How to Buy a Used Cell Phone: Tips and Tricks from Dave at Phone.com

When it comes to buying a used cell phone, there are several things you need to keep in mind to ensure that you're getting a reliable device. In this article, we'll be following along with Dave from Phone.com as he shares his tips and tricks for buying a used cell phone.

First Tip: Take a Full 360 Look at the Phone

The first tip Dave has for buying a used cell phone is to take a full 360 look at the phone making sure that there isn't any damage, especially alongside the corners. He notes that a few "nicks and knacks" are okay, but a lot of them indicate that the phone's been dropped a lot and that will probably not be a good thing going down the line because you never know how that affects the pH on the inside. Dave wants to make sure the screen doesn't have excessive scratches, as light scratches are okay with any use phone, but shouldn't be excessive by any means. He also notes that turning the LCD on or the screen on and making sure that the screen itself isn't cracked is crucial, as a crack screen is no good.

To check if the screen is cracked, Dave suggests looking for lines running through the screen or bleeding of colors, as these are signs that the screen may be damaged. He also recommends testing the screen by checking every single corner to make sure all of them work. Sometimes, you can go home thinking a phone's working, only to realize later that it doesn't work properly, so this step is crucial.

Second Tip: Check the Buttons

After checking the screen, Dave moves on to checking the buttons. He wants to make sure that the volume buttons, power key, and camera key all work properly, as these are essential functions of a cell phone. Dave notes that a lot of times you can go through a phone without even realizing that some of these things don't work, so this step is important.

Third Tip: Check for Liquid Damage

The third tip Dave has for buying a used cell phone is to check for liquid damage. He notes that a lot of times the phone will look good on the outside but may have been damaged internally. To check for liquid damage, Dave suggests looking at the charging port and making sure it looks nice and clean. He wants to ensure that the inside is made of aluminum and not anything else, as corrosion can be a sign of liquid damage.

Dave also recommends checking the headphone jack to make sure there's no liquid damage in there. Additionally, he notes that some batteries have a small white sticker or sticker with a little pink design on it, which should indicate if the battery has been water damaged. If the battery is solid pink or red, it means the phone may have been water damaged and you should stay away from it.

Fourth Tip: Check the ESN

The final tip Dave has for buying a used cell phone is to check the ESN (Electronic Serial Number). If you're buying a CDMA phone such as a Sprint or Verizon phone, you need to verify that the ESN is free. This means checking if the phone isn't activated on another account, which would indicate a stolen phone, or if it's not locked onto an account with a past due payment.

