
Nexus 4 battery bloating - martin_tipgain
http://blog.testmunk.com/nexus-4-devices-are-about-to-explode/
======
rlpb
"They told us the devices were out of warranty and that replacement (through
repair and refurbishing) would cost $153 USD."

This is a common trick attempted by the retail business - to focus on the
warranty (where they dictate the terms) rather than your contract (where they
often cannot). If you bought the device, you still have a contract of sale
with the seller. The details depend on your jurisdiction.

Perhaps in the US the manufacturer can dictate the terms of your contract of
sale, I don't know. But here in the UK they cannot - it is statutory.

When I attempted to have a broken Nexus 7 repaired or replaced here in the UK,
the store focused on it being "out of warranty". I insisted that I was not
claiming under their warranty, but under the contract of sale (the Sale of
Goods Act in the UK) where depending on the nature of the goods and the
advertised price the store can be liable for up to six years for manufacturing
defects. Eventually, after insisting for a while, they made us good with a
partial refund to cover the loss of use of the device subsequent to the
failure, though it took us a while to negotiate a cash settlement rather than
a store credit.

tl;dr: "out of warranty" is not necessarily the end of the story, although I
don't know about the US.

~~~
fweespeech
> tl;dr: "out of warranty" is not necessarily the end of the story, although I
> don't know about the US.

In the US, there is no "statute" for contract of sale like you have in the UK.
Its entirely what is written by the seller [which is the warranty], so yes, it
is the end of the story :P

Generally, if its nearly an immediate loss/failure, you can do something more
but that is about the only situation. Months/years later its whatever the
merchant & manufacturer stipulated.

~~~
dragonwriter
> In the US, there is no "statute" for contract of sale like you have in the
> UK.

Depends on the specific US jurisdiction and the particular kind of sale, but
this is _often_ false. See, most notably, the Uniform Commercial Code. [0]

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code)

------
ericabiz
This is more common than you might think, particularly on older iPhones. I co-
own a repair store in Austin, TX and we get several of these every month--
usually on older iPhones that have been dropped "just right". (Not saying
yours was the fault of a drop, but if you leave it plugged in 99% of the time,
that was probably your issue.)

Anyway, it's stupid easy to replace these batteries--they're just glued in,
usually, so you just buy a replacement battery and back cover, use a tool to
pry up the battery, place a new battery in along with some adhesive to hold it
down, and pop the new back cover on. One pro tip: Buy at least one more new
battery than you need, as some percentage of them, no matter where you buy
them from, are defective.

We do these in-store for iPhone 4/5 in under 10 minutes--I don't doubt you can
do something similar on the N4.

~~~
cenderin
What this guy said, I did so many iPhone 3g/3gs/4/4s. Not fair to call out
nexus 4 as the only phone that does this. New battery and back assembly(which
is removable) would do the trick.

------
ncantelmo
I just replaced the battery in my Nexus 5 due to earlier stages of the same
issue. The battery failure was causing a lot of random device shutdowns that I
had initially thought were related to the rollout of Lollipop.

There's a long support thread of people with similar issues at:
[https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/IJSOuc7...](https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/IJSOuc7gw0w)

Several of the posters there noticed that their battery had started bulging,
ordered a new one, and reported that their devices were back to normal. Same
issue and fix for my device.

This issue is definitely concerning, and I'm a bit surprised that more hasn't
been made of it by now. It seems to be a fairly widespread problem.

~~~
VeejayRampay
Ah, the infamous "random shutdown" of the Nexus 4. It has caused me to be 30
minutes late at work a few times that one.

