Fix: Nothing Phone (1,2) Not Charging or Fast Charging Issue

Upgrade the OS

The Android 12 with NothingOS on your Nothing Phone (1,2) handles everything you do and interacts with your smartphone. It turns out that just like how apps can introduce bugs and glitches, they can occur at the OS level and hamper the phone’s functioning at some juncture. For this instance, I am talking about the Nothing Phone 1 not charging or fast charging issue.

A troubleshooting method to fix the problem is to upgrade the firmware to the latest available version. Outdated software can introduce many problems, so upgrading the firmware saves the day. Here’s how it works.

Check if any process is consuming more power

If the phone’s battery drains faster than charging, either the battery at fault (more on it later) or the apps or games running on it during charging are draining more power than they should. Close all the apps and processes and turn off the airplane mode if required to allow faster charging. Check back in some time and verify if the battery is charging the way it should or not.

Restore factory

This is the last point wherein a software-related issue causing the Nothing Phone 1 to stop charging itself is a problem. Here’s how you wipe everything off the device to fix any impending issue. Note that taking a backup of all the data that you want to secure as pulling off a restore factory will wipe off all data. It is irreversible unless you know how to use data recovery tools.

Hardware-related Nothing Phone 1 Not Charging or Fast Charging Issue

The various hardware-related issues could trigger the Nothing Phone 1 not charging or fast charging issues.

Check for debris inside the charging port

Debris inside the charging port, such as dust, lint, or any other foreign particles, can cause the phone to charge slowly or not charge at all. You’ll need to clean the charging port as the issue will only escalate if not taken care of. However, you should be careful when cleaning the charging port. Here’s how to do it.

• First, use a torch or flashlight to check inside the port if you can spot any lint or debris.
• Turn off the device.
• Use a toothpick or any sharp object except anything metallic to carefully and gently remove the chunk. Be gentle here as any damage to the charging pins will make you replace the entire charging port even if it wasn’t faulty when starting out.
• For those who know how to do it, take a cotton swab, dip it in isopropyl alcohol, and clean the port. Since alcohol evaporates easily, it will remove remnants and corrosion.
• Leave your phone idle for some time and plug in the charger to see if the Nothing Phone 1 fast charging issue is gone or not.

Verify you are using the original cable or swap it

The USB cable is one of the most abused hardware components during a battery charging spree. This is because it is strained, twisted, bent, and undergoes several stresses, and it is likely one of the first things that will break down.

Check for any cuts throughout the length of the USB cable. If there’s a cut, check if connecting the ends does the trick. If not, you will need a different USB cable anyways.

If there are no cuts (although the stress part remains unchanged), detach the old cable and use a new cable or if you have one in spare. Check if the phone charges with a different cable with everything else from the power source, the charging brick, and the phone’s charging port remaining the same. Check back in 2-3 minutes if the phone starts charging, and if it does so with the same speed, it would charge originally. If that’s what’s happening, the old USB cable you used was at fault.

In case if the new USB cable doesn’t make any difference to the charging speed, it isn’t a problem and you will need to proceed with the next method to verify what’s wrong.

Verify if you are using the original charger

After verifying that the USB cable isn’t at fault, the next logical step is to verify if the charging brick is at fault or not.

The procedure to verify if the charging brick is at fault or not. Here’s how you can do it.

• First, detach the old charging brick.
• Use a different charging brick, attach it to the USB cable, and plug it into the device to charge the battery.
  There are two scenarios here, the phone either starts charging at an original pace or not. If not, the problem lies with the charging port or any other internal component. If yes, the old charging brick was at fault, and you’ll have to use a spare or new one.

Note: Using an original charger instead of a third-party or local brick is advisable. The latter can cause lagging and freezing issues as well; thus, using the original charger will save the day.

Check if the port is damaged.

Although physical damage to the port is likely to be visible to the naked eye, water damage remains unseen unless you know exactly what you are looking for. Swap the USB cable and the charger to check what’s working and what’s not. If the different charger or brick is working on a different phone, your phone’s port is at fault since no amount of swapping is forcing the battery to begin charging.

Is the battery dead?

The battery on the device has a specific lifecycle; as and when it progresses, the efficiency decreases. With hundreds of life cycles, over 02 years of usage can curtail the battery to just 75-80 percent. Since you are facing a Nothing Phone 1 not charging or fast charging issue, the battery is likely completely dead, or it has lost its efficiency and is en route to die in some time.

Since your phone has a non-removable battery, you can’t remove the battery and swap it with a new one. You need the expertise to snatch the old battery and swap it with a new one. I recommend going to a service center or hiring a technician to do the swap.

Change the power outlet.

Power outlets can also curtail charging speeds as they might not deliver adequate amounts of power, thereby impeding the charging speed. Change the power source and check if that was the problem after all.

The final resort

You can’t use Nothing Phone 1 without charging the battery properly. Whether it is a software or hardware-related issue, it must end as there’s no compromise here, which you can do with the headphone jack, camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other features. You will need to fix the problem, which is where technicians come into play.

Head out to an authorized service center or get the software or hardware-related issue charging the Nothing Phone 1 not charging or fast charging issue in the first place. You even have an option to visit a local service center for a speedier and inexpensive repair or replacement of the affected software or hardware component that triggered the issue in the first place. Note that you will lose any warranty on the device by getting the phone repaired at a local service center which isn’t the case with an authorized one so it is your call.

Closing Words

At the end of the day, you will have to make arrangements to charge the battery and use the phone because without a working battery, you are just holding a slab of plastic, aluminum, and glass, and that’s all. Do let us know which troubleshooting method works best for you.