220-1101 Mobile Devices Practice Question
A technician is replacing the battery in a smartphone. After reassembly, the phone powers on and the screen works, but the battery icon shows 0% charge and the phone does not recognize the battery. The technician verifies that the battery connector is fully seated. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume a fully seated connector guarantees a good electrical connection, overlooking the possibility of a damaged cable between the connector and the battery or motherboard.
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
✓
The flex cable connecting the battery to the motherboard is damaged
The battery connector being fully seated does not rule out damage to the flex cable itself. A damaged flex cable can cause an open circuit or intermittent connection between the battery and the motherboard, preventing the battery management system from reading the battery's charge level or identification data, even though the phone powers on via residual charge or a direct power path.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The battery is defective and needs to be replaced
Why it's wrong here
The battery is not the primary suspect because it was verified working before the replacement; the sudden appearance of 0% charge and failure to charge immediately after reassembly indicates a connection fault, not a cell failure. A genuinely defective battery would typically still be detected by the fuel gauge, showing a voltage reading or an error, rather than a complete loss of communication. Battery cell defects are far less common than technician-induced damage to the delicate flex cable during installation, so the correct first step is to reseat and inspect the cable, not replace the battery. Replacing the battery without checking the cable would likely repeat the same symptom, confirming the diagnosis was incorrect.
- ✗
The charging port is damaged
Why it's wrong here
A damaged charging port would prevent the phone from charging, but the phone not recognizing the battery at all (0% even when unplugged) indicates a communication failure between the battery and the motherboard, not just a charging issue.
- ✗
The battery management chip is faulty
Why it's wrong here
The battery management IC could fail, but this is less common than physical damage to the flex cable during repair. The chip was functioning before the repair, so cable damage is a more logical first check.
- ✓
The flex cable connecting the battery to the motherboard is damaged
Why this is correct
The flex cable is delicate and can be pinched, torn, or partially disconnected during reassembly. A damaged cable interrupts the data lines between the battery and the phone, causing the phone to display 0% and fail to charge.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This 220-1101 question is part of Courseiva's 896-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 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 220-1101 exam.