The battery of our smartphone is the component that is going to give us more problems throughout its useful life. This is because it is the part that wears out the most over time and, moreover, on which the rest of the device’s hardware depends. When this happened, years ago, changing the battery of our Xiaomi mobile was as simple as removing the back cover, removing the old one, inserting the new one, and turning the smartphone back on. However, with the imposition of ‘unibody’ terminals on the market, accessing the inside of modern phones to replace this component is somewhat more complicated. Therefore, in this guide to fix your Chinese smartphone you will find all the steps and tools necessary to open your phone and proceed to change the battery.
Lose the warranty?
Xiaomi’s warranty conditions make it clear that ‘Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the warranty lasts and is granted for two (2) years for the main unit, two (2) years for the battery and charger originally packaged with the product’. For this reason, if your smartphone is already two years old you will be able to execute any repair on it without any problem. However, if not, it is best that you contact the company so that its technical service who fix the mobile battery problem.
Everything you need
To change the battery of your mobile Xiaomi and any other phone you will have touse a series of tools that, fortunately, are not very expensive. For 10 euros you can find screwdriver kits, double-sided tape, levers, adhesives, suction cups and everything you need to achieve your goal. In addition to the tools, and after knowing that this component is the source of the problem of your Xiaomi, before opening the Chinese mobile, it is normal that we go on to buy a replacement battery to change it for the old one. Amazon has a good catalog of spare parts for mobile components of the brand and from the above link you can find the one you need, simply by choosing the model you want to repair.
Replace the battery, step by step
Generally, all Xiaomi models with Unibody design follow a similar process to disassemble your screen, access the inside of the phone and to remove this internal element to connect a new one. Of course, we must carefully follow all the steps that we will tell you below so that we do not damage any other component of the Chinese device. However, there are a number of exceptions. There are some older models such as those of the Mi A family, which involve an extra step when changing the battery. If you see that your phone has some screws around the charging port, before starting the process you must remove them in order to detach the screen from the frame. After knowing this detail, it is time to move on to change the battery of the Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO phone step by step:
- Turn off the phone.
- Remove the SIM and MicroSD card.
- Apply heat to the back of the phone with a hairdryer.
- Place a suction cup on the bottom of the phone’s back case and lift towards you to create a tiny space between the body and the glass.
- Insert an opening pick into the space created.
- Slide the pick to the bottom right corner.
- Repeat the previous two steps but now move the second pick to the bottom left.
- Now slide a third pick along the phone to peel off the adhesive. You can use as many picks as you need until you separate the screen from the body, always without exceeding 5mm of insertion into the device.
- Pull the suction cup to one side of the phone and leave the back panel resting next to the smartphone.
- Take the Sprudger (tool that you can see in the picture) and disconnect the cable that goes to the fingerprint reader, if any.
- Remove all the screws that you locate on the back. (This point may vary between models and the screws may be lower or higher in number.)
- Use an opening pick to cut the adhesive underneath the black protective mat that covers the top speaker assembly (there is a small piece of protective copper foil under the NFC assembly and charging coil, and try not to damage it).
- Once removed, insert a pick to remove the phone’s motherboard cover, if it is on top of the phone.
- Remove the black sheet that covers this component of the terminal.
- Again use a spudger (suction cup) to lift and disconnect the flexible cable from this internal component of the phone.
- Repeat the previous step with all the cables that go to this component, always using the sprudger or the picks.
- If there is any element that prevents you from lifting the battery (such as the speaker), you must unscrew it.
- Unfold the battery tabs using tweezers.
- Reapply heat to the battery area to flatten any adhesive we may find on the component.
- Pull the removed tabs towards you using tweezers very carefully. Also, check if there is any connection between the battery and the device that we have not removed. You can help you with the suction cup that we have used to remove the back of the Xiaomi mobile.
- Remove it completely from the smartphone.
Now, to place the new cell in your phone, you must repeat this process but in reverse. For this reason, it is recommended that you write down or remember where each cable goes, connection and where each screw is inserted. We personally recommend that you do not leave it to memory, but that you take paper and pen to write down where each thing that you just removed from the terminal goes. In addition, before putting new adhesive and assemble the phone, it is important remove any remaining adhesive from the phone and clean the glued areas well with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth. Finally, comes the moment of truth. Test the smartphone and its operation before installing the new adhesive and resealing the phone. In this way, if it does not turn on, we can check if we have connected everything correctly, and thus save us having to open it a second time.
Precautions and tips
You already know each of the steps that we will have to follow if we want to get into the adventure of replacing this component of our Chinese mobile. However, we will also leave you a series of tips that you will have to take into account when you are going to get down to work, especially if you have never dared to open any similar device:
- We recommend photographing the mobile before taking each step so you can know 100% where each element was connected.
- Never pull or force a cable, following the indicated steps you should remove it without difficulty.
- When using a heat source, do it for short periods of time and controlling that it is not too high.
- Do your best not to deform it during the extraction process. These elements are composed of soft-shell lithium ions. Therefore, they can leak dangerous chemicals, catch fire or even explode if damaged. Do not use excessive force or pry into the battery with metal tools.
- Do not reinstall a damaged or deformed one, as doing so is a potential danger to the integrity of the phone.
- If you have any doubts throughout the process, it is best to take the phone in for repair before damaging it completely.
However, if you are unable to do this yourself, or have no idea which battery is right for your phone, don’t worry. We will only have to contact a specialized technical service. It can be either the official one of the brand or a store in our area that is in charge of the replacement of this component of the smartphone.