Excerpted from the December 9, 2024 edition of Sree's Sunday Note.
My father used to tell a story about how a refurbished car tire he once bought unraveled on the road shortly afterward. His advice: Don't buy refurbished goods—a bargain isn’t always a real bargain.
That advice, while sage, doesn’t always hold up for refurbished tech devices, many of which work just as well as their brand-new siblings, come with warranties and can be had for much lower prices.
The word seems to have gotten out this holiday shopping season, however, so if you’re shopping for a refurbished gizmo for yourself, look now and look often. Since many stores define “refurbished” differently, it’s a good idea to start hunting at the source: the manufacturers’ websites.
Earlier this year the Google Store’s refurbished-items section was empty, save for a generic watch-this-space message. Now, it’s flush with Pixel Android smartphones ranging from the 2022-vintage Pixel 6a with a 6.1-inch display and 128 GB of storage (original price $449; refurbished $249) to the Pixel 7 Pro with a 6.7-inch display and 512 GB of storage ($1,099 when launched in 2023; refurbished $779).
According to the Google Store, each refurbished Pixel phone “is handled with care and comes with a one-year Google warranty.” Also included are standard in-box accessories, like a USB-C cable, a male USB-C to female USB-A Quick Switch adapter and a SIM insertion tool.
None of the refurbished Pixels will be “obsolete” any time soon. Google recently extended the number of years of Android updates for Pixel 6- and 7-series smartphones to “5 years starting from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US.”
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2-in-1 tablet/computers are popular travel Windows PCs thanks to their balance of low weight and ample processing power. The current Surface Pro 11th Edition Copilot+ PCs are “designed for advanced AI experiences,” according to Microsoft, and are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite or Plus processors, not Intel’s Core processors like older units.
While Snapdragon X processors flawlessly run almost all Windows apps, there are some, including some Adobe products, that may slow down because they have to go through a “translation layer” or not run at all. This seems to have led to a brisk market for refurbished Intel-based Surface Pro units, which don’t have these compatibility issues and come with a 12-month warranty.
For example, a refurbished 2022 platinum-colored Microsoft Surface Pro 9 with a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) is listed for $704.25, an admirable discount from its original 2022 price of $1,099—but it’s out of stock.
Of the 11 configurations of refurbished platinum Surface Pro 9s listed, only three, all with more powerful Intel Core i7 processors, more RAM and in most cases more storage, were available and all were priced above $1,000. Note that Surface Pro pricing doesn’t include a keyboard.
Amazon’s Fire tablets have proven reliable over the years even though they run a version of Android that can’t access Google’s Play store, just Amazon’s app store. Amazon’s listing of refurbished Fire tablets was especially bare recently with refurbished 2019-version Fire 7 tablets with 32GB of storage ($59.99) and 2019 Fire HD 10 tablets with 64GB of storage ($159.99) shown with the same caveat: “Only 1 left in stock - order soon.”
However, neither is a good deal. The 2022 (current) version of the Fire 7 with 32GB of storage is now on sale for $44.99 and the 2023 Fire HD 10 with a 64GB SSD is on sale for $89.99.
The moral: Shop carefully and click slowly. My tech tips appear regularly in Sree's Sunday Note.
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