How to replace the battery of your aging smartphone



[ad_1]

You could be in the habit of replacing your smartphone every two years, but most phones can last much longer than that. Like your car, they may need a new part every now and then, and the best fix you can do on your phone to make it last longer is replacing the battery. But most batteries are not user replaceable. So how do you get one?

Unfortunately, user-replaceable batteries are becoming increasingly rare and most smartphone manufacturers don’t go out of their way to let you know that you can replace the battery. In fact, when Apple briefly lowered the cost of iPhone battery replacement, it resulted in around 10 times more people replacing their batteries than usual (and, coincidentally, far fewer new iPhones sold this time. year). However, even if your battery is locked inside your phone, you can get a new one and keep your phone longer.

Some things to consider before replacing the battery

While battery replacements are very helpful, they can also be tricky to do. In fact, it’s no different from working on your car – you might be able to do it yourself, but it’s probably easier to pay someone else to do it, and you should expect be without your phone for a while while waiting to fix it to finish.

Many places offer same-day repairs, as long as your device’s battery is in stock. In other words, for repair locations with physical locations near you. If you have a local Apple Store or uBreakiFix location near you, they may have what you need. But in some cases, you will have to email your phone for a repair, which could leave you without it for days. And while you can get a loaner phone from some places, that can still be a problem. On the other hand, it’s much better for the environment, not to mention your wallet, if you replace the battery rather than buying a new phone.

When to replace the battery

Generally, if you’ve had your phone for a few years and it’s starting to show its age, now is a good time to consider a battery replacement. That’s around the time you plan to buy a new phone anyway – many carriers still offer upgrades or payment plans that renew every two years to tempt you – but you can also. check your battery status manually if you want to see if you need it. an earlier upgrade.

On iPhones, you can access Settings> Battery> Battery status to find a Maximum Capacity value that will indicate the percentage of your battery’s original charge capacity that remains. It’s not how full your battery is now, but rather how much charge it can hold compared to what it could hold when new. If it goes down to 80% (especially if it’s still under warranty), get a new battery.

As always, Android phones are a bit more complicated; there are many different models and they do not all work the same. Instead, you can use an app like AccuBattery to get detailed statistics on your battery health. The app uses an estimate, not an official report, and it may take a few days to get a full picture of your battery health. But if it’s less than 80% of its original capacity, maybe it’s time to take a look at a replacement battery.

Take your iPhone to an Apple Store

If you have an iPhone and want to replace the battery, you’re probably in the best position. If you’re still under warranty or AppleCare +, you can get a free battery replacement on most phones in recent years. If you’re not covered, the fees range from $ 49 to $ 69, depending on which phone you own.

[ad_2]

Source link