As of 13 August 2026, AI can choose a refurbished phone.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Write down your total budget, UK network, SIM requirements, main uses, minimum storage, battery expectations, must-have features and deal-breakers.
   2. Open several UK refurbished-phone listings and copy their full titles, prices, condition grades, model and storage, seller details, warranty or returns information, battery information, network or SIM information, delivery details and URLs.
   3. Paste your requirements and the listings into an AI chatbot using the supplied prompt, then ask it to rank only phones supported by the stated evidence.
   4. Open each source listing again and compare its price, model, storage, condition, warranty, returns, network status and battery information against the comparison table.
   5. Ask each seller for the missing facts in the prompt's question list, especially battery health, activation or account locks, unlocking, replaced parts and warranty coverage.
   6. Remove any phone whose seller cannot confirm a deal-breaker or whose price, condition, network status or returns terms do not meet your requirements.
   7. Before ordering, save the listing and seller terms, then check the delivered phone's model, storage, physical condition, charging, calls, mobile data, camera, speakers, microphone and account-lock status within the available return period.

   Prompt

   Help me choose between these refurbished phones for use in the UK. Do not invent or assume any specification, price, condition, warranty term, battery-health figure, network compatibility or seller policy. Treat anything not stated in the listings as unknown.
   
   My requirements:
   - Budget including delivery: [£ amount]
   - Current or intended UK network: [network]
   - New or existing SIM type: [details if known]
   - Main uses: [calls, messages, photographs, navigation, gaming, work apps, accessibility needs]
   - Minimum storage: [amount]
   - Minimum battery expectation: [details]
   - Must-have features: [features]
   - Deal-breakers: [issues]
   - How long I expect to keep it: [period]
   
   Listings and source links:
   [Paste each listing's full title, price, condition grade, model and storage, seller, warranty or returns information, battery information, network or SIM information, delivery details and URL.]
   
   Produce:
   1. A table comparing only facts stated in the listings, with unknown facts marked "not stated".
   2. A separate list of claims that I must verify with the seller or manufacturer.
   3. A shortlist ranked against my requirements, with one clear recommendation only if the evidence supports it.
   4. The main trade-offs and reasons not to choose each shortlisted phone.
   5. A checklist of questions to ask the seller before ordering, including battery health, activation or account locks, network unlocking, physical damage, replaced parts, charging, camera, microphone, speakers, biometric features, warranty and returns.
   6. A final buying checklist telling me what to check on delivery. Do not present the recommendation as a guarantee and do not tell me a phone is compatible unless the source confirms it.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.