Database Info

S4 battery recall

Google it for more info. I only found out cos my battery has swollen and it now dies after 20mins use . Noticed deteriation about a week ago. Looks like manynphones affected
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

YES ! Noticed the new. "Galaxy S4 battery woes 'limited', offers free batteries".
The South Korean company also say: "We ask all affected customers to please visit their nearest Samsung Electronics service centre, where they can receive a replacement battery for free of charge."
And where are they exactly?

Samsung is known for crappy batteries.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

On Google I only find recall for Germany and other European countries.
Does anyone know if any other countries are effected? Maybe Australia?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

ranger4740 said:
On Google I only find recall for Germany and other European countries.
Does anyone know if any other countries are effected? Maybe Australia?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue seems to be limited to batteries with serial numbers beginning with "BD", easy enough for people to check if they're affected.
Also, I've seen no mention of a recall on the batteries? Do you have a link to this, OP?

Dan1909 said:
The issue seems to be limited to batteries with serial numbers beginning with "BD", easy enough for people to check if they're affected.
Also, I've seen no mention of a recall on the batteries? Do you have a link to this, OP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my battery begins with BD, and doesnt last a day
a link would be nice

wifiuk said:
my battery begins with BD, and doesnt last a day
a link would be nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A link to what, sorry?
All the information I posted is from the discussion threads on this forum. It's in there that it is only people who have the BD batteries having the issue. Any information I posted about what happens with the fault is from when my battery went through it .

Yeah mine's BD as well and it barely holds a day... Should I look for a replace?

Crembo said:
Yeah mine's BD as well and it barely holds a day... Should I look for a replace?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at the battery, if it's swollen (even slightly so) that's a fairly good sign that it's having issues. As far as we know it's only BD batteries that are affected, but that doesn't mean that ALL BD batteries are.
There's other symptoms that come with the battery failing as well:
Generally bad battery life (much worse than previously used to)
Phone turning off randomly, and won't turn back on until a charger is connected
Battery level jumping from high (e.g. 80%) levels to very low (a few percent) when the phone cuts out
Noticacly swollen battery (this varies from only a mm or so of swelling, to enough to bend the screen and casing of the phone!
If you see any more of those issues, then it's probably worth contacting Samsung or the shop you purchased it from to get a replacement sent out to you.

Dan1909 said:
Take a look at the battery, if it's swollen (even slightly so) that's a fairly good sign that it's having issues. As far as we know it's only BD batteries that are affected, but that doesn't mean that ALL BD batteries are.
There's other symptoms that come with the battery failing as well:
Generally bad battery life (much worse than previously used to)
Phone turning off randomly, and won't turn back on until a charger is connected
Battery level jumping from high (e.g. 80%) levels to very low (a few percent) when the phone cuts out
Noticacly swollen battery (this varies from only a mm or so of swelling, to enough to bend the screen and casing of the phone!
If you see any more of those issues, then it's probably worth contacting Samsung or the shop you purchased it from to get a replacement sent out to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info.
It doesn't seem to be swollen (my phone is maybe 3-4 weeks old now), but I can barely get 2 hours of screen time and I do have to recharge my phone every night (Wifi is on maybe 70% of the time).
For example right now I'm at 4% battery with 19h 16m 57s time on battery and 33% usage by screen (1h 29m), then 16% by Google Services.

in 8 hours from 95% to 0 , 1:30h display (medium brightness) + some data h+ surfing facebook , i don`t think its alright battery life is poorer than my old 1 year s3
android 4.3 MJ5 battery : BD

Even if the battery is ever so slightly swollen just get the battery changed. Wether it's free of cost by Samsung or by purchasing a new one.
I had the same issue.. BD battery.. It was swollen and my screen had started to appear slightly curved as well. Barely used to last 24 hours(2hrs screen on). Got a new battery and I love my s4 again - 38 hours standby 4 hrs screen on. Hate samsung though!

Damn. My battery has BD serial. No issues yet though (had the phone 2 months)
I'm expecting to have to change it soon...

Anyone got a link to the recall page?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

imlgl said:
Anyone got a link to the recall page?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There doesn't appear to be one.
Samsung have given no statement on this topic (as far as I've been able to find).

