While smartphones are built to last, they are not without their issues. These devices are designed to stay on 24 hours a day. They're constantly connected and are usually running many processes behind the scenes to make our lives much easier.
Naturally, smartphones will start to show their age as time goes on. The once blazing-fast operating system can start to feel clunky and slow. Meanwhile, the battery might last only a fraction of the time it did when the phone came from the factory. This applies to all smartphones regardless of operating system or manufacturer.
To the average consumer, there's not much that can be done. Most people will just upgrade their phone and move on to a new shiny gadget. For resellers, a used phone is a golden opportunity to make some profit.
You see, a lot of those issues affecting the performance of a used smartphone are minor. Major issues, such as water damage, will require more extensive repairs. But for the most part, used phones can be restored pretty easily. This is what makes the secondary smartphone market work. Resellers can purchase used phones that are deemed to be "too slow" or "broken." With a few fixes, those used smartphones can be running like new!
The trick is to figure out exactly what's going on with the phone. Having that information on hand can help you focus on what needs to be addressed rather than spending time on components that are just fine. Therein lies the problem. When you're fixing a single smartphone, you can spend all the time in the world troubleshooting. But what if you have a large inventory of smartphones you need to prepare for resale?
That's where diagnostic software comes in.
PhoneCheck Diagnostics Software
Diagnostic software lets you test smartphone devices quickly and easily. Rather than spending hours performing manual tests on an iPhone or Android, you can do batch tests and get detailed information in a fraction of the time. Software like this is a must-have for resellers. It can speed up your workflow while also providing you with better results.
Diagnostic testing can help you find every issue with a smartphone. Whether the device's performance issues are being caused by major component damage or small software problems, a diagnostic test will find it.
PhoneCheck is not a newcomer to the smartphone industry. The company has been around for many years and has continually developed new tests to meet the ever-changing demands of the secondary market. As smartphones continue to evolve, the software and electronic components within the devices get more advanced. This has led to a growing need for detailed testing that can analyze every performance aspect of a device.
This diagnostic software was developed for resellers and has gained a solid reputation in the secondary market. It's not just resellers who know about it. Buyers rely on it as well to ensure that their purchases are properly restored, authentic, and legal.
Test Faster & More Accurately
The biggest perk of using software is that you're able to cut back on the guesswork and get accurate data on as many smartphones as you need. Without software to do the work for you, you could end up spending several hours on a single gadget.
There are many ways to perform diagnostic tests on your own without software. Android phones, for example, have some hidden technical menus to gather basic data. Meanwhile, Apple iPhones can be tested remotely by tech support. Those methods can be effective. But, time is money!
With software, you can easily automate the process. This diagnostic software allows you to perform batch processing. It's perfect for resellers that are handling hundreds or thousands of smartphones a month. Just use a USB hub to connect several smartphones to your computer at once. After setting the parameters of your tests, the software will handle the entire process.
You don't need to go through annoying activation screens or fiddle with lengthy tutorial pages. The software skips right through all of that, finishing the process up to 10 times faster than if you were doing everything manually.
So, what happens to all of that information gathered during a batch test? It's stored in the cloud!
Whether you analyze 5 or 500 smartphones, that crucial diagnostic data is stored in a secure cloud account. Gaining access is as simple as logging in from any Internet-capable device. You can view in-depth reports for each device, view graphical data about batch processes, and even keep track of sales records! It's all stored in one place, making it much easier to manage.
Once you're ready to sell, the software can even help you publish that information on many popular marketplace platforms. This will give your customers some peace of mind and give you that coveted seal of approval.
What Can Diagnostics Software Do?
In total, this software can run over 60 tests to give you a better idea of what needs to be repaired. These tests are thorough and quick. In most cases, you can test a smartphone device in less than 2 minutes.
Here are some details on what the software checks.
Analyze Phone Functions
One of the most important first steps in checking a smartphone is to ensure that all of the major functions are working properly. This includes several components that users will interact with daily.
Usually, checking the basic functionality of a phone requires you to use the phone normally. You'd need to flip through the various functions to ensure that consumers will have a good experience. There are a couple of issues with this method.
First, it takes time. Even if you had an established methodology to get the job done, completing a round of tests for multiple phones is a huge waste of time. Secondly, you're not able to get a true grasp of the phone's functionality by doing a couple of basic tests. Just because the switches are moving smoothly or the camera is snapping pictures doesn't mean that they work perfectly. What about the features like image stabilization or zoom? How about changing the functions of a physical button?
There are far too many factors that come into play. Running an in-depth diagnostics test is the only way to ensure that everything is in good working condition. If it's not, you can see exactly what's wrong so that you can choose a course of action to restore the phone.
