Nothing lasts forever - especially not smartphone batteries. Those tiny lithium-ion powerhouses that power your iPhone or Android phone are all consumables, which means they have a limited lifespan. The more you hold on to your device, the more your battery will degrade and eventually it will need to be replaced.
Smartphone batteries usually don't just run out. There are some telltale clues over time, mostly related to your phone's performance. You may notice that the device is slow to respond to presses and prompts, or that apps take longer to launch or respond to commands. Or maybe your phone drains faster than in the past, is slower to turn on, never turns on 100%, turns off unexpectedly under normal conditions, or will not work if it is not plugged into the charger. Other more disturbing signs include the phone heating up while charging or feeling thicker (possibly the result of a broken battery), or maybe there is no sign of life. , no matter what you do. Any of these circumstances can signal a bad, dead, or even dangerous battery.
Other performance issues can be caused by a battery-hungry app or an operating system feature (like iOS 13 and its infamous battery drain) that can make it difficult to diagnose battery issues.
Current iPhone and Android operating systems can provide tips to alert you to your battery draining, which can prepare you for the final decision on what to do. Unfortunately, changing the batteries in a smartphone isn't as easy as replacing a flashlight or remote control. Replacing smartphone batteries can be expensive and time consuming.
Apple provides a host of tools in its most recent operating systems that help you determine the health of your battery and give you solid insight into whether or not it should be replaced soon. For Android phones, the operating system is less useful, but that doesn't mean you're completely in the dark about your battery status. Here's how to tell if your smartphone battery needs to be replaced.
How to know if your iPhone battery needs replacing
At the end of 2017, Apple admitted to indignant customers that it had deliberately and secretly strangled some of its older phones to stabilize performance caused by aging batteries. From iPhone 6 and iOS 11.3, you can access Settings> Battery> Battery status, a tool that reveals important information about the current state of your battery, and even recommends whether a battery needs to be replaced. You can turn off the performance management feature, although you may experience unexpected shutdowns if your battery is degraded.
When you press Battery health, you can easily see the relevant statistics. Maximum capacity is a percentage that measures the current capacity compared to 100% when your battery was new. A range of this percentage is normal, although a healthy battery should retain about 80% of its original capacity at 500 charge cycles. If the capacity drops below 80%, Apple recommends replacing the battery.
You can observe if the performance management feature which manages the maximum iPhone performance and prevents shutdowns is enabled and you can disable it on any iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7 and 7 Plus. This function is only activated after an unexpected shutdown of a device whose maximum battery power is reduced. If you turn off performance management, you cannot turn it back on, but it will restart automatically in the event of another unexpected shutdown. The functionality is included with the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X with iOS 12.1, and in the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR with iOS 13.1.
The iPhone's Battery Health feature can deliver several messages that give you a good idea of the current state of your battery. Here are the text messages. Message number four is the only one that specifies that your battery is severely degraded and needs to be replaced.
- Your battery is currently supporting normal peak performance.
- This iPhone suffered an unexpected shutdown because the battery could not provide the necessary peak power. Performance management has been applied to prevent this from happening again. Deactivate ...
- This iPhone suffered an unexpected shutdown because the battery could not provide the necessary peak power. You have manually disabled performance management protections.
- The health of your battery is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider may replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity. Find out more about the service options ...
- Could not verify that this iPhone has genuine Apple battery. Health information not available for this farm. Learn more...
- This iPhone is unable to determine the battery status. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can repair the battery. Find out more about the service options ...
Replacing your iPhone's battery doesn't come cheap - it costs $ 49 for older iPhones or $ 69 for iPhone X and later, if you buy directly from Apple. An Apple Authorized Service Provider like Best Buy could also do the job, or if you're brave and practical, you can order a replacement battery from iFixit, which sells iPhone battery kits for models from 4s to 8 Plus. for between $ 15 and $ 45.
How to know if your Android phone battery needs to be replaced
Android phones provide some controls on how you can save battery power and offer information on how to control battery-hungry apps. But they have fewer native resources to directly scan and recover battery status. Older phones and Android operating systems would allow you to verify by opening the dialer app and dialing * # * # 4636 # * # * and pressing Battery Info to view the battery status of your Android device. However, I was unable to access this information on a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge running Android 6 or an LG V40 ThinQ running Android 9.
Some third-party apps available on the Google Play Store can help you.
AccuBattery
This app is designed to measure actual battery usage with data derived from the battery charge controller. Android calculates the battery usage of device manufacturers, but this app goes a step further to measure battery capacity. It uses charge alarm to improve lifespan, determines battery sustained wear with each charge, calculates discharge rate and battery consumption per app, quantifies the time it takes before your battery charges, and more.
Play store
Dfndr battery
With this app, you will gain insight into the overall health and condition of your battery, with data that includes the percentage of battery power, temperature and capacity. A battery cooling feature keeps your phone cool by lowering your battery temperature and slowing down power consumption. It also allows you to choose custom battery saver profiles to customize the settings specifically for the way you use your phone.
Play store
Battery Tools and Widget for Android
This app will monitor and optimize your battery, log information and control power consumption. It estimates the time remaining for charging based on power consumption and displays battery status, temperature, health, voltage, and a power profile graph. Features include customizable power saving mode, battery saver with optimization, and more.
Play store
If your phone is bulging in the middle or feels very hot (whether you charge it or not), stop using it right away and have it fixed. Prevention is better than cure, and you don't want to face something like the dangerous Samsung Note 7 explosive battery issue, in which the device batteries overheat and explode.
Conclusion
If you have a brand new smartphone battery that you use under normal conditions, you can expect it to retain its peak functionality for at least two or three years. There are things you can do to conserve your smartphone's battery, such as keeping it from overheating and preventing abuse by charging it carefully. But battery issues shouldn't surprise you after two or three years. At this point, buying a new phone can make just as much sense as replacing the battery, given the price of batteries for out-of-warranty handsets.
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