- Apr 20, 2012
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Out of budget? Your pocket won't allow you to buy a brand new phone and then you are thinking to buy a used phone. And then you think that it might have flaws and faults, and you are worried that you might buy a faulty device. Well, you may, but not after you read this!
There are tons of apps that let you check your device that you can download but you don't always have internet access. You can also keep a .APK app on your SD card but phone that you want to may not have a SD card slot or simply, you don't have one. Today lets find out a way to do it without any app!
Many of us don't know that all Samsung Android phones already have a secret menu in them that allows you to verify that what is under the hood and things are up and running. This hidden menu is called Hardware Module Test and is accessed by:
You will be greeted with a screen with many buttons and your phone brightness will at max. All options will carry its own importance and they will vary with device. A low end device will have lesser options and high end device will have more options. The device used by me is Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
The most important option among all in my opinion is "Sensor", open this menu and it will show the list of all sensors installed in your device with their working values.
Let me give a short description of these sensors.
Accelerometer - It detects orientation of your phone, used in games and auto-rotation function
Proximity - its the small black circle on top front of your phone. When you put your phone on your ear during call its screen turns off? This is the thing that allows it, it detects objects in font of it in a few centimeters straight line range.
Barometer - Measure pressure and altitude from sea level
Light - Detects light intensity, used in auto brightness function
Gyroscope - Measure position of your phone, its direction and orientation. Mostly used in camera apps and games.
Magnetic Sensor - Detects Magnetic field around phone.
Listed above are some major sensor used in many smartphones. If Sensor menu doesn't even lists them, it means they are not even present on your phone but if it is present it will show it. All the sensors are piece of chips installed in the board of your phone. Sometimes if a phone is damaged/dropped many times or repaired, it might be working but sensors could go wrong. Phone will still work as it should but in in above test it will show values of all zeros (0) in it. When I was buying a phone, dealer showed me a phone, working perfectly fine, but above test showed that Barometer sensor was dead! I immediately came to know that the phone is damaged/faulty. If one sensor has failed, there are high chances other functions or perhaps whole device might stop working. You have to reject such devices.
Next, open Touch menu, if you are on other menu already you need to double press back button.
On this screen, move your finger all over the boxes, pay more attention to the corners and sides. When all boxes are green and corners sides are working, its all good and it will go to back. Pretty simply test.
Next, test out display completely. Click all 4 options, Red, Green, Blue and Black. They will change the color of screen into one single color. If you see other colors there is problem with display, or if you see bright or dark spots, display contains dead pixels. Look for these type of abnormalities:
Dead Pixels
Discoloration
Cluster of Dead pixels
On Main menu click Dimming, it will show different color of gradients. Clicking on this screen will increase and reduce brightness, if it doesn't, it have problems.
On Main screen there is option of LED, clicking on screen will change colors of Notification LED
Other options like Mega Cam, Speaker, Receiver, Vibration, and Front cam are useful and pretty self explanatory. You must test them as well
These were the options that Most phones will have and I have explained them. If all testing is good, your phone is good too
All useful options are explained, if you want to know about others, there is a video that I have made about almost all options that is available on YouTube.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chOwaX9wf-8"][/video]
(My accent and English both are bad :S)
Make sure to check physical condition of device as well and good luck with your purchase! If you have any question don't not hesitate to ask!
There are tons of apps that let you check your device that you can download but you don't always have internet access. You can also keep a .APK app on your SD card but phone that you want to may not have a SD card slot or simply, you don't have one. Today lets find out a way to do it without any app!
Many of us don't know that all Samsung Android phones already have a secret menu in them that allows you to verify that what is under the hood and things are up and running. This hidden menu is called Hardware Module Test and is accessed by:
Open your Dailer
On dailer type *#0*#
Hardware Module Test will open
You will be greeted with a screen with many buttons and your phone brightness will at max. All options will carry its own importance and they will vary with device. A low end device will have lesser options and high end device will have more options. The device used by me is Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
The most important option among all in my opinion is "Sensor", open this menu and it will show the list of all sensors installed in your device with their working values.
Let me give a short description of these sensors.
Accelerometer - It detects orientation of your phone, used in games and auto-rotation function
Proximity - its the small black circle on top front of your phone. When you put your phone on your ear during call its screen turns off? This is the thing that allows it, it detects objects in font of it in a few centimeters straight line range.
Barometer - Measure pressure and altitude from sea level
Light - Detects light intensity, used in auto brightness function
Gyroscope - Measure position of your phone, its direction and orientation. Mostly used in camera apps and games.
Magnetic Sensor - Detects Magnetic field around phone.
Listed above are some major sensor used in many smartphones. If Sensor menu doesn't even lists them, it means they are not even present on your phone but if it is present it will show it. All the sensors are piece of chips installed in the board of your phone. Sometimes if a phone is damaged/dropped many times or repaired, it might be working but sensors could go wrong. Phone will still work as it should but in in above test it will show values of all zeros (0) in it. When I was buying a phone, dealer showed me a phone, working perfectly fine, but above test showed that Barometer sensor was dead! I immediately came to know that the phone is damaged/faulty. If one sensor has failed, there are high chances other functions or perhaps whole device might stop working. You have to reject such devices.
Next, open Touch menu, if you are on other menu already you need to double press back button.
On this screen, move your finger all over the boxes, pay more attention to the corners and sides. When all boxes are green and corners sides are working, its all good and it will go to back. Pretty simply test.
Next, test out display completely. Click all 4 options, Red, Green, Blue and Black. They will change the color of screen into one single color. If you see other colors there is problem with display, or if you see bright or dark spots, display contains dead pixels. Look for these type of abnormalities:
Dead Pixels
Discoloration
Cluster of Dead pixels
On Main menu click Dimming, it will show different color of gradients. Clicking on this screen will increase and reduce brightness, if it doesn't, it have problems.
On Main screen there is option of LED, clicking on screen will change colors of Notification LED
Other options like Mega Cam, Speaker, Receiver, Vibration, and Front cam are useful and pretty self explanatory. You must test them as well
These were the options that Most phones will have and I have explained them. If all testing is good, your phone is good too
All useful options are explained, if you want to know about others, there is a video that I have made about almost all options that is available on YouTube.[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chOwaX9wf-8"][/video]
(My accent and English both are bad :S)
Make sure to check physical condition of device as well and good luck with your purchase! If you have any question don't not hesitate to ask!
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