Vodafone expands range of refurbished smartphones

The subsidiary of the British telecommunications company Vodafone is expanding its range of refurbished smartphones with its partner Recommerce. According to the company, it now offers around 500 models in “all common colors and various condition categories.” The offer is accessible to both customers and non-customers and is not linked to the conclusion of a contract.

Colorful range

According to market researchers at Nielsen IQ (Niq, formerly GfK), giving smartphones a second life is a trend. Compared to the previous year, the market for refurbished smartphones has grown: in the second quarter of 2025, 33% more refurbished devices were sold compared to the first quarter. Vodafone now also wants to get more involved in this area, which still has a lot of potential, particularly in Germany, according to a survey. The survey commissioned by Vodafone and conducted by the Wuppertal Institute showed that only 25% of respondents in Germany had ever bought a refurbished smartphone.

According to Vodafone, refurbished phones are up to 40 percent cheaper than new devices and come with a 24-month warranty. The manufacturer cites a refurbished iPhone 16 as an example: this is available in Vodafone's refurbished store from around 626 euros. For a new device, you would have to pay 849 euros directly from Apple. However, the street price for a new iPhone 16 is roughly lower if you look at the relevant price comparisons; Amazon still charges around 760 euros.

In Vodafone's refurbished store, similar to those of other providers, you should not look for just any cheap smartphone but make sure that it is still a relatively recent device. This is because the network operator sometimes offers old models in the recommerce store that have not received any software updates for years and are potentially unsafe. A random sample showed that the Vodafone store offers very old devices such as Huawei's six-year-old Mate 20 Pro, Apple's iPhone 8 Plus from 2017, or Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE from 2020—these should be left behind.

In general, the approach of refurbished devices makes sense, especially since the introduction of mandatory updates in accordance with the EU Ecodesign Regulation. This stipulates 5 years of updates for new devices from June 20 so that devices can be used for longer.

Deutsche Telekom and O2 also offer refurbished devices

In addition to Vodafone, competitors such as Deutsche Telekom and O2 also offer a selection of refurbished devices. However, the range offered by both is quite limited: Deutsche Telekom only offers older iPhones, while O2 has a small range of iPhones and Samsung devices.

Thanks to its partnership with the Recommerce Group, Vodafone currently has the largest range among the network operators. However, you should know what you are looking for and, if necessary, compare prices with refurbished competitors such as Refurbed, Swappie, and Co.—and also look around the new device market for last year's models. Sometimes the street prices for these models are also quite low.

(afl)