Independent phone assessments
Make a smarter phone deal
Independent pricing, condition, evidence, and transaction guidance.
How it works: paste a listing we identify what we can automatically we ask only about what still matters we flag deal-blocking risks and we say whether the asking price can be trusted.
- The math reconciles — every subtotal is the literal sum of the lines above it.
- Risk outranks price, always — a cheap listing with unresolved Activation Lock never gets a positive verdict.
- "I don't know" is a real answer — unknowns lower confidence or block the verdict; they're never guessed away.
Sample check · iPhone 13, 128GB
Verdict
Avoid— not yet
- Listed price
- $180
- Market estimate
- Withheld
Seller states Activation Lock will not be removed.
Price withheld until the risk is resolvedGadgetGauge cannot authenticate a phone, confirm ownership, or tell you whether it's stolen or blacklisted. Price figures come from a dated, reviewable local snapshot — never a live feed. Every verdict — positive or not — stays conditional on the in-person checks.
Start here
Are you buying or selling?
Choose your role first. Then paste what you have, or skip it and enter the details yourself.
Start with an adaptive coach that asks one focused question at a time. Prefer the full form? Advanced Mode is always available.
Choose buyer or seller first. Then add a listing if you have one, or enter the phone details manually.
Nothing is sent until you choose “Read this listing.”
Remove names and contact details before pasting. We don’t send or permanently save this text.
Honest about its limits: it can't verify that the phone isn't stolen, confirm the seller owns it, see hidden or internal damage, or guarantee the purchase goes well.
Everything it checks
Decision support
What GadgetGauge checks
- Asking price compared with U.S. private-party asking prices
- Exact model, storage, network, and cosmetic condition
- Battery health and reported functional issues
- The seller's Activation Lock claim and erase-and-activate cooperation
- Parts and Service History evidence the seller provides
- Seller-cooperation signals like screenshots and prepayment demands
Honest limits
What it can't verify
- That the phone isn't stolen or that the seller owns it
- That a screenshot is current or belongs to this phone
- Hidden or internal damage
- That replacement parts are genuine
- The seller's identity or that the meeting will be safe
- That the purchase will go well
Independent by design
Nobody pays us to like a listing
No seller money
GadgetGauge doesn't sell phones, host listings, or take affiliate fees, referral fees, or advertising from marketplaces or sellers. A verdict can't be bought, and a bad deal is never softened to keep a transaction alive.
Every number shows its work
The full methodology is public, every calculation reconciles line by line, and every result names its rule-set version and data snapshot. If the evidence goes stale, the site says so instead of pretending.
Dated evidence, in the open
Price context comes from a reviewable snapshot of marketplace asking prices with visible observation dates — never a hidden score or a live feed we could quietly tune. See the current data status.
GadgetGauge is a consumer-first pilot project by MRTek LLC — built to prove that honest, independent decision support beats a marketplace-sponsored price badge.