Learn how to avoid cell phone overheating – 7/3/2023 – Tech

You’re at the park or at the beach on a very sunny day and suddenly your cell phone stops working because it’s overheating.

Why do these appliances suffer from heat and what can we do when this happens?

Just as we struggle to carry out our daily activities when it’s too hot, so does the processor in our phones—an internal chip responsible for its main functions.

“The things inside that really make everything work, unfortunately, generate heat,” says Roz Wyatt-Millington, senior lecturer in electronics and electrical engineering at Leeds Beckett University in England.

“As the device gets hotter, the processor tries to prevent it from overheating, and as a result, it ends up slowing everything down.”

Roz says that electronics are generally designed to work up to 35ºC.

“Batteries store energy and are designed to work at certain temperatures. The hotter they get, the harder they have to work and the more energy they use,” she says.

In other words, battery life drains faster, especially since it’s harder to cool down.

Roz says we often turn up the screen brightness when we’re out in the sun, which can also take a toll.

“That sucks power out of the device and basically it ends up overloaded.”

If you noticed a slight change on your mobile screen, extreme heat could be behind it.

“If it’s an old phone and there’s a small defect in it, the heat will enlarge it,” he says.

Roz adds that screen protectors generally retain more heat, which isn’t great in hot conditions.

What to do to cool the phone

don’t carry it

“If it’s really hot, when you’re charging the phone, you’re generating heat. When the phone is charging, it gets hotter,” explains Roz.

Choose the ideal location

“Keeping him out of direct sunlight helps. Don’t leave him in the car, keep him in the shade as much as possible. Put him in front of a fan if you can.”

don’t overload it

This applies to both the inside and outside of the phone. Take it out of the protective cover and turn off all unnecessary functions.

“If you are not using the GPS, if you are not using other features, turn it off. Because the less things you actually use, the less energy the device will use, the less heat it will generate”, he says.

Save energy

The less energy you use, the better your phone will be. “Sometimes simply, if your phone is really having issues, turn it off for a few minutes, let it cool down, then turn it back on.”

But don’t use fridge or freezer…

“Don’t put it in an ice pack because that doesn’t help.”

Rapid changes in temperature can be very bad for phones, and ice can cause water to get trapped in it.

Roz says the phones have overheating mechanisms to keep them from “destroying themselves, which can happen in extreme heat.”

This text was published here.