It is a refurb... the fact it doesn't have the stock screen protector tells you that... and other than that there is no way to tell if a phone is a refurb by date...

 

proly refurb, i dont even think the phone i ordered from them was new

when i first ordered my phone i did it thru VM website, they sent me the phone very very quickly, and it looked new, had all screen protectors and extras packaged up nice, but when i opened the cardboard box, the plastic box inside was melted together like it had been opened before, and my system settings were not factory, everything was set like someone else had had it before me, altho the phone was in extremely excellent condition and since flashing has been running like a dream so i cant complain any, would like it if they clearly labeled things tho, refurb or New

 

idk lol thats strange, usually if u have a hardware issue theyll mail you a new phone and you send your broke one to them once you recieve the new phone, but since you only needed a battery idk if there expecting you to send them a phone or what lol i got no idea

and which phone to use would be up to you, if you keep the new one youd probly have to switch your service from the old one to the new one, then start reflashing if thats the way you wanna go, but youd have to factory screen protector