How to Check a Refurbished Phone Before You Buy
By Riki Baker · Updated 18 July 2026
The short answer: to tell whether a phone really is refurbished, check the iPhone model number under Settings, then General, then About, where a first letter of F means Apple-refurbished, or on an Android match the serial and IMEI to the printed box. To check it is safe to buy, dial *#06# for the IMEI and run it for a blocked or stolen report, then confirm it is signed out of the old owner's accounts, the battery is healthy, the parts are genuine and everything works. The blocked check is the one that catches people out. Buy a properly refurbished phone from a real shop and all of this is already done for you, with a warranty behind it.
First, is it actually refurbished, and is it genuine?
An honest refurbished phone is sold openly as refurbished and graded, never dressed up as brand new. Before you get into condition and price, it is worth two minutes to confirm what you are actually holding, because the label on a listing is not always the truth.
On an iPhone: read the model number
Go to Settings > General > About and tap Model Number so it shows the part number, something like MN572B/A. The very first letter tells you how Apple first sold that handset:
- Mbought new from Apple
- Frefurbished by Apple or an authorised partner
- Na replacement Apple issued for a faulty phone
- Ppersonalised with an engraving
One honest caveat: this only shows how Apple first sold it. A phone that left Apple as new (M) can still have been refurbished later by a shop, which is perfectly normal. It is one useful signal, not the whole story, so pair it with the checks below.
On Samsung and other Android phones: match it to the box
Open Settings > About phone and check the serial number and IMEI. If it came in its original box, the serial and IMEI on screen should match the ones printed on the box. When they do not line up, be careful, it can be a sign the phone has been repacked or built from mixed parts. Either way, dial *#06# to pull the IMEI and run it through a reputable checker to confirm the real model and that it is not blacklisted, which brings us to the check that matters most of all.
Repacked and "too new to be true"
Be wary of a sealed, "brand new" box at a price well under the going rate from a marketplace seller, no IMEI you can match to the handset, or a mix of odd or missing accessories. A genuine refurbished phone does not need to pretend to be new to be a great buy.
Every phone we sell is described honestly, graded on its real condition, tested, blacklist-checked and warrantied, so you never have to play detective in the first place.
Check it is not blocked or stolen
This is the one that ruins people, and it is invisible when you are stood there holding the phone. A blocked phone works perfectly on Wi-Fi. It will make calls and texts the day you buy it. Then, sometimes two to four weeks later, it loses all signal and becomes a very expensive iPod. We see this regularly on the bench.
Here is the trap. A dishonest seller hands over a phone that genuinely works, takes your cash, and then reports it lost or stolen to their network or insurer. Once that report goes through, the network blocks the phone's IMEI, the serial number burned into the hardware, across all UK networks. The block follows the handset, not the SIM, so a new SIM will not save it.
This is why a clean check reassures but does not protect you. A check only tells you the phone's status at that moment, it cannot stop the seller reporting it stolen the week after you have paid. If they do, that fresh report blocks the handset, it goes dead, and a check run later would finally show it, long after your money has gone.
There is a second version worth knowing about. If the phone is still on a contract or finance agreement between the seller and a network such as O2 or EE, the seller does not actually own it yet, the network does, until that agreement is paid off. They had no right to sell it to you in the first place. If they later stop paying, the network blocks the handset, and you are the one left with a brick.
How to check it yourself in two minutes
- 1On the phone, dial *#06#. The IMEI number appears on screen. Note it down.
- 2Run that IMEI through a reputable checker. CheckMend is the one the trade uses, a report costs about £1.99 and tells you if the phone has ever been reported lost, stolen, blocked, or has finance owing on it.
- 3If it shows any block or report, walk away, no matter how convincing the seller is. If it comes back clear, that is a good sign, but remember it only reflects right now, not what the seller might do next week.
A £1.99 check is cheap insurance, but it is a snapshot, not a guarantee.
The law in the UK
Buying a phone you know or believe to be stolen is a criminal offence, handling stolen goods, and it carries a serious penalty. Just as important, you cannot gain legal ownership of a phone the seller never owned, whether it is stolen or still on finance, so the rightful owner or the network can reclaim it and you have no right to keep it. Either way you can lose both the handset and the money you paid, with little or no comeback against a private seller.
