Samsung Galaxy S4 shutting off randomly?

[AC Question]

Hi, I noticed that my android just shut off randomly and it's only been about 6 or 7 months. I have tried holding the power button and home button already and I just ordered a new battery. Is this possibly a battery issue? My last phone (Samsung Galaxy S3) also shut off after about 6 or 7 months too, except this was a hardware problem. Nobody says anything, but it's obvious that you need a couple replacement batteries as a back up for your phone, Am I right? It's been about 2 days and yes, I have tried charging it for about 30 mins. Should I wait at least one or two hours to see if it turns off? I've never had this problem before and it's really making me frustrated because you have the IPhones which never does that at all. On another note, I noticed that my phone is starting to heat up when I charge it now. Is anyone able to come up with a solution or should I ask for a refurbished phone?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Trying a new battery is a good idea, since batteries can fail at any time due to defects or other factors (like, for example, leaving a phone in a hot car). Does the phone show that your current battery is fully charged? Does it discharge quickly?

The phone heating up while charging does suggest a battery problem, so it will be helpful to see how a new battery behaves.

A couple other things you can try:
1. Boot the phone into Recovery Mode and clear the system cache partition, which won't erase any personal data. Sometimes, temporary system data in the cache partition can cause various glitches. http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...ing-into-recovery-mode-galaxy-s2-s3-tab2.html
2. If you have an external SD card, Unmount it (in Settings>Storage) and remove it, then reboot. A corrupt SD card can also cause various glitches.

And by the way, go to any iPhone forum, and you'll find many threads about battery issues and other various glitches. They're not perfect, either!

 

[kietnewwin]

To keep this updated, I just got a battery from amazon yesterday. I have tried putting it in the phone and charging for 2 or 3 hours+. My phone only shows a black screen and I have also tried holding down the volume up, power button, and home button. Yes, it still heats up when I charge it, but when i unplug it, the phone cools down back to normal. Therefore, I have no access to my phone at all and it refuses to turn on. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Oh and I am the person above that was having the problem (just for clarification).

 

[RumoredNow]

Have you made any Mods or customizations to the phone?

The previous phone that died after 7 months what model was that?

 

[kietnewwin]

There has been no mods or customization to the phone. Simply, I was watching tv on my phone and then I opened up Snapchat. The phone just blacked out and I tried pressing the home button and power button, but nothing happened. It's stayed as a black screen since Wednesday or Thursday. My last phone was a Samsung Galaxy S3. That phone was shutting on and off due to the hardware.

 

[mattjm24]

I am experiencing very similar problems and I don't know what to do. I find it interesting that just like the person above me, the problems started after I opened snapchat. I had been using it all day but just a couple of minutes ago, while using it, my phone randomly shut off on me. I was able to turn it back on but a few minutes later it randomly shut off again while using snapchat. This happened a few more times until it finally just wouldn't turn on anymore. I am continuing to try to turn it on and occasionally the Samsung logo will pop up but nothing more happens.
A few more facts: the battery isn't warped at all, the phone isn't getting hot, the phone is about a year old, the hard reset method does nothing, and nothing at all happens when I plug the charger in. Someone please help!

 

[mmanilki]

did you ever figure this out?? im having the same exact problem and i dont even know where to begin

 

[Shaun Johnson4]

My problem is much worse. My S4 randomly shuts down at different percents and when I try to press and hold the power button it will turn on and boot up but than it will turn off right after that. I have tried to remove the battery but that doesn't work. I even tried boot the phone into recovery mode to partly clean the system cach but that still doesn't work. I have also done a factory reset and even that didnt work. When it shuts down I plug it in and the screen says 0 % even though before it turned off it was showing 75 %. It works fine when its on for the most part but its very annoying and very frustrating when this happens. Oh and its been happening since October of this year (2015).
Could it be that the battery is swollen or is it the phone itself.

 

[Tanmay Shah]

My problem is much worse. My S4 randomly shuts down at different percents and when I try to press and hold the power button it will turn on and boot up but than it will turn off right after that. I have tried to remove the battery but that doesn't work. I even tried boot the phone into recovery mode to partly clean the system cach but that still doesn't work. I have also done a factory reset and even that didnt work. When it shuts down I plug it in and the screen says 0 % even though before it turned off it was showing 75 %. It works fine when its on for the most part but its very annoying and very frustrating when this happens. Oh and its been happening since October of this year (2015).
Could it be that the battery is swollen or is it the phone itself.

 

[Breanna Kindred]

I have this same problem and took it in to Verizon to see if they could do anything and they sent me a new phone through insurance (twice). Its still shutting off. I have Evan gotten a new battery and it still didn't help. very frustrating. If someone could help that would be great.

 

[The real tmoney]

Same thing started happening to me on my galaxy s4, so I called Verizon and they walked me through it. Took the battery out and put it back in cuz that's the only way I could get my phone to start. Then as soon I saw the Samsung logo I held the volume down button until my phone came on and in the bottom left it said safe mode. She said it looked like snapchat was somehow still running, which should not have been possible. I Uninstalled snapchat and my phone started working again. Installed a couple hours later and same thing happened again. Did the same thing to fix it as before, and now I am going to have to live without snapchat, but that's easier than buying a new phone.