Here are some things the software will test for:
Front and back camera functionality
Screen quality and dead pixel check
Strength of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections
GPS location tracking
Operation of physical buttons and switches
Touchscreen sensitivity
Speaker quality
Gyroscope and accelerometer operation
Check Storage and RAM
It's not just the base-level performance you have to pay attention to. Oftentimes, the biggest issues with smartphones involve the storage and memory access speeds.
Damage to the storage units in smartphones is rare. Though, it is possible. Modern smartphones utilize flash storage. It's quick, reliable, and long-lasting. However, you have to think about the constant storage changes that are happening every day. Information is read, deleted, and overwritten regularly. This wears down the on-board storage. Plus, viruses and malware could have taken hold, resulting in a chain reaction that ruins the storage medium.
The same goes for the RAM. RAM issues are far more common and usually cause the clunky performance you experience with older phones. The issue with RAM is the speed. While that hardware could offer blazing-fast speeds from the factory, electrostatic damage, excessive heat, and a range of other issues can cause a significant dip in performance.
Obviously, finding all of that information out on your own is not easy to task. Even if you were to dismantle the smartphone to get a close-up look at the storage and RAM, you wouldn't be able to see what's going on inside. Luckily, diagnostic software takes care of that for you.
Automatic Battery and CPU Scans
Two other major issues with used smartphones are a faulty CPU and an old battery. When it comes to the CPU, overheating is the main culprit. Because the CPU is the brains of the operation, you could experience massive performance issues across the board. Depending on the severity of the damage, a bad CPU could even cause physical damage to other components! This is a costly repair, so knowing what's going on under the hood of the phone is crucial.
Thankfully, batteries are relatively easy to swap out. While many people think that batteries are infinite components, they do have a shelf life. They can only handle so many cycles. Once they've reached a certain threshold, batteries will lose their ability to take and hold a charge. Considering that battery life is a major factor for smartphone shoppers, knowing when to replace a battery is huge.
With diagnostic software, you can check on the quality of the battery in minutes. You may be able to see how many charging cycles it went through and get more information about its overall health. All of these tests are automatic. CPU and battery health are essential parameters to test, so the software will provide you with that information up front.
IMEI and ESN Check
Hopefully, you're using a platform like Trade-In Tech to connect with reputable wholesalers to get your inventory. But even then, it's important to have some basic information about the phone's history. The software can find the IMEI and ESN. Then, it'll perform deep searches to make sure that the phone is clean and legal.
The IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, is a special number that's assigned to each and every smartphone in existence. The purpose of the IMEI is to keep track of individual devices. It's not connected to a user in any way. However, it's used frequently by carriers to lock a phone into a network. It may also be used by manufacturers to lock software.
So, why is an IMEI important? Well, it can also be used to keep track of how many times a gadget has been used or sold. You can gather a lot of information from that number, including whether it's jailbroken or not. Think of it as a social security number for devices. Accessing the number is relatively simple. However, diagnostic software will keep track of all your IMEI numbers while providing any pertinent information you need.
The IMEI will also be used to check the ESN. The ESN, or Electronic Serial Number, is similar to the IMEI. However, the main difference is that it's primarily used to see if a phone has been stolen! When phones are reported as lost or stolen, the ESN number is blacklisted. Those blacklists are public knowledge, but they're very exhaustive. Diagnostic software will collect the ESN number and compare it to public blacklists. It'll then alert you if any phones in your inventory are unclean or illegal. This can save you a lot of headaches in the future and prevent you from accidentally selling any stolen goods.
Data Wipe
Did you know that resetting a phone to factory settings can still leave information behind? While the phone may seem brand-new and ready for a new user, old information could be lurking on the storage drive. Several tests have shown that even important information, such as Google login tokens, can get left behind!
This is a serious issue that plagues the secondary market. As a reseller, you could be held liable if sensitive information gets out. It's a huge privacy risk, so you need to take extra precautions to ensure that all data is wiped clean before you resell a smartphone.
Luckily, the software you use to test smartphone devices can also be used to completely erase data and reset the gadget to factory defaults. This software uses advanced wiping techniques. It's even undergone product claims tests by ADISA. Also known as the Asset Disposal and Information Security Alliance, ADISA is an important governing board that sets standards for data disposal.
The software has the "Products Claims Test" seal of approval. Basically, this means that the software does what the company advertises in terms of data wiping.
Conclusion
Having a solid piece of diagnostic software to test smartphone devices can change the way you do business. It'll enhance your workflow tenfold and provide you with all the in-depth information you need to restore phones efficiently.
Instead of wasting time manually screening every phone that goes through your business, you can batch test your entire inventory and get more information than you ever could doing things manually. Gone are the days of second-guessing and missed issues!
Check out PhoneCheck.com to learn more about what the software has to offer.