450,000 phones per year and the desire soon to go even further. A stone’s throw from the Mediterranean Sea, in the middle of an industrial area weighed down by the French Riviera, stands the Reborn factory, one of the French specialists in the reconditioned. Rare actor still standing after a deadly decade for the second -hand industry, the company wants to make the difference by focusing on an expertise that is anchored in the local landscape.
Aware of the problems of confidence that the sector can give rise to, Reborn sought to be transparent on its reconditioning process by inviting us to the “reactor’s heart”.
Observation and repair
No futuristic machine, robotic arms or diodes that flash here. The bulk of the reconditioning process is done by hand, with at most noise in the distance that resemble those of an enormous R2D2 to punctuate the visit.
Once recovered from individuals, businesses and sometimes manufacturers themselves, phones arrive in a first test lab, where employees take care of erasing the data, updating software and loading mobiles. A first visual inspection is also made to identify damaged or failing devices. Each of the 3000 and some smartphones that pass here daily (in the big months) is then awarded a follow -up number which will not leave it.
The reconditioned phones verifying step © Corentin Béchade / Les Numériques
Then come the more advanced tests. Terminals that have not been eliminated from the first step pass through diagnostic specialists. Connected in battery on the offices, each of the devices is tested on 54 control points, ranging from the reactivity of the touch to the sensitivity of the microphone through the capacity of the battery. Nerf of the war of reconditioning, the battery is often changed on the oldest smartphones to keep the promise of a mobile with at least 85 % of its original load capacity.
Phones repair © Corentin Béchade / Les Numériques
Tests carried out, smartphones are dismantled to change the parts if necessary. For questions of cost, supply and scale, Reborn does not only use original components, but also employs parts “Compatible” offering the same technical qualities. No question of swapping the OLED screen of an iPhone against a lower quality slab, the Apple mobiles representing 80 % of the reconditioned market, as this would be equivalent to shooting itself in the foot.
Nothing is lost, everything is transformed
Equipped with screen, USB-C port or new batteries, mobiles go back through a battery of technical tests, inherit the precious grade Who will gauge their aesthetic appearance, then are finally prepared for resale and inserted in boxes … in recycled cardboard obviously. They are then sent to Reborn resellers, among which we count Electro Depot, Orange and Fnac.
© Corentin Béchade for digital
Throughout the reconditioning process, only 5 % of smartphones are definitively dismissed and not put back on the market. Nevertheless, nothing is lost, since even the phones deemed irreparable are boned for their parts. Of about 450,000 of phones processed per year, “We don’t even lose 1 % of the volume”nous assure-t-on.
A craft process
Unlike other actors who bet on automation, Reborn continues to rest on very human hands to carry out diagnostics and repairs. “The machines have been looking at them for 4-5 years. It can be good to say if a phone emits a sound, but it is not going further. There will never be a better contact than that of the technician”advances Sylvain Derminator, director of reconditioning at Reborn.
Human expertise also intervenes in the evaluation of the aesthetic grade, which evolves “According to customer feedback, competition”. Failing to have a specifications imposed by law, each company does things in its own way. Reborn is still pleased to be labeled France Quality Service and to have won the Recq label, the only independent certification approved by industry players.
In terms of its future, Reborn is focusing on the digital product of product imposed by Brussels to improve the transparency and traceability of reconditioned products. The measure, which will come into force in 2027, should allow everyone to know the history of the operations suffered by a reconditioned device. Until then, Reborn intends to get 7000 m² out of the ground from more offices to establish itself as the largest reconditioning site in Europe.
