Let’s be honest, we’re probably already guilty of our phones overheating possibly due to excessive use or keeping it plugged in all the time. With increasing daily temperatures, we not only have to protect ourselves from the sun but also our devices!
When a phone overheats you may experience
- poor signal quality
- slow charging or charging completely stops
- inability to use camera flash
- phone being disabled until cooled down
- potential data loss
- poor battery life
- phone internals / circuit damage
- case or buttons melting and damaging
What can you do to prevent your phone from overheating?
Don’t leave it in direct sunlight
First up, never leave your phone exposed to direct sunlight for extended periods. High temperatures can damage your battery and even cause the screen to malfunction.
If you’re out in the sun, try to keep your phone in a shaded, cool place. A hand or book bag is much better than leaving it in your pocket as your elevated body temperatures coupled with the phone (in a case) inside a relatively air tight pants pocket can result in overheating.
Avoid leaving it in a car
Other than the obvious security reasons, you should never leave your phone in a parked car, especially on a hot day. The temperature inside a car can skyrocket, causing irreversible damage to your device.NOTE that direct sunlight can even affect your phone while in the phone holder inside your car. Even with AC on, direct heat through the windscreen coupled with apps such as navigation apps can cause your phone to overheat.
Be mindful when charging
When charging your phone, try to do it in a cool environment. Avoid charging in direct sunlight or on surfaces that retain heat. Where possible, don’t use your phone while it’s being charged, especially if you’re in a hotter than average room / space.
Not all phone chargers are created equally. To be on the safe side, use a charger from a reputable manufacturer that is compatible with your device. Also, ensure that there is no damage to the charger, cables or to your phone’s charging port as these are also issues that can lead to overheating.
The same applies to battery packs which, especially the ones you get for free at trade shows. These may not be built with the best cooling technology and can negatively impact your phone battery.
Try not to stack devices on top each other
Some of us may have more than one mobile phone that we use on a daily basis and have the habit to placing them one on top each other and then into our pockets. If one of the devices fall prey to any of the heating issues mentioned on this page, then consider what would happen if two devices are involved. Secondly, the heat generate by each device, coupled with higher than average temperatures can also result in one or both of your devices overheating.
Lower your screen brightness
Turning your screen brightness up will force your battery to work harder and create more heat. Lower your screen brightness and consider shortening the screen timeout duration to keep your screen from being on for unnecessarily long periods of time.
Consider looking into an antiglare screen protector—it can help you see your phone’s screen in the sun so you won’t have to turn the brightness up higher.
Turn off unused apps on your phone
Too many open apps running in the background cause your phone to work harder, which in turn causes it to heat up.
Temporarily remove your phone case
If your phone is overheating, your phone case isn’t helping. Phones are built with dissipating heat in mind, but cases can hold it in. So, take that case off to help your phone cool down more quickly.
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