5 Signs Your Phone Battery Needs Replacing

Lithium-ion batteries wear out. After roughly 400 to 500 full charge cycles — usually somewhere between 18 months and two years of normal use — a battery holds noticeably less charge than it did when new. That's not a defect, it's chemistry. The question is whether what you're seeing is ordinary ageing, or a sign of something else.

1. The charge drops off a cliff

A healthy battery drains steadily. A worn one holds a reading for hours and then falls from 40% to 5% in minutes. That mismatch is the battery's internal resistance rising — the phone can no longer estimate the remaining charge accurately.

2. It shuts down before reaching zero

If your phone switches off at 20% and then boots again once plugged in, the battery can't sustain the current the processor demands under load. This gets worse in cold weather.

3. The back or screen feels hot while idle

Warmth during gaming or fast charging is normal. Heat while the phone is sitting on a table doing nothing is not — stop using it and get it checked. A swelling battery is a safety issue, not a convenience one.

4. The screen or back panel is lifting

A gap opening around the edge of the display, or a back cover that no longer sits flush, usually means the battery has swollen. Don't press it back down and don't puncture it. Bring the device in as it is.

5. It only works while plugged in

At this point the battery is effectively dead and the phone is running off the charger. It will not recover on its own.

What to do before you book a replacement

• Check your battery health in Settings — most Android phones and all iPhones report it. Below 80% is a fair time to replace.
• Rule out a rogue app: check which app is consuming the most battery over the last 24 hours.
• Try a different cable and adapter. A failing cable mimics a failing battery surprisingly well.
• If the phone won't charge at all, the fault may be the charging port rather than the battery — the two are commonly confused.

If the symptoms above match your phone, a battery replacement is usually a same-day job. Send us your model and we'll confirm the price before we start.