It's annoying really because in the end, there is absolutely NO accountability
from either LG or Google that the battery won't work as expected after about
two years. Thing is, the price range of the Nexus 4 doesn't exist in the
Google mobile lineup anymore, with the Nexus 5 being about twice as expensive.
So ultimately, I'll either have to stop buying Nexus phones or spend $400 on a
Nexus 5.

~~~
sanderjd
Yeah it's so frustrating that what I consider the prime price range for mid-
range but well built phones existed for awhile, but has since ceased to.
Between that and Google Fi sounding great but only being supported by one of
these expensive and unwieldy mini-tablets, I guess I'm just outside Google's
target market.

~~~
danieldk
_Yeah it 's so frustrating that what I consider the prime price range for mid-
range but well built phones existed for awhile, but has since ceased to._

Did it? You can pick up a 2014 Moto X for $299. You even get to customize it
to your own taste. This phone has nice specs and near-vanilla Android. (Love
my Moto X 2014 with cognac leather back :). Though, I bought it when is was
still 200 above the current price.)

I hear that the Asus Zenfone 2 is also pretty ok. In Europe it's a little more
than 300 Euro for the variant with 4GB RAM and 32 GB storage (there are some
cheaper variants as well).

------
pavel_lishin
They ought to cover that unsightly box with some oily rags.

------
gragas
I'm a Nexus 4 owner and for the last few months, opening Snapchat has made a
really weird analogue clicking noise. The clicking noise has progressed over
that time and now my phone will constantly make the same loud clicking noise
whenever I touch the screen. It sounds very similar to "sparking" two wires.

I can reboot my phone to make it go away (for about day, but after that the
clicking comes back). I've never dropped or scratched my phone.

~~~
kmicklas
The camera issues on the Nexus 4 are ridiculous. Google has done absolutely
nothing to address the issue. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure Snapchat is
doing really stupid things with the camera API, since the stability issues are
not nearly as pronounced with other camera-using apps.

------
_petronius
Although I really like my Nexus 4 as a piece of hardware (generally, it just
works) I have run into this problem before. Some googling around the issue
indicates that it's fairly common, and may be related to the way the device
does a poor job of offloading heat. (Due to the arrangement of the internals,
a lot of the heat conducts back through the battery connector instead of into
the case of the phone, shortening the lifetime of the battery, or so I read
somewhere.)

The heat sink issue can apparently be relieved[1], although I haven't tried
this on my own device yet. I did replace the battery, though, after the first
one failed and started swelling (not as badly as the pictures, but bad enough
to deform the back case noticeably).

[1]: [http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/got-a-hot-nexus-4-heres-a-
hack-...](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/got-a-hot-nexus-4-heres-a-hack-that-
will-cool-it-down/)

------
bsg75
The devices of concern are stored in a cardboard box on a wooden bench? Noting
the risk of combustion is low, hopefully that bench is not near any
combustible materials in that wall.

------
mattwdelong
Interestingly enough, my beloved Nexus 4 just died this past month. I noticed
it getting extremely hot, and then one day started a boot loop that I could
not fix. I figured some hardware broke. My uncle also picked up one around the
same time, and is going through similar problems - overheating and rebooting,
though has no boot loop issues. I will warn him of this battery issue.

On another note, I just purchased a Zenfone 2. I accidentally dropped it from
about a foot (getting out of the car) and cracked the screen. I noticed most
other Zenfone 2 phone that has a cracked screen appears to have it crack in a
very similar spot (top right). I guess all phones have their weaknesses.
Though, my nexus 4 looked like it went to war and back having been dropped (at
excessive heights), and never broke.

~~~
Grazester
My Nexus 4 screen started to turn yellow due to the discoloration of the
adhesive between the lcd and the digitizer caused by heat. Unfortunately my
phone developed a dead sport on the digitizer and no longer registers touch
input there.

I just ordered a new screen. I would most likely end up giving the phone to a
friend whose phone is dying

~~~
glandium
My Nexus 4 screen started to turn yellow too, and a few weeks later
(coincidentally, at the end of last week) the battery bloated like in the OP.
So be aware that you might just be covering up symptoms of an imminent death
of your phone's battery.

------
ceejayoz
The video of the battery catching fire is a little distressing knowing that I
carry one of those in my pocket at all times.

