It happened again! Battery bulge Samsung Galaxy Note9

[Steven P. Administrators]

 

So this morning I noticed the back cover (Samsung Silicone back cover) was loose on the bottom left, pressed it and could hear a "pop" noise, took the cover off and lo and behold, another Samsung phone where my battery has started expanding after two years of use. I bought it second hand in January 2020 so I have had a good two years out of it, but I really hate the new phones with cut outs and holes in the screen, which is why I stuck with the Note9. I think all of Samsung's flagships have holes now.

 

 

Anyway I called Samsung and they basically told me I can have it picked up for repair, but at my own cost. They wouldn't tell me, but from looking around I suspect I will have to pay around €120 minimum for a battery replacement via Samsung. I have to wonder if it's even worth it now that the phone isn't getting any more Android updates.

 

I work from home, so the phone is usually sitting on the powered wireless "Samsung Fast Charge" charger. I wonder if the reason is because the battery is kept mostly near full all the time, but I have also read that it is just as bad to let a phone run down to nothing all the time. It seems to me like a massive Samsung manufacturing defect with the batteries.

 

This happened to me before, but last time the phone was still (barely weeks) under guarantee, so I opted for a full refund.

 

This time around though I am out of warranty and Samsung has washed its hands of the problem.

 

Planned obsolescence anyone?

[hellowalkman Reporter]

Glad it didn't explode 😌

[Steven P. Administrators]

I found someone local who can replace the battery for €65 tomorrow. I'm going to do that.

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 04/04/2022 at 06:13, Steven P. said:

I work from home, so the phone is usually sitting on the powered wireless "Samsung Fast Charge" charger. I wonder if the reason is because the battery is kept mostly near full all the time,

I stopped using wireless charging as I always noticed considerably more heat than with a normal plug in charger. 

[Steven P. Administrators]

Yeah I have turned it off now, because it expanded some more:

 

 

Excuse the crappy Moto G5 camera

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 04/04/2022 at 08:02, Steven P. said:

Yeah I have turned it off now, because it expanded some more:

 

 

Excuse the crappy Moto G5 camera

 

Is that the official Neowin board room table?

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 04/04/2022 at 15:10, warwagon said:

Is that the official Neowin board room table?

It is now 😛 

[+Elі Subscriber²]

I remember when that happened to me with an HTC phone I had a few years ago. I said I would never again purchase an HTC phone.  Still, that happened many years ago, you would hope that type of thing wouldn't happen today. I hate to see how poorly made some of these devices are made nowadays. Hopefully you can get yours fixed.

[Gurn Blandsten]

This is why I don't like phones without removeable backs. I was able to save my old phone when the battery started expanding.

[Matthew S.]

@Steven P. Keep it off the charger and charge it every other day.  Think I've had my iPhone Xr (work phone) 3 years now and battery health is still in the 90's, my personal 11 is still in the 90's as well, though I upgraded to a 13 the other year.

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 04/04/2022 at 17:30, Matthew S. said:

@Steven P. Keep it off the charger and charge it every other day.  Think I've had my iPhone Xr (work phone) 3 years now and battery health is still in the 90's, my personal 11 is still in the 90's as well, though I upgraded to a 13 the other year.

Once the battery is replaced I plan to put the charging stand in a smart switch that is off during the day and only on at night.

 

I was also told there is an option to keep the phone charged to max 85% but I do not know if that option applies to the Note9 and Android 10.

[Matthew S.]

On 04/04/2022 at 11:36, Steven P. said:

I was also told there is an option to keep the phone charged to max 85% but I do not know if that option applies to the Note9 and Android 10.

It'll technically still be charging which is the problem, you need to put cycles on it.

 

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

It is always disappointing when a battery swells, but given that the battery is perhaps as much as 4-5 years old and has gone through hundreds if not a thousand or more charging cycles, it is not unsurprising that it needs to be replaced. 

One piece of good news is that the EU is moving towards requiring that batteries be removable and replaceable in various consumer electronic devices:  https://repair.eu/news/the-european-parliament-calls-for-removable-and-replaceable-batteries/

 

Hopefully that will improve the outcome in the future, as well as get rid of expensive and time-consuming servicing for devices like smartphone batteries.

 

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 05/04/2022 at 02:40, goretsky said:

One piece of good news is that the EU is moving towards requiring that batteries be removable and replaceable in various consumer electronic devices:  https://repair.eu/news/the-european-parliament-calls-for-removable-and-replaceable-batteries/

Agree there, but I still think it is inexcusable that a €1000 device can only expect to last 3 or 4 years, it's unnecessary ewaste too. I also have a laptop from 2017 that's always kept plugged in and the battery is fine in there. It just feels like planned obsolescence.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

On 05/04/2022 at 02:57, Steven P. said:

Agree there, but I still think it is inexcusable that a €1000 device can only expect to last 3 or 4 years, it's unnecessary ewaste too. I also have a laptop from 2017 that's always kept plugged in and the battery is fine in there. It just feels like planned obsolescence.

I had my laptop battery swell that pushed the touchpad out - after less then 3 years of been plugged in. Other laptops lasted many more years without issues.

 

So it is just luck. 

[Steven P. Administrators]

Telephone is fixed, thankfully the glass backplate remained intact and it is impossible to see that it has been fixed.

[Ixion]

I had the same thing with a Samsung laptop battery as well, swelled and pushed the touchpad right up.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

No disagreement, there.  I have to wonder, though, if this might have been a premature battery failure, or if this exact battery commonly fails after four or five years.  By any chance, did you get to see the old battery, and did it have any legible data code information printed on it?

 

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

On 05/04/2022 at 00:57, Steven P. said:

Agree there, but I still think it is inexcusable that a €1000 device can only expect to last 3 or 4 years, it's unnecessary ewaste too. I also have a laptop from 2017 that's always kept plugged in and the battery is fine in there. It just feels like planned obsolescence.

 

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 06/04/2022 at 02:29, goretsky said:

Hello,

 

No disagreement, there.  I have to wonder, though, if this might have been a premature battery failure, or if this exact battery commonly fails after four or five years.  By any chance, did you get to see the old battery, and did it have any legible data code information printed on it?

 

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

 

I didn't get to see the old one, or the new one and I regret not asking to see if it was a genuine Samsung part. Although they did have to order it in, so it's not like they had a bunch of 3rd party replacements lying around, hopefully they ordered the proper type.