What does "refurbished" actually mean (in real terms)?

Thanks, that’s helpful. My concern is the battery, and although it looks like they have looked at battery health during the refurbishment, I have found in my previous experience that even if a battery is nominally “healthy", it starts to lose efficiency after as little as 6-9 months, and I can’t see that someone would be trading in a phone younger than a year or so... I was hoping that refurbished phones at least had new batteries. Useful confirmation that that’s not the case.

Hi ​@Thisismyusername 

I’d recommend the same as above from ​@Daz_S, each refurbished phone would be checked over and graded, we couldn’t say for sure across the board if batteries are replaced, they’re certainly looked at and tested.

Tom

No problem ​@Thisismyusername 

Yes battery life, or how badly it was maintained by the previous owner would also be a concern of mine. However my phone is 6, maybe 7 years old now, is in near perfect condition and my battery has been fine.

Now watch what happens now I’ve said that!

Hi ​@Thisismyusername 

Depending on where you purchase a refurbished phone will determine if the battery health has been tested. Unless it is actually specified then you will need to question it.
I purchased a used 7yr old phone from a local C E X shop and it obviously wasn’t tested as I found out that once the battery reached ~45% it just completely died 😤 I can’t remember if it was sold as ‘refurbished’ or just ‘as is’ but I suspect that the blame lies with me as I didn’t think to ask (although they didn’t say either way when selling it to me). I won’t hold this against C E X as I have recently purchased another item on-line (a DVR) from them and it is so much better than described.
Luckily my sister was upgrading her phone so I got her hand-me-down (6yrs old) and the battery has been 100% OK and works as it should.
Many trusted sales sites for refurbished phones will state whether the battery has been tested and also give the customer a very good guarantee/returns time frame to ensure the product they have sold to them is acceptable.
If you are worried and do have a problem, phone batteries are very easy to replace and as long as you get a genuine one it can be done in <10mins. There are plenty of videos and ‘how to’ directions for replacing batteries on the internet and will show up with a quick search.
Good luck x