Mobile phones are one of the most used items in Kenya, Africa and globally. This applies here in Nairobi too. However, our phones might get damaged and hence need a repair. Below, we are going to see several damages that may occur on with our mobile phones, where to get the best repair in Nairobi and some tricks to try before deciding to go for repair.
Before we look at best mobile repair specialist in Nairobi, let us first look at some common problems and some tricks you can try before visiting a specialist..
Common damages in Mobile phones
The type of damages that may occur on a phone will depend with its type. Mobile phones usually come in two types as you most likely know by now;
Smartphone and
Dumb phone
Smartphones are more advance and are considered as personal computers due to their capabilities. Their improvement places them at a higher scale of being damaged. The common problems encountered with smartphones are hardware and software problems.
Dumb phones are the common mobile phones which main functions are calling and texting, there are popularly referred to as” mlika mwizi’. The main damage that occurs with these phones is hardware problems.
Hardware problems
These are the most common problems and most likely will require a phone repair specialist. The hardware are the physical parts of your phone e.g the screen, buttons, motherboard etc. The reasons as to why you might require a phone repair specialist is that when the parts are damaged, they will most probably require replacement which requires someone with the know how. Here are some common in them.
Screen problems
This is very common problem in most touch screen phones, mainly it is usually cracking. The replacement of a cracked screen is a quick fix by a specialist and will not take more than 30 Minutes. A part from the screen cracking, other problems maybe unresponsive screen, dark screen, frozen screen, vertical lines on the screen, flickering screen and partially sensing of the screen.
For some problems mentioned above, you can try some tricks such as; for example, in case of unresponsive screen and frozen screen, you can restart the phone to see if the problem gets solved. Also, you can try freeing up some space in your phone, lack of space can leading to your phone hanging hence the screen appears unresponsive.
If you started experiencing screen problems after installing an app, you can try uninstalling it to see if the problem disappears. Problems such as screen flickering may occur due to software (apps). You can hence try uninstalling recently added apps or the ones you think maybe causing the trouble.
Damaged charging port
This problem may occur after using the phone for a long time. This can be caused by dirt or the port being broken. Before taking the phone to a specialist you can try using a different charger, also clean any dirt in the port using a dry tooth brush or cotton swab. If this does not work, please visit an expert for a replacement or repair of your charging port.
Speakers and mouthpiece problems
One of the major use of mobile phones is communication, the speakers and mouthpiece are the main hardware components that help in this. If any of them is not working properly, making calls and receiving them will be a challenge. However, do not worry, this problems can easily be fixed by a specialist, fixing involves replacement or repairing if they are not completely damaged.
You can know if the problem is with your speakers if you cannot be able to listen to any music, sound recordings, ringtones or even silence during calls with different people. Sometimes the problem with the phone speaker might be unclear voice. Before taking the phone to a specialist, you should check if the volume is okay in your settings and that the volume buttons are functioning properly. If the speaker is unclear, it might be due dirt, you can hence try cleaning it if you can. If neither of the fixes work, visit a specialist.
The mouthpiece mainly records your voice so that it can be transmitted to your caller during voice calls. If your phones’ mouthpiece is damaged, the caller will not be able to here you but you will here them in your phone. To make sure that its the mouthpiece of your phone that is damaged, call different people and if they cannot here you then you will be sure, if you have another phone, you can try making a phone to the suspected damaged phone and listen if the mouthpiece is working. After being sure that the phones mouthpiece is damaged, take it to an expert for repair.
Buttons problems
This mainly occurs with dumb phones, some buttons will fail to operate making the phone almost unusable in dialing functions and other functionalities such as time and date settings. Commonly, the cause of the problem is dirt in the phone, another cause might be ware out of the buttons. A visit to a phone repair specialist will get the buttons repaired within minutes.
Volume buttons and power button problems
This is usually common in smartphones, it is the equitable of the buttons problems in dumb phones and as mentioned above, it is caused by dirt or wearing out of buttons. If the power button is not working, it means you will not be able to power the phone on at any time making it unusable. The volume buttons helps you control the volumes easily and hence are important too (In some smartphones, the buttons are used for screenshots purposes too). A visit to a phone repair shop will have the problem quickly fixed.
Earphones port problems
If you love music, you might use earphones and headphones time to time. If this headphones are not wireless, they will require to be connected through the earphones port. When used for a long time, the port might get damaged, dirt may also interfere with the proper functioning of the port. Fast, make sure there is no dirt in the port before taking your mobile phone to a specialist. If the port is completely damaged, it will require a replacement, if not, it will be repaired.
Battery damage
Some mobile phones come with a permanent/ in built battery, unlike in other phones where you remove the battery, fixing a problem in these types may require a specialist. In most cases, smartphones comes with a non removable battery. A damaged battery will require recharging regularly, before deciding whether you battery is damaged, you can try some tricks such as reducing the brightness of your phone, reduce number of running apps or follow tips provided by your battery power management system.
If you try the above and the phone does not keep the charge for long, you can visit a specialist for replacement of a non removable, make sure that the battery used as replacement is of quality and from an original manufacturer. If however the battery is removable, just get an original quality battery and replace it with the old one.
Software problems
These problems are common in smartphones and depending on which Operating System your smartphone uses, you might experience a common problem associated with the OS. The most common OS systems in Kenya are Android from Google and iOS use by iPhones from Apple. In most cases, you will not require a specialist to collect software issues, you can even check for solutions over the internet. Below, we are going to look at some possible solutions to different software issues. If however the problem persists, you can visit a phone repair specialist.
Apps keeps crashing or stopping
This is a common problem with android smartphhones, some apps might keep crashing with the message, Unfortunately the App stopped. While the problem might be with the App, sometimes it might be the cache stored about the app causing the problem. You can quickly solve this by clearing the cache, to do this, long press on the app and on the information menu, choose App information and click on clear cache. If this does not solve the issue, repeat the process and click on clear data. If the problem persists, you can restart your phone to see if the problem disappears.
Overheating
The phone might overheat due to a manufacture defect, if this is not the case, it means some apps you are running are using huge CPU. This can damage your phone and hence you should uninstall the apps or give breaks as you use the apps. Most apps that would cause this problems are games and apps with high graphics.
Synchronization
This is a problem that occurs regularly with smartphones especially on androids, the problem can disappear automatically, if it does not, check your internet or try uninstalling google app and install it again.
Apps not downloading
If apps are failing to download, the problem might be with the cache of the google playstore app. Clear the cache by going to app information the choose clear cache, this will solve the issue, also make sure that you data is not restricted on background.
Above are but a few software issues that you may face when using a Smartphone, however, if the issue you are facing is not listed above you can check the exact problem over the internet to see the solution or what other users did when they faced the problem with their phone.
Mobile phone repair services in Nairobi
Currently, we are working on a list of best phone repair specialist in Nairobi, their contacts and where they are located. We do an extensive research to make sure we only recommend reputable experts, when we get one, we will add them below.
When picking where to get a repair, make sure that the one doing the repair is legit, the expert should have knowledge about phones, should have a repair shop, should also have repair tools and most common replacement parts needed and show prove of their previous work. Cheers!! We hope you get the best.