Which is better: to buy a second-hand phone or not to buy a second-hand phone? For those of us on a tight budget, the answer should be obvious: second-hand mobile phones are cheaper, so it's more cost-effective to buy one.

In other words, this may not always be the case. Recently, the category of cheap and mid-range smartphones has become more and more popular, and the performance of new models is usually better than that of phones that are twice the price. Recent companies have only focused on providing low-cost phones with high-end features.

Some things can only be obtained from gadgets of a certain brand or model. This is true. If this is the case, buying a second-hand smartphone may be your best choice.

Reasons to buy a second-hand mobile phone instead of a new one

If you are looking for a certain feature, style or brand, buying a second-hand phone is just a good idea. You should only buy a second-hand mobile phone if you have no choice but to choose a specific function, design style or brand. When deciding whether to buy a second-hand mobile phone, consider your smartphone deal breaker.

For example, for many users, the camera on a smartphone is essential. As a shutter enthusiast, you will want something that can give you the best results while taking a large number of photos with your smartphone camera. However, if your budget is also tight, the first-class Huawei P30 Pro or Google Pixel 3 XL may be out of reach.

The best motivation for buying an old phone is to use this application. The only thing that makes sense is if you can find these gadgets on Swappa, eBay, or other second-hand websites at a reasonable price. If you want to save more money, consider using the Google Pixel 2 XL, which has almost the same camera and many of the same features as the 3 XL.

Again, you may not need the latest features, in which case you should go back one or two steps. For example, almost all flagship phones in 2018 are equipped with fingerprint sensors or in-display fingerprint scanners on the back. For the front scanner, if you really want it, buying a second-hand flagship one or two years ago may be your best choice. In this case, Huawei's P20 Pro is a good choice because it is much cheaper today than when it was launched, and Huawei is still providing software support for it.

There are many benefits to buying old phones, but one of them is that they are always cheaper.

If your hands are small, you may need a smaller phone, or you may like the stylus in the Galaxy Note series and want to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 at a lower price. For these reasons, you should buy second-hand equipment.

It is important to remember that there are restrictions on second-hand mobile phones. Some of them are not guaranteed, some have visual defects such as nicks or dents, and some are missing parts or accessories. Even to say, if you desperately need a particular feature and buying second-hand is the best (or only) way to get it at a reasonable price, please go ahead and do it.

What should you do?

If you are looking for a new cell phone, please consider something you can't live without. The features you can only get from a specific brand or model of gadget is one of them, so buying a second hand can save you money.

If you don't have too many deal breakers, or if the deal breakers you have are common (for example, you need a headphone jack or a great camera), buy a brand new mid-range smartphone. You will enjoy the warranty service, and if you buy a new product, you don't have to worry about appearance defects, missing accessories, etc.