Is 18 months too old for a secondhand iPhone 5s?

peckerhead

So my kid wants a 5s, and I'm pricing them (SIM-free) around the place — best deals so far being, as far as I can see,

• €369 new from Carphone Warehouse
• Around the £180/€210 mark for an A-grade refurb from a reputable seller on Amazon/eBay (UK sites). Some offer 12-month warranties but I'd still have to return it to the UK.
• Around the same price — or a bit more, more like €230/€250 — for a good clean one on Adverts/Donedeal.

Given that you can't easily replace the battery on these, I'm wondering whether a phone that's 18/24 months old is already getting too close to the end of the battery's life. Anyone got any experience/know-how in the matter? Is it worth my while trying to save €100-odd, or am I just storing up trouble a few months down the road?

TIA for any light you can shed.

waynegalway

peckerhead wrote: »

So my kid wants a 5s, and I'm pricing them (SIM-free) around the place — best deals so far being, as far as I can see,

• €369 new from Carphone Warehouse
• Around the £180/€210 mark for an A-grade refurb from a reputable seller on Amazon/eBay (UK sites). Some offer 12-month warranties but I'd still have to return it to the UK.
• Around the same price — or a bit more, more like €230/€250 — for a good clean one on Adverts/Donedeal.

Given that you can't easily replace the battery on these, I'm wondering whether a phone that's 18/24 months old is already getting too close to the end of the battery's life. Anyone got any experience/know-how in the matter? Is it worth my while trying to save €100-odd, or am I just storing up trouble a few months down the road?

TIA for any light you can shed.

Not sure about "Grade A" refurb from the likes of amazon, but the refurbs provided by Apple include a brand new battery. You should ask what the seller means by grade A, and you might find it will have a new battery. Personally, I don't think I'd buy a phone with an 18 month old battery in it. It would only be a matter of (a short) time before it would degrade to the point where I'd want to replace the battery. It all depends on the use case, though. Your kid might not push a battery as hard as the next person, in which case it could easily last long enough between charges to keep them happy.

peckerhead

waynegalway wrote: »

Your kid might not push a battery as hard as the next person, in which case...

I doubt it, the yoke is practically grafted onto her hand!

Cheers for the tips. The Apple Store only sells the 6/6+/SE, though, and in their refurb section only iPads/iPods, Macs & accessories — no iPhones. Or am I missing something?

waynegalway

peckerhead wrote: »

I doubt it, the yoke is practically grafted onto her hand!

Cheers for the tips. The Apple Store only sells the 6/6+/SE, though, and in their refurb section only iPads/iPods, Macs & accessories — no iPhones. Or am I missing something?

No, I haven't seen Apple selling refurbished phones either. My point is that if the amazon seller defines refurb the same way as Apple, it should have a new battery. Apple usually only distributes refurbished phones as warranty replacements.

Goose81

peckerhead wrote: »

So my kid wants a 5s, and I'm pricing them (SIM-free) around the place — best deals so far being, as far as I can see,

• €369 new from Carphone Warehouse
• Around the £180/€210 mark for an A-grade refurb from a reputable seller on Amazon/eBay (UK sites). Some offer 12-month warranties but I'd still have to return it to the UK.
• Around the same price — or a bit more, more like €230/€250 — for a good clean one on Adverts/Donedeal.

Given that you can't easily replace the battery on these, I'm wondering whether a phone that's 18/24 months old is already getting too close to the end of the battery's life. Anyone got any experience/know-how in the matter? Is it worth my while trying to save €100-odd, or am I just storing up trouble a few months down the road?

TIA for any light you can shed.

If you are concerned about the battery on a used phone. I replaced one in mine in 2 minutes using a kit on ebay. 2 screws and the screen just pops off and you replace the battery a 5 year old could do it seriously.

its easy to do on a 5 onwards, previous generation phones is alot more complicated.

peckerhead

Ah. I hadn't realised this. Like this you mean?

In that case, I might just take a closer look at one or two "as-new" looking phones I've saved (one of them was the 32GB model, which might be a good idea...)

Keep 'em coming!

