What we actually check when you trade a phone in
The quote you get online is a guess. This is the 6-point check that turns it into an offer.
Hana LimWearables editor
Trade-in quotes get a bad name because the number on the website and the number after inspection are so often different. Here is everything we look at, so there are no surprises in either direction.
- Does it power on and hold a charge. Everything else is moot if it does not.
- Battery health, as the phone itself reports it. Under 80% moves it down a grade.
- Screen: cracks, dead pixels, and burn-in on an OLED, which people forget to declare.
- Frame and back glass. Scuffs are fine, a bend is not.
- Cameras, ports, speakers, and buttons, checked by hand.
- Activation lock. A phone still signed in to an account cannot be resold, and we cannot unlock it for you.
That last one is the single most common reason a trade-in stalls. Sign out before you send it, and check that it is signed out from the account, not only from the phone.
Declare the crack. A declared crack is priced in; an undeclared one restarts the whole process.
Hana Lim
Wearables editor
Covers watches, rings, and everything else that measures you. Reads the methodology before the marketing.
