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
    2018-02-23T20:52:14+00:00

    switching to android isnt even close ho happening, since M$ killed its´s own brand without replacement, apple isnt an option, there is only android left in the market

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-23T20:47:54+00:00

    Iecho everything you have said above. I have sent my Lumia 950XL back twice and it was returned unrepaired. Going to send it back for the 3rd time. They said it may be the battery. Why couldn't a big group like Microsoft send me a replacement rather than risk loosing me to Samsung which is getting very close to happening.

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