Dan1909 said:
There doesn't appear to be one.
Samsung have given no statement on this topic (as far as I've been able to find).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i haven't found anything online about it
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

Relax guys.. Samsung will replace the battery free of charge. Here's the response I got from them yesterday -
Thank you for contacting Samsung Customer Support.
I am sorry to hear you believe your battery falls under the faulty battery issue, I understand this is frustrating as it may limit the use of your device.
We are aware of this issue, which has affected a limited number of customers. We ask all customers to please visit their nearest Samsung Electronics authorised service centre, where they can receive a replacement battery free of charge. We remain committed to providing the best possible user experience for our customers.
As you are located in India, Unfortunately we would be unable to send you a replacement battery, as the replacement batteries are only being provided from the UK service centres. If you are able to perhaps send your device to the UK, perhaps to a friend or family member, They would be able to do apply for the replacement on your behalf.
“Please note that not all batteries are faulty, only batteries which display signs of swelling are eligible for a replacement. This is not dangerous, the only concern is that the back cover of your device may no longer fit.”
“Unfortunately if you have already purchased the battery, we would be unable to reimburse you, although you can still take your faulty battery to the service centre to receive a replacement.”
You can visit the link below to guide you to the nearest service centre that you can go to, with the proof of purchase, by just submitting your postcode, and choosing Mobile Phones from the drop down box:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/location/supportServiceLocation.do?page=SERVICE.LOCATION
If the battery on your device is swelling, and you are unable to make it to the service centre, we would have to book the device in for an inspection.
If you would like us to book your device in for an inspection, please provide the information below so we can assess your warranty status:
1) Serial number (Found under battery)
2) IMEI number (Not required if a tablet) (Found under battery)
3) Your full postal address
4) Brief description of the issue.
5) Model Code
If the device is deemed as faulty, we will repair it and send your friend or family member back a replacement battery.
If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know.
Our Customer Support Team love feedback! Share your thoughts on this response by completing the survey at the bottom of this page.
Kind regards,
Kevin
Online Support Team
SAMSUNG Customer Support Centre
Note: This email was sent from a notification only email address that cannot accept incoming email. If you need to reply to this email, pleaseuse the link below

getdunexpected said:
Relax guys..
Kind regards,
Kevin
Online Support Team
SAMSUNG Customer Support Centre
Note: This email was sent from a notification only email address that cannot accept incoming email. If you need to reply to this email, pleaseuse the link below
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm fighting with Samsung since last Monday.Story:
Monday:
1st call to Samsung support, they advised to call nearest service center. Service center called. Reply: we have no batteries for replacement, but we will be very happy to SELL you one. Second call to Samsung, reply with email that I shall scan the proof of purchase, note the ser no, imei no etc and send it to them. Done on Tue.
Wednesday:
silence, so I called them again. Customer rep said that he is ordering the battery to be sent to me.
Thursday: silence
Friday: email from Samsung that I shall go to the nearest service center. another call to Sammy, this time it took approx 20 minutes to recognize the real status. As they stated, the battery shall be with me within the max 10 working days since the last Wednesday, and email was sent by mistake.
Let's see how it will end....
In the meantime, my phone's screen is more and more pushed back by swollen battery. If it will not return to normal - Sammy will have to replace the screen...
EDIT:
Battery arrived today, looking at the envelope - from Netherlands (are all UK stocks already depleted???)
Front screen returned to normal, new battery serial is AA and instead of the english, it has all description on it in some funny language.
Hope it will have longer lifetime...

spamtrash said:
I'm fighting with Samsung since last Monday.Story:
Monday:
1st call to Samsung support, they advised to call nearest service center. Service center called. Reply: we have no batteries for replacement, but we will be very happy to SELL you one. Second call to Samsung, reply with email that I shall scan the proof of purchase, note the ser no, imei no etc and send it to them. Done on Tue.
Wednesday:
silence, so I called them again. Customer rep said that he is ordering the battery to be sent to me.
Thursday: silence
Friday: email from Samsung that I shall go to the nearest service center. another call to Sammy, this time it took approx 20 minutes to recognize the real status. As they stated, the battery shall be with me within the max 10 working days since the last Wednesday, and email was sent by mistake.
Let's see how it will end....
In the meantime, my phone's screen is more and more pushed back by swollen battery. If it will not return to normal - Sammy will have to replace the screen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude I suggest you buy a new battery first and keep the one you get from Samsung later as a spare. This way, not only will you be able to use your phone properly sooner and prevent further damage to the screen and it must just be a lil dangerous with that swollen defective battery.. Who knows if it might suddenly explode or heat up or something *god forbid*
---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------
jas0nuk said:
Damn. My battery has BD serial. No issues yet though (had the phone 2 months)
I'm expecting to have to change it soon...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even my battery(BD) was fantastic was for the first 3ish months. Then it wouldn't hold charge and became swollen causing the screen to get slightly curved too. Got a new battery and the screen went back to normal and the battery life is back to being awesome! Suggest you change yours too, ASAP.

