Buying a 2nd hand Google Pixel XL (1st gen)

Leuge64 on 15/05/2018 - 20:42

I'm fed up with the s**thouse camera (among many other things) on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, and looking for a new midrange Android. The camera on the Mi Note 3 or Mi 6 still look average (esp. for video), so I've been strongly considering a second hand Pixel XL (1st gen) as the Pixel 2 is out of my budget. Not hugely fussed over the normal vs XL, but I would definitely prefer the larger screen and longer battery life of the XL. 128GB is also a must.
I'm just worried that buying a phone this old and soon to be out of support may not be a great idea - do you think this is something to worry about? What phone would be a good alternative with a good camera and battery life?

Ebay sellers of refurbished phones seem to be the cheapest option out there (significantly cheaper than I can find off Gumtree), which makes me suspicious of their legitimacy. Does their warranty actually mean anything? I'm also worried that the battery life on a second hand phone will be crap/deteriorating quickly - the seller in the firs link has told me that the battery "is at least 80% of the original capacity", which doesn't sound amazing to me but maybe it's good enough or I'll be lucky? However, I'm swayed by their very good feedback and location in Australia, along with the price of course.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Google-Pixel-XL-32-128GB-Quite-B… - $460 for XL
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Google-Pixel-XL-32gb-128gb-12-Mo… - similar price but for non-XL

Alternatively, I could buy a new one off here (I'd go for the non-XL due to lower price - $493):

https://www.dwidigitalcameras.com/google-pixel-128gb-silver.…

For a new phone at such a competitive price, I'm also wary but tempted. What are your thoughts on either of these options?

Thanks!

Mobile Google Mobile Phone Android

Comments

  • CodeXD on 15/05/2018 - 21:29
    +1

    I was in the same boat as you and I ended up buying a Samsung S7 for $320 refurb on ebay with 5% off code.

    I can highly recommend this seller, 99.8% feedback too. It said very good condition, but was mint condition when I got it.

    They have a few refurb pixel for sale

    • euge64 on 16/05/2018 - 08:01

      Thanks for the recommendation! How was the battery of the S7?

  • mumsdeals on 15/05/2018 - 22:45
    +1

    I'm also in the same situation and looking at Pixel for good camera (1st gen mainly because of headphone jack). So would be interested to know of others' thoughts wrt the phone itself.

    As for where to buy, I would go with dwidigitalcameras.com.au. I've bought phone, smart watch, SLR, lenses from them before and no issue. Recommend them.
    They also have 5% sitewide atm until 17 May

    • blindingshadowz on 22/05/2018 - 01:07

      I recently bought a Google Pixel from eBay, used from a second-hand reseller on eBay. Great phone no matter what it's age is. In fact the phone I purchased had mild screen burn, but I brought this up with Google and they're honouring the warranty! So worse comes to worst, you have an opportunity to claim warranty by October this year should you purchase an Australian stock model? As for it's performance it runs great! I have an issue with the battery life though, coming from an iPhone 6s Plus, but perhaps it's just a teething phase. Having a headphone jack in this age is an absolute gem of a feature, which is in itself a tragedy to label the 3.5mm jack as a 'feature'. Having quick charge is amazing! Charges the battery from teens to full in about an hour. Bottom firing speaker is plenty loud, fingerprint sensor is as quick as you'd want it to be and the cameras definitely hold up even by todays standards. Screen is also excellent, hard to believe it's successor had so much trouble with their displays! Picked mine up for $249 because of the screen burn

      • aNoPHeLeS on 26/06/2018 - 22:10

        How did you get Google to honour the warranty? I tried but got the wall that said unless I had the original order number and email address I couldn't get a warranty replacement.

  • mumsdeals on 30/06/2018 - 12:26

    Ended up getting Pixel XL from JB Hifi for 715, using 5% off egiftcard becomes ~679. And I'll be claiming TRS too, so ard 614. I asked them to price match dick smith price on their Aust model, which was 699 at the time (their price back up to 799 now), and the lowest they could do was 715.
    Decided to get local for the warranty, considering my luck w mobile phones which seem to stop working within 2yrs.
    The cheapest brand new grey import I could find was ~515 including shipping and insurance.
    Can't beat blinding shadows 249, but happy with purchase. After Xiaomi, Pixel camera is amazing!!

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