The 7 Most Common Hardware Problems on Android Phones and How to Fix Them

The average smartphone user cares more about reliability and not having to deal with issues than getting new features. Unfortunately, smartphones aren’t perfect – certainly not Android phones – and can develop problems after a while, if not from day one.

While some brands have better quality assurance than others, all regularly receive complaints from angry users. Here are the seven most common hardware problems you might face on your Android phone and how to solve them.

1. Overheating

Overheating is a very common problem in smartphones and there are many reasons that can cause it on your device. These include hot weather, defective manufacturing, use of incompatible chargers and cables, internal damage, and more.

You may be aware that overheating affects the health of the battery and decreases its overall capacity, eventually leading to a rapid discharge of the battery. In rare cases, it can even cause your phone to swell or injure you.

Follow these tips to avoid overheating:

• Avoid using your phone while charging.
• Avoid using your phone in very hot weather.
• Use chargers and cables specified by the manufacturer.
• Don’t play graphics-intensive games that your phone can’t handle.
• Have the battery replaced with a new one.

2. Connection problems

Whether you have a budget phone or a flagship phone, you will face connectivity issues at some point. This means you won’t be able to make calls, send text messages, open webpages, or connect your earbuds or smartwatch to your phone via Bluetooth. Let’s tackle every problem.

• If you cannot make calls or send SMS texts, it means your phone is out of service. To fix this, turn Airplane mode on and off for a minute. If ineffective, go to Settings > Connections > SIM Card Manager and disable your SIM card, wait and enable it again.
• If your WiFi isn’t working, go to Settings > Connections > WiFi and tap the settings icon next to your connected network and tap Forget. Tap the same network, enter your password and tap Connect. If the problem persists, you may need to restart or reset your router.
• If you can’t connect your wireless earbuds, smartwatch, or other Bluetooth accessory to your phone, go to Settings > Connections > Bluetooth and tap the settings icon next to a paired device and tap decouple. Now pair the device again in the same way as before.

3. Rapid battery discharge

As mentioned, overheating is a major reason for rapid battery drain, but not the only one. It can also occur when you’re maxing out screen brightness, using 5G, or constantly running a range of performance-hungry features like location and Bluetooth.

Playing graphics-intensive games can also cause it, especially if your phone isn’t optimized to handle the workload. Faulty software can also cause this, so it’s a good idea to check if an update is available and install it to see if the manufacturer fixed the problem.

You can also follow these tips to extend battery life or have the battery replaced.

4. Unresponsive or flickering screen

In most cases, a simple restart fixes almost all display-related issues, such as: B. Unresponsive screens or flickering. Don’t worry, a hard reboot won’t erase any data; This only happens when you factory reset your device.

To do this, press and hold the Power button until your phone restarts; This can sometimes take 20-30 seconds, so don’t be alarmed if nothing happens in the first few seconds. On Samsung phones, hold down the volume down button and the power button for a faster restart.

You can also try other solutions to fix a flickering display. In the worst case, you may have accidentally downloaded malware that can kill your device instantly.

5. Phone freezes or apps crash

There can be many reasons why your phone freezes or crashes apps on launch. For example, if the device is very old, it is obvious that its hardware is failing; At this point, you should probably just buy a new Android phone.

Apps can also crash if you haven’t given them the necessary permissions to work properly. For example, a navigation app cannot function without access to your location. Your phone can also freeze due to a lack of internal storage. In this case, you should free up some disk space to ensure that the operating system has enough space to run smoothly.

For more help, check out these solutions to fix crashing apps.

6. Phone does not charge

If your phone won’t accept charge, it could be because the USB port is dirty, the adapter is damaged or the cable is worn out, or it’s not compatible with your phone. Therefore, in most cases, cleaning the USB port and purchasing a new adapter and cable can fix the problem.

If fast charging isn’t working, it could also be because you’re using a power bank, multi-plug, or expansion board instead of plugging the adapter directly into the outlet.

Other reasons why fast charging might not work are that your phone or adapter simply doesn’t support it, or the feature is disabled in your phone settings. For more help, try these solutions to fix fast charging not working.

7. Bloated battery, broken screen and other hardware defects

There are a number of other hardware errors that we won’t discuss in detail as there’s usually nothing you can do to fix them other than visit a repair shop. For example, the only solution to a bloated battery is to replace it with a new one; The same applies to a broken screen, speaker or microphone.

There are some less than ideal solutions to fix phone buttons not working, but in most cases it is better to seek professional help if the problem is too complicated to solve by yourself.

Samsung phones allow you to run a full diagnostic test to see what’s wrong with it. This will check all the major hardware and software elements and let you know the overall health of our device.

No smartphone is immune to damage

Some hardware problems you can solve yourself, while others need professional help. If your phone is not in repairable condition, you may need to buy a new one.

Our recommendation? Make a habit of maintaining your phone. Smartphones need maintenance just like laptops and desktops; of course, if done right, they will last longer.