhone warranty check?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/iPhone-7-1024x684.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nApple provides a 1 year warranty with all new iPhone devices. You can check if you\u2019re covered by going to Settings > General > About. You should find your warranty details under ‘Serial Number\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The vast majority of refurbished iPhone devices won\u2019t be covered by Apple\u2019s original warranty (unless the first owner traded it in extremely quickly), but most retailers will offer their own warranty to cover technical faults.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
You might have guessed already, but the warranty issue is a bit more complicated when buying from a private seller. As most private sellers are individuals looking to sell their old phone rather than businesses, the chances are you won\u2019t get a warranty or any kind of money back guarantee.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
To make matters more complicated, private sellers aren\u2019t obligated to disclose faults either – that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to check all of the faults we\u2019ve listed in this post first!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
If you\u2019re looking for a safe, reliable way to buy refurbished phones, we have you covered. Check out our huge range and save today!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nYou can also make your purchase cheaper by trading in your old phone. Simply head over to our Sell Mobile Phones<\/a> or Sell My iPhone<\/a> pages for more details<\/em>. You can sell broken iPhone<\/a> devices with us too!<\/em><\/p>\r\n
Ready to upgrade? Get the iPhone 17 for even less when you switch to refurbished! Browse our range of\u00a0<\/span>refurbished iPhone 17<\/a>, refurbished iPhone 17 Pro<\/a>, refurbished iPhone 17 Pro Max<\/a> and refurbished iPhone Air<\/a> models for deals that are hundreds cheaper than buying new!<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Buying a second hand phone can be a daunting experience. What phone should you buy? How do you get the best deal? Where do you buy from?\u00a0\u00a0 The big question on a lot of people\u2019s minds when buying second hand, though, is how do you make sure the phone actually …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2154],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13302"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18528,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13302\/revisions\/18528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/olia-nayda-e0SPKX4yn2o-unsplash-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n