Rooting & Warranties

[UnsavvyUser]

If I buy a rooted phone, does it void the manufacturers warranty?

And if I am buying the phone from someone anyway, is the manufacturer warranty voided anyway?

For a basic beginning user like myself, does it matter if the phone is rooted or not? Am I at a disadvantage/advantage either way in ways I am unaware of?

Thanks!

 

[aysiu]

Once a phone is rooted, the manufacturer's warranty is void.

It isn't void just by virtue of being bought from someone else, as long as it is still within the original timeline. For example, if you bought a phone in December, 2010 that had a one-year warranty, and then you sold it to someone in March, 2011, it would still be under that one-year warranty.

That said, the only way they can tell it was rooted is if it's still rooted when you turn it in for a repair. If you can unroot the phone and restore it to factory settings before sending it in for a repair, they'll probably honor the warranty. I can't see them expending the computer forensics resources to determine that at one time the phone had been rooted, since such an investigation would likely cost hundreds of dollars in labor (with no guarantee of a fault-finding result), whereas a repair would probably cost them only less than a hundred dollars.

 

[UnsavvyUser]

Thanks that helps a lot. ATT and Blackberry previously told me that the warranty is voided if it's not the original owner. Glad to know it's not true. Apparently they must have just wanted me to buy a phone from ATT rather than someone else, which I did. But now on my current plan with TMO I have no choice but get a phone outside of TMO. Since I don't know how to unroot, I won't be buying a rooted phone, despite the benefits.

 

[jerofld]

Rooting doesn't necessarily void the entire warranty, though. If you root and then your headphone jack dies, your carrier would be the ones that would have to prove that rooting the device caused the headphone jack to blow out. Which they would have a hard time doing. Or, lets say there was light leakage...rooting doesn't cause that. It's mentioned in some warranty act (assuming you're in the US) meant to cover cars that have modifications. If you put in an engine mod and your trunk latch breaks, your engine mod did not cause that. Etc etc.

 

[sohguanh]

Thanks that helps a lot. ATT and Blackberry previously told me that the warranty is voided if it's not the original owner. Glad to know it's not true. Apparently they must have just wanted me to buy a phone from ATT rather than someone else, which I did. But now on my current plan with TMO I have no choice but get a phone outside of TMO. Since I don't know how to unroot, I won't be buying a rooted phone, despite the benefits.

You need to check how your country provider works. In my country, there are TWO kinds of warranty. The 1-year warranty is the phone manufacturer warranty which by default the service provider sell or other retailer sell to you sure have. The extra warranty is the one that is provided by the retailer or service provider themselves. Usually this will entail some cost on top of the phone sell price.

E.g if you buy extend warranty, then you get 1 year (by manufacturer) + X years (this is by the service provider)

 

[UnsavvyUser]

Thanks. I live in Oregon. I am not buying the phone from the store, so I won't have their warranty, manufacturer only if I can find a phone that still has manuf warranty. I assume you mean store insurance? The cost of insurance for phones is so crazy, totally out of proportion with the rest of the insurance world. At least it pays for more than manufacturer issues, but besides the warranty cost of $200 for 2 years you have a hundred something deductible. Total rip off. You're paying for nearly half the cost of the phone (assuming you go by the full retail price, if not, then more than half). Can you imagine paying half of the cost of your home for insurance? Even spread out in an entire lifetime that's ridiculous. I wonder if it's that $ in other countries.

 

[sohguanh]

Android smart-phones come in such an alarming pace it is not value for monies to get store insurance. 2 years you trade in and get a new one. This is how the manufacturers and service provider get their business. Gone are the days when an electrical product you bought can last you for years.