Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, US Version, 128GB, Phantom Gray - Unlocked (Renewed)

I ordered it on Sept 20th at $339 plus shipping of ~$34 and Morocco VAT of ~$80, so totally I paid $449. Delivery was very good. I saw it was shipped on the 25th. On the 30th, I received an SMS from DHL saying they planned delivery on Oct. 3rd, but on the same day I got an email asking for copy of national ID and content description for clearing customs. I am not a Morocco residents nor citizen, so I sent my foreign passport instead. On the 3rd, Amazon tracking info said clearing custom was delayed as additional documents were needed. So I called DHL, and the rep said it would be delivered on the 4th instead. On the 4th, I saw a newly posted message about delay on Amazon tracking. I called DHL various times but couldn't get to anyone. I then sent an inquiry by email and get a response shortly saying it was being taking care of. Then late afternoon, I got the package. Upon arriving, the seal of the packing had an opening large enough to put in a hand but not for getting the phone out, so I didn't complain. Unpacked, the inner packing of the phone was in excellent condition, very much like the original packing but had no Samsung marking, rather, it had a marking of "amazonrenewed". There was a film covering the screen, like on a new phone. The phone appeared in excellent condition, only had a small scratch at the back when I looked in detail, and a hair of scratch on the screen that is only visible under bright light and in a particular angle. I tried but couldn't turn on the phone - there was no response. The box also included a USB-C cable and a cheap non-Samsung charger made in China. I used my own Samsung Charger to charge the phone. After plugged in, it showed the battery was at 0. So I let it charge to full. After started, it turned out fully unlocked. My Morocco sim card works with 4G. The phone's software looked already reset, but I reset it myself anyhow. Then updated to the latest system with Android 12, and loaded many apps I need. During about the first week, the battery appeared quite poor. With medium usage it lasted about a day. I tried all necessary settings to conserve battery, but it didn't seem to help much. These couple days, it becomes much better, lasting about 45 hours. I read it was likely due to some AI processes either from Android 12 or Samsung doing the learning work at first. But it's pretty bad the phone doesn't show any info. I would say I am very happy with the phone. And this is after having a terrible experience in the past with Samsung. The last Samsung phone I had was S7 Edge bought in Thailand (I am a traveler), new at a Samsung store for perhaps ~$800. I actually wanted the normal S7 (without the "edge"), but it was out of stock then. I never liked the "edge", it was a silly design in my mind. The phone worked well initially, but in the coming couple of years I had a terrible experience. About 5 months later when I was in Vietnam, the screen started to show shaded bands across. As I was wondering how or if I should return to Thailand to get the phone serviced, the bands disappeared after a month. Then about another 7 months later when I was in Azerbaijan, the phone couldn't start after I did a system update. So I couldn't use the phone for a couple weeks until I reached Tbilisi in Georgia when I had someone flashed it. About a year later, it died on me again when I was in Morocco. I had someone re-flashed it, but it was not successful. About 1 month later I reached the city of Fes where there is a Samsung service center. After checking, they said there was something wrong with the motherboard. Very shocking! I've never had such problem in my life with all the phones and computers, cheap or dear, and this was a flagship! So eventually, I sold it to a local repair shop for $200, for which they said they only needed the screen. That was end of 2017. So I never bought a Samsung again, and would definitely not buy one at the full price. I admit the S series is not worthless. At least, I like the camera. But I never had a chance to buy one at a largely reduced price (I won't buy from just any second-hand sellers). So now, the Amazon reviewed phone with some warranty got me interested. Yes, I have some risk, but to me with the past experience, the risk is not much higher than getting a new phone from Samsung, plus, I am putting in a much lower bet now.

