Buy a refurbished phone or laptop with confidence

Use this guide when you want a cheaper phone or laptop and are weighing up refurbished sellers, marketplaces or buying from a friend. Have a rough budget, the model you want and a note of what matters most to you, such as battery life or storage.

Step by step

1. Decide what is good enough and how long it must last

   Work out the oldest model you would accept by checking how long the maker still promises security updates for it, as a cheap device that stops getting updates next year is poor value. For phones, check the minimum storage you need by looking at how much you use now in settings. For laptops, note the processor generation, memory and storage, and write your must-haves on one line before you start browsing.