getdunexpected said:
Dude I suggest you buy a new battery first and keep the one you get from Samsung later as a spare. This way, not only will you be able to use your phone properly sooner and prevent further damage to the screen and it must just be a lil dangerous with that swollen defective battery.. Who knows if it might suddenly explode or heat up or something *god forbid*
---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------
Even my battery(BD) was fantastic was for the first 3ish months. Then it wouldn't hold charge and became swollen causing the screen to get slightly curved too. Got a new battery and the screen went back to normal and the battery life is back to being awesome! Suggest you change yours too, ASAP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ironic but I've started noticing weird creaking noises when I hold the phone and the battery is now very slightly swollen on one side - if I place it flat, it's fine on one side and can "rock" on the other. I doubt it's noticeable enough for a Samsung Service Centre to replace it, but I'm going to try regardless before it ruins the phone

Screen Flickering

I've read a few threads on the screen Flickering and there doesn't seem to be any resolution .
I'm on my 3rd tablet now (thanks best buy accident damage warranty!) And this one is flickering worse lately than ever. I updated to the latest firmware, yesterday only to boot up to horrible bouts of flickering during the setup screens.
The odd thing is, there seem to be no consistency to it. Some days it's so had I can't even use the thing, other days it doesn't happen at all. I use the tablet every day for notes or PDF viewing. I've used it with no magnetic cover (totally naked) and with the cover.. doesn't seem to change the occurrences.
I've turned overlays on/off force gpu render on/off.. nothing seems to fix it. Sometimes changing the overlay will reduce the flickering other times it doesn't affect it at all.
I hate to say it, but if I can't resolve it, I'm going to be forced to move to the surface 3.
I'm an electrical engineer and I've done as much trouble shooting as I can think to do.. but I've come up empty handed.
Anyone else have these problems? Has anyone found a definitive fix?

I sent mine back 3 times. The first was a reset. Thanks for wasting my time. The second was a motherboard and that didn’t do it. The third time they did a motherboard, digitizer, and usb port. It's finally stable and back to normal. After 5 trips back, the BB warranty triggers a new unit. Check if it triggers a refund.

I get it occasionally, so far I'm able to resolve it by booting into custom recovery (TWRP) and clearing dalvic to allow all apps to rebuild. Sometimes this resolves it for a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks. Its a repeatable "fix" that makes me question if the issue is related to memory or trim or something like that. Kind of reminds me of how with the first generation nexus 7s one would see slow downs after a while and filing storage with fake data then deleting it would improve performance for a while.

I'm definitely not a tender user of the device. I go back and forth between multiple ROM's and kernels on a daily basis testing what is testable, and unfortunately also what is not. Anyway, even though mine was bought as refurbished on eBay, I have never had any issues like the ones you describe. More specifically, I have never had any issues what-so-ever, that was not created due to my own ignorance. To me the device seems indestructible.
Besides, I would hate to be in the place of my device, or I would definitely have turned schizophrenic. Should I feel bad about pushing it through all this?

Because we're trying to figure out if it's related to a specific device type, which one do you have? P900, 905, 907A or another?

ShadowLea said:
Because we're trying to figure out if it's related to a specific device type, which one do you have? P900, 905, 907A or another?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P900 wifi. Us version bought at best buy.
Today the tablet has been rock solid, I have literally done nothing between when it was flickering like mad and now.
I wonder if it might be related to some kid of data transfer. either over wifi, or when data is written or read from storage or SD card. I've take then SD card out to eliminate that as the problem.

Mine was P900 from BB

Issue lies with the screen.
This happened with me I sent it back to Samsung, 3 times. They seem to have finally got it right. They replaced the battery and then the display screen. Now it appears to be working I will let you know after a month if it is still good. They also told me that they will not replace the device even though I bought it and the issue was right from the start. Not even 6 months old. When working the device is excellent.