Wow, what a difference from my old Samsung A32. I couldn't wait to get rid of it, but my provider wouldn't provide any deals and wanted big money for the current model Galaxy. I did a lot of side by side comparisons of different models and the S21 came out on top in features and value. The price was right for a renewed model, and as I had luck with Amazon renewed in the past I took a chance. I'm glad I did as the phone I received was new looking, unlocked and so much faster. I used Samsung's copy tool, "Smart Switch" to move my old files and apps to the new phone, transferred the SIM, and I was up and running in no time. The phone had everything I wanted except an external slot for a MicroSD card, but I knew that up front. Happy so far. It's a great phone for a great price.

Phone physical condition: wonderful Phone system condition: it was a fully unlocked phone, was still a little complicated to get switched with the esim but we finally managed after 2 days and an hour Phone call. Once Phone was one initially was great. However it's first charge I noticed the battery got hot, my phone is hard to touch without a case on while charging... Then I noticed the camera worked great both front and back better than my last phone. However that to was short lived. Back camera still works great minus zooming in then it has a hard time focusing... (I love photos this really bugged me), however it didn't end there my front camera most the time the battery goes down the front camera quality doesn't come back until it's back up to 100 percent charge. (Seriously.....) I absolutely love photos and to have both cameras on this act up is a real bummer. I also, even though im on the same phone service I've been on for 11 years am now dropping constant calls at home. To top that off, the phone shuts off at random even when at 40% and won't turn back on. Then when plugged into charge port will go right back up to that 40%??? That makes no sense. The battery drains faster than any refurbished device I've ever gotten. Only good thing is the physical stance on the phone, screen is perfect, and no physical defects. Only problems started once turning on device. Really bummed about this purchase and cost for what I've actually gotten.

Ok, so I like the phone overall. The phone functioned as it should. There were some minor issues, not that they impacted function overall. There were some signs the phone was taken apart and repairs done. Upon initial start up the phone became instantly hot, like immediately. Slowly cooled down and didn't seem to get hot again. Second issue was a white substance where screen and body meet at the bottom near mouthpiece, thought it was white powder, but could not wipe away no matter what I did, even a small razor could not get rid of it. Not sure what it was, not easy to see, but it was there. Third the screen had a burn in, that was really hard to see, but when a gray background was applied there was a rectangle burn in. could not see with normal backgrounds, but it was there. Very evident, 4th issue extremely minor and again hard to see but when viewed at an angle the back showed signs of something stuck to the back. They tried to clean, but it still showed when viewed at an angle, again did not impact function. Not an issue, but it seems like some type of sticker was applied at some point. Lastly, the camera created a blue hue to all my shots. It only showed when using the camera light. Normal shots looked fine with no flash, but flashed shots always showed a blue hue no matter my settings. Overall screen looked fine and phone did function as described, no noticeable blemishes as advertised. Screen was blemish free, phone went through about 2–3 hours of updates. And installs, plus my files. So about 4–5 hrs in total get it up and running properly. But once the updates were applied, everything preformed as it should. The phone was extremely fast and transferred my number with no issues. 5g was working flawlessly and extremely fast compared to my last phone. Size is nice coming from a 6.7 in phone, but the screen on this phone was just fine. the gray color on the back is done extremely well, not cheap looking gray, but something very clean and refined. Impressed overall. Not sure if this was a company issue or Samsung issue. So not sure how to rate the company overall good experience, but examine your phone carefully. I returned mine, but you never know what you're going to get, from any of these companies, I'm sure they deal with all types of problems with phones coming in. I can just imagine. Its a crap shoot overall.

