Phone won't charge: port, cable, or battery?

Three different faults with one symptom. Here's how to tell them apart in about five minutes, before you pay for the wrong repair.

“It won’t charge” covers at least four different problems, and they cost different amounts to fix. Ten minutes of checking at home usually tells you which one you have.

Start with the cheap possibilities

Try a different cable and a different plug. Cables fail constantly, usually at the strain point where they leave the connector. Do this first, always — it’s the most common cause and it’s free.

Try a different power source. Laptop USB ports, car adaptors and cheap plugs often can’t deliver enough current. Wall socket with a known-good charger is the test.

Look inside the port with a light. In most phones that have “died”, the charging port is packed with compressed pocket lint. It looks like a solid grey floor to the port. That’s not a fault — the connector physically cannot seat.

If lint is the problem, it needs to come out carefully, dry, with the phone off. A wooden toothpick works. Metal does not — you’ll bridge the contacts.

Now narrow it down

It charges but only at a certain angle, or you have to hold the cable. That’s the port. The connector’s solder joints or its internal contacts are worn. Cleaning won’t fix it.

It charges wirelessly but not by cable. Also the port — wireless charging bypasses it entirely, so this is close to a definitive test on a phone that supports it.

It charges to a point and stops, or drains while plugged in during use. That’s usually the battery, not the port.

It’s hot to the touch while charging. Stop, unplug, and get it looked at. Heat while charging is the one symptom here that can get worse quickly.

Nothing at all — no charging light, no vibration, no screen. Could be either, plus a couple of worse possibilities. This is where a $50 diagnostic (credited toward the repair) saves you from guessing.

What each repair involves

Cleaning the port is often no repair at all, and we’ll tell you if that’s all it needed.
Replacing the charging port. On most phones this is a flex assembly, and it’s a moderate job. On some it’s soldered to the board, which is longer work.
Replacing the battery. Around an hour, usually on site.

Before you book

Note down which of the above symptoms match — “only at an angle” versus “charges then stops” points at different parts, and telling us up front means we arrive with the right one. If you genuinely can’t tell, that’s fine: a $50 diagnostic (credited toward the repair) finds out for you.

Live prices for both repairs, by exact model, are on the phone repair page.