Over the past ten years, the functionality of mobile devices has undergone tremendous development.
The emergence of new smartphone production technologies on the market has provoked a large increase in their power and performance. Due to the constant reduction in the size of the processor, battery and other internal components of the device, the risk of overheating increases. This is most noticeable when performing particularly complex tasks that increase the temperature of the device to dangerous levels. We will try to find out what factors can cause an Android smartphone to overheat, and how to avoid the phone’s elevated temperature.
How to lower the temperature of your phone battery?
Smartphone cooling:
- To reduce the temperature
of the device, you need to close all applications and delete notifications. - Remove the smartphone from the protective case and place it in a cool place (not in the refrigerator!)
- Delete application cache. Stored data can place significant CPU load when running programs.
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Why is this happening
Overheating occurs due to intensive work of the CPU. This happens when:
- launching the game using modern graphics;
- watching high definition videos;
- surfing, if more than five tabs are open in the browser;
- data transfer via Wi-Fi;
- recording video on camera in high definition;
But +36°C degrees is already outside the optimal battery temperature, right?
Yes it is. Usually, in standby mode, the smartphone does not load the battery, and its temperature remains in the region
Prolonged operation of the battery at extremely high or low temperatures will lead to premature battery wear. It will no longer hold a charge well.
You can read more in the article: “Li-Ion batteries: pros and cons.”
If the temperature remains stable at +36°C , then there is nothing to worry about. It’s worse if the battery regularly gets very hot (up to +50°C or even +60°C ) - it is quite possible that it is worn out and needs to be replaced.
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At what temperatures can a smartphone and other gadgets operate?
Any equipment has a recommended temperature range in which it can be used. However, we do not live under a dome where the climate control is always on. In winter, gadgets begin to rapidly discharge, and in summer, heat can significantly increase battery wear. At what real temperature can a smartphone and other gadgets operate?
Let's start with the fact that the recommended temperature range of most devices lies in the range from –10 to +40°C. Although, for example, Apple immediately indicates that iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad should be used at temperatures from 0 to 35°C. The upper temperature limit is not very scary for many users living in Russia, but the devices’ intolerance to frost causes a lot of trouble. After all, even a half-charged smartphone, when the air temperature has dropped below zero, can suddenly turn off.
Of course, this problem applies not only to Apple technology - all gadgets that use batteries are susceptible to freezing in one way or another. True, some models are more frost-resistant - whether they will suddenly turn off and slow down in slight frost depends, for example, on the thickness and thermal conductivity of the case, but the situation will not change fundamentally.
Yes, the cause of this phenomenon is lithium-ion batteries. For all their advantages (light weight, absence of a “memory effect,” low self-discharge), these batteries do not tolerate cold at all. At low temperatures, lithium ions slow down and cannot deliver the required amount of energy, which results in the device turning off.
Some smartphones from Samsung, Huawei and other manufacturers sometimes use lithium-polymer batteries, the operating temperature of which is in the range from –20 to +40°C. But this does not solve the problem globally. After all, besides the battery, gadgets are full of other electronic components. For example, the touchscreen will still be slow and unresponsive in cold weather.
Therefore, the lower temperature limit for the smooth operation of gadgets is still 0°C. And below it, in most cases, the equipment begins to behave strangely.
Let's look at the upper limit. For example, when operating electronics at a temperature of 40°C, its battery wears out much faster - the battery loses up to 35% of its capacity per year. Manufacturers also recommend replacing fast chargers with regular ones at air temperatures above 30°C to minimize the risk of battery overheating.
Based on this, we can assume that the optimal upper limit for modern gadgets will be 25-30°C. Of course, we are not talking about special protected devices that can withstand both heat and frost.
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Why does the CPU temperature rise?
All modern Samsung Galaxy phones are equipped with CPU and battery temperature monitoring sensors. When a critical value is reached on one of the specified elements, they notify the user about the occurrence of a dangerous situation and independently turn off the mobile device.
These same sensors, together with special software, allow the smartphone owner to find out the real temperature of the processor and battery. To monitor the battery status, you can use the TempMonitor program, and for the CPU, the CPU Monitor utility is suitable. The procedure for working with them will be as follows:
The following factors can cause the CPU temperature to increase:
- launching high-demand games and other programs that work with 3D graphics;
- simultaneous opening of a large number of background applications;
- clogging the internal memory of the smartphone with residual files and other garbage;
- exposure to malware.