Phone arrived with no damage exempting some scratches around the charging port (which isn't really a bother), and a screen protector which was a nice touch! I remember battery life at first was horrible, this phone could go from 20 to 0 in like 15 minutes, but after a couple days the phone became accustomed to my usage patterns and optimized itself. Batterry life is just okay now. Not good, but not unusable. I get maybe 5 hours of screen on time (7 or 8 hours mixed usage) on a full charge. Because of this I bought a wireless magsafe charger off ebay for like 5 bucks which helps ensure the phone doesn't die shoud I need it to survive longer than that. Color accuracy is spot on. Works with sim/e-sim, and supports wifi calling if your carrier does. This phone is indeed unlocked, and i've had no problems using it with different phone service providers. Camera is good. Not mind-blowing, but good enough for me to be very happy with it. Only thing bugging me at this point is lack of future updates, but at this price, it isn't a big enough deal for me to get something new. 170ish is great to pay for a phone like this. EDIT: 9 months later and it's still working! Battery life has gotten worse but that's too be expected.

If you are going to buy a re-burbished phone, make sure the seller is Re-Cell. Because of the 5g switch with AT&T my phone would not make phone calls. However, I did not know this was the issue and no one could help me get my phone working. For 2 weeks I didn't have a phone. However, within 1/2 hour of contacting Re-Cell, they provided the information I needed, and I now have a perfect phone. Re-Cell provides excellent customer service, willingness to help, information, fast response and the offer to replace my phone even though it was not their issue. I was extremely nervous buying a refurbished phone for the first time and had it not been the AT&T 5g issue, I would have been immediately happy with my purchase. I made sure I purchased through Re-Cell based on previous reviews and am so thankful that I did. READ FURTHER IF YOU ARE HAVING ISSUES WITH YOUR NEW 5G PHONE. Go to AT&T's website. (I had not done this because I never thought of it because I was working with Consumer Cellular-who should have known all this). According to AT&T's website, the phone I had should still work.; Galaxy S21 5G (G991U*, G991U1, G991W, G991B, G991B/DS). My phone is G991u1. However, if you go further, the website also indicates that a software update may be needed. My last software update had been on March 23, 2022 and my phone was set to automatic updates so I figured I was all updated. Regardless, I manually clicked on updates and found out that there was indeed an update. After 3 hours to download and install, my phone now makes calls and works perfectly. So, here are things you may want to try if your phone won't make calls: 1. Check your phone on AT&T's website (not just your provider). Check to see if your phone should still work on AT&T's 5g. (According to AT&T, Galaxy S21 5G (G991U*, G991U1, G991W, G991B, G991B/DS) should work. My phone is G991u1. However, go further to see if a software update may be needed. 2. Do not rely on automatic updates on your phone but manually check for updates. Install the update if available. I am a happy customer thanks to Re-Cell. Make sure you buy from them.

It was exactly what I wanted, I haven't started using it yet, but it's in great condition

The phone was great for the first year and then all of a sudden it stop reading my Sims.

I received a sim locked device that needs MCK lock and doesn't support any sim card. Very disappointed after long delivery time

El envío fue rápido, llegó dos días antes de lo previsto en el envío estándar. La protección con la que venia la caja es buena. El teléfono tiene pequeños raspones en la pantalla, prácticamente imperceptibles a menos que se vean a contra luz; la tapa trasera igual viene con signos de uso, pequeñas manchas que al igual que las de la pantalla, son prácticamente imperceptibles. El marco presenta raspones muy leves solo en la esquina superior derecha. Módulo de cámara, impecable. El teléfono viene arriba del 80% de pila como lo indica y el rendimiento es bueno, llegas al final de día sin problemas, el rendimiento es asombroso y pantalla igual, las cámaras son una delicia y el audio es increíbles. Probando con redes de AT&T y Telcel, tiene una muy buena recepción de señal, teniendo el VOLTE en 4g sin ningún problema, esto en la Ciudad de México. Increíble compra por el precio. El cargador que incluye es distinto al original, sin embargo es de buena calidad junto con el cable de datos.

Amazing phone,no charger with it as the add said it did have.I had a few around that work,no scratches,no marks on the phone.Heck of an upgrade from my A11,we got 2 of them both in the same condition,s21 is great for us.

Rápida entrega, calidad inmejorable, deseable mejor empaquetado

Excellent achat . Fonctionne très bien. J'Adore !