Every mobile phone we sell is blacklist-checked before it goes on the shelf. And because you are buying from a real, registered shop with a 12 months warranty, you have genuine recourse if anything is ever wrong, which is exactly what a private sale cannot give you. We have done the checks, and we would never knowingly sell a blocked handset.
The rest of the checklist
With the blocked check done, four more quick checks tell you whether the phone is honestly described and fairly priced.
Is it signed out of its accounts
An iPhone still signed into someone's iCloud, or an Android still tied to a Google account, cannot be set up as yours, that is Activation Lock doing its job. If the seller cannot remove their account in front of you, walk away. A genuine refurbished phone is always fully reset and signed out.
How healthy is the battery
On an iPhone, Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging shows a percentage. Apple flags 80% as the point you start noticing shorter life. It is not a dealbreaker, a battery is one of the cheapest jobs we do, but it should match the price you are paying.
Are the parts genuine
Recent iPhones list their fitted parts under Settings > General > About and flag anything that is not a genuine Apple part. A cheap aftermarket screen or battery is worth knowing about, because it changes both how the phone behaves and what it is worth.
Does everything actually work
Test it in your hands: both cameras, Face ID or the fingerprint reader, every button, the speakers and microphone, charging, and the whole screen for dead spots or patchy touch. Look for any sign of water damage. One small fault is fine if the price reflects it, several is a red flag.
Why genuine parts matter so much
Two phones can look identical and be worlds apart inside. The gap between a cheap aftermarket screen and a genuine or premium one is huge: colour accuracy, brightness, how the touch responds, even True Tone and Face ID can be affected. A phone fitted with bargain parts is worth less and lives a shorter life, and the difference in part quality alone can run from tens to hundreds of pounds depending on the model. That is exactly why a "too good to be true" refurbished phone often is.
What the part is worth: iPhone 15 screen
Real mendmyi repair prices, updated automatically
Aftermarket screen
£115
Genuine screen
£229
The point: the part fitted is the difference between £115 and £229 on this one model, and the gap is wider still on higher-end phones. If a refurbished phone has a no-name screen in it, that should be reflected in the price, and you should be told.
Sanity-check the price against a warrantied one
The honest way to judge a private "bargain" is to put it next to what a fully checked, warrantied phone actually costs. If a marketplace listing is hundreds below the going rate, ask yourself why, because the answer is usually a hidden fault, mystery parts, or worse.
Refurbished iPhones in our shop right now (live, updates automatically)
17
iPhones in stock
£279
average price
£77-£496
price range
Every one blacklist-checked, tested, wiped and backed by a 12 months warranty. That is the real benchmark to measure any private sale against, and these figures update on their own as stock moves.
See what is in stockFrom the workbench: the ones we turn away
When we buy phones in to refurbish, we reject the same handsets we would warn you off. Anything that fails a blacklist check is an instant no. So is a phone with clear water damage, because the faults arrive later and unpredictably. And a phone still locked to someone's account does not come in at all until it is properly signed out.
The hardest one to spot is the phone that works flawlessly on the day and gets reported stolen a fortnight later. There is no test you can run in the moment that catches it, only the IMEI check against the records. That single check is the difference between a good buy and a paperweight, which is why we run it on every phone, every time.
None of this is meant to scare you off second-hand, far from it. A refurbished phone is brilliant value when it is done right. It just has to be done right, which mostly comes down to two things: knowing what the refurbished grades actually mean so the condition matches the price, and buying from a refurbished seller you can trust.
Or skip the checks and buy with confidence
Every phone we sell is blacklist-checked, fully tested, wiped and cleaned, and comes with a 12 months warranty. We are a proper registered company, company number 7705267, and we work with some of the country's largest insurance companies, so the phone you buy has a real shop standing behind it. Buy or trade in with us and we will move your photos, messages, apps and accounts across to the new phone and set it up, ready to go.
