Top 5 Mobile Device Issues Consumers Complained About Most in 2025

In 2025, telco customers reported a wide range of device problems that interrupt daily use and fuel frustration. When these kinds of mobile device issues happen, they cause a 19-point NPS drop with customers – even dropping as low as 36 points if unresolved. Understanding the crux of customer dissatisfaction with device performance can help mobile operators get ahead of the problems and be proactive. We reviewed customer forums and social media to understand what were some of the top issues customers complained about in 2025.

Jump to item

• Battery issues
• Screen and display behavior
• Speed/performance
• Connectivity
• Camera reliability and quality
• YOUR DEVICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Battery Life & Charging Problems

Battery‑related issues were clearly the single biggest category of smartphone complaints in 2025.

Consumer fault data shows that around a third of all reported phone faults are battery problems, especially “battery life getting significantly worse over a short period of time.” Users on Reddit and repair forums echo the same: phones that used to last a full day suddenly dying in a few hours, or requiring multiple charges per day even with light use.​

Common complaint patterns:

• “Battery drains too fast / won’t last a day anymore”
• “Phone goes from 30% to 0% suddenly”
• “Battery health dropped massively after a year or two”
• “Charging is very slow / only charges if I wiggle the cable”
• “Phone heats up while charging”

Key recurring causes described in 2025 threads and repair content:

• Heavy apps, 5G, AI and background processes consuming more power than older batteries can support​
• Aging batteries losing capacity after a couple of years of daily charge cycles​
• Charging port wear, dirt or damage causing intermittent or slow charging​
• Poor charging habits (deep discharges, cheap chargers, using phone heavily while charging) accelerating degradation​

MCE diagnostic database insight: The MCE diagnostics database showed that battery temperature tests (whether it’s too hot or not) failed 32% of the time.

Repair centers highlight battery replacement and charging‑port repair as some of the most in‑demand services in 2025, confirming how frequently users experience these issues in practice.​

Screen, Touch & Physical Display Issues

Screen‑related problems (not just cracks) are another top complaint category in 2025.

Repair and issue‑summary sites consistently list cracked/damaged screens and unresponsive/frozen displays among the most common smartphone problems, often in the top 2–3 spots. While brand‑specific “green line” or panel defects exist, across vendors users complain about:​

• Cracked or shattered glass from drops (by far the most common hardware damage)​
• Touch not responding, responding in the wrong place, or “ghost touches” (screen acting on its own)​
• Black screen / screen won’t turn on even though the phone is powered​
• Screen freezing mid‑task and requiring a hard reboot​
• Screen quality degradation (flicker, lines, discoloration) as the device ages or after impacts​

Drivers of these complaints:

Physical damage from drops or pressure, particularly on larger, thinner devices​

• Wear of display connectors or touch panel over time
• Software glitches causing lockups or unresponsive UIs that users perceive as “screen broken”​
• Cheap replacement screens with poor touch or color performance after earlier repairs​

User‑facing data from repair chains shows screen replacement is usually the number‑one or number‑two repair type alongside battery replacement, indicating how frequently users experience screen and touch issues.​

Performance: Slow, Freezing, Crashing & Overheating

Even on mid‑ and high‑end hardware, many 2025 users complain that phones feel slower and less reliable over time.

Repair and consumer advice sites for 2025 consistently list “slow or lagging performance,” “app crashing,” and “phone freezing” as core issues, often bundled with overheating. Reddit discussion reflects similar themes: devices that were “fine last year” now lag, stutter, and lock up more often, especially with modern heavy apps and OS updates.​

Typical user complaints:

• “Phone is laggy / stutters when opening apps or switching tasks”
• “Apps keep crashing or freezing”
• “Phone randomly restarts”
• “Device gets too hot with normal use or light gaming”

Underlying drivers cited across sources:

• Heavier OS updates and AI features on aging SoCs and limited RAM, especially on older or budget devices​
• Storage nearly full, leaving little room for system cache and app data, which significantly slows devices​
• Too many apps and background services, including bloatware and preloaded software users never asked for​
• Thermal throttling due to sustained load, leading to both overheating and perceived slowness​

App/OS bugs and poor optimization for certain chipsets or drivers, so some models receive new features but run worse​.

