220-1101 Mobile Devices Practice Question
A user reports that their smartphone will charge wirelessly on a charging pad but will not charge when connected to a USB-C cable. The USB-C cable and charger work normally when tested on another phone. The technician has already performed a forced restart and cleaned the charging port with compressed air. Which component should the technician replace FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume a 'charging issue' must be the battery or charging IC, overlooking that wireless charging success already rules out those components and points directly to a physical port failure.
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
✓
Charging port
Charging port. Since the USB-C cable and charger work on another phone, the cable and charger are verified functional. The phone charges wirelessly, which bypasses the charging port entirely, confirming the battery and charging IC are operational. The technician has already cleaned the port and performed a forced restart, so the most likely remaining hardware fault is a damaged or worn charging port that cannot establish a proper electrical connection with the USB-C cable.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Charging port
Why this is correct
The USB-C port is the physical entry point for wired power, and its internal pins (VBUS, ground, and CC) can be bent, corroded, or broken even after a cleaning attempt. Because the wireless charging path bypasses this connector entirely, it can continue working while the port prevents any cable connection or voltage detection. After cleaning failed to restore charging, the damaged port must be replaced to re-establish the wired charging circuit.
- ✗
Battery
Why it's wrong here
The battery is the same storage device for both wired and wireless charging, and a battery that cannot accept a charge would show symptoms through both methods. Since wireless charging successfully increases the battery's state of charge, the battery cells, protection circuit, and BMS are functioning reliably. Therefore, a wired-only failure cannot be caused by a faulty battery and points to a break upstream in the USB power path.
- ✗
Charging IC
Why it's wrong here
The charging IC is the common power-management stage that takes input from both the USB port and wireless receiver coil to generate the proper charge current for the battery. If the IC were totally defective, neither charging method would work; a partial fault that only disables the USB input is theoretically possible but far less frequent in practice than port damage. Given that the cable is known-good and the port itself is suspected, isolating to the IC without testing the port would be premature.
- ✗
USB-C cable
Why it's wrong here
This cable was verified on another phone, which proves its conductors, shielding, and USB-C connectors pass both power and signal correctly. A failing cable cannot selectively disable only this phone's wired charging while every other function remains normal. The root cause must lie in the phone's own wired charging interface rather than in an accessory that already demonstrated functionality.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Laptop Battery Care and Replacement
Key term
Universal Serial Bus Type C
A small, reversible 24-pin USB connector that supports high-speed data transfer, power delivery, and video output, used in modern devices.
Key term
Universal Serial Bus
A Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a standard interface that allows you to connect devices like keyboards, mice, storage drives, and printers to a computer for data transfer and power delivery.
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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.