Do cell phone batteries die suddenly

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nobbie48

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My SE I phone Just started to drip electrons like a Harley drips oil. From 100% to 5% in a day with next to no usage. It was OK until a few days ago. I fully charged it and went to full shut down and it still sank. Four or five years old.

Replace battery or phone?
 
Android lets you see what used the battery. Often when something strange like that happens it is an app that went nuts and keeps the phone from sleeping. Delete the app and you are fixed. I don't know if ios has a similar utility.
 
Replace the battery ...4-5 years is a good run. There are a battery test apps and usually one built in to the iOS. If you happened to have something open that uses the GPS function that will kill a battery right quick ...so will a site that has videos running etc.
 
GreyGhost said:
Android lets you see what used the battery. Often when something strange like that happens it is an app that went nuts and keeps the phone from sleeping. Delete the app and you are fixed. I don't know if ios has a similar utility.
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iOS does have one. Settings-> Battery have a click around. See what's burning it up.
My XR is 3yrs old and Battery is reporting 83% battery capacity relative to new.
 
Lithium ion batteries can age in such a way that makes it extremely difficult for "fuel gauge" chips / coulumb counters to estimate the remaining charge. 4-5 years is old for such a battery
 
I agree tho oddly if lithium batteries are kept with charges below 80% their lifetime is nearly infinite. I've not seen that followed up on with an app for a phone that limits charging to 80% - I guess people dump their phones early.
For EV cars I guess the 8 year guarantee to hold 80% warranty is sufficient.
 
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tat2 said:
iOS does have one. Settings-> Battery have a click around. See what's burning it up.
My XR is 3yrs old and Battery is reporting 83% battery capacity relative to new.
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Mine shows 86%

Ages ago when I first did 518 my flip phone battery was near dead from searching for a non existent signal. I haven't been out of cell range for quite a while.
 
MacDoc said:
I agree tho oddly if lithium batteries are kept with charges below 80% their lifetime is nearly infinite. I've not seen that followed up on with an app for a phone that limits charging to 80% - I guess people dump their phones early.
For EV cars I guess the 8 year guarantee to hold 80% warranty is sufficient.
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AccuBattery on Android can be configured to remind you to unplug your phone once charge reaches a set level
 
I've had that happen on my iPhone 8. Battery just died all of a sudden within a few hours of taking it off charge.

Replaced the battery at Apple for $150 and it was better....for a while.

I'm cheap so I got a free iPhone X that I'm currently using and it looks like the same is happening but not to the same level yet.
 
Look to your settings then ....something is using power.
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It's been getting worse so I called Apple and the lady was very helpful, recommending I go to the Apple store at Sherway, suggesting a new battery at $65.

I went and after a short wait got a spot in the queue but with a hint that a new phone might work out better.

My turn comes with their genius and the pressure to go for a new phone intensifies. The more I resisted the harder they pushed. That seemed to cue in another rep to add more pressure. It was like a time share sales dinner for swamp land in Florida.

They implied a new battery would probably die in a few months and all my stored data could get destroyed during the installation. They have the ability to make that happen.

I said thanks but no thanks and went across the street to Canada Computers and bought a power bank. If the thing blows up I haven't lost much.

I've watched YouTube videos on the battery change and it isn't like the old flip phones. I also watched a video on replacement batteries and scams are common using relabeled old batteries.
 
Apple is not who you want to go to for getting an Apple phone repaired, unless it's completely under warranty. I don't know the name of a good shop offhand, but somebody else will probably chime in with one
 
TwistedKestrel said:
Apple is not who you want to go to for getting an Apple phone repaired, unless it's completely under warranty. I don't know the name of a good shop offhand, but somebody else will probably chime in with one
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Disagree, Apple is definitely who you want. The price is cheap, you get an OEM battery with warranty, if they break the phone during replacement, they’ll give you a new one. Or most likely just give you a new one (same model) for the price of a battery replacement.

Saying that, there are definitely quality differences between some Apple stores. The flagship stores at Yorkdale and Eaton Centre have both been amazing in my experience, others not so much.
 
regder said:
Disagree, Apple is definitely who you want. The price is cheap, you get an OEM battery with warranty, if they break the phone during replacement, they’ll give you a new one. Or most likely just give you a new one (same model) for the price of a battery replacement.

Saying that, there are definitely quality differences between some Apple stores. The flagship stores at Yorkdale and Eaton Centre have both been amazing in my experience, others not so much.
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Sherway has turned me against Apple. Some aftermarket batteries may be OK but which ones. All Sherway did was give me the sales pitch of disaster. If you check their reviews I'm not alone.
 