Once you've checked these steps and everything checks out, you're probably going to be good to go and can enjoy your new phone. However, remember that even with proper precautions, there are no guarantees when buying a used cell phone.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhow's it going guys this is daav here from f.com and in this video I'm be giving you a few of my tips to buying a used cell phone so the first tip is to take a full 360 look at the phone making sure that there isn't any damage um or a lot of damage especially alongside the corners I mean a few uh you know Nicks knacks are okay but a lot of them indicate that the phone's been dropped a lot and that will probably not be a good thing going down the line because you never know how that affects pH on the inside you want to make sure the screen doesn't have excessive scratches of course light scratches are okay as with any use phone you should expect them but uh shouldn't be excessive by any means turn the LCD on or the screen on and make sure that the screen itself isn't cracked because the crack screen is no good and um the way you could detect whether or not a screen is cracked is there shouldn't be any lines running through the screen or any bleeding of the colors of course you want to test the screen if it's touchcreen Itself by uh testing every single corner so as I'm doing right now you can see I'm testing every corner to making sure to make sure that all of them work because sometimes you can go home you know thinking a phone's working and then all of a sudden realize that the bottom right corner doesn't work and uh you definitely don't want that to happen so after you've checked the screen and the phone itself you want to check the buttons so make sure that the the volume buttons work so volume up and down the power key the camera key and so forth you want to make sure those things work because a lot of times you can be you know going through a phone and not even realize that those things don't work want to also make sure that if a phone has a little like kickstand that it works of course most phones don't have that but if it does make sure that thing works properly and uh the most important thing you want to check for though with any used phone is if the phone has liquid damage because a lot of times the phone will look good but it could be liquid damage and the way you check for that is looking at the charging port so in this case you look right here and make sure that the inside looks nice and you know aluminum make sure it's not green or yellow or anything kind of moldy color which would indicate corrosion which would be from liquid damage you could also take a look at the headphone jack making sure that there isn't any liquid damage in there um the next thing you want to check for water damage is the battery itself because the battery itself will have a little indicator that's usually a white sticker or a white sticker with a little pink uh design on it but it should be white for the most part if it's a solid pink or a solid red means that the phone's been water damaged and you definitely want to stay away from there also you can check inside the device so you can see in here there's a little white sticker right there and U make sure that's the same color too because any other color would indicate that the phone's been water damaged of course people can replace the battery tricking you thinking that it's okay so that's what you want to check in there and also like I said the charging port itself but uh that's the steps that you want to take for uh water damage checking but the next thing you want to check for is the ESN so if you're on a uh or if you're trying to buy a CDMA phone such as like a Sprint or Verizon phone you want to make sure that you call the Carrier and uh verify that the ESN is free meaning that it isn't activated on another account which would indicate a stolen phone or if it isn't on an account that you know has a past due payment which they locked the phone from being used but once you've done those things and uh everything checks out you're probably going to be good to go and uh hopefully you can enjoy your new phone but that's pretty much it for me in this video this is Dave from phone.com thanks for watching it and don't forget to visit fb.com for more cell phone news reviews and how-tos thank youhow's it going guys this is daav here from f.com and in this video I'm be giving you a few of my tips to buying a used cell phone so the first tip is to take a full 360 look at the phone making sure that there isn't any damage um or a lot of damage especially alongside the corners I mean a few uh you know Nicks knacks are okay but a lot of them indicate that the phone's been dropped a lot and that will probably not be a good thing going down the line because you never know how that affects pH on the inside you want to make sure the screen doesn't have excessive scratches of course light scratches are okay as with any use phone you should expect them but uh shouldn't be excessive by any means turn the LCD on or the screen on and make sure that the screen itself isn't cracked because the crack screen is no good and um the way you could detect whether or not a screen is cracked is there shouldn't be any lines running through the screen or any bleeding of the colors of course you want to test the screen if it's touchcreen Itself by uh testing every single corner so as I'm doing right now you can see I'm testing every corner to making sure to make sure that all of them work because sometimes you can go home you know thinking a phone's working and then all of a sudden realize that the bottom right corner doesn't work and uh you definitely don't want that to happen so after you've checked the screen and the phone itself you want to check the buttons so make sure that the the volume buttons work so volume up and down the power key the camera key and so forth you want to make sure those things work because a lot of times you can be you know going through a phone and not even realize that those things don't work want to also make sure that if a phone has a little like kickstand that it works of course most phones don't have that but if it does make sure that thing works properly and uh the most important thing you want to check for though with any used phone is if the phone has liquid damage because a lot of times the phone will look good but it could be liquid damage and the way you check for that is looking at the charging port so in this case you look right here and make sure that the inside looks nice and you know aluminum make sure it's not green or yellow or anything kind of moldy color which would indicate corrosion which would be from liquid damage you could also take a look at the headphone jack making sure that there isn't any liquid damage in there um the next thing you want to check for water damage is the battery itself because the battery itself will have a little indicator that's usually a white sticker or a white sticker with a little pink uh design on it but it should be white for the most part if it's a solid pink or a solid red means that the phone's been water damaged and you definitely want to stay away from there also you can check inside the device so you can see in here there's a little white sticker right there and U make sure that's the same color too because any other color would indicate that the phone's been water damaged of course people can replace the battery tricking you thinking that it's okay so that's what you want to check in there and also like I said the charging port itself but uh that's the steps that you want to take for uh water damage checking but the next thing you want to check for is the ESN so if you're on a uh or if you're trying to buy a CDMA phone such as like a Sprint or Verizon phone you want to make sure that you call the Carrier and uh verify that the ESN is free meaning that it isn't activated on another account which would indicate a stolen phone or if it isn't on an account that you know has a past due payment which they locked the phone from being used but once you've done those things and uh everything checks out you're probably going to be good to go and uh hopefully you can enjoy your new phone but that's pretty much it for me in this video this is Dave from phone.com thanks for watching it and don't forget to visit fb.com for more cell phone news reviews and how-tos thank you\n"