There's no absolutely reliable way to determine if an SSD has been refurbished, but there are several ways to help verify and assess the drive's condition that users can refer to.
When SSD prices start to rise, people look for ways to buy them from third parties.
Checking the packaging is the simplest way because counterfeiting the original seal is quite difficult, especially since seals from major brands are disposable and almost impossible to restore once opened. Meanwhile, many smaller brands use transparent labels that are essentially invisible. In this case, users should check to see if the label is still intact.
The surface of an SSD is primarily determined by the contact points, often referred to as "golden fingers." Generally, SSDs are tested before shipping, but they won't leave obvious marks on the surface of the golden fingers. If there are visible signs of wear, it's likely a "previously used SSD."
Next comes the installation process. Users can use CrystalDiskInfo to view the SSD capacity, comparing it to the nominal capacity. The capacity of most NVMe solid-state drives will be slightly larger than the nominal capacity. For example, a 512 GB drive might show 512.1 GB. If the capacity is significantly smaller, users should be wary, as this could be due to a reduction in capacity caused by bad blocks, indicating the SSD has undergone prolonged use.
CrystalDiskInfo is a useful utility for testing SSDs.
Next is CrystalDiskInfo, which focuses on the number of power-ups, power-up time, write capacity, and read capacity in the upper right corner. Typically, new SSDs will have a single-digit number of power-ups, but the power-up time should not exceed 1 hour, and the read/write capacity should not exceed 1 hour, all showing 0. It's important to note that SMART messages are read from the SSD by the software and can be reset to 0 during the refurbishment process, so this data is only for troubleshooting and should not be used as a criterion for evaluating new drives.
In fact, for most users, it's not advisable to buy SSDs through unofficial channels; waiting for the annual shopping festival is a better option. However, memory chip prices will increase in the future, and SSDs may no longer be as affordable.
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