Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased a certified refurbished 32GB iPhone 5S (Silver) for a family member. I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent condition of phone, it was cosmetically flawless. Also the phone was very professionally packaged for shipment, and included a USB charger and Lightning cable (these were 3rd-party non-Apple accessories, but they worked fine). We transferred the SIM card over from an older phone that was being retired, and the phone activated on the carrier network (AT&T in this case) with no problem. The only issue I ran into was that after a week or two of use, it became clear that the battery in the phone was worn/defective; the phone had trouble holding a charge for a full day, and would sometimes die when the battery percentage still showed 20-30%. So I ended up returning the unit for a full refund under the 30-day return policy, and ordering a second unit. The second phone was in similarly excellent condition, and the battery is working as expected. Overall I would say that going with a certified refurbished iPhone is a great value, you can get a phone that is just a couple years old, but is in excellent condition, and costs roughly 1/3 or less of the original price. I think a key is to take advantage of the Amazon 30-day return policy, which most of the third-party sellers here seem to honor (make sure you confirm this before you order). Inspect the phone carefully when you receive it, and make sure you test the battery thoroughly over a couple days to make sure it is in good condition. If either is not satisfactory, return it for a full refund within 30 days (which includes free return shipping), and simply order another unit.