Samsung Galaxy A02 used and refurbished

The Galaxy A02 is a big, simple phone with a 5000 mAh battery that puts battery life ahead of performance. The screen is 6.5 inches, so it's comfortable for reading, watching films and video calls with the grandchildren or friends. It hit the shops in early 2021 as one of the budget models in the Galaxy A series.

At SWOPiFY you'll find used and refurbished Samsung Galaxy A02 phones – the model came with 32 GB or 64 GB of storage and 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM, and, depending on the market, in black, blue, grey and red. Phones that go on sale are first checked technically by SWOPiFY partners, and any faults are fixed by a repair centre.

What can the Galaxy A02 do?

The PLS LCD display with HD+ resolution (720 × 1600 pixels) has a small teardrop notch for the front camera. The picture isn't as sharp as on Full HD screens, but for social media, messages and TV series it's perfectly adequate. The phone plays sound through a single speaker and has a 3.5 mm headphone jack and FM radio.

The front is protected by glass, while the back and frame are plastic. With its 5000 mAh battery the phone weighs 206 grams, so you can feel you're holding a fairly hefty device. You won't find a fingerprint reader – you can set the screen lock to a PIN, pattern or password.

Processor, cameras and battery

Inside is a quad-core MediaTek MT6739W with 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM. It's a bottom-tier chip: messaging, calls, email, the browser and the radio all work, but apps take longer to open and the system stutters with several running at once. Games beyond the very simplest are out. The 13 MP main camera with a bright f/1.9 lens and autofocus is joined by a 2 MP macro module for close-ups. There's a 5 MP camera on the front.

The 5000 mAh battery is this model's biggest strength – with a weak processor and an HD screen it usually lasts a full day with plenty to spare. Charging, on the other hand, is slow. It runs at 7.75 W through a microUSB port, so the easiest thing is to charge the phone overnight.

What should you look out for before buying?

The Galaxy A02 has a microUSB port rather than USB-C and doesn't support fast charging. The microSD card goes into its own slot, next to two SIM cards, which is very useful with just 32 GB of storage. The built-in storage is the slower eMMC type, and it fills up quickly. There's no NFC, so for contactless payments you'll still need your card.

The Galaxy A02 is no longer updated. It got just one major update – from Android 10 to Android 11 with One UI Core 3.1 – and in March 2024 Samsung removed it from the list of devices receiving security patches. For banking you're better off with a newer phone, as system vulnerabilities will stay open and some finance apps may stop supporting it. For calls, texts, the radio and a messaging app for an older person, or as a backup phone for trips, it still does the job. The almost identical-looking Galaxy A02s has a more powerful octa-core Snapdragon 450, a USB-C port and 15 W charging.

You can filter Galaxy A02 phones by:

• storage – 32 GB or 64 GB;
• RAM – 2 GB or 3 GB;
• colour;
• price range;
• condition.

Choose the 64 GB version with 3 GB of RAM if you come across one. You'll notice the extra RAM when switching between a messaging app and the browser, and the bigger storage gives you room for photos and app updates.

What does the technical check involve?

Before a Galaxy A02 goes on sale as refurbished, it goes through a 44-point checklist, including:

• display – touch sensitivity, backlight, dead pixels and cracks;
• battery – health and whether it's swollen;
• the selfie camera and both rear cameras;
• how the buttons on the casing work;
• connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and network signal;
• SIM and microSD slots;
• speaker, microphones, 3.5 mm jack and microUSB port.

Can you trust a refurbished Galaxy A02?

A refurbished Samsung Galaxy A02 from SWOPiFY is a used phone that SWOPiFY partners checked before sale and, if there was a fault, a repair centre fixed. We sell it as used, not as new, and never suggest otherwise.

Your purchase comes with a warranty. The grade assigned to each unit tells you about its appearance and battery condition: Premium, Excellent, Good or Fair. If you're buying a phone for your grandparents, you might go for a higher grade, while a cheaper one is fine for a backup kept in a drawer.

Got an old smartphone you no longer use?

Instead of leaving it in a drawer, trade it in through the buy-back programme. Its value will be taken off the price of your new purchase, and you'll save yourself the hassle of posting ads and haggling over the price.

Check the available Galaxy A02 phones and match the storage and colour to the person who'll be using it.