Well, gone are the days when people used to refrain from buying refurbished devices. And there’s no denying that with increased availability and popularity in recent times, many of us have actually started putting their trust onto refurbished smartphones.
Now there aren’t many reputable sites to buy renewed phones in India, except for 2Gud, Quikr and a bunch of others. With that being said, the Indian mobile phone and TV brand Detel has now come up with a new platform called preloveddevice.com, where people can buy refurbished gadgets at affordable prices.
Being certified from a trusted company, PreLoved Device turns out to be an emerging 2Gud competitor that can be relied on. But, is it worth buying smartphones from the same? Well, we lately bought three smartphones from different categories and here’s what we have to say.
Things you can buy from PreLoved Device
When it comes to categories, you can buy refurbished smartphones of all major brands like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, etc. from PreLoveDdevice.com. Amongst others, you can choose between laptops, gadgets & accessories, TV, and Kitchen and Home appliances. However, products under this category are yet to go live.
According to what we’ve seen so far, all the devices sold on the platform come with a minimum warranty of 6 months to 1 year. As per Detel, the products listed on the website go through a rigorous 52-step quality check and certified & graded by the experts at Detel’s state-of-the-art refurbishment facility.
All devices come with attractive packaging, accessories, and a few value-added services such as Free Shipping, multiple payment options as well as a dedicated Loyalty programme. And as for now, the company is giving free Edge earphones worth Rs. 1599 to everyone who makes a purchase on the site.
Things we bought
Out of the vast collection, we purchased three gadgets, including a Mi A1 and two OnePlus 3 smartphones from different categories. Notably, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is from the Brown (excellent) category, followed by a OnePlus 3 from Green (as good as new) and the other from Yellow (wonderful) category.
For starters, PreLoved Device has divided the refurbished devices into six different colour bands based on their condition. You can have a look at the same below:
- Pink – Just like new – Absolute never used unboxed devices
- Green – As good as new – Used and restored to new like conditions with no visible signs of wear and tear
- Brown – Excellent – Minimal use and a negligible sign of wear and tear
- Yellow – Wonderful – Moderately used sign of wear and tear
- Blue – Superior – Extensively used with visible sign of wear & tear
- Black – Heavily used with visible sign of wear and tear. Functionally OK Device.
Unboxing Experience
As expected, all the three devices came in PreLoved Device’s custom made boxes, akin to 2Gud. You get a few key features and warranty information printed on the boxes, followed by device information on the other side with the colour labelling for the identification of category. Furthermore, the boxes came with seals on either of the sides, offering a similar experience to that of unboxing a new smartphone.
Starting off with unboxing the Mi A1, we got the device, original Xiaomi charger, and a red coloured USB type-C cable. Now the cable wasn’t original but certainly a good quality one. Coming to the OnePlus 3, we surprisingly got the original Dash Charger and cable in both the boxes.
Quality and Condition of the devices
Right off the bat, you’ll notice that the Mi A1 we got here is in almost like-new condition. And we expected it to be the same as it’s from the Brown category meaning the device should be in excellent condition with negligible signs of wear and tear.
Following the same, there are no scratches or dents on the body or the back panel. The corners are fine as well, and even the camera ring hasn’t lost its shine. This indeed looks like a relatively new and carefully used device while still having subtle hair-like scratches on the screen, which can be noticed on a careful inspection.
Moving on to the OnePlus 3 from Yellow category, we noticed that the condition isn’t as good. The phone has minor scuffs and dents on three of the four corners. Also, the paint on the ring surrounding the camera has been weathered.
Besides, while there were no major scratches on display, we did notice a few hairline scars on the panel. Based on my experiences in the past, it feels like a device in reasonably good condition, used moderately for about 6-7 months. Anyways, it has to be the way it is as it’s already being sold under a mid-level category.
Thankfully, to examine the difference between categories, we have another OnePlus 3 here but with the Green label which includes devices in ‘as good as new’ condition. Well, if you closely look at the images, this one feels much cleaner and fresher than the former.
The condition is excellent, and the only thing we noticed going wrong were the signs of use on the metal edge circling the display. Well, that’s pretty obvious for a phone of this class. As for the screen itself, it’s quite cleaner, in fact, much better than the other two units.
All three devices were functional and had no internal defects. To confirm the same, we did go through an in-depth feature check using a third party application and everything including WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Mobile network etc. was working flawlessly. We also carefully inspected the display to check if it’s a third party one (which is generally the case with refurbished phones). But no luck, they were genuine AMOLED and LCD panels in respective cases.
Wrapping Up
Overall, the experience with PreLovedDevice.com was above our expectations. And we loved the fact that the phones were exactly as per their condition label. Also, while we didn’t have any problems with the device, there is a return and refund policy in case you receive dead or faulty phones.
In the end, we’d like to say that if you’re willing to buy a refurbished smartphone, simply go through the site once, check the prices with respect to the condition, compare them with others and then decide if it’s worth buying. As far as the trust factor is concerned, PreLovedDevice.com surely gets a green signal from our side.
