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220-1201 Practice Question: A user complains that their smartphone's battery…
A user complains that their smartphone's battery drains quickly even when idle. You run diagnostics and find the battery health is at 82%. The device is two years old. Which hardware servicing action is most appropriate?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Replace the battery with a new OEM battery.
This question tests battery replacement thresholds. A battery health below 80-85% often indicates significant degradation, causing poor runtime. Replacing the battery restores normal battery life. Software optimization may help but is secondary to hardware replacement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Replace the battery with a new OEM battery.
Why this is correct
A smartphone battery operating at 82% of its original capacity is significantly degraded. Lithium-ion batteries naturally lose capacity over charge cycles and time, leading to reduced runtime and quicker draining. Replacing it with a new Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) battery restores the device's full design capacity, directly resolving the rapid discharge problem by providing a fresh power source with optimal health and performance.
- ✗
Calibrate the battery by fully draining and recharging.
Why it's wrong here
Battery calibration primarily addresses discrepancies between the battery's actual charge level and the operating system's reported percentage. This procedure resets the battery management system's internal fuel gauge, improving the accuracy of charge estimations. However, calibration does not physically restore lost battery capacity or improve the chemical degradation of a worn-out lithium-ion cell, so it won't fix a rapid drain caused by an 82% health battery.
- ✗
Update the operating system to the latest version.
Why it's wrong here
While operating system updates often include power management optimizations and bug fixes that can marginally improve battery efficiency, they cannot reverse the physical degradation of a lithium-ion battery. A battery at 82% health has experienced irreversible chemical changes that reduce its maximum charge capacity. Software updates address software-related power consumption, not the fundamental hardware limitation of a degraded power cell.
- ✗
Disable all background apps and notifications.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling background applications and notifications is a software-based power-saving technique that reduces the device's overall energy consumption. This can extend the runtime of any battery, but it acts as a temporary workaround rather than a permanent solution for a physically degraded battery. It does not restore the lost capacity of a battery at 82% health, merely lessens the demand on its diminished reserves, failing to address the root hardware cause of the rapid drain.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 220-1201
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A user complains that their tablet's battery drains very quickly, even when not in use. The device is one year old and was working normally until last week. Which hardware component is most likely failing?
easy- A.The charging port is loose.
- ✓ B.The battery has degraded or is failing.
- C.The power management IC is faulty.
- D.The screen brightness is set too high.
Why B: A battery that drains quickly even when the device is idle typically indicates that the battery's internal chemistry has degraded, leading to increased self-discharge and reduced capacity. After one year of use, lithium-ion batteries naturally lose about 20% of their capacity, and a sudden failure can occur due to a defective cell or internal short. This matches the symptom of normal operation followed by rapid drain, as the battery can no longer hold a charge effectively.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1201 exam.