What to do if your Xiaomi Mi 5 won’t turn on [Troubleshooting Guide]

There seems to be a lot of #Xiaomi Mi 5 (#Mi5) smartphone owners who reported that their phones just turned off and won’t turn back on and this is what we’re going to tackle in this post. I will help you or walk you through in finding signs to know if your device is still capable of turning on and booting up successfully.

Mi 5 seems to have garnered really good reviews considering can beat any flagship phones available in the market today performance- and specs-wise for half a price. It is the cheapest smartphone today that packs the all new Snapdragon 820 chipset, a 16MP camera, 3000 mAH battery and a 5.15-inch display. In other words, it’s fast, snaps really good photos, lasts longer and has a big screen.

But is it really worth buying it?

Here’s one of the testimonies we received from our reader who sought assistance due to this problem…

“Hi guys! I haven’t seen any support articles or troubleshooting guides for the Mi 5 but I’m gonna ask you anyway. I bought the phone yesterday and was actually very happy about it. I was an S5 user for a couple of years before I upgraded to this one and there’s really a noticeable difference in the performance not to mention it’s cheaper. So, everything was working fine and I have to go to work so I put the phone in my pocket and when I arrived at the office and took the phone out, it won’t turn on. I spent most of the day tinkering it but it just didn’t turn on. Right now, I’m kind of disappointed with chills running down my spine as I spent a few hundred bucks for a phone I haven’t even used for a full day. Do you guys have any idea what’s going on? Thanks.“ — Robbie

Troubleshooting Mi 5 that won’t turn on

First off, there’s no guarantee of a fix here because basically, what we’re trying to accomplish here is to find out whether the phone is still capable of powering itself up. It’s possible your Mi 5 got bricked and only an authorized technician can help  you especially if it’s only a few days old. Remember, the moment you unscrew one of the screws of the device, your warranty claim may not be honored and your unit may not be replaced. That being said, here are the things you can do to try to fix the problem safely without compromising the warranty…

Step 1: Verify the phone didn’t suffer physical and liquid damages

It’s actually very easy to determine whether the cause of the problem is physical damage because a blow or an impact that leaves the phone unresponsive would often leave some scratches or dents on the outside. In worst case, the screen would crack or break as it’s the most fragile component of all. Therefore, the first thing you should do is physically inspect your phone for those things.

When it comes to water damage, it’s a bit complicated to determine whether it’s the cause why your Mi 5 turned off and won’t turn back on. But if you were the only one that used the phone, then you know if it got dipped or fell in water and if there was one instance that the device actually got in contact with liquid, water damage is probable.

You know, water damage is very unpredictable. I’ve seen cases wherein the device got in contact with water but continued to function normally and after a week or two, it started to act crazy. When a drop of water is trapped within the phone, it can’t escape. The heat may vaporize it but still it can’t escape and may condense back to being liquid once the device cools down.

So, if at some point the phone got in contact with water, take the safe route and don’t, DON’T charge your Mi 5 and never attempt to turn it on again. Instead, send it in for further checkup or repair.

Please note that physical and water damages aren’t covered by warranty so you won’t get a replacement unit and you must pay for the services of the technician.

Step 2: Try to charge the phone (not for water-damaged units)

If you’re 100% sure your Mi 5 didn’t suffer from water damage, then you can do this step because it’s possible the battery just got drained and needs to be replenished. If the phone charges fine when plugged in, then you’re in luck because this might be the only thing you need to do to bring the handset back to life.

Aside from the obvious, you’re also looking for other signs that would tell us whether the device’s hardware is still working perfectly fine. Normally, your Mi 5 will display the usual charging icon on the screen once it detects current is flowing through its circuits and then there’s the LED light that’s lit. Without these signs, it’s obvious your device isn’t responding and in such case, here’s what I suggest you do:

• Plug the charger to another power source or electric outlet. It’s possible the one you’re currently using is damaged.
• Connect the device to your computer to find out if it charges or gets detected.
• Use a different power adapter or charger.
• Use a different cable.

If your phone still won’t respond after all this, then it’s more likely your device got bricked.

Step 3: Boot in recovery mode (optional)

The Mi 5 has a locked bootloader for “security reasons.” So, you may not be able to boot in recovery mode unless you got it unlocked. But if your phone is new, then it’s most likely you can’t do this step. But here’s how you usually access the recovery mode…

1. Press and hold Volume Up key + Power Key about 10 seconds
2. Release only Power key when Mi logo appears
3. Keep pressing Volume Up key until Recovery mode appears

Step 4: Send the phone in for repair

There’s nothing you can do at this point so you need to send your phone in for repair as it got bricked and we really don’t know the extent of the problem. Your phone may be replaced or a technician may take a look at it or do some tests to determine whether it can be repaired or not. The thing is it might take weeks before you can get an update about the status of your device and whether or not you can receive a new one. That’s the reality so patience is necessary.

I know a Mi 5 owner who haven’t received updates after sending the device in for 3 weeks. Imagine how frustrating would that be if your brand new device got bricked a few days after you purchased it.

Wrapping it up

Basically, all you have to do when your Mi 5 won’t turn on after it turned off on its own is to find signs that suggest it can still power back up like plugging it to charge for a few minutes. Should the phone refuses to charge, then it probably got bricked and you need to send it in for repair.

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