Causes and solutions
There are only two reasons for overheating sources in a phone:
- the Joule-Lenz law, according to which the passage of current through a conductor causes the release of heat, and the greater the current, the greater the heating;
- exothermic chemical reactions.
The first reason always works when the smartphone is functioning. Electronic device components consume electrical power, some of which is dissipated as heat. The second is concentrated in the battery. Reactions that release heat always occur when charging or discharging a battery. The designers have provided for normal heat exchange with the environment; if the processes are normal, the temperature should not cause discomfort to the user. If it does deliver, this is a reason to understand the reasons.
You also need to keep in mind the situation when the phone heats up not during charging or operation, but from an external source - for example, from direct sunlight. This option is also not harmless - such heating of the battery and display will not lead to anything good, so such situations should be avoided.
Problems with hardware
The processor and peripheral devices of the phone consume electrical power, and the higher the node load, the greater the current, and the higher the heating.
The hardware of a modern smartphone.
Some applications, especially gaming ones, may require simultaneous high-performance operation of several smartphone modules:
- processor;
- display and its controller;
- communication modules (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc.);
- other phone blocks.
Increased heating of the gadget in this mode is very likely. If the phone is working properly, the increase in temperature should not cause discomfort. But if you want to alleviate the thermal conditions of your smartphone, you can simply remove the case from it. Whatever the shell, it reduces heat exchange with the environment - some covers are larger, others are smaller. After finishing work with such a resource-intensive application, the shell can be put back on.
You can check whether the communication modules are accidentally turned on permanently. Each of them is not capable of causing an increased temperature, but when several work simultaneously, it is quite possible.
Forced enabled communication modules.
A special situation is when the heating goes beyond the comfort zone and the device body begins to burn your hands. A possible reason is the failure of one or more components. This option cannot be considered normal; the phone must be turned off and immediately taken to the service center. Along the way, you can analyze which module started to heat up when you turned on which module. This information can help the technician find the defect.
Software problems
Contrary to popular belief, apps themselves do not cause the phone to heat up. But some programs mercilessly use the gadget’s hardware resource and load the processor and peripheral modules of the smartphone so much that their temperature rises significantly. This is especially true for unprofessionally developed programs that constantly and ineffectively access the periphery. It is better not to use such software.
It happens that a lot of software “garbage” has accumulated in the operating system - “tails” of deleted programs, etc. This makes it difficult for the OS to work, overloads the processor, which leads to its heating. In most cases, to eliminate the cause it is enough to reboot the gadget , but it is also useful to check whether the operating system is updated to the latest version.
It will help ease the temperature of the phone and disable background programs, especially in areas of poor reception. If automatic updates, news loading, etc. are enabled, the smartphone will constantly search for the network and load the communication modules and processor.
How to avoid overheating
- Do not leave your smartphone in direct sunlight, especially while running resource-intensive applications or GPS navigation.
- Try not to run “heavy” games while your smartphone is charging.
- Do not leave your iPhone in a closed car; the air in the cabin quickly warms up even if it is not that hot outside.
- If you frequently use resource-intensive applications or during the hot season, it is better to avoid thick covers and cases.
- Do not use your smartphone under load for a long time.
- Monitor the temperature of the case; when it seems hot, let the device cool down without load.
Following these simple recommendations will help protect your smartphone from overheating and its owner from costly repairs.
How many degrees is normal for a phone and smartphone battery?
When you feel that your mobile device is noticeably heating up, then get ready - this could really be a malfunction. Restart your device, put it in airplane mode and turn on power saving mode.
If the smartphone continues to heat up, turn it off and take it to a service center, as there is a high probability of a serious problem.
Don't be too quick to worry. Heating may be slight and inconsistent. In this case, the reason is most likely not hardware, but software. For example, sometimes overloading a “weak” smartphone in terms of performance with numerous applications leads to such heating.
How to find out the temperature of a smartphone battery?
Its values can be read and displayed without Root on Android and Jailbreak on iOS by such applications as:
In most cases of increased heating of the battery of a mobile device, it is enough to optimize the operation of the operating system. Remove everything unnecessary. This will reduce the load on the processor, it will consume less battery power and heat it up.
This way you will bring the temperature in order. To understand whether the device is heating up or just seems that it is too hot, install one of the indicated programs and check how many degrees the chipset (processor, chipset, SoC, CPU, CPU) and battery (Battery) show.
Optimal operating temperatures for a smartphone:
These are indicators substantiated by engineers and scientists. You can read more in our article about smartphone overheating and in the temperature section of the large instructions for charging mobile devices.
