Sometimes, it's straightforward to say your phone motherboard is damaged when your phone won't turn on by any means. But is that all? What if your phone screen still turns on, but things seem not to be going well?
Well, that's when you need to diagnose if your phone's motherboard is damaged or it's just some other software/hardware functions playing a prank on you.
Motherboard damage can be a heartbreaking issue, probably equivalent to losing the smartphone itself or getting it damaged totally. The reason being, it carries every other component on the device, and it can be expensive to replace if your phone is out of warranty.
For the unaware, the motherboard is referred to as the ‘brain’ or ‘heart’ of your device – just like the CPU of a computer. It holds every crucial part/component of your device. Talk of the storage, processor, camera, RAM, wireless networks, external ports, and other peripherals that make up your device – all of them are soldered/connected to the motherboard in one way or the other.
How to know if phone motherboard is damaged
Various common scenarios can hint that your phone motherboard is damaged. Below are some of them.
- Your phone won’t turn on by any means, even with the charger plugged in: If you tried turning on your phone several times but it won’t respond, the motherboard is probably damaged. You can also try charging it for a while, then turn it on when it’s still plugged in. If it doesn’t run on, that means the motherboard is damaged.
- Your phone won't turn on after switching the battery: if you happen to own a device with a removable battery, you can try replacing the battery with a new one. And if it still doesn’t turn on after that, your motherboard is probably damaged.
- Your phone turns on but the screen won’t show anything: if your phone usually vibrates when you turn it on, but the screen doesn't light up this time around, that might be because the motherboard is damaged. In some other cases, the screen might behave abnormally – or go haywire.
- Your phone restarts sporadically: your phone may reboot sometimes when it can’t cope with what’s going on in the system, or when the system is overloaded. But if it turns on and off frequently, something is probably wrong with the motherboard (or any hardware component)
- When some hardware functions of the device start to misbehave: if you notice some hardware functions of the device, such as charging point, headphone jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SIM card connector, GPS, starts misbehaving or stopped working, it’s probably the work of a damaged motherboard.
In a nutshell, the motherboard holds everything on your phone. So, any issue could spring up if any part of the motherboard is damaged – even if it's just a tiny part.
However, the motherboard might not cause these problems sometimes. It might be because of software bugs, invalid code, or just another part of the hardware malfunctioning. So, the only way to tell if your phone motherboard is damaged is to get it inspected by a certified technician with vital experience in diagnosing and repairing phone motherboards. Handling your phone to an inexperienced technician may end up causing more harm than good.
Causes of motherboard failure
Perhaps the primary reason why a phone motherboard gets damaged is because of hard drop. Many users usually drop their phones from time to time. Though the impact is quite easy to be noticed on the screen, it affects the motherboard too. And if water spills on a phone with a broken screen, it might damage the motherboard quickly.
Of course, that's not the only thing that causes motherboard damage; there are plenty of them – including the ones we can't measure.
Here are some factors that cause motherboard damage on mobile phone:
- Hard/frequent drops
- Water damage – mostly when the screen is broken.
- Overheating
- Bad charger or overcharging
- Repairs made by an unskilled technician.
Is it worth changing the phone motherboard?
Whether it's worth changing/repairing the motherboard depends on the situation of the damages made to it. Sometimes, the damaged motherboard might only require micro-soldering repair, where we'll replace the damaged parts of the motherboard with a new one.
However, some cases require replacing the whole motherboard, which is more costly than repairing the damaged parts, especially when your phone is out of warranty.
Meanwhile, if your case is critical – like when the replacement/repair costs more than expected, we’ll be generous enough to tell you the truth and help you make the right decision.
If I Replace My Phone Motherboard, Will I Lose My Data?
It depends on the level of damage made to the motherboard. The data on your phone is stored on the storage (eMMC or UFS), which is also a chip soldered on the motherboard.
In most cases, repairing your phone motherboard shouldn't erase your data. But sometimes, the damage might require you to replace the motherboard and all the chips altogether. This is where you may lose your data.
Technically, the storage (eMMC or UFS) can be detached from the old motherboard and replaced on the new one. However, it takes lots of time, risk, and a high level of professionalism and experience to arrive at a successful point. Any slight mistake made during the transfer process may damage the storage, motherboard, or both. So, that’s why you need a well-trained mobile repairer, like us, to operate your dead motherboard.
Where can I Replace/Repair a Damaged Phone Motherboard?
Carlcare Service is one of the reliable mobile repair companies out there, where you can fix your damaged phone motherboard. We're the official customer service provider for all Infinix, TECNO, and itel smartphone users globally. We’re also experts in repairing smartphones from other brands like Samsung, iPhone, and more.
You can bring down your phone to any of our centers near you. We’ll check your phone thoroughly and tell if the motherboard is damaged or not. And if the repair cost is getting too high, we’ll look into your eyes and tell you it’s not worth repairing/replacing it.