~~~
fredley
That's actually a cut of a longer video. What's missing is the beginning,
where they stab the battery with a knife. Unless you pierce a battery, that
kind of combustion is unlikely to happen. If it swells up to the point where
the casing fails it could, but you'd probably notice that before it became a
dangerous issue.

~~~
ceejayoz
There remains an apparently powerful explosive device a couple inches from my
testicles.

~~~
thaumasiotes
A battery is very literally power storage. That's its only purpose.

------
lechevalierd3on
Am I the only one who got confused and though for a second that testmunk.com
was the engineering blog of hipmunk.com?

Very similar logo/mascot.

------
laveur
I can confirm that this happens regularly. For the team I work with it has
been all Samsung S4/S5's that have had this happen. And almost all happened
within the first year. Our Nexus 5's though area all good and happy.

------
igetspam
Why wouldn't you just replace the battery and back cover? A new battery can be
had for as little as $6 and a cover is cheap. I've replaced two puffy
batteries in my Nexus 4 without any problems and the phone runs fine. It's not
having a great time keeping up with the current generations of cell networks
but it's still a pretty stellar device.

Some day soon I'm going to really have to try and hunt down a ~4" handset to
replace this one... :(

------
jpmonette
Nexus 4 received bad press in the past years after customer disappointment:
overheating, camera issue (making the phone crash - warning about this bug in
Snapchat), horrible battery life... This article is just another example.

Very disappointed to hear that it happened with a Google backed device - I
hope Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 are more stable better. Not sure if I'll buy another
Nexus phone in the future after reading all that.

------
daledavies
Had the battery on my S4 replaced because of exactly this issue, battery
performance was also dramatically affected too.

Aparently this is/was a common issue with a certain batch of Samsung batteries
causing them to replace batteries with this problem for free outside of
warranty (in the UK at least).

------
eXpl0it3r
I had 8 batteries bloat on my Galaxy S II, I assume it was mostly to the CPU
running at 100% heating up the battery while draining it really fast.

Ever since using Cyanogenmod instead of the official ROMs and being more aware
of the over heating issue, my battery "consumption" dropped.

------
pakled_engineer
After I updated my Nexus4 to 5.1.1 the entire device randomly heats up so hot
you can't even hold it. Not worth debugging since I don't want it to explode
in my face so I junked it.

~~~
polskibus
I've noticed worse energy consumption as well, I wonder if this has been
reported anywhere.

------
chaostheory
It's made by LG. Throughout their long history, they've never really had a
reputation for quality. Keep that in mind the next time you shop for any
electronics or appliances.

~~~
awfullyjohn
Source?

~~~
chaostheory
Personal experience. They used to be called Goldstar when I was a kid.

You can check out Consumer Reports but it has a paywall.

------
lgleason
Sounds like you have a bad battery. This can happen with any device with a li
battery. You shouldn't need to quarantine all of the devices.

~~~
vonmoltke
They specifically stated it is happening to all of their Nexus 4 devices.

~~~
lgleason
oops, missed that. Hmmm, that is a bit concerning. Wonder if they are all from
the same manufacturing run.

------
teh_klev
Site appears to be borked for now, archive linky:

[https://archive.is/vmEQW](https://archive.is/vmEQW)

------
icpmacdo
I have a Galaxy Nexus with the battery at least 4 times the size it should be.
Its in my garage, I will take a photo of it when I get home.

~~~
serf
Bloated batteries are pretty unsafe, I hope you took proper storage
precautions.[0] A garage can be mighty flammable.

[0]: [http://www.tekrevue.com/swollen-
battery/](http://www.tekrevue.com/swollen-battery/)

------
deelowe
Thanks for correcting the title HN. Lithium batteries bloat, explode, etc...
No manufacturing process is perfect, so there is always going to be a small
percentage that do this. The only hard requirement is that the failure be
contained.

