What OzMobiles Refurbished Condition Grades Actually Mean

"Grade A" means something different at every refurbished phone store. At OzMobiles, it means nothing.

We don't use it. Not because grading is bad, but because "Grade A" has been used by so many sellers to describe so many different conditions that it's become noise. A "Grade A" phone at one store might look like new. At another, it might have a scratched screen and a tired battery. There's no shared definition, and that's exactly the kind of vagueness that makes first-time refurbished buyers nervous.

At OzMobiles, we use five plain-English grades: Good, Excellent, Ex-Demo, Exceptional, and New. Each one has a clear description, a minimum battery health, and a warranty. No guesswork.

Before we get to the grades, one thing to clear up. Grades describe the cosmetic condition and battery floor of a phone. They don't describe whether it works. Every refurbished phone we sell already passes our 80-point Phonecheck diagnostic before it's graded, listed, or shipped. If a phone isn't fully functional, it doesn't make it to this stage. So when you're comparing grades, you're comparing looks and battery life, not reliability.

Here's what each one actually means, and how to pick the right one for you.

What every grade has in common

Here is the thing that trips up most first-time refurbished buyers. They see "Good," "Excellent," and "Exceptional" on a product page and assume the cheaper grades are cutting corners somewhere. That's not how our grading works.

Every refurbished phone we sell, from the entry-level Good tier to the top-shelf Exceptional tier, is guaranteed to meet three baseline standards before it goes on sale:

1. 100% fully functional. Every device passes the full 80-point Phonecheck diagnostic. Screen, cameras, speakers, microphones, sensors, buttons, connectivity, battery, charging, biometrics, all of it tested, all of it working. If something fails, the phone doesn't get listed. It gets repaired or retired.
2. Minimum 80% battery health. Measured directly from the device, not estimated. Most phones we ship come in higher than that floor. Exceptional grade devices raise the floor to 90%.
3. 12-month warranty, parts and labour included. Covers manufacturing defects and hardware faults. Exceptional grade adds a 3-month bonus on top.

Once those three boxes are ticked, a phone is ready to be graded. And the grade only describes one thing: what it looks like, plus a higher battery floor on Exceptional. Nothing else changes between tiers. A Good-grade iPhone has the same chip, the same camera, the same software support, and the same warranty coverage as an Exceptional-grade iPhone. The only difference is the cosmetic wear on the outside.

That's worth repeating, because it's the single most useful thing to know when you're comparing grades. You're not paying more for a "better" phone. You're paying more for a phone that looks closer to new.

The four refurbished phone condition grades

Here's what each refurbished tier looks like in plain English. Remember, every one of these phones has already passed the same 80-point test. What changes between tiers is the cosmetics and, on Exceptional, the battery floor.

What about brand-new devices?

We do stock brand-new phones too. These are genuine Australian stock, sealed in the original packaging, and covered by the full manufacturer's warranty. A handful may have been opened briefly for quality checks, but none have ever been activated.

We mention it because the option is there if you want it. For most buyers though, refurbished is the smarter value, and the rest of this guide is about picking the right grade.

Grades at a glance

Here's how all five grades stack up side by side. Remember, the refurbished tiers are all 100% functional and share the same 12-month warranty baseline. The differences below come down to cosmetics, plus the bonus battery and warranty on Exceptional.

How we decide which grade a phone gets

Every phone that arrives at our Melbourne lab goes through the same grading workflow, regardless of brand, model, or where it came from. Here's how that workflow actually runs.

First, the 80-point Phonecheck diagnostic. This handles functionality: screen, battery, speakers, sensors, connectivity, and every major component. If anything fails, the phone doesn't move to grading. It goes to our repair bench or gets retired. We walk through the full test in our Phonecheck guide.

Next, cosmetic grading. Our technicians inspect each phone under controlled lighting, at arm's-length viewing distance. This is deliberate: it mirrors how you'll actually see the phone in everyday use, at the coffee shop or on the train, not under a jeweller's loupe. What you see at home is what we see at the bench.

Battery health gets pulled straight from the diagnostic report, not estimated from age or condition. That's why every grade has a concrete percentage floor instead of a vague description.

And here's the line that matters most. When a phone sits on the border between two grades, we always downgrade, never upgrade. An Excellent candidate with a borderline mark becomes Good. A borderline Exceptional becomes Ex-Demo. Never the other way around. That's the single rule that keeps our grading honest, and it's why what you see on the product page is exactly what arrives at your door.

Which grade should you buy?

Here's the short version of which grade fits which buyer.

Good. You want maximum phone for your money and you're comfortable with a phone that carries a bit of character. Usually lives in a case anyway. The smartest spend for most buyers.

Excellent. You want a clean, polished finish that looks near-new in everyday use.

Ex-Demo. You want near-flawless cosmetics and don't need the extra battery margin.

Exceptional. You care about battery headroom and the extra three months of warranty, on top of near-flawless looks. A solid pick for heavy phone users or anyone who upgrades less often.

New. You won't consider anything that's been activated. Fair enough.

Whichever tier you pick, every phone ships out with the same 80-point testing, battery verification, and warranty standards. The grade is about matching the look and extras to what you value, not about "better" or "worse" phones.

Frequently asked questions