Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - No longer charging, phone dead!

[Anonymous]

Hi, hoping someone can help me?

I've had my S3 Mini since last February. Over the past 6 months, I noticed it was taking longer and longer for my phone to fully charge, and the phone was not holding charge well. Over the past 2 months, the phone stopped recognising when it was being plugged into the charger on & off - I have two other USB chargers (not very good ones) along with Samsung plug charger and kept having to change which charger and plug socket I was using. I would go to bed, plug in phone to charge and wake up to a lower battery or a dead phone. The slightest movement would cause phone to vibrate lightly (as if turning on) and stop charging. 

Now, none of the chargers are working from ANY of the plug sockets or USB ports. Managed to get it up to 53% this morning after I woke up to 4%, but had to leave for work and of course take phone with me. I had data/wifi off, power saving mode always on, lowest brightness setting and was not even using it - yet when I check my phone at lunch, it is 12% and dropping fast. Dead battery shortly after getting home today, and nothing is working. No response to Recovery boot mode (Vol up + Home + Lock button?) and first few times I tried to charge it while dead, a blank screen with a white buffering symbol popped up for 3 hopeful seconds before disappearing as the phone faintly vibrated and went dark again.

I am planning on taking in to my local o2 store, but have been told it will need to be sent off for repairs and this could take weeks. I need my phone to top up my smart meters, track my buses, wake me up, speak to my folks and so on. Is there anything else I can try? So frustrating, don't think I've sat without my phone since I was a little teen and have to say it feels odd!

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous is there any chance you may need a new battery?. 

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

Sounds like the charge port is faulty but we recommend going to Samsung directly rather than using O2's repairers.
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/servicelocation/

[jonsie]

I would definitely send it to Samsung rather than O2's repairers. Some O2 will loan you a dumb phone for a deposit of £25 but personally I would let the experts repair it. Possibly you could borrow someone's spare phone whilst yours is repaired?

[Anonymous]

There is indeed a chance the problem is the battery, but I think there is also a problem with the charger port at same time(?), would explain the phone not detecting that it is on charge on/off over recent months and it's deteriotation down to it now not charging at all. Thanks everyone for quick response. Have never had repair service from Samsung so I will give this a go if I am not satisfied with the suggestions and feedback in the o2 store tomorrow. My experience with o2 repairs hasn't been too great in terms of timescale and worry that simply replacing the battery would not solve problem for very long.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the link, luckily there is a Samsung Support Centre near the o2 store in town. Will go there first!

[Anonymous]

Had friend bring over his spare charger (output 5V) and though it still isn't charging, the white buffering symbol keeps appearing then going away before the battery icon would normally come up. It has been doing this for over half an hour, will leave it overnight to see if it has any effect.

[Sammy_boy]

Might be worth cleaning the charging port of the phone out, often dust and lint collect that could stop the phone charging. Use something like a plastic toothpick or similar and see if that makes any difference.

[Cleoriff]

I have to say when my S3 did exactly the same...a new battery sorted it out. My husband has an S3 now...and he just needed a new charging cable when his failed to charge properly. .....

[Anonymous]

Was this an S3 Mini too? I don't actually know anyone who currently owns one too (weirdly!) so have not been able to try their battery in my phone to establish if that's the issue yet. Will be the first thing to try when I take it to be looked at. Still worry about the charger port however, as it makes an awful noise when recently struggling to gently plug in for charge. Think this is also something I can get looked at while in store/support centre. Hope it is that simple and I can have it resolved by this time tomorrow!