phone won't charge/hold a charge

[Treesham]

about to throw this POS out the window. battery life problems are bad enough.

now, it barely holds a charge, and is VERY slow going in charging. had it plugged in to charge. turned it off in an effort to have it charge quicker. went from 4% to 7% in about 45 minutes.

i miss my Evo.

 

[bblaze]

You could try getting a new battery, as that sounds like the problem. How long have you had the phone for?

 

[Tony Android]

How old is your ?POS?? Ever wet? Ever dropped? Did it ever work right? Does the battery bulge? Bent USB pins? Dirty port? Are you charging with a wall wart, or from a USB device?

Hard to help when you give so little info.

New battery is $20 shipped on amazon. If I were you, I'd try that first. Wall wart will charge much faster than a USB computer connection.

Last, you may have crapped up your phone with free apps that keep your phone always awake so they can monitor your every move and push intrusive ads.

If a new battery doesn't fix it, as a last resort you could back up your apps and data, do a factory reset, and see if that fixes the problem. If your battery life is still unacceptable before reinstalling any apps, then you know you have a hardware problem somewhere. Don't forget the charger and cord as possibilities.

 

[Treesham]

How old is your ?POS?? Ever wet? Ever dropped? Did it ever work right? Does the battery bulge? Bent USB pins? Dirty port? Are you charging with a wall wart, or from a USB device?

Hard to help when you give so little info.

New battery is $20 shipped on amazon. If I were you, I'd try that first. Wall wart will charge much faster than a USB computer connection.

Last, you may have crapped up your phone with free apps that keep your phone always awake so they can monitor your every move and push intrusive ads.

If a new battery doesn't fix it, as a last resort you could back up your apps and data, do a factory reset, and see if that fixes the problem. If your battery life is still unacceptable before reinstalling any apps, then you know you have a hardware problem somewhere. Don't forget the charger and cord as possibilities.

sorry about the lack of info. i knew when i originally posted i wasn't be helpful. i was just frustrated. apologies for that, but thank you for the suggestions.

as for the details - bought it in April. never wet - heck, i actually bring a zip lock bag with me for the phone if i think there's a chance i'm going to get caught in the rain. lol

dropped once or twice, but i've got the fairly heavy duty ballistic case protecting it.

i don't know what "work right" is, since i've never had a Samsung phone before, but from the GPS issues to the signal issues to the battery drain issues to the recent charging issues, imho, it's never "worked right", since problems like this shouldn't exist for something so expensive.

i have tried two different chargers, each on the wall and usb.

unsure about the bent pins or dirty porty. how would i rectify/look into that?

i won't argue that i may have some bad apps in there. that is entirely a possibility - got a suggestion as to how to sort through them and pull those out?

as for a new battery - after just 7 months, a new battery might be necessary?

thanks again, in advance.

 

[davis.rob]

as for a new battery - after just 7 months, a new battery might be necessary?

Could just be defective. The previous poster suggested checking for a "bulge" ... that would be the first/easiest thing to do. People have suggested a "spin" test ... put the battery flat on a table and try to spin. If it spins easily, it probably means the sides are bulging a bit and it may be bad.

Rob

 

[ramonm2]

Where did you buy it? cause I also had to replace my battery after only using it for a little under a year. My brother's too. If you take it back it should be under warranty if you're still under a year. if not try looking online. they go from 15-35 dollars. After I replaced the battery I went back to loving the phone.

 

[AndroidJon]

Treesham, did you get the latest FI27 update? I'm having the same problems as yourself.

And i'm noticing it's happening to others:
Check out the sprint Epic Touch forums. This issue is popping up a lot recently. I posted this in another thread, but I think it is important.

Sprint Community: Samsung Galaxy S2 V4.0.4 FI27 Shuts Down Randomly
Sprint Community: 10/10 - Samsung Epic 4G Touch Software Update - S710.10S.FI27
Sprint Community: After Newest Update and reset.. phone rebooting... sucking battery fast... and freezing...

Sprint Community: Sudden, immediate, random, battery drain
Sprint Community: Friday fast battery drain - week 2

I started having battery issues right after the FI27 update. I would charge my phone up to 100 percent. Unplug it, and within minutes my phone would die. I turn it back on, and it will have a battery life of 50 percent and die within seconds. I am unable to use my phone. I think something with FI27 is messing with our phones. I see that numerous users are saying a new battery will fix the issue, but i'm concerned that this will only be temporary and we'll have to buy another battery.

Could it be that the initial update process damaged the battery? or that we're all reaching the end of life for our batteries at the same time?

