If you found your way here, chances are you’re frustrated about your charging issues. We know, we’ve been there – this is a problem that many smartphone users experience and it occurs on many smartphone brands, even the top guns. But not to worry, this article shares a list of charging issues and what to do about them.

Faulty Cable

If your Android smartphone is charging slow, the first thing you should check is your USB cable, which is usually the offender in most cases. When you consider all the harsh treatment it undergoes in your hands, you would understand why it decided to retire – USB cables are dropped, bent, coiled, stepped on, run over with chairs and all sorts, on a daily basis, and all these may affect the connector and flow of current to your phone.

So how can you tell if your cable is at fault? Well, this is common knowledge, you either test it with another device or you borrow a cable and try it with your device. If your cable gives the same negative energy to another device or another cable charges your phone fine, then there you have it, it’s time for a replacement. There’s another case whereby your cable doesn’t fit in your phone’s port anymore, it just falls out dejectedly, you could look into the connector to see if it is broken or damaged, either way, getting a new cable would be the best option.

Weak Power Source

This is another possible reason why your phone may be charging slow, in fact some people may not realise that the power source of whatever their phone is plugged or connected to affects the rate at which their phone charges. For example if you’re charging with a laptop or via wireless connections then your phone will charge very slow.

The only way to get a normal charging speed is if you plug your charger directly into an outlet or a wall socket. But if you still get a sluggish charging despite that, then the problem could be with the wiring in your building, and at this time you would need to call an electrician.

Incompatible or Faulty Chharger/Adapter

If it isn’t any of reasons above then face your adapter. Adapters get worn and damaged too, either from general abuse or power surge. Once again, test with other adapters to make sure. Another reason here may be that you’re charging with a low rated charger whereas your phone is designed to handle fast charging speed.

You can start by checking the specifications of your charger, most chargers have this inscribed on their body – You would see the output rating usually specified in Voltage and Amperage e.g. 5V 2A or 5V 1.5A. Chargers that don’t have this inscription are of inferior quality or fake and can be harmful to your device.

Anyway, checking this details let’s you know if a charger is low or high rated and if it’s suitable for your phone. For example, your device is designed with a specific maximum Wattage they can receive from chargers, so if your phone can handle a maximum of 10W, using a 5W charger will make charging extremely slow.

You can multiply the Voltage and Amperage to get the maximum capable output your charger can give you in Wattage.

Your Phone is Just Too Old

Ask yourself how long you’ve been using your phone. If it’s about 4 – 5 years and over, then perhaps it’s time to upgrade to newer technologies. Recent smartphones have new processors that support fast charging capabilities, the chargers too are now built with fast charging features. If your phone still charges slow despite making use of the recent fast charging chargers, then that’s enough sign for a replacement.

When phones are in their prime, the batteries are also affected, as they get worn out and begin to lag. Same goes for the USB port – the port could get slack, bent, accumulate enough dust and dirt over time causing obstruction or damage to the connective hardware which can in turn result in slow charging.

Bad battery and damaged USB port isn’t exclusive to old phones. Your recent phone can also develop these faults due to mismanagement, and this could the reason behind your slow charging. The best way to deal with this is to either get a battery or port replacement or give your device to an engineer.

Background Apps

Most times we open a lot of apps and forget to close them, these apps when left open usually run in the background, sometimes even when closed, some apps are programmed to keep processing automatically in the background to push notifications, collect data, and what not.

The problem with apps running in the background is that, they consume power, constantly drain your battery life and cause your phone to charge slower. What you can do to stop this is by heading to your app settings to manually reset the process or get a task manager to monitor and control running apps.

You are the Problem! Yes you!

We get that some of you rely on your phone for major reasons like work. However some people find it really hard to get their hands off their. Most smartphone users aren’t aware that the biggest drain on their battery is when the screen is on. Mindless scrolling on social media and endless surfing rapidly degrades the life of your battery. Constantly pressing your phone while charging may just be the end of your battery, and phone in the long run, and this is the reason why your phone charges like a snail. Just like you need sleep to recharge, you should know that your phone also needs to cool down sometimes, especially while charging.

From this list, which of the issues applies to you? You can tell us your experiences with slow charging, and phone challenges, but we hope this article helps solve your charging problems. However, you can make an extensive research on the Internet if you can’t find a solution here.