The phone gets warm in standby mode
The culprits for increasing the temperature of a mobile gadget in standby mode are:
- Faulty, poorly debugged applications that consume CPU resources even after closing.
- Mobile viruses.
- System components malfunction.
- Incorrect installation of Android firmware or update.
By the way, these same factors can prevent the device from turning off. It looks like this: when you press the power button, the screen goes blank, but the system does not shut down. Some functions, such as reading data from memory or recording conversations through a microphone, remain active.
Booting your device in safe mode will help determine whether third-party applications and malware are causing the problem. If the phone stops heating, the reason most likely lies in them, since in safe mode viruses and user programs do not run (on some devices a third-party antivirus works in this mode, but this is an exception).
If suspicion falls on an unknown application, remove everything that you installed shortly before you noticed that the phone began to heat up. Problems with firmware cannot always be solved using simple methods. In the best case, resetting the system to factory settings will help, in the worst case, only flashing it.
Special programs for cooling
There are specially developed applications that constantly monitor the temperature of the processor or other components of the gadget. You can download the CPU-Z or Cooler Master program (available in the Play Market), which monitors the heating of the main components of the device, determines the causes and informs the user about the occurrence of critical situations. When excessive heating occurs, the application closes problematic programs.
There are special programs that monitor the phone's heating level
It is noteworthy that in parallel with temperature control, the application allows you to save battery charge, and this is its additional advantage. For gadgets running on other platforms (not Android, but WindowsPhone or iOS), there are their own analogues of such programs, since the problem with the possibility of overheating is relevant for any type and model of phone.
Normal temperature of an Android smartphone
Over the past ten years, the functionality of mobile devices has undergone tremendous development.
The emergence of new smartphone production technologies on the market has provoked a large increase in their power and performance. Due to the constant reduction in the size of the processor, battery and other internal components of the device, the risk of overheating increases. This is most noticeable when performing particularly complex tasks that increase the temperature of the device to dangerous levels. We will try to find out what factors can cause an Android smartphone to overheat, and how to avoid the phone’s elevated temperature.
The phone gets hot in unusual places
Noticeable heating in the area of the charging socket usually indicates incorrect operation of the charger (usually non-original and low-quality), poor contact between the cable plug and the phone connector, or a broken solder connection between the connector and the board. This situation cannot be ignored, as it foretells a complete failure of the charging system in the near future.
Due to defective soldering of the socket, the power controller and other components of the system board are sometimes damaged. And this already threatens significant expenses for repairs.
Very strong heating of the cable plug in the charging socket often leads to melting of the plastic elements and deposition of plastic on the inner walls of the socket, including the contacts. This socket will have to be changed, since the frozen plastic inside it will not allow you to connect the cable to the phone.
Heating in the area of the camera, a separate area of the screen and other components, which is combined with the incorrect operation of these components, indicates a hardware malfunction of an electrical nature (the more current flows through the element, the more it heats up). If this occurs only with intensive use of the smartphone and goes away without a trace as the load decreases, the cause is most likely poor heat dissipation. Sometimes it is caused by an unsuccessful design solution of the platform (close placement of hot elements to each other, saving on radiators), sometimes by a thick cover and the impact of other external factors on the device.
What temperature is considered normal and how to determine it
It is incorrect to talk about a clear boundary between case temperature between “normal” and “abnormal”. It is unlikely that this figure is even indicated in the design documentation, not to mention the publicly available operating instructions for the smartphone. A deviation from the usual sensations, when the phone behaves unusually during normal actions, should alert you. If the user's hand feels unusually hot, this should be noted.
For those who like clear boundaries, you can pay attention to the limit of 50 degrees C. When this threshold is reached, the degradation of the lithium battery sharply accelerates and the elements of the display matrix begin to fail. This temperature gives an unpleasant sensation, although you can still hold the phone in your hand. You can accurately measure the heating level with a thermometer or, if a pyrometer or thermal imager is available, in a non-contact manner. You can use a thermal imager – an attachment to your smartphone. At the same time, it will help localize the heating area.
Monitoring the distribution of the temperature field using a thermal imager.
But you can determine the temperature programmatically. Owners of Apple gadgets have a built-in utility for this. Android phone users can download and install the AIDA64 application.
Screenshot of the AIDA application menu for Android.
In the menu you need to select the “Temperature” section. In it you can see the heating level from all sensors installed in a specific smartphone model, including the temperature of the battery, backlight, cameras, etc.
Temperature from Xiaomi Mi8 phone sensors.
Article on the topic: Checking the battery status of a phone on Android OS