How hard is it to replace the battery in an N4?

[Zenith49]

Both of our N4s are running out of juice before the end of the work day. So has anyone actually replaced the battery? How difficult is it? Is there soldering involved?

TIA
Z.

 

[drew_t]

It's not too hard if you're comfortable working on gizmos. You can find N4 teardown / screen replacement videos on YouTube. You need a few special tools to open the phone up and pry the battery loose (it's taped in place). No soldering. I don't know that replacing the battery will actually help you, though.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Zenith49]

Thanks for the info.

Why wouldn't it help? The phones are nearly two years old and my experience with phones with a removable battery says that a battery over a year-year and a half old is getting creaky.

Z.

 

[CoMoNexus]

Why wouldn't it help? The phones are nearly two years old and my experience with phones with a removable battery says that a battery over a year-year and a half old is getting creaky.

So when your N4s were new, they didn't run out of juice before the workday was over? That's impressive. Mine never did, which is why I agree with drew_t about a replacement battery not making much of a difference.

 

[Zenith49]

Yes, it is true that my N4 didn't run out of juice before the workday was over when I first got it. In the beginning, it wasn't even every day that I had to charge it early, but now, I'm lucky if I make it to 4pm.

 

[belodion]

If you do decide to get new batteries, make sure they're high quality ones. You read of people getting new batteries only to find that they give worse performance than their old ones.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Kevin Harvell]

If you do still plan on replacing them, the iFixIt website has some good instructions on taking apart nearly any device.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Zenith49]

I replaced the battery in my N4 last weekend and it's doing much better. I actually did not have to charge it during the day yesterday. When I went to bed, it was at 13%, but hey, that's better than zero. All in all, I think it was worthwhile. I bought the batteries from Amazon seller Toosell and they seem fine. I'll do my brother's N4 this weekend. The hardest part is getting the back cover off without boogering up the edges. My phone was pristine before this job and is considerably less so now. I also bought tools from Amazon seller goodtradepurple88. You need a teeny tiny torx (purple markedT4x40mm) for the outside screws and a tiny phillips (green marked 1.5x40mm) for the power connector. Prying the case apart used the plastic prybars, the guitar pick looking things and my fingernails. The batteries were $15 apiece and I could have gotten them cheaper, but I was leery of the bad reviews. Tools were $7. The plastic bits (prybars and guitar picks) are pretty much used up, but the screwdrivers are fine.

As I said, worth the effort. Once you've had the case apart, it's a snap to do it again. So, additional repairs are more within my reach, should I need them.

thanks for the encouragement.

Z.

 

[Zenith49]

News Flash: The new battery may be having problems. The phone is hot and it's discharging quickly. So, it looks like I'm going back to the stock battery, unless I can find another one somewhere quickly.

Boohoo
Z

 

[ymmy]

News Flash: The new battery may be having problems. The phone is hot and it's discharging quickly. So, it looks like I'm going back to the stock battery, unless I can find another one somewhere quickly.

Boohoo
Z

Yes, the biggest problem is to find genuine oem brand new and fresh battery. Most if not all batteries on ebay and amazon are used (even if they say.. New), cheap aftermarket junk or LG counterfeit.