Galaxy S4 battery problems!

[imattacus]

Hi, I have had my S4 for a few months now. It has worked fine for these months although I've never been fully happy with its battery life I just assumed that was a common issue.
Basically, I could be using the phone doing just texting or reading a web page and it will shut off, the battery says its about 50% charged or something like that. This has happened three times in the last week so I don't know if this is a problem. Sometimes the phone can turn back on again but the battery on the phone starts to deplete at a much faster rate than before and it might only last an hour when I've got 40% charge. but sometimes It won't turn back on unless I plug it in when it seems to work fine.

However, I've seen a lot of people have had issues with the battery swelling and bulging out. I've seen pictures and some of them look extremely swollen. My Phone does have a slightly bulging battery and I know there is an NFC module built into the battery but this does seem to protrude out a little bit more than expected. There is a patch on the back of my phone on the outer case that is really scratched up even though I am very careful with the phone and this is also the bit that bumps out a bit. If I lay the phone down and push on the bottom by the home button - the phone flips up like its levering on the bump.
If I take the back off the phone and apply a very small bit of the pressure to the screen or around the battery - the bottom of the battery pushes out.
I would take a picture but there honestly isn't much to see because its not crazy big swollen.

Is this normal? Or do you think I have a problem - and if this is a problem. What is the best course of action to take to get this sorted out?

 

[Golfdriver97]

Hi, I have had my S4 for a few months now. It has worked fine for these months although I've never been fully happy with its battery life I just assumed that was a common issue.
Basically, I could be using the phone doing just texting or reading a web page and it will shut off, the battery says its about 50% charged or something like that. This has happened three times in the last week so I don't know if this is a problem. Sometimes the phone can turn back on again but the battery on the phone starts to deplete at a much faster rate than before and it might only last an hour when I've got 40% charge. but sometimes It won't turn back on unless I plug it in when it seems to work fine.

However, I've seen a lot of people have had issues with the battery swelling and bulging out. I've seen pictures and some of them look extremely swollen. My Phone does have a slightly bulging battery and I know there is an NFC module built into the battery but this does seem to protrude out a little bit more than expected. There is a patch on the back of my phone on the outer case that is really scratched up even though I am very careful with the phone and this is also the bit that bumps out a bit. If I lay the phone down and push on the bottom by the home button - the phone flips up like its levering on the bump.
If I take the back off the phone and apply a very small bit of the pressure to the screen or around the battery - the bottom of the battery pushes out.
I would take a picture but there honestly isn't much to see because its not crazy big swollen.

Is this normal? Or do you think I have a problem - and if this is a problem. What is the best course of action to take to get this sorted out?

Welcome to the forums.
Regardless of any NFC chips or anything, take the battery out of the phone. Set it on a flat surface, and with one finger try to spin it. If it spins pretty freely, you have a bulge and it needs to be replaced.

 

[madisonjar]

Welcome to the forums.
Regardless of any NFC chips or anything, take the battery out of the phone. Set it on a flat surface, and with one finger try to spin it. If it spins pretty freely, you have a bulge and it needs to be replaced.

This, a bulging battery could be very very bad!

 

[imattacus]

Does it matter what face down or up I put the battery down to spin it? I've tried it on both sides and it does indeed spin. Also if I push down on one corner of the battery on a flat surface - the battery does indeed wobble and lift up as if there is a bulge.

To be honest, I'm not completely happy with this situation - To me, this battery issue has caused problems with the phones structure itself. The back casing of the phone is all scratched where this bulge is and I've noticed literally just this second that the screen of the phone, when I look into the reflection of the screen there is also a comedy mirror type affect where my reflection is distorted - most likely because of the this battery pushing its way forwards in the phone.

I bought my phone from T-mobile UK on a ?24.50 / month contract at ?100 up front. If I wanted to look into getting a replacement device completely, who would I need to speak with? T-mob uk or samsung themselves. And more importantly.. who would be most likely to issue a replacement? How likely is it that I could get a replacement device when it appears damage has been done to the phone itself because of this battery?

Thanks everyone for your quick replies!

 

[Darnell0216]

Those are all the signs of a bad battery. Any kind of swelling is bad. You've already proven that it's bulging out of your phone. Get it replaced ASAP. Bulging batteries, no matter how small a bulge, can lead to leaking and/or exploding batteries.

 

[STSVA]

Does it matter what face down or up I put the battery down to spin it? I've tried it on both sides and it does indeed spin. Also if I push down on one corner of the battery on a flat surface - the battery does indeed wobble and lift up as if there is a bulge.

To be honest, I'm not completely happy with this situation - To me, this battery issue has caused problems with the phones structure itself. The back casing of the phone is all scratched where this bulge is and I've noticed literally just this second that the screen of the phone, when I look into the reflection of the screen there is also a comedy mirror type affect where my reflection is distorted - most likely because of the this battery pushing its way forwards in the phone.

I bought my phone from T-mobile UK on a ?24.50 / month contract at ?100 up front. If I wanted to look into getting a replacement device completely, who would I need to speak with? T-mob uk or samsung themselves. And more importantly.. who would be most likely to issue a replacement? How likely is it that I could get a replacement device when it appears damage has been done to the phone itself because of this battery?

Thanks everyone for your quick replies!

Only T-Mobile UK or Samsung can tell you whether they'll fix/replace for you, so you need to contact one or both. Replacement batteries are pretty cheap, so it might be worth picking up one to use while you wait for T-Mobile or Samsung to decide whether they'll do anything for you concerning these issues.

 

[Shon123]

Get that battery replace immediately

 

[ladyhaly]

Got mine replaced yesterday... All those signs & symptoms have gone and I cannot stress enough what a relief it is to have my phone back to normal. I am going to try and claim warranty with Samsung when I'm free next month. That and I'll buy another spare, just in case.

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