The good news is that the power bank's different charging system seems to have rebooted the battery or whatever. I'm getting livable battery life.

Still, it's six years old and time for an upgrade. The treatment from Apple Sherway has me turned off Apple.

I'm not an apps junkie. Phone, text, camera and emails = 95% of my usage. If my wife didn't constantly ask silly questions while we're watching a movie I wouldn't need Google.

I hate contracts so a straight buy would be my option. Thoughts?

P.S. (I'm a cheapskate)
 
nobbie48 said:
The good news is that the power bank's different charging system seems to have rebooted the battery or whatever. I'm getting livable battery life.

Still, it's six years old and time for an upgrade. The treatment from Apple Sherway has me turned off Apple.

I'm not an apps junkie. Phone, text, camera and emails = 95% of my usage. If my wife didn't constantly ask silly questions while we're watching a movie I wouldn't need Google.

I hate contracts so a straight buy would be my option. Thoughts?

P.S. (I'm a cheapskate)
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iOS is locked down but it just works and is very good for less technically savy people....

Android is more customization but it comes at a cost of being "buggy", at times, and it's not the most friendly for less technically savy people
 
nobbie48 said:
My SE I phone Just started to drip electrons like a Harley drips oil. From 100% to 5% in a day with next to no usage. It was OK until a few days ago. I fully charged it and went to full shut down and it still sank. Four or five years old.

Replace battery or phone?
Click to expand...
I've and SE as well, not sure how old it is. I'm on iOS 14, i've found batter life is worse then before and some apps really kill the battery. But then it could be the battery was on the way out anyhow. Anyhow seen similar situations llike you especailly on the bike, where I throw the phone in the pocket, after an hour or so riding battery is almost done. Go into the phone and kill off some apps to stop battery drain. Sorta helps.

It's probably a combination of things. I believe one of the iOS patches killed battery life. I've thought of moving up to iOS 15 to see if things would improve and apps etc, but not sure it's worth it. I kinda would like a newer phone at this point instead of a new battery. I can ride this out a bit longer.
 
nobbie48 said:
Sherway has turned me against Apple. Some aftermarket batteries may be OK but which ones. All Sherway did was give me the sales pitch of disaster. If you check their reviews I'm not alone.
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There use to be a case with a extra battery pack you could buy for the SE. Basically put the phone in the case and it adds a hump on the back but otherwise it charges just the same with the lighting port at the bottom, except you get longer battery life.
 
sburns said:
There use to be a case with a extra battery pack you could buy for the SE. Basically put the phone in the case and it adds a hump on the back but otherwise it charges just the same with the lighting port at the bottom, except you get longer battery life.
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Have had those cases before. They're great when phones are smaller...now that phones are getting so large...it makes the phone huge.

For an iPhone 6-8 / SE...they are great.

Yup....MOPHIE was the one I had.

 
An oem phone battery is good for about 1000 cycles (charge/discharge) before degradation is noticeable. Think of it like age where 1000 cycles is like hitting middle age. You don't move around as well as you did as a teen but you can still do most of the stuff you've always done. You also start to lose your shape and develop a bulge.

There are ways to prolong the battery, but at 4-5 years, charging daily, you've sailed well past the best before date of battery life. Battery wear also increases exponentially as you end up charging multiple times a day, further driving up the cycle count. So yes, its possible that you feel that the battery got worse almost immediately, but only cause you missed the signs.

As has been mentioned earlier, definitely check to see what apps are using all the power, even when new. Apps misbehave all the time whether it is a software bug, glitch or too aggressive of a sync/update schedule.

Charging your phone all the time via battery bank is not a solution to reducing the cycle count on a new phone. Its a great iron lung to your phone battery on it's death bed. About as inconvenient as one too.

5 year old iphone, with it's battery replaced, could go a bit longer, but there's other issues like screen brightness/pixel burn in (another thing that goes with age), button wear, supported software updates, etc. Repairing consumer electronics is not like repairing a classic Norton Commando. They were made to be disposable and not keepsakes. Your calculation is about cost to fix now and budget to replace.

I replaced the battery of my Note 9 this year for $70. My calculation was that I don't have a need for a faster/better/greater phone than what I have right now and I have better places to put the $2000 that it'd cost to replace with an S22 Ultra. Phone is in mostly good condition owing to having a decent case on it.
 
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