How do I know if my insurance-replaced phone is new or refurbished?

[slicknickbit]

It came in a new box like my original did with the plastic protectors and everything but the battery life seems kind of bad. Is there a way to tell if it's new? If I find out its used can I complain and get a new one?

 

[Frisco]

It came in a new box like my original did with the plastic protectors and everything but the battery life seems kind of bad. Is there a way to tell if it's new? If I find out its used can I complain and get a new one?

Hello slicknickbit. Battery life in most smartphones isn't nearly as long lasting as the old "charge once per week" phones of several years ago. There are some battery saving tips here and there that can help, mostly having to do with keeping services/apps/widgets out of the picture that you don't use, such as autosync and updating of social networking stuff, news and weather apps etc (manually updating saves a lot of battery life).

If you raise enough heck you can always get another replacement, but that's most likely to turn up another refurbished device, and I'm not sure about your situation, but it's highly unlikely that you got a brand now never used device as a replacement unless you had to exchange it within a very short period of time from that device's release to the buying public.

 

[Sideman]

If you could tell us the model of phone you have, someone could tell you more about the battery life you could expect. Of course, you had your old one to compare to, but we didn't see it.

I'd expect you received a refurbished one...unless the insurance policy stipulated that you should receive a new one. Those policies are usually rather expensive, though. If it was a policy from your carrier, you'll get a replacement (refurbished) one...no doubt.

I would complain about the battery. They might be willing to give you a new battery, if it's easily replaceable, rather than a new phone.