Ah, so now we know for sure the battery is replaceable. That's good news. Maybe someday our batteries will no longer hold a charge and we can replace it. Now for a good video on tear down and what tools to use to do that and where to get a replacement battery. I know it's early for most of us but someday......we will have to replace that battery. I'm one of those that keep my toys (computers/laptops/tablets/phones,) for many years.

Mine is running like new since last service. Getting the BB Geek Squad warranty has paid for itself already. I get 2 years on anything over $500.

Mine is a p900. I purchased from samsung website. Mine has been doing it fresh out of box. So bummed.

Ive had my 12.2 since march and it recently started flickering. It seems to tuen of the screen for a millisecond especially when lots of refreshes happen. Like scrolling a pdf. A few days back it was bad. Now it has gotten better and I havent noticed anything.

{Diemex} said:
Ive had my 12.2 since march and it recently started flickering. It seems to tuen of the screen for a millisecond especially when lots of refreshes happen. Like scrolling a pdf. A few days back it was bad. Now it has gotten better and I havent noticed anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My P900 has just begun flickering exactly as you describe. So I should just be patient and hope it goes away by itself?

I'm flickering again. Turning the screen brighter is what triggers it for me. Returning to stock just to get it back and have it flicker again to hit the magic 5 returns may be what I have to do.

https://youtu.be/CvxbVft69Kg
I just followed this guide. Its been a week now, not had any flickering since I did it.

Manya3084 said:
I just followed this guide. Its been a week now, not had any flickering since I did it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lifting the motherboard only temporary close the gaps of cracked battery connector. The permanent fix need to do: re solder the battery connector.
Look closely under magnified glass or microscope , you'll see the cracked solders. You can test by pushing the connector slightly, a bad one will move easily or lift off from its solder joints.
This video was removed from the poster after I pointed out his guessing solution. Flickering screen has nothing to do with LCD connector on the motherboard.
Lifting mother board actually you're applying pressure on the battery connector from rear cover.

I have had my P900 sent to Samsung service twice without having the screen flicker fixed. I thought this was a known problem and that Samsung themselves should be aware of it? Maybe I should supply some XDA links next time...
Skickat från min SM-P900 via Tapatalk

bluebirch said:
I have had my P900 sent to Samsung service twice without having the screen flicker fixed. I thought this was a known problem and that Samsung themselves should be aware of it? Maybe I should supply some XDA links next time...
Skickat från min SM-P900 via Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Depend on where you send for service, they know how to fix it now. Service Centers actually are contractors provide services for Samsung and others, the fact that most people don't know.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59573206&postcount=100
It Works. Battery connector replaced. Smoooooth
After 2 visits to Samsung , my unit finally works fine.
Motherboard and LCD were changed first time. But issue persisted.
Second time, battery connector was replaced. Since then it has worked very very smoothly.

Beut said:
Depend on where you send for service, they know how to fix it now. Service Centers actually are contractors provide services for Samsung and others, the fact that most people don't know.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59573206&postcount=100
It Works. Battery connector replaced. Smoooooth
After 2 visits to Samsung , my unit finally works fine.
Motherboard and LCD were changed first time. But issue persisted.
Second time, battery connector was replaced. Since then it has worked very very smoothly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, missed that other thread. Next time, I'll send them an en explicit request to replace the battery comnector, and refer to those two threads.
Stefan
Tapatalked on some kind of Samsung tablet

[Q] "Retroactive Bricking" or "spontaneous" hardware fault?

