My son has saved up and bought an iPhone XS. The supplier, big company, assured me that the A1 grade are new phones, simply taken out of the box, possibly not liked or wanted, then handed back.

The sales line assured me, as I asked specifically, that the battery health will be 100%, all phones inspected and tested, as there was a bit of argy bargy around apple batteries a little while ago.

The first one bought stared up and immediately showed battery health at 90%, dropping to 89% the following day. I called and aired disgruntlement, and asked for a replacement, with the spec as promised. Bit of a faff as I had to buy another while the first goes through their “returns process”

Picked the replacement one up today and it’s at 91%.

Is this normal for a “brand new” phone? Does it need to go through some charging cycles? Is this enough of a concern to return it and bin the idea of an A1 refurb? Is the sales spiel just that, spiel?

I don’t what him to have spent his savings on a lemon. It does have a 12 month warranty so potentially could claim for a new battery if it goes bad in a year?

Thanks

My iPhone XR was new last April. The battery percentage shows as 98% currently. Someone is telling porkies

All 3 iPhones I’ve had new 6s / 7 / 2020 SE) have all showed a 100% charge from the first time I’ve charged them. Sounds like something isn’t right with the ones you are being supplied.

For clarity, I’m talking battery health, not charge.

when the boy first started on iPhones, we tried going down the A1 refurb route

After three failed attempts, we gave up and just go a new one

It just wasn’t worth the hassle to be honest

My 18 month old iPhone 8 is still on 88%!

90% is pretty ‘used’ eg 3 of years use to get there for me.

I’ve had to have my battery replaced at 88% as it was shot and would die completely in under an hour of very light use. That was a 6S bought new, so 4 years old ish when I got a new battery.

Wife’s 7 has just gone off to Apple for a new battery at high 80s percentage as just keeps dieing.

I’ve just checked the battery health on my 8 plus and after 3 and a half years of hard use with no attention paid to how or when I charge it the battery health is at 80%.

I’ve just checked my “work” iPhone SE (1st edition) that is 3 years old….battery health is 89%.

Same phone I have myself, relatively heavy use for nearly three years, battery health is 85%

I think these being sold are duds..

My experience of refurb’d phones is very disappointing. I’ve had quite a few and they’ve all had poor battery life and gone back

“A1 / box open” seems to mean “well used for a year or two with new back and fronts”

Is it possible that merely being sat in a box since 2018 might reduce the battery health? Or even reduce it moreso than actual use? I don’t know anything about LiON chemistry.

Battery health of 89% on my (Oct 2017) iPhone X is also 89%. It’s still OK but it’s just dipping into needing charging once in the daytime instead of just overnight (That may be software-related too I suppose). It’s annoying.

I.e. it could be both annoying and undesirable without being dishonest on their part.

The A1 ones I’ve had from Smartfone Shop were genuinely new, one even had all the factory plastic still on. Battery on both however was in the mid 90s.

Is it possible that merely being sat in a box since 2018 might reduce the battery health? Or even reduce it moreso than actual use? I don’t know anything about LiON chemistry.

Nope, they’ve either been used loads or they’ve stuck used batteries in refurbed cases (no idea why they’d do that).

“A1 / box open” seems to mean “well used for a year or two with new back and fronts”

yes, seems most plausible

It’s galling that they assured me that battery health was 100%, there was no caveat. These phones had been opened, not wanted and then out back in the box. Had they said 90% then we could have made an informed decision to buy or not, but the feeling of being hoodwinked is grating me.

I wondered if tapping the serial number somewhere into the apple site would shed some light on the phone history.

Can I recommend an eBay seller called themobilephonehut as we’ve had a few iPhones from them. The phones are brand new with full apple warranty, just discontinued models. 100% positive feedback. Might be a better option for your lad?

Hmm, my 2-year old XR is still at 98%. I suspect you’re being taken for a ride…

It’s galling that they assured me that battery health was 100%, there was no caveat.

You’re being lied to. Report them to trading standards etc.

I have the XS, well over a year old and battery health is 97%.

I have an XS, 2 years 2 months old – battery health at 88%

Thanks all, suspected the worst now and it looks like they have been economical with the truth/spec.

Tried to get through today to them, waiting time was estimated at 25mins so CBA hanging on, sent a customer service email so see what happens.

Maybe I should have been a bit more savvy, if it looks too good to be true etc, but I was given verbal assurance and it a big company. Stuff like this really niggles me.

He’s not happy going back to the 5s for now! Nothing lost financially though.

To conclude this sorry tale, the lad wants to keep the phone but as a sweetener, I asked the supplier to refund £60 to cover the (nearly) costs of a legitimate apple battery. I’m still a bit dubious about the phones provenance and wouldn’t be surprised to find it had an aftermarket screen. However, in theory, we have a iPhone XS with potentially a new battery for £300, with a 12 month warranty on the “hardware”.

Lesson learnt.

My iPhone XS which is about 2.5 years old now has battery health of 85%

Bought my wife an A1 IPhone SE, the latest one. Came in a non-Apple box but the phone was mint. Just checked battery health, she’s been using it for a few weeks now, it’s at 99%

Someone is trying it on my 11 is about 8 months old now at 98% with regular use.

I’m guessing it’s an iPhone he wants but I switched from always having refurb iPhones to a brand new Xiaomi and been much happier. For some reason even if they’ve just put a new battery in it never seems to last as well as a brand new phone.

Something like this?

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xiaomi-mi-10t-lite-3685718

I’ve got an SE (MK1) 64GB that I bought brand new 3 years ago as a stop gap phone, used for about 4 months and then put away.

Using it now, as I’ve got a warranty issue with my current phone, and it’s on 94% battery health, discharges itself at an alarming rate and turns off at around 20% charge.

I’ve no beef with Apple, but that’s suspiciously crap.