The long-embraced and intoxicated lifestyle of using smartphones has persisted in Nigeria, despite the various economic downturns the country has been experiencing over the years.

But many citizens, who preferred buying brand-new smartphones instead of used phones, due to issues of phone thefts, according to Economy&Lifestyle investigation, are now opting for foreign used ones, because of the fast depreciating values of the recent crop of new phones.

According to Mr. Vincent Ibeh, a car dealer, those new smartphones manufactured now depreciate fast, unlike before when you can use a phone for two to three years and still pass it on to another person.

“I bought a phone, a few months ago for N160,000 and, within six months, the charging point started having issues.

“Then it was the battery. That was how the phone got to the point of damage.
“A friend now told me that I bought a repackaged phone.

“He advised me to buy a foreign used one. I had to tell a friend who travelled to buy me a new Android phone, while I was managing the small one I had.

“Since I started using the phone, I have not had any issues.

“How will sellers not repackage old smart phones? The money to restock is no longer there. The economy has gotten to a state where even the content of a cube of maggi needs to be queried.

“Fake and adulterated products are everywhere just because people want to make money by force.
“It is the masses like me that fall victim to all these at the end.

“Nigeria has gotten to a stage where people don’t even have confidence in our locally made goods.”

Mrs. Florence Johnson, a business woman, complained that she bought a brand new smart phone and its battery life stands at 60 per cent after six months of usage when compared to the lower grade of the brand whose life still stands at 75 per cent after two years of usage.

“I had to fall back to the old one because it was bought outside the country.

“Sometimes I wonder why we as an end user of a country are always thrown at things that have less quality.

“All these phone factories in Nigeria are not helping matters.

“Today, you will see different models of phones produced in the space of three months.

“When you patronize these phones, you end up using it for less than a year and not even up to their claimed one year warranty given to the customer.

“It is high time the government looked into this issue because people spend higher amounts buying these phones and end up with something not worth the value of their money.

“Many of my friends have experienced this also and have switched to buying foreign used phones or asking someone to buy it for them when coming home.”

Mrs. Kehinde Salami lamented the problem she had last year when she bought a new phone and after a few weeks it started malfunctioning.

“I bought the phone from a phone hub. On getting home a few weeks later the phone started hanging.

“All attempts to return the phone were futile as the attendant told me there was nothing wrong with the phone.

“The screen got blind in three months and before you know it the battery got weak.
“I had to tell my sister abroad to get me a new phone.

“This is it. I have been using it and have had no issue with it.”

Mr. Olawale Omoniyi an electrical engineer said most of the new phones are fairly used old faulty ones that are being repaired, repackaged and put up for sale as new ones.

“The phones are Nigerian used phones, that are repaired and repackaged.

“Some have been faulty from the store and what they do is repair it and repackage it like a new one .

“When you buy such a phone and use it for five to six months, it starts having issues like getting hot, screen going blind, earpiece going bad among others.

“I don’t buy new phones. I go for foreign used phones.

“Some foreign used smartphones even come with a pack while some don’t.”