Heat: How to prevent your phone from overheating

What problems are caused?

Whether you’re at the beach under the sun or in the car in the heat, you’ve surely grabbed your phone and found that it’s unusually hot or the battery has dropped unreasonably much. Excessive heat affects the phone’s electronics, but unlike humans, it can’t sweat to lower its temperature. However, it has mechanisms that prevent it from overheating.

The phone’s internal components generate heat when they are working, and combined with high external temperatures, problems may occur in the device. For this reason, the processor slows down its performance and you see that the phone is slower in the heat. More generally, electronics are designed to operate up to 35 degrees Celsius.

Batteries are also designed to operate at certain temperatures. The hotter they get, the more they strain and consume more energy. They also use energy to monitor their condition, and in the heat you’ll see their levels deplete faster. In addition, at the beach or on a hot sunny day, the screens are usually running at 100%, which also has an impact on the battery.

So what can you do to keep your phone cool? First of all do not leave it exposed to the sun. In the car, try to have it in the shade or use a phone stand and place it in front of the vent so that the cold air from the air-conditioner hits it. Avoid having it on the charger unless necessary, as charging generates extra heat. Otherwise when charging it, don’t use it at the same time.

Take it out of its case and turn off any functions you don’t use. For example, if you are not using GPS, turn it off. The less you use, the less energy it will need, the less heat it will produce. If you find that the phone is straining from the heat, just turn it off for a few minutes to let everything go back to normal before you start using it again.

Caution! Do not refrigerate or put in an ice pack. It doesn’t help. Sudden temperature changes cause damage to electronics.