Why does your phone or tablet take so long to charge?
By: Technology Traders
Tags: Phone, Charger, Technology, Tablets, Phone Repairs

There could be a number of reasons why you’re having phone charging issue. Check out 5 possible reasons why your battery is charging slowly, and a few quick fixes:

1. A bad cable

Most of the time, slow-charging devices is a result of using a defective cable. Cables lose their efficiency over time especially if you consider the treatment they go through. They get yanked, bent, twisted, coiled and generally abused with everyday use. Needless to say, these affect the flow of power/current to your device thus the slow charging. Check your cable for defects or exposed wires. Either purchase a new one or borrow the one that’s being used on other device. A tip when purchasing cables: Choose to buy the original USB cable or Lighting cable (for Apple devices) the matches your device.

2. The power source

Where are you getting your power from? If your device is plugged into a laptop, then expect charging to be extremely slow. USB ports on laptops are meant for transferring data and they do not have enough current to charge a device like your phone. Wireless chargers, although a great technology, aren’t really fast chargers. Power banks or those portable chargers are not a good idea as well when you are in hurry to charge your phone. We still recommend that you plug your phone directly into main power at the wall socket. If this turn out to be problematic as well, move to another outlet.

3. The charger/adaptor

If it’s not your cable or your power source, the culprit could be your adaptor. Keep in mind that there’s a reason why every manufacturer provides a specific USB adaptor for each phone. Switching adaptors between phones can mix-match voltage, wattage, ampage and general power-age. The simple remedy here is just to stick with the adaptor that came with your phone. If you need to replace it, take a look at the fine print found on the original adapter and replace it with another adaptor of the same type. You might also want to refrain from using multi-purpose chargers that come with universal connectors as they won’t be as reliable when you are in hurry to use your phone/tablet.

4. Your phone/tablet

Unfortunately, not all phones are created equal. New generation devices have advanced processors that support fast charging. Plus they come with turbo charging chargers. There are phones, for example, that get you couple hours worth of usage for just a few minutes of charging. Phones that support fast charging will have a lightning bolt icon on the charger itself (possibly along with turbo charging output figures). Another area of your phone you can check is the micro-USB port or the charging port which through time can accumulate some pocket lint that get compressed with insertion of cable. Clean that area using a paperclip or needle. Check the little flap in the port as well that it isn’t bent. Everything fine? Then, it could be your battery. It could be old or in some cases, a manufacturer issue. There have been cases of manufacturers issuing recalls for whole batches of batteries. Search online to see if your phone’s model came with a bad battery, and see if you can acquire a replacement from your provider. Lucky for you if you have a removable battery. You can just purchase a new one and pop it into your phone right away. Unfortunately, if you own a device with a non-removable battery, you’ll have to send the device in to the manufacturer or an expert to get it replaced.

5. It’s you

Often the problem is you still using your phone/tablet while your phone is charging. Scrolling through your news feed while your device is charging can impact how fast your device’s battery gets back to 100%. The best way to charge your phone quickly is to leave it alone, or better yet, turn it off entirely. The airplane mode can also significantly improve the charging process by decreasing the charging time. Here are other helpful ways you can help charge your device quickly:

Close/End all the applications that are running.

Turn off WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS.

There were cases when upgrade to the latest device’s operating system through System Update resulted in quick battery drain or slow charging. It means the new OS is buggy or incompatible with your device. When this happens, look for steps to downgrade your OS version or wait for a bug fix patch. For accurate and fast fix to a slow charging phone issue, we recommend that you bring your phone/tablet to an expert repair technician. At Technology Traders, we have experts technicians who can diagnose and/or repair your device in no time. Bring your device to the nearest Technology Traders store.