PSA: *This will be crossposted in xda HTC One X and HTC One X+ forums, I hope cross posting is allowed, haven't seen it mentioned in rules.*
Hi all,
Quick disclaimer: I've been lurking parts of xda now and again for a couple years now, have flashed a couple of phones and tablets now and again for mainly practical reasons, recently getting more interested in it as a ""fun" interest or "hobby".
SO: I am very aware that this is my first post, the rules, search function, etc. ..
BUT: After extensively searching both google and specifically xda to help me resolve this issue *myself*, I decided to create an account and post. I'm sorry if this Q should have been put in the newbie thread, my assessment was that it probably has no place there.
ALSO PLZ NOTE: What was meant to be a succinct summary and question somehow turned into a condensed but complete rundown of events, so here is a...
TL;DR:
- Replaced HTC One X+ display/digitizer unit myself, ran fine for 5 weeks.
- Then: flashed twrp 2.7x or 2.8, not sure anymore, before installing Android HD Revolution 33.1 by mike1986, and following the official instructions, which ran great for about week until my phone spontaneously BRICKED THE F*CK OUT COMPLETELY.
(yes, true brick, paperweight, robot-corpse, whatever)
=> Question: IS "RETROACTIVE/RETROGRADE BRICKING POSSIBLE/A "THING"??
If so, what could I have done wrong? (POSSIBLY something to do with a bootimage of firmware that I was sure I had the up to date version of... dunno though).
=========================================================================
About 6 weeks ago:
- Cracked the display of my HTC One X+ badly by dropping it onto concrete-type floor at a rave/party
=> Decided to try and replace it myself, researched for a good while (talking several days here, 90s/00s kids),
=> Decided to replace the display/digitizer unit myself to save money and gain knowledge.
Repair process was challenging and nearly as nerve wracking as playing the WSOP (not kidding, have played it three times), had an issue immediately after putting it back together where it suddenly wouldn't charge AT ALL anymore (NO LED), and overheated, and had unusually fast battery drain of its remaining charge (which never ran out completely before resolving that issue, since I kept turning it off whenever possible).
=> Took it apart and put it together again XX times until realizing the power switch flex cable kept slipping out of its two (jawbone?) connectors during putting it back together (I was doing something wrong with the flex positioning).
=> This resolved the issue.
=> Felt like a hero and that I win at life (since this phone has a rep as being hard to meddle with, and this was my first time even opening, let alone taking apart a smartphone).
=> Continued joyful phone shenanigans for over one month.
=> THEN: Decided to root it, mainly because there was a particular app I wanted that required root ("Quick reply for Whatsapp/Pushbullet", for the curious).
My previous, very limited rooting/flashing experiences =
- Google Nexus One (CWM/Cyanogen) a few times, years ago
- Galaxy Tab 10.1 (CWM/Cyanogen 10.1 ages ago, TWRP/Omnirom Kitkat 4.4.4 recently) a couple times.
So, did my research (or so I thought..?) for this particular custom ROM, decided to go for Android Revolution HD for HTC One X/+ 33.1 by mike 1986 (because it looked fckin awesome, and it was, while it ran) and loved the sh*t out of my "new" phone for about a week. Especially the vastly improved battery life seemed almost surreal, a big deal for a fixed-battery phone.
Then, ONE FATFUL EVENING in a bar, I remember looking at my phone and seeing 35% left, (days before it would've been an amazing 70-80% on an avg. day), which may not be relevant as it was my birthday, so had been using it a lot that day => may be a moot point
- Next time I looked at the phone ( < 1 hour without active use for sure) it was dead.
"Hmmmm," thought slightly drunk me. Whatever, charge it later, weird sh*t happens.
- Got home later, charged it over night after booting it with usb cord attached (mains).
Seemed normal, I even set an alarm.
=> Alarm never rang because it was in a powered-off state again come morning, despite all-night charging.
=> It booted to HTC logo. Seconds later, it turned off again. Held down power again, all I saw was the soft touch buttons flashing red a few times. After this it unexpectedly became (or was secretly crowned):
!! COMPLETE AND UTTER FCKNG KING BRICK OF BRICK COUNTRY AND ATTACHED TERRITORIES !!
No power on with or without volume up/down held for whatever amount of time;
No charging, no heating up when "charging";
No LED in any colour or flashing frequency, ever;
No response after hours and days of charging on different USB cables on PC/wall socket;
PCs and laptops don't register a sign of anything when it penetrates their port parts, etc etc...
...
.Even that semi-mystical bright-light-exposure-while-charging "light sensor manipulation" thing (which apparently worked for a lo of people with similar issues) did nothing for the cause.
Promotion: *Paperweight status successfully acquired.* Yay.
=====================================================
Now, obviously my first thought was that the power flex that gave me trouble during display replacement probably slipped again., somehow (I had taped it down solidly I thought).
=> SO I opened it once again, flex position seemed ok, but I wasn't sure of its functionality as it did look kind of battered from the somewhat unprofessional repair I had conducted on it (which I openly admit to, though I really did try my absolute best).
- Spontaneously took mainboard/battery combo to a local independent phone/accessory shop after being told they'd take a look for free
(I was in there was in there buying a microsim adapter so I could use my ancient Nexus One, since my GF has my old S2 now, which she kindly offered back, but its hers now, so nah. Great phone though.)
=>Shop's advice echoed my thoughts: Flex cable may be screwed, I may have damaged it by bending in the wrong direction/too often, and that damage somehow didn't manifest until much later. I didn't mention the recent rooting + flashing as I deemed it irrelevant at the time.
Their secondary thoughts: Battery or mini-usb port fukt, (which would require soldering, which they don't even offer).
=> SO, feeling confirmed in my layman's assessment, I cheaply got a pristine new replacement flex on ebay, double checked all videos/tutorials, implemented the damn thing with considerably more skill/experience and even higher anticipation. What happened next was shocking:
Absolutely nothing, obv.
=> Did an additional epic f*ckton of internet/forum research, found similar problems and some resolutions, but no real answers, probably because my main problem translates to a kind of hybrid question.
So here I am now am with my core question:
Is it possible to FULLY brick an HTC/any smartphone but not become aware of this until one week later, when the device dies OVER ONE WEEK of reliable and amazing performance?
(and if yes, what aspect/stage of the flashing process is this likely related to?)
If the answer is NO, it must be a hardware fault with probability rank (I think)
:
1.) Battery dead for whatever reason
2.) Mini USB OR mainboard/integral component (equal rank as not sure), possibly caused by incompetent repair, but why or how would this express itself over a month later??
3.) Other, which I'm not aware of.
While researching new ROMS for the N1, I realized that I may have messed up on the "bootimg part" of the flashing process of the Revolution ROM, a part I found v. confusing in the instructions, even after rereading them many, many times. It was about the most recent firmware, which I was pretty sure I had anyway, since it was unrooted before and I do remember installing some firmware updates over the air.
I still did my best to follow the instructions though.
=> Maybe this has something to do with it, i.e. the hardware can't accept a charge because the software allowed it to become too uncharged (a fairly paradox concept to me, but apparently it can happen. Guess it's like a BIOS-type thing).
Thank you for anyone who read this far!
As it stands, I refuse to give up hope so soon after experiencing that rush of having fixed it myself.
Any specific or general help, tips, hints, pointers, replacement phones (One M8 or S5 plz., Iphones will go straight on ebay) would and will be greatly appreciated!!
The obvious choice is to get a new battery and see what happens, but I'm not sure if I wanna sink any more money into this phone, only to later find out the mainboard is at fault (not worth the money replacing), AKA "get a new phone without a contract", which would more than suck for me financially atm (Im ignoring my N1 here, which I love, but don't wanna be stuck with, esp. as it has the standard-issue broken power button (which I actually had repaired once under warranty, back in the ol' days of yore some prefer to refer to as 2009.
So guys: What's my move, if there is one, besides going to a local/online service centre (I live in Germany btw.) and probably paying unproportionate cash money to even have it looked at?
Cheers, thanks, merci, danke
PS: Just saw the polling function, so I attached one just for the hell of it, to see what happens (never used one before).
If you feel both qualified AND so inclined as to pass judgement on this here serious business, please indicate what you think may be the cause of my issue.

