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I repair phones as a hobby. I have a couple iPhones and Samsung phones that have a defective or iCloud locked motherboard (along with a bunch of damaged screens, housings, daughterboards, etc.). I am planning to reassemble phones with damaged or defective parts from the same model phone.

So my questions are:
1. If I have a phone that can be opened from the screen side and not the back side but no battery in it, does it still qualify as smart phone with no battery? I will send them with the screen not tightened on so that BS employees can see there’s no battery in it.
2. Do I need to reinstall the cameras, speakers, buttons, etc., or can I put the phones in the bags along with parts that I removed inside of it?
3. Does a cell phone that has a keyboard and no touchscreen qualify as older cell phone?
4. Do iPod Touches with battery removed qualify as modern cell phone, or is it just MP3 player (and probably better worth selling just the motherboard as high telecom)?

1-2. Not sure, wait for someone with more knowledge.

3. I believe that is the reason for the split in the prices but there may be some overlap depending on specific phones.

4. Previous topic answered by Lost; seems it will depend on exactly what you have but some models can go cell phone.

Post pictures (or be specific with what you have) and I'm sure we can figure it out.

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Here to learn more so I can recycle more
My grades are my own opinion and not an official grade from Boardsort

Here’s the stuff I have, they all have the battery removed:
* iPhone 4S with back cover removed (pretty sure that can go as smart phone with no battery no back)
* iPhone 5S
* iPhone 6
* iPhone 6S plus
* iPhone 8 (missing wireless charging coil but is the only part missing, is this acceptable?)
* iPhone X
* Samsung Galaxy S8
* iPod Touch 2 (came from a eBay lot, doesnt turn on and not worth attempting to repair)
* BlackBerry Curve 9800

The reason for the split in grades of whole phones is because newer smartphones have smaller motherboards, with some of the newest phones having a really tiny motherboard and most of the rest is the battery. My guess is the Blackberry phone can qualify as a older cell phone, but I’m not certain.

Someone else will need to verify on the specific models but I agree 4s should be smartphone no batt no cover. I imagine the charging coil won't affect the grade on the 8.


Right, I agree. since the prices are based on weight and technology is increasingly able to fit more in a smaller volume there is less of the more valuable and more of the less valuable.

I imagine your iPhones and Galaxy can go smartphone no batt/cover, just need a little tape to keep the pieces together and to allow Boardsort to see the batteries are gone. But I don't do as much with phones so definitely let ccussins or Lost weigh in on those models.

_________________
Here to learn more so I can recycle more
My grades are my own opinion and not an official grade from Boardsort

Bump

I'm checking with Chris.

1: Reassembled iphones with no battery and ALL the parts intact will qualify as smart with no battery currently. We may need to re-evaluate that in a few months but as of now we will accept them as such.

Iphones are notoriously poor in returns as the circuit board is grossly tiny and the phone is mostly metal. We are waiting for the results of this recent change in grading and will make changes when needed.

2: Phone must be intact and whole. No parts bags. The phone must be held together on its own and not bundled up. The screen can be cracked and shattered but it must still be on the phone with the guts all in there for the most part. If a camera is missing on a phone etc no one will care but at the same time we are buying complete phones minus battery. (or with battery)

3: Yes A phone with a keyboard and no touch (slider phone etc) will be considered old. In fact, at this time, any phone with a physical keypad, smart (like a blackberry) or not (slider out keyboard) will be considered old.

4: No, Ipods are ipods no matter what. While they look identical, the returns are vastly less. Even the boards inside are High Telecom and not Cell Board.