MCE diagnostics database insight: Data showed 10% of users failed the software update test, meaning they are not on most updated version. This could lead to misperceptions abouts device health and even become a problem of unnecessary repairs or unqualified warranty claims.

Repair shops and industry blogs emphasize software optimization, deep cleaning, and OS/app updates or resets as standard remedies, highlighting how often users bring in “slow” or “freezing” phones that don’t actually have hardware damage.​

Connectivity Problems (Network, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, GPS)

Connectivity is another major pain point, spanning mobile data, calls, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, and location services.

Multi‑issue overviews for 2025 list connectivity problems—difficulty staying on Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth instability, weak signal, and dropped connections—as one of the core common smartphone issues. Reddit posts and carrier/community forums echo persistent frustration with phones that “show full bars but don’t actually work” or constantly drop connections.​

Common complaint themes:

• Mobile data or calls dropping despite apparent signal
• Inconsistent or weak Wi‑Fi connection (frequent disconnects or “connected but no internet”)
• Bluetooth devices failing to pair, dropping audio, or having large latency
• GPS being inaccurate, slow to lock, or jumping around on maps

Typical root causes mentioned:

• Software glitches and outdated or corrupted network/Bluetooth stacks or settings​
• Background battery optimizations that overly restrict radio usage and kill connectivity for apps​
• Hardware wear or damage to antennas, RF front‑ends, or ports, especially after drops or liquid exposure​
• Environmental and infrastructure reasons (network congestion, building penetration issues, router problems) that users still attribute to the phone because that’s what they see failing​

MCE diagnostic database insight: MCE’s tests library data showed 15% tests failure rates for wifi connectivity, meaning customers didn’t have Wifi enabled and used higher data unnecessarily.

Support and repair resources emphasize that Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth troubleshooting (forgetting/re‑pairing, resetting settings) as well as “mobile network not available” diagnostics are among the most requested help topics, confirming that connectivity is one of the most visible and frustrating categories of smartphone complaints in 2025.​

Camera Reliability & Quality Issues

While cameras are a primary selling point, complaints about camera reliability, focus, and consistency are widespread in 2025.

General smartphone‑repair and problem lists include camera malfunctions—blurry photos, camera app not opening, black preview, and autofocus failure—as a top recurring problem area. Reddit users and photography‑focused discussions also increasingly criticize how cameras process images, not just whether they work.​

Main complaint types:

• “Camera app won’t open / says camera is in use by another app”
• “Photos are blurry / won’t focus properly”
• “Camera is slow, freezes, or crashes when switching modes or lenses”
• “Colors and white balance look wrong or wildly different from what I see”
• “Low‑light or indoor photos are noisy or smeared”

Key underlying causes mentioned:

• Physical damage to camera modules or lenses from drops (scratches, cracked glass, knocked‑loose module)​
• Dust, fingerprints, and smudges on lens causing persistent softness or haze​
• Software bugs in camera apps or post‑processing pipelines, especially after updates, leading to freezes, black viewfinder, or inconsistent exposure and white balance​
• Aggressive computational photography and AI corrections that oversmooth faces, distort colors, and make photos look less natural, which many users explicitly complain about in 2025 surveys​

MCE diagnostic database insight: MCE diagnostic database records showed front camera tests failed 10% of the time… selfie outages may have occurred.

Repair chains list camera module and camera glass replacement among the most common repairs after screens and batteries, confirming that camera issues show up heavily in real‑world repair demand.​

MCE: Your Partner for Customers Mobile Device Experience Strategy & Execution

Up to 80 percent of telecom customers either partly or fully rely on their provider for help preventing or helping them resolve these issues. Being right there at this juncture of potential churn means you can prevent it – by offering customers quick and convenient resolutions. MCE’s AI-led diagnostics technology sits right on the device or in an app and helps customers resolve these issues quickly or proactively identify them before they become more complex. When escalation is required, we can help manage a repair routing, streamline customer support connectivity or offer a personalized replacement device (trade-in/upgrade). This is how customer loyalty is bolstered. Learn more about our device care service solution here.