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How to calibrate the battery on your Android phone or tablet

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Wondering how to calibrate the battery on your Android smartphone? Looking for answers on why calibrating the battery is even necessary? Well, these are some of the questions we aim to answer with the help of this article.

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What is battery calibration?

The Android operating system needs to keep track of your battery and charge levels so that it tells you when it is full or empty. The problem is that it sometimes becomes corrupted and starts displaying data that isn’t real, which, for example, causes the phone to turn off before it reaches 0 percent. This discrepancy in data can also be caused by aging.

All batteries degrade over time, and an older battery can no longer hold as much charge as it did when it was new. However, the software your phone runs does not usually take this degradation into account while displaying the battery status on the screen.

Calibrating your Android battery simply means getting the Android OS to correct this information, so it is reflective of your actual battery levels once again. It's important to understand that this process does not actually calibrate (or improve) the battery itself. Nor does battery calibration improve the battery life of your phone. It will only help the phone accurately display battery stats.

When should I calibrate the battery?

Smartphone connected to a power bank
Wondering if your smartphone battery needs to be calibrated?/ © NextPit

Calibrating your battery isn't something you'd do on a regular basis. As mentioned earlier, battery calibration archives only one purpose: ensuring the battery stats displayed by the phone are reflective of the actual condition of the battery. In case you aren't facing any issues with your phone showing you erroneous battery stats, chances are, you do not need to calibrate your battery. Listed below are the circumstances under which it might be a good idea to calibrate your battery.

  1. Your smartphone suddenly shuts down even after it showed there was enough charge left. 
  2. If your charging percentage remains stuck at a single point for long periods of time.
  3. Your smartphone is really old, and you suspect the battery stats shown are inaccurate. 

Before you calibrate your smartphone battery

Sometimes, it is simply easier (and better) to replace your smartphone battery than to flog an old horse and try calibrating them. This was easier to do on older smartphones that had removable batteries. On such devices, checking the battery for damage/issues was easy as turning the device off, removing the cover, and inspecting the battery.

If you do have such a phone lying around, you will need to look for bulges or leaks. In the image below, you'll see what a normal battery looks like next to a swollen one.

Three different cellphone batteries with two swollen ones
A swollen battery is easy to spot / © NextPit

On most modern smartphones, removing the back cover isn't an option, and there is no way to take a peek at the physical condition of the battery. However, one method of identifying a damaged battery on smartphones with non-removable batteries is to check if it doesn't sit flat on the table anymore - a situation that can often arise due to a swollen battery. 

Additionally, calibrating the battery is not an all-weather fix to any battery-related issue.

This is because there are plenty of other things that can cause a battery to malfunction. If your phone doesn't charge, there might be a problem with the port, so check our guide on what to do when a phone won't charge.

In case you recently updated your phone to new software, and the battery-related issues have manifested right after, chances are it is caused by the new firmware and not the battery itself. In such a scenario, it is better for you to simply wait for the brand to issue a fix.

How to calibrate the battery on Android smartphones?

Cellphone screen indicating a low battery charge
These steps should help you calibrate the battery on any Android smartphone / © shutterstock.com

The process mentioned below is applicable to all Android smartphones. In case you own a Samsung device, click here.

  • Discharge your phone fully until it turns itself off.
  • Turn it on again and let it turn itself off.
  • Plug your phone into a charger and, without turning it on, let it charge until the on-screen or LED indicator says 100 percent.
  • Unplug your charger.
  • Turn your phone on. It's likely that the battery indicator won't say 100 percent, so plug the charger back in (leave your phone on) and continue charging until it says 100 percent on-screen as well.
  • Unplug your phone and restart it. If it doesn't say 100 percent, plug the charger back in until it says 100 percent on screen.
  • Repeat this cycle until it says 100 percent (or as close as you think it's going to get) when you start it up without it being plugged in.
  • Now, let your battery discharge all the way down to 0 percent and let your phone turn off again.
  • Fully charge the battery one more time without interruption and you should have reset the Android system's battery percentage.

How to calibrate the battery on Samsung smartphones?

Samsung smartphones come with an option called 'Quick Reset' that is usually accessed by the technicians to calibrate phones that report inaccurate battery stats. Here's how you can use this option to calibrate the battery on Samsung devices.

  • Use the smartphone until it reaches 5%, and make sure your phone isn't connected to the charger.
  • Open the phone dialer app and enter the following code: *#0228#.
  • A pop-up menu appears with an option that says Quick Start.
  • Press Quick Start and then press OK.
  • Wait for the display to power back on again and check if the battery percentage has gone down.
  • Charge the phone to 100% again.
  • Power the phone off and then turn it on again and then unplug the charger.
  • Repeat these steps 2, 3 times
  • Plug the charger in again and the battery at 100%, turn the phone on again and open the dialer, and type: *#9900#.
  • Scroll down to batterystats.bin reset and tap.
  • Exit the menu and restart the phone.

Remember that it is not recommended to perform this process regularly. Even when your battery is so dead your phone won't even turn on, your battery still has enough reserve charge to avoid system damage. But you don't want to poke the tiger with a stick. Perform this process once every three months at the most. If it is required more often than that, you have bigger problems at hand.