In other words, there's nothing particularly newsworthy here. The fact that
testmunk found this significant and specifically paint it as a problem with
the nexus 4 does more to show their lack of experience in the field than
anything else.

~~~
quadrature
So it was just random luck that all their nexus 4 devices demonstrated the
same fault ?

~~~
drzaiusapelord
No, but its a phone from 2012 and its battery has reached or is near EOL by
any reasonable metric assuming daily use. Of course you're going to have some
battery issues. How many three year old phones work flawlessy? I find by year
two they're all fairly roughed up in some way, especially if they're owned by
techies who run they harder than most people. Its not surprising considering
the age, and perhaps being from the same batch, that they're having issues
today.

~~~
shock
> its battery has reached or is near EOL by any reasonable metric assuming
> daily use.

Someone tell that to the battery in my Nokia 6230i from 2007, cause it's been
used daily and it doesn't seem to mind :)

Seriously, though, what makes you think that a 2-3 year battery is at or near
EOL? Battery life depends on a lot of factors and even then it should lose
capacity not swell and explode.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
Because modern smartphones, unlike your Nokia, work batteries very hard. They
discharge more, get charged more often, have more capacity, have less room in
the case for cooling, run hot in general, etc.

I don't think its controversial to say that 3 year old phones may start having
problems. If this was the new Nexus 6, yes, then there would be a lot of
concern, but telling me a budget phone from 2012 is having battery problems in
2015 really isn't saying much.

tldr; the Nexus 4 has a 1 year warranty for a reason.

~~~
studentrob
Typing on an n4 here..

I find it unacceptable that the phone's life is now limited by the battery.
Where can you buy a new n4 battery now? Nowhere.. Yet the rest of my hardware
is fine

At the time of purchasing the n4, I had tried to find another decent smart
phone with a replaceable battery but didn't find anything suitable. My next
phone won't be with Google and I'll instead be looking for something whose
replacement battery will still be around, manufactured and not out of date in
3+ years (a guy can dream)

~~~
dpark
> _Where can you buy a new n4 battery now? Nowhere._

I see a bunch listed on Amazon and eBay. Some of the ones on Amazon have
reviews indicating that they are used, but not all of them. You can probably
find a new one if you look for it.

~~~
studentrob
Many are out of date...

And, what I mean is, given that both consumer and company know that the
phone's life would be longer with a new battery, why do they refuse to offer
replacements? Phones are fast enough and featured enough for me now. If
someone made a decent one with replaceable battery that will be on the market
for awhile I'd throw money at them

------
curiousjorge
I stopped placing so much brand premium on "Made By Google", at the end of the
day, you are at the mercy of the manufacturer.

My google nexus phone was clunky, slow, randomly freeze and restart during
phone conversation. When you dropped it the battery and back lid would fall
out or not fit properly. I nearly gave up on Android.

Then my asus nexus 7 screen shattered when I dropped it with replacement cost
that made it unfeasible to replace it (warranty did not cover it).

Now I have a Moto G, and considering that I paid only 200 bucks for it, it
runs extremely light, smooth and reliable, durable, no battery or back lid
falling out. Lot of bang for your buck, faith restored in Android.

~~~
icebraining
What's funny is that your Nexus phone & tablet _weren 't_ made by Google, but
the Moto G actually technically was (Motorola Mobility was their subsidiary at
the time).

~~~
gohrt
That's a legal fiction though; Google had no effect on Motorola Mobility
beyond shuffling finances and patents.

~~~
currysausage
Dennis Woodside, Motorola CEO during the Googlerola era, had been at Google
since 2003. I can't imagine that Google had nothing to do with Motorola going
(near-)Vanilla Android. Also, the "soft" (Googlish?) industrial design of the
Moto line marks a rather distinct break from the very angular design of, say,
the Droid.

------
jkot
Click-bait title