Three ways we can help
Whether you are buying, upgrading or fixing, there is a sensible route, and we will give you an honest steer on which fits.
Shop our refurbished phones
Every phone is blacklist-checked, fully wiped, tested and cleaned, and comes with a 12 months warranty. The checks in this guide are already done, so you can buy with confidence instead of crossing your fingers.
Browse refurbished phonesUse your old phone as credit
Got a phone gathering dust? Put its value towards a refurbished upgrade and pay less than buying outright. We tell you what it is worth up front, no haggling, no faceless trade-in site.
Value my old phoneBought a bargain that needs fixing
Picked up a cheap phone with one fault? Bring it in for a fixed written quote. Most screens and batteries are done the same day, with a warranty on the parts we fit.
See repair pricesThe bottom line
Checking a refurbished phone comes down to five things, and the IMEI blacklist check is the one you must not skip, because a stolen phone works fine right up until it does not. If you are buying privately, run that check, confirm it is signed out, look at the battery and parts, and test it properly. Or skip all of it and buy from a shop that has already done the work, blacklist-checked, warrantied, set up and ready, with your old phone taken in part-exchange. Either way you end up with a phone you can trust, which is the whole point.
Checking a refurbished phone: your questions answered
How can I tell if a phone is actually refurbished?
On an iPhone, go to Settings, then General, then About, and tap Model Number so it shows the part number like MN572B/A. The first letter tells you how Apple first sold it: M is new, F is Apple-refurbished, N is a replacement and P is personalised. That only shows how Apple first sold it, though, not whether a shop refurbished it later, which is normal and fine. On Samsung and other Android phones, check that the serial and IMEI under Settings, then About phone, match the ones printed on the original box. A mismatch can mean the phone has been repacked or built from mixed parts.
Is it illegal to buy a blocked or stolen phone in the UK?
Buying a phone you know or believe to be stolen is a criminal offence, handling stolen goods, which can carry a prison sentence. You also cannot gain legal ownership of a phone the seller never owned, whether it is stolen or still on finance, so the rightful owner or network can reclaim it and you have no right to keep it. Either way you risk losing both the phone and your money.
Can a phone be blocked after I have already bought it?
Yes. A phone can work perfectly the day you buy it and lose all signal weeks later if the previous owner reports it lost or stolen, or stops paying a contract it is still on. The block follows the phone IMEI across all UK networks, so a new SIM will not fix it. An IMEI check only shows the status at that moment, which is why buying from a shop with a warranty is safer than a private sale.
How do I check a phone by its IMEI?
On the phone, dial *#06# and the 15-digit IMEI appears on screen. You can also find it in Settings under About. Note it down and run it through a reputable checker before you pay. CheckMend is the device-history service the trade uses: a report costs about £1.99 and tells you whether a phone has ever been reported lost, stolen or blocked, or has outstanding finance against it. It is cheap insurance against losing a few hundred pounds.
How do I know if a phone has been repacked?
A repacked phone is an old handset dressed up as new. Warning signs are a sealed "brand new" box at a price well under the going rate from a marketplace seller, no IMEI you can match to the box, or a mix of odd or missing accessories. Match the serial and IMEI on the phone to the box, check the battery health, and if it claims to be new but the model number starts with F or N, or the battery is not at 100%, treat the "new" claim with suspicion.
How long do refurbished phones last?
A well-refurbished phone with a healthy battery should last you about as long as the same model bought used, which for a modern phone is comfortably years, not months. The part that wears out first is almost always the battery, and that is one of the cheapest and quickest jobs to put right, so a phone with a tired battery is not a phone at the end of its life. That is exactly why the battery-health check matters more than the odd cosmetic mark.
Are mendmyi refurbished phones checked, and do they come with a warranty?
Yes. Every phone we sell is blacklist-checked, fully tested, wiped and cleaned, and comes with a 12-month warranty. The checks in this guide are already done for you, and as a registered shop we give you real recourse a private seller cannot.
Buy a phone you can trust
Checked, blacklist-verified, wiped and backed by our 12 months warranty, with your old phone welcome in part-exchange.