Phone battery replacement — when is it worth it?

Open Settings, tap “Battery” and then “Battery Health & Charging”. There you will see the maximum capacity as a percentage.

This value tells you how much charge the battery can still hold today compared with a new one. Newer iPhones also show the number of charge cycles.

If you see a notice about an important battery message or reduced peak performance, that is a clear signal. The device is then already running slower to avoid shutting down unexpectedly.

On Galaxy devices you will find the battery status in Settings under “Device care” or “Battery and device care”. Newer models show a rating of the battery condition right there.

Android does not show the percentage as clearly everywhere as iOS does. If you are unsure, just bring the device in. We read out the battery status with our test equipment and tell you the number.

As a rough rule: below eighty percent capacity you will clearly notice the difference in everyday use, and a replacement is worth it.

This limit is not a law of nature. If you do not use the device much, you can manage with less. If you make a lot of calls and use navigation on the go, you will notice sooner that the battery no longer lasts the day.

A new battery is the cheapest repair that makes a noticeable difference. On a device that is three to five years old, it is often the difference between “needs replacing” and “will keep going for years”.

Not every battery fault shows up as a low percentage. The following observations are typical and worth a closer look.

If the display lifts at a corner or the back no longer sits flat, a swollen battery is pressing against it from inside. This is not a cosmetic problem.

Do not keep using the device in this state and do not charge it again. Bring it in, and we will remove the battery and dispose of it properly.

Under no circumstances should you puncture it yourself or push the battery out with tools. A damaged lithium battery can catch fire.

Sometimes the problem is not the battery but the charging port. One sign of this is a cable that wobbles or only charges in a certain position. There is a separate guide on that.

Another common cause is an app or service that is constantly working in the background. In the battery overview you can see which app used how much. If one single name is right at the top, it is worth looking into that before you buy a battery.

We measure this when you drop off your device and tell you which part it really is. In the best case, that saves you the whole repair.