Our neighborhood has a forsale email link where I constantly see local
neighbors selling used phones, usually around $25 where the policy on the
mail alias is that there will be no bargaining or they get kicked off.

It would be nice to have a few spare Androids just to play with, for
example to root or to test apps on or just to create new Google accounts
because it seems easier to create a new account from a new phone than to
use the web on a computer (I may be wrong but it seems to work better).

I know how to check the battery health but how can I check if it got wet?
Do I need any special instruments?

Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:
> I know how to check the battery health but how can I check if it got wet?
> Do I need any special instruments?

There are often white telltale strips which turn red (or pink) in the
presence of moisture. However you would need to dismantle the phone to see
them - might be feasible for phones with removable batteries where you can
take the back off to inspect any strips inside, but not for modern ones
which are all sealed.

A lot of modern phones are waterproof, so does it matter if it got wet? I'd
test the microphone and the speaker and if they and the phone works it's
probably ok.

Theo

In comp.mobile.android, on Wed, 4 Jan 2023 11:54:53 -0500, Bill W
<nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:

>Our neighborhood has a forsale email link where I constantly see local
>neighbors selling used phones, usually around $25 where the policy on the
>mail alias is that there will be no bargaining or they get kicked off.
>
>It would be nice to have a few spare Androids just to play with, for
>example to root or to test apps on or just to create new Google accounts
>because it seems easier to create a new account from a new phone than to
>use the web on a computer (I may be wrong but it seems to work better).
>
>I know how to check the battery health but how can I check if it got wet?
>Do I need any special instruments?

Ask them. If you distinguish between rained/splashed on and under
water, ask both. There are more people who will rely on caveat emptor
and not volunteer things a buyer wants to know than there are who will
lie about it. (I guess their theory is, Do I have to go over ever
large, medium, and tiny aspect the phone has that someone might not
like? Of course not, that would take an hour, so I don't have to tell
them if it doesn't work either. Or if it was immersed in liquid
plutonium-239 either. If he wanted to know, he'd ask. Or if it was
stolen. Same thing.)

In comp.mobile.android, on Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:07:15 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

>In comp.mobile.android, on Wed, 4 Jan 2023 11:54:53 -0500, Bill W
><nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>>Our neighborhood has a forsale email link where I constantly see local
>>neighbors selling used phones, usually around $25 where the policy on the
>>mail alias is that there will be no bargaining or they get kicked off.
>>
>>It would be nice to have a few spare Androids just to play with, for
>>example to root or to test apps on or just to create new Google accounts
>>because it seems easier to create a new account from a new phone than to
>>use the web on a computer (I may be wrong but it seems to work better).
>>
>>I know how to check the battery health but how can I check if it got wet?
>>Do I need any special instruments?
>
>Ask them. If you distinguish between rained/splashed on and under
>water, ask both. There are more people who will rely on caveat emptor
>and not volunteer things a buyer wants to know than there are who will
>lie about it. (I guess their theory is, Do I have to go over ever
>large, medium, and tiny aspect the phone has that someone might not
>like? Of course not, that would take an hour, so I don't have to tell
>them if it doesn't work either. Or if it was immersed in liquid
>plutonium-239 either. If he wanted to know, he'd ask. Or if it was
>stolen. Same thing.)

Also, most people squander their money and then later complain that
taxes were so high they don't have enough money for a comfy retirment.

So they may not buy a new car every year like once people did, but they
are happy to buy a new phone every year or earlier if a new feature
comes out, and they realistically sell their old phone for little.

I otoh think that it's not worth selling for 25 and if a phone works,
I'll keep it in case my newer phone stops working. And if you see the
thread 2 threads down, Phone doesn't ring, you can see this might have
been a prudent attitude.