[FCO2011]

Hey all, so I have a question regarding bad esn phones.

Basically I'm looking for a second android phone for cheap that I can do whatever with (root, mod, hack, etc.) without fear of bricking and losing all my important stuff. This way my warranty and primary phone stay safe.

Well I was looking around on ebay and found a couple of phones listed that were super cheap, and from a top rated seller. It was listed as "broken" for the following reason.

"The phone cannot be activated on a new account because its current account is locked by the carrier. "

I'm assuming this means it has a bad ESN. But does this mean I cannot turn on and use the phone at all? Or I just can't have cell and mobile internet service, but I would be able to use it just on wifi or something? Or like I said, I would just be buying a brick?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks all!

[Chrscott22]

If all that's wrong with that phone is a bad esn (which it sounds like) then yes everything else will work perfectly fine, wifi and all. Like you said you just wouldn't be able to get it activated with the current branded mobile carrier. So you could root, hack or do whatever you wanted with it.

[srkmagnus]

+1 You should be good to use the phone for anything other than activation with the network.

[FCO2011]

Alright thanks guys for the responses!