7 Things you MUST check when you buy a Secondhand iPhone

If you want an iPhone but your budget won’t quite stretch to a new one, then buying secondhand may just solve your

problem.

How do you make sure it’s not faulty, damaged, locked, or

stolen…?

But…

This guide from MacBooty.com will show you how

There is a feature called ‘Activation Lock' which prevents anybody from using an iPhone if it is ever lost or stolen. Activation Lock is enabled automatically when you turn on Find My iPhone on a device using iOS 7 or later.

The seller or previous owner should have turned off the activation lock, otherwise you will not be able to use the phone.

To make sure the phone is not locked or stolen, retrieve the iPhone’s unique IMEI or Serial number. You can see it by going to Settings > General > About, or by typing *#06# on the phone keypad.

1. Check the serial number and Activation Lock

1. Check the serial number and Activation Lock

Once you’ve found the number, go to the Apple Activation Lock Status Tool and enter the IMEI number to verify that the phone is not locked or stolen.

Phones have a Liquid Contact Indicator which shows whether the device has been in contact with water.

The indicator's colour is normally white or silver, but when it contacts water it turns red.

2. Check for water damage

Examine the casing carefully, front, back and around the sides. Does it have any chips or scratches? Apart from the cosmetic appearance, these can indicate that the phone has hard a hard life, and may have sustained internal damage.

Do all the buttons operate smoothly, without any stiffness? Check the dock connector, and the headphone socket for signs of any damage, or undue wear.

Make sure the Touch controls, and fingerprint recognition all work correctly, and on the latest models, ensure the 3D Touch is working correctly. Plug the iPhone into a charger, and make sure it charges straight away. Listen to some music through the headphone jack.

3. Check the condition, controls, & connections

Take some photos and a short video. Look at the photos, zoom in, and play the video back to check the quality of the image, and also the sound through the internal speakers.

Look at the display and check for dead pixels or colour issues. The easiest way to do this is to use the iPhone Dead Pixel Tester, which lets you set the screen to a solid colour which will show up any stuck pixels.

4. Check display, camera, microphone & speaker

Battery life does degrade as a phone gets older, so you can expect a used iPhone not to hold it’s charge as long as a new one. However, the battery is not user-replaceable, and they are expensive to fit, so you need to make sure that the battery is not worn out or damaged.

The only way to fully test the battery is to charge it to 100%, and then see how long it lasts in normal operation. If you don’t have time to do that, you can go to Settings > Battery and see when the iPhone was last fully charged and what usage it has had since then.

Look at the percentage charge now, and see if that seems reasonable for the time since it was last charged.

5. Check the battery

Ideally, you should perform this test in an area where you know what sort of coverage you should expect - both from Wi-Fi, and cellular. If you use BlueTooth for any accessories (external speakers, hands-free etc.), it’s a good idea to test this also.

6. Browse the Internet through Wi-fi and cellular network

Last but not least, test using it as a phone! Although making phone calls might be the last thing people use their iPhones for, it’s important that your iPhone can make and receive voice calls.

Listen to the sound quality, and check the signal strength. Again, if possible it’s good to do this in an area where you know what signal to expect.

7. Make a voice call

If your iPhone passes all those tests you should be safe to buy

it with confidence

For great deals on Secondhand iPhones

Visit MacBooty.com (UK) or us.MacBooty.com (USA)