My Redmi Note 8 Pro, which is about six years old, was working normally until I rebooted it. It started up successfully, then powered off while I was using it, even though the battery was around 60%. Since then, the screen has remained completely black. The white charging or laptop connection LED still turns on, but the phone does not respond to the power button or any volume-button combinations.
A local technician opened the phone and believes the problem is related to the motherboard or power-management IC. He said he needs to source a specific replacement component. He originally estimated two days, but it has now been three days because the part has not arrived.
I explained that some of the data on the phone is very important. He told me that if the phone works after the repair, the data should still be intact. I do have a backup, but it is incomplete, so I would prefer not to risk losing anything that was missed.
Is it reasonable to wait while he sources a motherboard component, or should I take the phone to a specialist in board-level repair and data recovery? Based on these symptoms, how likely is it that the phone can be revived with the existing data preserved? Could working on the NAND storage affect my chances of recovery?
3 Answers
The best chance of preserving the data is to use a reputable board-level repair or mobile data-recovery specialist rather than repeatedly trying random parts or accepting a replacement motherboard. A motherboard swap may make the phone usable again, but it will not bring back the data stored on the original board. Since the backup is incomplete, ask for a diagnostic first and get confirmation that no reset or board replacement will happen without permission.
The symptoms point to a power or motherboard fault, but they cannot confirm the exact failure from the outside. The charging LED only shows that some power is reaching the phone; it does not guarantee that the processor or storage can start. If the data is the priority, tell the technician clearly not to factory-reset the phone, unlock the bootloader, replace the motherboard, or work on the NAND storage without your approval.
If the storage chip itself is damaged, recovery becomes much more difficult because modern phones usually encrypt the data and tie it to the original motherboard and processor. Keeping the original board and its main chips together is important.
If the repair is limited to the power-management circuit and the technician does not replace, erase, or otherwise alter the storage chip, your data should normally remain untouched. The phone’s storage is separate from the power IC, so repairing the power path does not automatically wipe it. A few extra days can be normal if the required board component has to be sourced, especially for an older phone.
That makes sense. My main concern is whether the technician might have to work directly on the storage chip if the board repair does not solve it.
I do have most of the data backed up, but I will ask for a diagnostic-only approach and make sure they keep the original motherboard.