Emerging among the common issues transpiring in aged smartphones are lags and freezes. These usually occur among other usual wear-and-tear symptoms from months or years of using the device. Nonetheless, lags and freezes can also occur earlier especially when triggered by some factors like software bugs and malware, and also from installing bad software or firmware updates.
Highlighted in this post a few suggested workarounds and generic solutions to a similar issue on the Nokia 8 smartphone that keeps on lagging and freezing. Read on to find out how to deal with this problem and what must be done to get the phone back up and running smoothly again.
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How to troubleshoot Nokia 8 that keeps freezing and lagging
Before you begin to troubleshoot your phone software, care to check its memory and make sure it still has at least 500MB of available storage. Doing so will rule insufficient memory out from the underlying cause. If the available memory is less than 500MB, then the problem can be attributed to a shrinking memory space. That said, you need to free up some space by deleting all unnecessary files and apps from your device. If the internal memory space is still big and yet your device keeps on freezing or lagging, then you can go ahead and start troubleshooting with the following methods.
First solution: Soft reset/force restart.
A device can experience random lags and freezes due to many different factors, mostly on the software. Oftentimes, the what occurs is just a minor issue and therefore fixable by end-users at home. The first recommended solution is a device restart or soft reset. A soft reset clears any software glitches that caused minor system errors. It also clears up space of your phone’s internal memory to make it perform smoother and faster afterwards. For starters, here’s how to soft reset a Nokia 8 smartphone:
- Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds.
- Select Power off from the menu options then tap OK.
- After a few seconds, press and hold down the Power button again to turn the phone back on.
For a frozen Nokia 8 display, performing a force restart would be necessary. This is a simulated battery removal procedure that works the same as a soft reset but carried out through hardware key combinations. Here’s how to force restart your Nokia 8:
- Simultaneously press and hold the Power and Volume Up buttons until the phone turns off.
- After 30 seconds, press the Power button until the device powers on.
Both these restarts won’t affect any data and personal files you saved on the internal memory of your phone.
Second solution: Boot into safe mode and diagnose apps.
Third-party apps are barred from running while the device is in safe mode. This makes it easier for you to determine whether the problem is isolated to a third-party app or not. Here’s how to enable safe mode on the Nokia 8 smartphone:
- Press the Power button until the menu options appear on the screen.
- Tap and hold on the Power off option for a few seconds.
- If prompted, tap to confirm option to boot into safe mode.
- Wait until your phone finished restarting. By then, you should see the Safe Mode badge at the bottom left corner of the screen.
If the phone does not lag or freeze while running in safe mode, then it must be a third-party application that’s triggering the issue. To fix the problem, you will need to remove the culprit. But doing so can be a bit of a challenge especially if you’ve simultaneously downloaded new apps and services recently. In that case, you can uninstall individual apps starting from the most recent download you’ve got. Don’t forget to test your device after deleting each suspected apps to determine if the problem is fixed.
You may have to consider opting for service if the phone still lags and freeze while running in safe mode.
Third solution: Update phone software to the latest version.
Software updates may be able to address the problem if software bugs and/or malware are the main culprits. Aside from bringing in new features and enhanced functions, fix patches are also embedded in software updates for security enhancements. That said, check for any software update available for your Nokia 8 with these steps:
- Tap on Menu and go to Settings.
- Tap About Phone.
- Select Software version.
- Scan for new software update (OTA update). If an OTA update is available, you will see a notification.
- Before you proceed, make sure that your phone is connected to Wi-Fi Internet and that has enough power (at least 50%).
- Then follow the onscreen prompts to complete the update download and installation process.
If the aforementioned is not applicable, like when your device screen gets stuck, then you can use a computer to check, download and install new firmware updates. To get this done, you will need to access recovery mode on your Nokia 8 and from there choose the option to “Install zip from SD card” followed by “Choose zip from SD card.” And then resume the flashing process.
The Nokia 8 drivers must also be installed and the Android SDK toolkit setup must be available on your computer.
Fourth solution: Wipe cache partition.
Wiping the cache partition clears all temporary files that are stored as cache in the system folders or cache partition. Cache files can affect the device performance and trigger similar symptoms to occur when they crash or get corrupted. To rule this out, you can wipe the cache partition on your Nokia 8 with these steps:
- Power off your phone by pressing and holding the Power button until it powers down.
- Then, press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously for a few seconds.
- Release the Power button when the Android logo appears but keep pressing on the Volume Down button.
- Release the Volume Down button when the Boot Mode menu appear.
- Press the Volume Up/Down button to scroll to and highlight wipe dalvik cache and wipe cache partition options.
- Then press the Power button to confirm.
- Wait until your phone is finished wiping cache partition. You will know when it’s done if you see the Reboot system now option highlighted.
- By then you can press the Power button to reboot your phone.
Allow your device to finish restarting to clear and refresh both the internal memory and operating system.
Fifth solution: Factory reset/master reset.
A master reset or factory reset can be deemed among the last resorts if your Nokia 8 still lags and freezes after exhausting all prior methods. The problem could be due to some tough bugs and malware, which requires a full system wipe out. This however will also delete all your critical data and personal information saved on the internal memory. Should you wish to proceed, be sure to create backups. When the backup is set, carry out a factory reset on your Nokia 8 with these steps:
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Backup & Reset.
- Select Factory data reset.
- Tap Reset Device.
- Tap Erase Everything.
Wait until the reset is finished and your phone to restart. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your phone as new.
Alternatively, you can perform a master reset through Android recovery mode with these steps:
- Turn off your phone by pressing and hold the Power button until it powers down.
- Once it’s powered off, connect it to your computer using the supplied USB cable or data cable. Your phone will then show you a Powered by Android image and then the battery animation.
- Once you see that animation, press and hold the Volume Up button and Power button simultaneously.
- You will then see the Please release key to power off message. Just ignore the message and keep holding the buttons until the countdown is finished. By this time, your phone has already entered recovery mode.
- Press the Volume Down button to highlight wipe data/factory reset from the given options.
- Then press the Power button to confirm selection.
- Press the Volume button again to highlight Yes — delete all user data option and then press the Power button to confirm.
Wait until the reset is finished and then restart your device. After the restart, you can set up your device as new.
Other options
Service is likely needed if your Nokia 8 is still lagging and freezing after performing all prior means to deal with any software errors and glitches that might have triggered the symptoms. Your phone might have obtained some sort of physical or liquid damage and therefore needs physical repair. That said, you can take your device to a Nokia service center nearby and have it diagnosed by an authorized technician for hardware damage.
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