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How to protect your smartphone in a heatwave
The UK and much of Europe have been experiencing record temperatures in recent months, and there is another heatwave predicted in parts of the country this week.
One of the more banal but irritating ways in which this persistent heat is affecting everyday life is by interfering with how you use your smartphone. If you’ve noticed your phone becoming too hot to handle or slowing down in the stifling heat, there’s a reason for that.
Here’s the full lowdown on why your phone is struggling in high temperatures, followed by some tips on what to do (and what not to do) with your handset when the heatwaves hit.
What’s the problem?
Put simply, phones do not like extreme heat. Both Apple and Samsung – the two biggest smartphone makers – state that their phones are designed to be used between 0C and 35C.
If a phone exceeds that maximum temperature, it will be forced to adjust its behaviour in ways that might affect your general use. Apple’s iPhones are known to dim their screens when things get toasty, which can prove counterproductive on sunny days.
You might also find that your phone gets slower due to so-called ‘throttling’. This is the term for when your phone’s internal chip reduces its processing speeds in an attempt to generate less heat.
In a worst-case scenario, an overheating phone may power down entirely and remain non-operational until the ambient temperature drops.
Here’s what you can do to manage your phone during hot weather conditions.
Don’t charge your phone when it’s really hot
The unifying thread to all of these tips is to keep your phone as cool as possible and avoid tasks that cause it to heat up. One of the major instances of the latter is charging.
You’ll no doubt have observed how warm your phone gets when you plug it in. My advice is to try to avoid charging during the day when it’s hotter and you’re likely to be using it.
Rather, try to get through to bedtime and charge overnight. It’ll be a little cooler, and you can leave your phone well alone during the process.
Many phones support some form of fast charging, which can reach laptop-like charging speeds of up to 120W. This produces extra heat, so you should consider using a charging brick with a lower wattage, such as 25W or thereabouts. Yes, your phone will charge more slowly, but it won’t get as hot.
Avoid wireless charging
Wireless charging can cause your phone to heat up even more. This is because of the inherently inefficient way in which the wireless charging process works, with electromagnetic induction on the back of your phone taking the place of a physical connection.
What’s more, if the charging coils of your phone and charging pad don’t precisely align, the charger is forced to work harder to transfer the necessary power. All of this generates excess heat. If you need to charge your phone on a particularly hot day, ditch the wireless charging pad and plug it in – while observing the previous point, of course.
Use your phone without a case
Your phone is designed to expel heat from its body, whether it’s made of metal, plastic or strengthened glass. Putting on a protective case might shield it from physical knocks, but it will also serve to insulate it, retaining additional heat.
While phones are designed to operate with these cases on, you might want to consider running your phone case-free on hotter days to ensure it can expel heat as easily as possible. Just try a bit harder not to drop it.
Keep your phone out of hot spots
It sounds obvious, but direct sunlight is a sure-fire way to rapidly overheat your device. The external surfaces of many phones are made up of glass and metal, which combine to absorb direct sunlight.
Most phones lack any sort of ventilation to easily expel such heat from their tightly packed internal components, so it’s best to keep yours in the shade.
Sticking to the theme of avoiding obvious heat sources, don’t leave your phone in a hot car, and consider carrying it around in a bag away from your body rather than in a tight trouser pocket.
Lay off the games and intensive apps
The main heat-causing component inside your phone is its System on Chip (SoC) – the all-in-one microchip that incorporates the essential components for day-to-day operation. This combined element is particularly power-hungry, and no task stresses the processor more than gaming. All of which is to say: don’t play games on hot days.
Moving further down the list of heating culprits, consider refraining from using apps and performing tasks that make heavy use of the processor. Think photo editing, AI tasks, navigation apps, photography, and streaming high-quality video over the web.
Keep the screen brightness down
Another component that generates heat on your phone is its display, especially when at full brightness. When your phone is being used in bright sunlight, it will kick into a so-called High Brightness Mode (HBM) that consumes more power and generates more heat.
To toggle the Auto-Brightness setting off, head into Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text on iPhone, or Settings > Display on Android.
You can then manually turn the brightness down using the drop-down Control Centre/Quick Settings menu without your phone fighting against you and turning it back up.
Turn it off as much as possible
Using your phone is guaranteed to generate heat, so in the event that your phone becomes uncomfortably warm to the touch, turning it off for a while will maximise the cooling process.
Otherwise, consider activating Aeroplane mode for a while. This will switch off heat-generating elements like Wi-Fi, mobile connectivity and Bluetooth. It’s also possible to turn these off separately in your phone’s Control Centre/Quick Settings menu if you need one or more to remain active.
Never put your phone in the fridge
When your phone becomes too hot to touch, it might be tempting to try to cool it down as quickly as possible. You might see some recommendations to place the phone in your fridge. Do not do this.
Questions of hygiene aside (do you really want your mucky phone anywhere near your fresh food?), there’s a chance this could actively damage your phone. Sudden changes in temperature can be bad for phones, while the rapid cooling process could conceivably cause condensation to form within the handset.
Gradual, natural cooling is a much safer idea. Find the coolest spot wherever you are, follow the above guidance, and leave your phone there for a spell. If you want to help it on its way, regular cooling fans can be a big help in drawing heat away from a phone.
