Do I need a new phone or a new battery?

[sonak]

so does totally inconsistent battery life/ poor battery length mean the phone's broken or it just needs a new battery. I've only had the phone for about two years, but I've been tracking the battery life since I noticed the problem, and sometimes it barely loses juice over hours on a regular setting, and other times it'll bleed all the battery life while it's on airplane mode, which makes no sense.


bad battery, bad phone, or do I need to get someone to remove the Gypsy curse that was put on it?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Try the battery first. If nothing else but the battery is giving you trouble, that's probably the best place to start looking.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

What kind of phone is it?
After 2 years the battery could get wonky a bit, but it could also be a software issue where the phone just thinks sometimes the battery is drained and displays it as such and would even shut off at some point to prevent deep drainage but would actually still be half full... smartphones are weird like that sometimes...

Update your firmware, do a factory reset and see if the problem goes away...

If not, try a new battery if you don't like to invest in a new smartphone...


The new Sony Xperia Z1 has a 3000mA battery.. that should get you over the day...

 

[Lindley]

Three things impose faster battery drain:
1) Network activity, especially over a cellular data network
2) GPU activity, typically by 3D games
3) GPS activity, typically by maps or other location-aware apps.

You say it drains even on airplane mode so it's probably not #1, but that won't affect #2 and #3.

A well-designed app will not use battery-intensive resources when it isn't in the foreground, but not all apps are well-designed. Make sure you *really* quit (not just background) any apps or services on your phone which might be using the GPU or GPS when you don't need them.

 

[sonak]

What kind of phone is it?
After 2 years the battery could get wonky a bit, but it could also be a software issue where the phone just thinks sometimes the battery is drained and displays it as such and would even shut off at some point to prevent deep drainage but would actually still be half full... smartphones are weird like that sometimes...

Update your firmware, do a factory reset and see if the problem goes away...

If not, try a new battery if you don't like to invest in a new smartphone...


The new Sony Xperia Z1 has a 3000mA battery.. that should get you over the day...

it's an iphone

 

[R. Star]

Well nothing is designed to last these days anymore... gotta get you back in the store in a year or two buying the latest product after all.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Just get a new battery on eBay. They can be fairly cheap. Mine was starting to drain quickly after having my phone for about 1.5 years. I put in the new battery and now its back to normal.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Then again he said he has an iPhone... Can be a bit of a hassle to change the battery, you need the right tools to open it and it will render any warranty you might have left void IF you open it.
The original battery itself is not available in regular retail either.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Wow that's some bullshit. Another reason to add to my list of why not to buy an iPhone I guess.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Hm, your selection is getting smaller then. HTC, Nokia and Sony all tend toward phones without changeable batteries.
Practically only Samsung left among the top tier manufacturers who still let you open up the device yourself to get to the battery.

 

[Lindley]

Hm, your selection is getting smaller then. HTC, Nokia and Sony all tend toward phones without changeable batteries.
Practically only Samsung left among the top tier manufacturers who still let you open up the device yourself to get to the battery.

Good thing, too; I've occasionally seen Galaxy Nexus phones get into a state where they won't boot unless the battery is removed briefly.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Hm, your selection is getting smaller then. HTC, Nokia and Sony all tend toward phones without changeable batteries.
Practically only Samsung left among the top tier manufacturers who still let you open up the device yourself to get to the battery.

Interesting, I've had Samsungs so I hadn't noticed this. It seems a strange trend to me. I like to be able to open things up and fix them myself, I hate having to rely on others to solve my problems. Especially with a cell phone which have such crappy batteries to begin with, and which sometimes require removal of the battery to "reset" the phone if something goes haywire (though that hasn't happened to me in a long while), it just seems like a strange trend.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Doesn't really pose any problems usually. Practically every smartphone has a hard key reset option to reboot or factory reset.

 

[Captain Ice]

For changing the battery, you could always try a Batteries Plus type operation. They will replace the battery for you. If the phone is two years old, then the warranty is shot anyway.

 

[MacLeod]

Hm, your selection is getting smaller then. HTC, Nokia and Sony all tend toward phones without changeable batteries.
Practically only Samsung left among the top tier manufacturers who still let you open up the device yourself to get to the battery.

Well that depends on the model. But a battery should last several years. One of my first mobile phones which I used for many years never needed it's battery changed. And I bet I could plug it in today and the battery would still be fine.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Hm, your selection is getting smaller then. HTC, Nokia and Sony all tend toward phones without changeable batteries.
Practically only Samsung left among the top tier manufacturers who still let you open up the device yourself to get to the battery.

Well that depends on the model. But a battery should last several years. One of my first mobile phones which I used for many years never needed it's battery changed. And I bet I could plug it in today and the battery would still be fine.

Yeah, I just said his selection is getting smaller if he makes a changeable battery the deciding factor.
I myself use an HTC One and One X for work at the moment. Both with permanently installed batteries and am quite happy with their performances.

Take those over Apple and Samsung any day.