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Way OT: Smartphone Battery Replacement


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I've been very happy with my Galaxy S8 phone that I bought about two years ago, but the battery life isn't what it used to be... especially after the recent OS update. New flagship phones are too expensive so I'm just going to hang onto it.

 

Obviously the battery will eventually need to be replaced. Has anyone done a DIY replacement? The local mall has several shops that will do it for $60 but that's not with a Samsung battery... not sure if it's worth it.

 

Recommendations?

 

 

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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I did a 3rd party replacement on an iPhone a while ago. It worked fine and was less cost than the Apple store.

 

At least here in the SF Bay Area, I used a company called Batteries Plus Bulbs (yeah, that's kinda the bulk of what they sell), www.batteriesplus.com. Was quick, while you wait service, no hitches or problems, and i didn't feel like trying to learn a new skill set myself to truly DIY it.

..
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I used the same company as timwat, with excellent results. IIRC, saved an additional 10% by scheduling my appointment online.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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I've done a few iPhone batteries. The phones I've done (5S and 6) are pretty easy to open (no glue) but the batteries are glued in with adhesive strips. Looks like the Samsung's entire back is glued, as well as the battery, according to this u-tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ledFGmzyMww. Because of this I would rate the Samsung battery replacement a pretty large PITA job compared to an iPhone; it might be worth having someone else do it. Unfortunately I have no insights as to whether the cheaper 3rd party batteries are as good as OEM - but from my experience they are so much cheaper that one could accept the trade-off of a shorter-lived battery, especially if the phone was old anyway and you were starting to think about replacing it. I got a cheap battery to put in my daughter's iPhone 6 it was around $8 iirc. She's had it a while and it still works OK. Do the mall shops use OEM batteries? I kinda doubt it.
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Couple of observations. When I used Windows phones with user replaceable batteries the low cost generics appeared identical to the OEM battery apart from the branding. But I never got to find out if it lasted as long because after changing the battery after two years use I replaced the phone 12 months later.

 

I have been a fan of wireless charging since Nokia introduced it on Windows phones 6 years ago. The main reason I migrated to Samsung when Microsoft broke up with me. Every second Android update seems to use more battery, the next one returns it to normal. The current Samsung update is eating the battery at a higher rate. But I have wireless chargers in the car, at home and in the office so my phone rarely has less than 70% charge. Samsungs seem to eat the battery when signal strength is weak. I would rather they optimised battery life rather than attempting to maximise download speed.

 

When the time comes I will get a mall shop battery replacement on the basis that within 12 months the current version, S10, will be in runout mode and available at 40% of new price when the Telcos flood the reseller market with excess unsold stock.

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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I put a new battery in an older Iphone a few years ago and got another year and a half out of it before I upgraded.

 

Apple quoted me about $90, so I just ordered a battery and the tool kit for about $20 on Amazon. There were lots of demo videos on YouTube.

 

Quite easy - if you are moderately handy.

 

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Most the generic stuff is made by the same companies that make the label thus higher priced stuff. I've bought generic replacements for servers, desktops, laptops, and only problem is when the phone maker "fingerprints" parts so they can tell if you're not using their overpriced stuff.

 

When I was still working as a SysAdmin had to deal with this with Sun, Compaq, and Apple fingerprinting parts. Sun workstations sometime no even work with a 3rd party replacement. Compaq if I used 3rd party memory from the same company Compaq buys memory from they would refuse to service my server until I removed the 3rd party memory. What added insult to injury is the Compaq memory the only difference was they put a Compaq label on the stick of memory you could still see the 3rd party's name and product number. Grrrrrrrrrrr

 

I've bought parts for my Thinkpad off eBay from dealers in China and many times the stuff even has the Lenovo name on it. The sell to Leveno out the front door and on eBay out the back door.

 

As for Samsung S8 the back pops off easy, I got one of the case-covers for it that replaces the original backs so getting it off was easy. Face it everything is made in China now including stuff that says Made in the USA, that only means final assembly was done in the US. So only difference is what name they put on the part.

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Face it everything is made in China now including stuff that says Made in the USA, that only means final assembly was done in the US. So only difference is what name they put on the part.

Not necessarily, I just got new Samsung 10" tablet which was made in Vietnam. An increasing number of electronic goods we get here are made in Thailand , Vietnam or Malaysia.

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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iFixit has a full step-by-step guide for the battery replacement process on the S8. A difficult rating is usually provided in their guides as well as a tool list which is useful for determining things like:

 

a) Are the skills required in my wheelhouse?

b) Are the parts I need readily available? (I tend to compare options by checking out various online sellers that I've had good experiences with.)

c) Do I have all of the tools I need or would I need to purchase some additional tools to complete the job?

 

If I can save 40-50% or more of the cost of having someone else do it then I'm usually leaning heavily in favor of doing the procedure myself but that's me.

 

My full time career has predominantly been in IT working with computers and networking devices, programming and such (and whatever tech toys have been thrown at me) which doesn't exactly map my skillset directly to these types of projects but I'm definitely not afraid of doing simple electronic device repair type work. I've done some projects that iFixit has rated as "Difficult" with success that I wished at some point I just paid someone else to do it at some point during the process due to a moment of stress or frustrations (but was proud of myself for having done it myself in the end). Projects rated as "Moderate" are usually not too challenging for reasonable handy people if they have the right tools and can accurately self assess their capabilities). With the guide you at least get an expert assessment on the difficulty and the ability to actually weight the costs, benefits and risks of doing it yourself versus paying someone else to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I used iFixit's guides in doing my iPhone's battery replacements. The only thing a little hard was getting the adhesive strips out. One thing worth mentioning is that many battery replacement kits include tools to open the phone, which makes things easier although the tools themselves are not that great quality. If the battery is accessible without taking much else apart, you're in good shape. I've done several screen replacements and that's another level of skill imo you need magnifying glasses or loupe (or the eyesight of an eagle!), tweezers and a very steady hand as you're often dealing with tiny screws and other parts that have to go back together very precisely.
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