*BUMP 1*
Come on guys, I know it's a wall of text, but can't someone at least answer the TL;DR?
=> Is is possible to flash a custom rom which then (possibly because of improper installation) causes the phone to brick about a week later?
Simple question surely!

Phone is painfully slow, trying to troubleshoot

So I've had a T-Mo S7 for about a year and a half now. It's incredibly slow/unresponsive and I've spent a really long time troubleshooting.
I've done full factory resets, and direct ODIN OS installs with data wipes. Whenever I do this, the phone starts out, with all current apps installed, extremely fast/responsive. I have a somewhat limited app library, and I haven't added anything since the phone slowed down noticeably.
About two months ago, the Samsung Device Maintenance app, which until then only reported battery draining, said "Some apps or processes are overloading the system (CPU)" and the app it reported was something like com.android/google.searchbar" which I assume is the google search bar widget. I thought, "awesome, the device app is actually doing something." I told it to kill the app and my phone sprung to life. My phone was super fast for a long time, but is now back to being super slow again. I searched "Apps" in device settings and can't find any apps/processes that sound anything like search bar. Also, how is there not a system resource monitor in system settings!? Clearly, an app is hogging resources, because I've experienced periods of responsiveness. Is there no direct way to figure this out without doing the safe mode process of elimination?
Can someone help shed some light or suggest further troubleshooting steps? Thanks in advance.