TBi

2 minutes to replace the battery in iPhone 5 is optimistic. It is an easy enough job but it took me about 20 minutes to do it. If you follow the process completely (also check out ifixit for guides) then you'll be fine. Just remember the 5s is (tiny bit) harder than a normal 5 due to the TouchID cable.

dr.fuzzenstein

Apple can't be using very good quality batteries if they are knackered after 18 months. I don't know if I could trust such a shoddy quality item. Battery on my HTC Sensation (yes, that old) lasted over 4 years and my OPO has been going with zero issues for 2 years.

naasrd

With sterling pretty low at the moment consider popping up to Belfast, you'll be able to pick up an SE for under €420 in the Apple Store.

Sarn

My launch iPhone 4 which is almost 6 years old still works fine on the same battery. Similarly my iPhone 6 is almost two years old and the battery is as good as when I first got it. It really comes down to usage.

cal60

I believe Three recently had a deal where you got an iPhone 5s for €125 plus a monthly sub of around €20 on billpay

peckerhead

Sarn wrote: »

My launch iPhone 4 which is almost 6 years old still works fine on the same battery. Similarly my iPhone 6 is almost two years old and the battery is as good as when I first got it. It really comes down to usage.

Aye, there's the thing. I similarly get years out of phones, because I take care of them and don't be checking the damn thing a million times a day ("Billy no-mates", my kids call me...)

Thanks for all the comments, lads. I finally decided to hedge my bets and have ordered one from what looks like a reputable eBay store — it's described as "new and unused but Apple warranty expired" (the dealer offers their own quibble-free 12 month warranty). Paid just over €300 for a 32GB model with a tempered glass screen protector and a gel case & power bank thrown in (link). Fingers crossed...!

liam7831

I wonder will SE fall in price next month with the launch of the 7 ?

waynegalway

liam7831 wrote: »

I wonder will SE fall in price next month with the launch of the 7 ?

Hard to say, but I doubt it. It would make more sense for it to fall when its direct replacement comes out (next spring if Apple are sticking to a 12 month refresh rate on a 4 inch phone).

naasrd

peckerhead wrote: »

Aye, there's the thing. I similarly get years out of phones, because I take care of them and don't be checking the damn thing a million times a day ("Billy no-mates", my kids call me...)

Thanks for all the comments, lads. I finally decided to hedge my bets and have ordered one from what looks like a reputable eBay store — it's described as "new and unused but Apple warranty expired" (the dealer offers their own quibble-free 12 month warranty). Paid just over €300 for a 32GB model with a tempered glass screen protector and a gel case & power bank thrown in (link). Fingers crossed...!

"New and unused...warranty expired " would have me concerned. You may get one of these. They even reseal the boxes.

https://youtu.be/-JR0CP_8K2k

Just looked at link, I think you may have fallen for this con job. "Not factory sealed" suggests it's done in the above fashion, sealed with a heat dryer, box contains fake EarPods, charger and plug. Can you stop the payment?

dodzy

naasrd wrote: »

"New and unused...warranty expired " would have me concerned. You may get one of these. They even reseal the boxes.

https://youtu.be/-JR0CP_8K2k

Just looked at link, I think you may have fallen for this con job. "Not factory sealed" suggests it's done in the above fashion, sealed with a heat dryer, box contains fake EarPods, charger and plug. Can you stop the payment?

Seller's feedback is pretty bullet-proof. I would not be advocating a con job at this early stage.

peckerhead

@naasrd — yeah, the thought occurred to me, but as dodzy says the seller seems legit. I'll check the 'phone thoroughly and if worst comes to worst I'll have PayPal's cover and my own credit card's cover to fall back on...

naasrd

dodzy wrote: »

Seller's feedback is pretty bullet-proof. I would not be advocating a con job at this early stage.

No, look at the recent negative feedback. Enough to make me hold back.

naasrd

peckerhead wrote: »

@naasrd — yeah, the thought occurred to me, but as dodzy says the seller seems legit. I'll check the 'phone thoroughly and if worst comes to worst I'll have PayPal's cover and my own credit card's cover to fall back on...

Hopefully I'm wrong. Best of luck with it.