Lumia 950XL - battery bulges - overheating problem

Anonymous
2016-08-28T08:26:05+00:00

I'm posting this to share my 950XL experience with users. I've become too aware that MS don't care.  Unlike other brands, we are clearly users and not "fans" or "supporters".

Purchased on 3rd Dec 2015, on the first day.  Immediate overheating and battery drain problems, plus lots of "teething" issues with the OS.  Phone would get very hot and run the battery flat in 4 hours from full charge, even with no apps.  So notable you feel the phone heat up in your pocket, without any interaction.

From Dec - March 2016 (approx.) I am applying updates and reinstalling OS on a nearly daily basis.  Every OS update is being followed with interest, as it seems most of the 950XL community is waiting for this problem to be resolved.  Spending hours on the internet using MS support chat and phone calls.  Using the Device Recovery Tool allows the phone to work for a short while, but it would soon slip in to the old patterns.  Spend many days using my old Lumia 920.

19th March - Phone gets sent to Hungary for a repair.  this involves Software update only.  It comes back with no noticeable changes.  Soon afterwards an OS update seems to stabilise the phone.

Early July - Big update is applied automatically and the old problems return.  Now there are new problems:

  • Phone is shutting down in my pocket.  Sometimes it restarts (apparent as sign-in screen says it has restarted and PIN is required), sometimes it stays off!!!! 
  • Screen often flickers to a dull yellow, as if the green element has been removed from the display (I realise this isn't the case, but that what it looks like).
  • The phone sometimes locks in different ways: 

1:  The whole screen goes green / yellow.  All buttons are inoperable.  The phone gets hotter and hotter.  Battery drains by 40+% in less than a minute.

2:  The screen goes black and the phone buzzes so loudly, i'm not sure if it is the speaker or the vibration element that is actuating.  Same battery drain impact.

  • When the phone is at 40%, sometimes it will show the battery empty icon and shut down...  Cannot restart and the same icon is showing.  Put phone on to charge and it will be at 80-100% within 5 mins and last for a few hours at normal battery usage.

Since this last problem, all battery monitoring tools are showing the battery as behaving well (5-9% drain per hour), but the power remaining in the battery is shown as depleting faster than that.

I had noticed that the battery was not perfectly flat within a few weeks of getting the phone, but it seemed to match the case.  The battery now has a noticeable bulge on both sides.  Approximately 1mm+ deflection on both sides. 

MS have now arranged for another collection by UPS to repair it.  Well....   my wife received an unhelpful message barked down the phone, giving a collection reference for the day we go on holiday.  Couldn't change the date.  Couldn't postpone it.  Couldn't do anything other than take the reference and call UPS. 

THIS PHONE HAS NEVER BEEN FIT FOR PURPOSE.  For personal reasons I need to be contactable by my family 24/7 - Everyone knows how important a working smartphone is in today's society/business communities.  Having a phone turn itself off in your pocket makes it worse than useless.

MS have strung out their repairs and reassurances for months. 

MS spends millions in advertising, so why p*** off the very users who promote their products without cost?  People buying an EXPENSIVE flagship phone expect teething issues and updates (all part of being an early adopter), but being treated like this will be costing MS many loyal customers.

I'm desperate for MS to resolve this and sort out their customer care (not "support"...  CARE!)  I want to have a Windows ecosystem throughout my house and keep iTunes out, but that is becoming less likely.

Windows for home | Other | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-05-24T10:43:55+00:00

    not a 950xl, but a 950

    my battery starts to bulge also, might be the reason i locked itself up 10min ago. strangely, it did not activate the lockscreen this hole night and day - but who knows what and why

    i am used to several battery and overheating issues, lumia 920 is still alive and might be needed in some days - who knows

    hmm its just 1year and 3months old now

    so far:

    very hot when charging

    very hot when doing nothing

    quite hot when using win8-apps

    very hot when signal is lost due to buildings...

    so hot it turns itself off when used to navigate in the car, with ac on btw

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-05-24T17:32:30+00:00

    Windows 10 na? Ok फine So goto Settings then goto Background Apps then turn every single app off ok Hain? Understand or understood?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-23T01:23:20+00:00

    I had the same issue, now Iooking forward for a new battery, and It is imposible to find here in mexico....

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-10-23T03:27:57+00:00

    Microsoft's repair company have me a new battery after i sent several photos of the battery bulge.  But I also bought one on Amazon.  Here is a link to one.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075DGSST7/ref=mp\_s\_a\_1\_1/143-1830574-6933217?ie=UTF8&qid=1508729228&sr=8-1&pi=AC\_SX236\_SY340\_QL65&keywords=lumia+950xl+battery&dpPl=1&dpID=51yDtgQ3IbL&ref=plSrch

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-10-23T21:41:31+00:00

    The primary problem is not the battery I guess. This phone is not even 2 yeards old and I am on my 3rd battery. MS should own the problem and fix the underlying problem. But I seriously doubt they going to do that since I doubt the intent to venture much into phone business.

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