Put plainly: fully discharging a battery is bad for it. Trying to overload a battery is also bad for it. The good news is that charging batteries will shut off automatically when they've reached their safe limit and there's always a little in reserve even if your phone won't start. Again: only do this when really necessary, because it does have a negative impact on battery life.

Also read

That's it. Have you tried any of these methods to calibrate your battery? Do you know an alternate way to fix battery problems? Let us know in the comments.


This article was last updated in June 2021. Older comments have been retained.

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Go to comment (143)
Rahul Srinivas

Rahul Srinivas
Senior Editor

Among the most experienced tech journalists from India, Rahul has spent the better part of the past decade writing and experiencing technology. In his decade-long career, Rahul has contributed to several Indian and International publications, including Mobilegeeks, Onlygizmos, iPhoneHacks, and The Inquisitr. Before joining NextPit, he held the position of Senior Editor at MySmartPrice - one of India's largest product research platforms.

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143 comments
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  • 1
    Javed Khan 5 months ago Link to comment

    Its work for my note 10 plus
    Thank you soo much
    Good article


  • 1
    Gina G Jan 9, 2023 Link to comment

    Nothing comes up when I type in the code, I have a Samsung Galaxy. This process is just too confusing, why not just go back to removable batteries???


  • Osama ali 1
    Osama ali Oct 13, 2022 Link to comment

    i have changed my huawei p10 lite battery recently, when i start charging for the first time, charging was going on normally till 70% ,it took 90 minutes to reach 70% then, it starts jump from 70% to 75% then to 80% and it within a minute its reached to 100%. i think it's fake charging, and this is the second time it's happening, i had this issue with my previous battery as well, when i was charging that battery for the first time, please anyone can help? Thanks


  • Osama ali 1
    Osama ali Oct 13, 2022 Link to comment

    help needed


  • 1
    Sean F. May 14, 2022 Link to comment

    When I typed the code into the dialpad the phone restarted and went from 5% to 68%


    • 1
      Gina G Jan 9, 2023 Link to comment

      Nothing comes up when I type in the code, I have a Samsung Galaxy.


  • Souka 1
    Souka Sep 3, 2021 Link to comment

    Some said that you shouldn't charge it straight to 100% rather you should charge it multiple times till it reach 100% like plugging it out when it gets too hot or when it charges up 30% amount


  • 1
    Melionix Aug 8, 2021 Link to comment

    ,,Plug the career in again"
    Plug the what now?


  • 1
    Telcean Marius Feb 17, 2021 Link to comment

    Thank you, thank you and thank you! I searched in the past about methods to calibrate my S9's battery but none solved the issue. This one (root method) did. In my case it worked because I took good care of my phone from the very beginning - I used to charge it (35-80%), - and about 2 years later a calibration was required.


  • 1
    sony Jan 21, 2021 Link to comment

    I've tried no.1 but my phone still keeps draining to 50% really fast, then shuts down saying it's low on juice


  • 1
    Apps Pures Nov 15, 2020 Link to comment

    Nice


  • marco sarli 39
    marco sarli
    • Admin
    Sep 8, 2020 Link to comment

    Interesting and educational but the real solution would be to have removable batteries again.

    Sorin


  • 1
    Tahseen Jul 13, 2020 Link to comment

    I had the same issue with my huawei p7... Tried everything... Changed new battery... Problems solved for a day or two and then reappeared...

    Then shown again to a technician... He pushed the battery terminal and the phone worked fine for few hours and then started again...

    He said again new battery to replaced... I told him battery is brand new... Just Keep the terminal pushed and hold with thumb and the phone was working fine... Then he told me that there is a problem with the battery cables terminal sits on the board... And he inserted some packing of double tape... Now the phone working excellent for few hours... Let's see if it remains good InshaAllah for future...


  • 1
    xkip Jun 6, 2020 Link to comment

    The sentence about "app ask for a disturbingly extensive list of device permissions" does not make any sense here. This should not worry root users. Root provides way more access than android permissions, so the app becomes a God even if there is no android permissions been asked at all.


  • 3
    vibehemoth Oct 20, 2019 Link to comment

    Very useful! Thank you


    • 3
      Uptofast Mar 9, 2020 Link to comment

      The article is great and helpful I have adapted it on my device


  • 2
    https://apkspin.com Sep 19, 2019 Link to comment

    Very Nice Info and method 1 works


  • Siamak 1
    Siamak Jun 23, 2019 Link to comment

    On HTC One M8, you could reset battery stats by connecting your phone to the charger, leave it charge for two minutes, then push and hold the 3 hard buttons on the phone for 2 minutes and the battery stats would be reset (according to HTC official support. What is the procedure for an HTC 10?


    • Ted 1
      Ted Jul 29, 2019 Link to comment

      I have an HTC 10 & method 1 works.


  • slightee_1980 1
    slightee_1980 May 1, 2019 Link to comment

    Thanks for your instructions. In method 1 for battery calibration, in the final step. Should i turn the phone on to charge it fully or off? Thanks.

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