Creating A More Productive Environment

What To Do If Your Cell Phone Battery No Longer Works Like It Used To

26 June 2023

Doris Roberts

It's natural for cell phone batteries to slowly degrade over time as the user cycles through hundreds of charges. But if you feel like your cell phone's battery is degrading faster than it should or you are noticing a sudden big drop out of nowhere, it might be worth taking a closer look. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you want to try and repair or restore your phone's battery life.

Check Recent Battery Usage

If you have had decent battery life in recent months but are now suddenly experiencing a huge drop, think about any recent changes you made to the phone. Are you using a new app or two? The settings app for every major cell phone should include an overview of which apps are using the most battery life and how much time the screen is turned on while on battery power. If you notice that a new app you installed is a battery hog, this could be the issue.

Change Display Settings to Prolong Life

If your phone's battery has degraded to the point where it's no longer lasting as many hours as it used to but is still somewhat OK, you can regain some of those lost hours by altering settings on the phone, starting with the display. Lower the brightness or turn on auto brightness more often than you usually do. Turn off background app processes or other options you might not use on a regular basis like Bluetooth or location sharing.

Try a Full Restart or Wipe

It's also possible that your poor battery life could be due to some kind of bug in the software or a recent system update. Try restarting your phone if you have not done that for a while to see if a reboot will help. In some cases, you may want to consider fully wiping the phone and then setting it up again as if it is a new phone.

Consider Low Power Mode

Leading cell phone providers now offer a "low power mode" to help users eke out additional battery life. Consider leaving your low power mode turned on even when you are at full battery and the same setting that helps you get extra battery life out of the last 20 percent can now help you make more out of all 100 percent.

Go to a Cell Phone Repair Shop

If your tweaks or self-fixes are not fixing your battery life to where you want it to be. It might be time for a full replacement at a cell phone repair shop. A professional will be able to open up your phone, test the battery to see what's wrong and then replace it with a fresh one with no degradation to make your phone as good as new.

Share

Search