It's only until I read the sprint forums and android central here that I see my battery is swelling up too. I'm getting a new battery in the mail soon, but before I put in my battery I think I might go back to Gingerbread.

Can anyone who has changed their battery and used their phone for a week let us know if you notice any swelling/lower battery life?

I hope sprint addresses this problem as soon as possible.

 

[Treesham]

took it to a sprint store today. confirmation that battery is indeed swelling. it pisses me off beyond belief that someone could pay so much for something, and a battery needing to be replaced 6 or 7 months later is "normal"....

 

[JayWill]

I wonder what happens if a non-removable battery bulges? Thermonuclear meltdown?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ScottMGS]

I wonder what happens if a non-removable battery bulges? Thermonuclear meltdown?

One reason to stay away from an iPhone or a Nexus 4.

 

[Treesham]

and now time to find an inexpensive and dependable battery. anyone got any recommendations?

 

[DEF3NDER]

You bought the phone in April. It is still under warranty. Take it to a sprint store and tell them to replace it. Put an end to your misery.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

 

[Treesham]

You bought the phone in April. It is still under warranty. Take it to a sprint store and tell them to replace it. Put an end to your misery.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

are you sure about this? i was told today it was not.

 

[Uglyfido]

No matter what it is under the manufacturer warranty. Samsung will replace the battery for free. That being said, they also want you to ship them the battery with a copy of the receipt from your purchase, and then they will send you a new one. I just used my Best buy protection plan to get new one shipped to me instead.

 

[zantia23]

Treesham, did you get the latest FI27 update? I'm having the same problems as yourself.

And i'm noticing it's happening to others:
Check out the sprint Epic Touch forums. This issue is popping up a lot recently. I posted this in another thread, but I think it is important.

Sprint Community: Samsung Galaxy S2 V4.0.4 FI27 Shuts Down Randomly
Sprint Community: 10/10 - Samsung Epic 4G Touch Software Update - S710.10S.FI27
Sprint Community: After Newest Update and reset.. phone rebooting... sucking battery fast... and freezing...

Sprint Community: Sudden, immediate, random, battery drain
Sprint Community: Friday fast battery drain - week 2

I started having battery issues right after the FI27 update. I would charge my phone up to 100 percent. Unplug it, and within minutes my phone would die. I turn it back on, and it will have a battery life of 50 percent and die within seconds. I am unable to use my phone. I think something with FI27 is messing with our phones. I see that numerous users are saying a new battery will fix the issue, but i'm concerned that this will only be temporary and we'll have to buy another battery.

Could it be that the initial update process damaged the battery? or that we're all reaching the end of life for our batteries at the same time?

It's only until I read the sprint forums and android central here that I see my battery is swelling up too. I'm getting a new battery in the mail soon, but before I put in my battery I think I might go back to Gingerbread.

Can anyone who has changed their battery and used their phone for a week let us know if you notice any swelling/lower battery life?

I hope sprint addresses this problem as soon as possible.

Using my new battery for a week now

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

 

[AndroidJon]

Zantia, That looks much much better. I can't wait till my battery comes from amazon...I should be getting it any day now.

 

[Treesham]

i ordered a new battery. worked great for a week. now, back to the same problem.

battery drains at an incredible pace, sometimes more than a percent a minute, sometimes not as awful, but still bad - down from 100 percent to 68 in about an hour with a couple texts and one 60 second phone call.

takes a long time to charge, and that's if it even chooses to take the charge. i have to fiddle with the cord (and i had the port checked from sprint, and they said it's not that) to get it to charge.

something that costs 500 bucks should't be this troublesome.

 

[Treesham]

Adding some screen shots from this morning...

 

[Treesham]

as a conclusion/next stage to this issue...

the manager at the sprint store acknowledged that the last few updates really caused havoc with the charging system for a lot of S2s. not all, but definitely enough. and they are issuing a fix at some point, only he has no idea when. he offered to do a hard reset for me, which may or may not fix the problem. hooray.

i told him that really wasn't going to work for me, and to make a long story short, the charging port somehow because wrecked in the process (why my phone won't charge at all, apparently), so they are replacing my phone.

now, my question is, with very limited battery life left, and no way to charge it, and the port being useless, is there any way to save what's on my phone, from the contacts to everything else, or am i screwed in that respect?

 

[Uglyfido]

Your contacts should be backed up with your Google account. If you have instant upload turned on, then your photos are backed up with our Google+ account. Your apps are all available for re-download via your Google Play account. You app info is toast though. You can backup your sms messages with an app, but that's the only way I know of. Alternatively, plug it into a computer and you can back up most everything through Samsung Kies.