Battery indication on S22 completely wrong

[prof_meowington]

Hello, a few weeks ago my phone all of a sudden started having battery issues. Up until then the battery was fine. Now what happens is that my phone can turn off at seemingly random %, for example when I see the indicator showing 42% or 71%, when I try to turn it on, it says 0% charge level. And then after charging it for 3 minutes with the car USB cable it claims the battery is at 25%, which is impossible. Even if I fully charge it in the evening, the battery is dead when I wake up in the morning. I can usually tell when it's going to die on me, because it starts lagging like crazy.

At this point I need to charge the phone three times per day, and the decaying of the battery (?) health is progressing fast. Pretty much need to keep the phone connected to the charger to be able to use it normally. Any ideas? Could it be a battery calibration issue or something?

Android 14
One UI 6.1

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Try checking the battery health using the Samsung Members app: https://9to5google.com/2023/05/04/galaxy-battery-health/. If it shows as poor there, then it may be time to look into replacing the battery or upgrading the phone.

 

[Mooncatt]

Chances are the battery is in need of replacing.

Have you ever turned the air conditioner on in your home and noticed all the lights dim for a fraction of a second? That's a result of voltage sag during the compressor startup. The same thing happens with your phone when you put it under a load. With a healthy battery, the sag is minimal and it's not a problem. The sag normally happens so quickly, with an equally quick response, that the battery meter doesn't register it.

As the battery ages, the internal resistance builds up and the voltage sag becomes more pronounced and is slower to recover. When it's bad enough, the voltage will drop below the shutoff voltage, which is why your phone will shut off at a seemingly high battery percentage. When you plug it back in, the extra voltage from the charger gives it a boost that brings the battery back up to normal quicker than its own recovery ability.

Unfortunately replacing the battery this far into the life of the phone is going to be hit and miss. Batteries are not universal in phones, and manufacturers tend not to keep them in production long after a phone's release life has passed. That means any "new" battery you have installed may be old stock, and already have some degradation. It should be better than your current one, but I wouldn't expect it to as good as a freshly made battery.

 

[prof_meowington]

Welcome to Android Central! Try checking the battery health using the Samsung Members app: https://9to5google.com/2023/05/04/galaxy-battery-health/. If it shows as poor there, then it may be time to look into replacing the battery or upgrading the phone.

Thanks for the reply, I have attached the results.

So I guess it's not the battery itself that is causing the problem? Value look good according to the app

 

[prof_meowington]

Chances are the battery is in need of replacing.

Have you ever turned the air conditioner on in your home and noticed all the lights dim for a fraction of a second? That's a result of voltage sag during the compressor startup. The same thing happens with your phone when you put it under a load. With a healthy battery, the sag is minimal and it's not a problem. The sag normally happens so quickly, with an equally quick response, that the battery meter doesn't register it.

As the battery ages, the internal resistance builds up and the voltage sag becomes more pronounced and is slower to recover. When it's bad enough, the voltage will drop below the shutoff voltage, which is why your phone will shut off at a seemingly high battery percentage. When you plug it back in, the extra voltage from the charger gives it a boost that brings the battery back up to normal quicker than its own recovery ability.

Unfortunately replacing the battery this far into the life of the phone is going to be hit and miss. Batteries are not universal in phones, and manufacturers tend not to keep them in production long after a phone's release life has passed. That means any "new" battery you have installed may be old stock, and already have some degradation. It should be better than your current one, but I wouldn't expect it to as good as a freshly made battery.

Thanks for your detailed explanation. But it doesn't explain why my phone says the battery is at 0% after this voltage sag occurs and turns off the phone? Or is the voltage so low that it thinks it's discharged? I've never experienced this problem, and certainly not in a two year old phone. Very disappointed in the quality of this phone

 

[mustang7757]

Check device care for anything misbehaving there are check ups there and also monitor your device in safe mode and see how it's acting

Moved this to our s22 forums

 

[B. Diddy]

Check device care for anything misbehaving there are check ups there and also monitor your device in safe mode and see how it's acting

Moved this to our s22 forums

Good idea, here are the steps for Safe Mode: https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/how-to-start-my-galaxy-device-in-safe-mode/

 

[Mooncatt]

But it doesn't explain why my phone says the battery is at 0% after this voltage sag occurs and turns off the phone? Or is the voltage so low that it thinks it's discharged?

That is a near textbook example of a worn out battery.

I haven't used the battery health app mentioned earlier, but it looks like it only measures available capacity. The capacity may look good, but that doesn't mean it's able to hold up to a large power demand. If you were to do a low powered drain test, capacity can show normal because it's not drawing the voltage down much.

 

[kokonuts]

check the battery health, If the maximum capacity is lower than 100%, consider, then replace the battery

 

[mustang7757]

check the battery health, If the maximum capacity is lower than 100%, consider, then replace the battery

I disagree with this , so if at 90 or 85 capacity you should replace?

 

[Laura Knotek]

What happens if you try the AccuBattery app from Play Store?