I got mine on black friday 2 years ago and I've been having the same issue. Of course my battery doesn't last very long being it's over 2 years old. I'm guessing it may have some.thing to do with the battery voltage being so weak after so long. I'm due for an upgrade obviously but I'd be fine using my S7 for another year if a battery replacement did the trick. I believe I was told in chat that I could go into the store and they'd only charge me $5 but I assume they'd have to send the phone out unless they just swap it out for a refurbished one. I've had no other problems with mine at all so not really the route I want to take.
Anyone else familiar with this process? Has anyone else had their battery replaced or phone swapped and notice if the fresher battery helps or is it just a symptom of it "can't" handle the newer OS properly? Any feedback would be appreciated. Hopefully it helps us both out. Didn't mean to hijack the thread!

tony yayo said:
I got mine on black friday 2 years ago and I've been having the same issue. Of course my battery doesn't last very long being it's over 2 years old. I'm guessing it may have some.thing to do with the battery voltage being so weak after so long. I'm due for an upgrade obviously but I'd be fine using my S7 for another year if a battery replacement did the trick. I believe I was told in chat that I could go into the store and they'd only charge me $5 but I assume they'd have to send the phone out unless they just swap it out for a refurbished one. I've had no other problems with mine at all so not really the route I want to take.
Anyone else familiar with this process? Has anyone else had their battery replaced or phone swapped and notice if the fresher battery helps or is it just a symptom of it "can't" handle the newer OS properly? Any feedback would be appreciated. Hopefully it helps us both out. Didn't mean to hijack the thread!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I promise it's not the battery because I had it factory replaced by Samsung. To answer your question, yeah you have to send it in. With the waterproofing they have to do it at a repair center. However, for me it was 100% worth it. I think I was without the phone for about 10 days. But having a brand new battery life was incredible.
Also, as I was working with the phone slow for a while, it immediately and dramatically became quick after device maintenance killed that process. But a few months later, I'm back to suuuuper slow.

The S7 is getting old. Old things slow down. It's planned obsolescence. I've gotten to the point of turning notifications off for all apps and only using badge numbers to tell me when to check something. I also use do not disturb a lot when gaming instead of game tools because game tools is another app but do not disturb is more of an internal process. As soon as my taxes come back I'm probably going to get a S8+

J7 Not reading battery accurately

Hello.
It's my very second post on XDA Forums, so If I'm posting this on a wrong section, please tell me so I can correct/move it to the correct area.
I've been using a J7 (SM G-J700H), that my mom left me when she switched to a newer one, for experimental purposes (monitoring, hacking, rooting, etc).
But I've encountered an issue with the battery: it's not reading it properly, like, whenever I see my phone it is F.E. at 70%, but after rebooting the phone 2 or 3 minutes after the first reading, it drops to 25%, and if I do another reboot It drops down/ goes up to another % far higher/lower than the previous one.
So, I thought maybe the battery was dying (the cellphone has ages of use, but still works and looks fine, like new) and then changed it for a new Samsung original one, but got the same problem.
A good thing to add to this mess is that the battery life of the phone, when charged to 100%*, is correct: it stays on for a day and a half or two (no SIM, just WiFi and stand-by operations).
* = I make sure that it gets charged by connecting it to the power-line for hours xD
So I'm wondering what's causing this reading issues?
What I've done so far to try and fix this was (and obviously failed to):
Factory-Resetting the phone (even flashed the Stock firmware again, thus it was already flashed)
Samsung's battery calibration code
Rooting the phone for further HW analysis.
Checking Temperature (it's normal both on battery or CPU).
Just to avoid questions: I have a small homemade Electronics lab at home, so doing some repairings is not an issue for me.
I have some experience with SMD reflow/soldering, so If it has anything to do with the hardware, just tell me what to do and I'll be able to do so.
By the other hand, if it is a software issue, feel welcome to advice me too because I'm a software technician, so I would catch up with everything you say.
Thank you all who reply to this post in advantage.