Overheating is a common issue that smartphone users face from time to time. Excessive heat can cause discomfort when holding your phone and also raises concerns about potential damage to the device. But can high temperatures actually damage your phone? Here’s what you need to know.
What Causes Phones to Overheat?
There are several potential causes of phone overheating:
- Using resource-intensive apps, especially for prolonged periods
- Charging the phone while using it at the same time (especially while fast charging)
- Direct sunlight or hot ambient temperatures
- Poor airflow around the phone due to phone case or blockage of vents
- Too many background apps running
- Older phone with aging battery
- Faulty battery or other hardware issue
Activities like gaming, video streaming, video recording, and using GPS navigation can heat up the phone’s processor and cause overheating. The battery also generates heat during charging and discharging cycles. If the phone cannot dissipate the excess heat adequately, the internal temperature will continue to rise.
At What Temperatures Do Phones Start to Overheat?
Most phone manufacturers consider temperatures up to 95°F (35°C) to be normal during resource-intensive use. But some phones can start feeling uncomfortably warm to the touch before reaching that threshold.
Sustained temperatures above 113°F (45°C) inside the phone are considered overheating. At these temperatures, the phone will get quite hot to the touch.
Prolonged exposure to high temperatures above 122°F (50°C) can potentially damage the battery and other internal components.
Do High Temperatures Damage Phones?
Overheating does put stress on smartphones and can potentially lead to damage in some situations. Here are some ways that overheating can impact your phone:
- Battery degradation – Lithium-ion batteries degrade faster when exposed to high heat over their lifespan. This causes the battery to hold less of a charge compared to when it was new.
- CPU/GPU throttling – The phone may throttle down the speeds of the processor and graphics to prevent overheating. This can lead to laggy performance.
- Unexpected shutdowns – If the phone gets too hot, it may suddenly power off to protect itself from damage.
- Display issues – With OLED displays, high temperatures can cause image retention or even screen burn-in in severe cases.
- App crashes/freezing – Apps and the OS can become unstable and freeze or crash when the phone overheats during use.
While high temperatures pose risks, phones are designed to withstand and dissipate a certain amount of heat without sustaining damage. Unless the phone overheats to extreme temperatures for a prolonged time, any damage is likely to be gradual.
What Temperature Can Permanently Damage a Phone?
Most modern smartphone components can operate at up to 95°F (35°C) without issue. However, temperatures above 113°F (45°C) sustained over a long period of time can potentially cause permanent damage.
Here are some temperature thresholds where permanent damage can occur:
- 130°F (55°C) – At this point, the battery begins to suffer severe irreversible damage. Internal protective circuits become damaged.
- 150°F (65°C) – The battery can be permanently disabled and become unusable. The processor and other ICs suffer irreparable damage.
- 170°F (75°C) – Many components like the display, camera sensor, memory chips, motherboard will be damaged beyond repair.
Temperatures above 170°F (75°C) can essentially destroy a phone completely. Melting and warping of components like the casing, display, and motherboard make the phone unusable.
How to Keep Your Phone From Overheating
To help prevent excessive overheating, be mindful of the following tips when using your phone:
- Avoid prolonged intensive usage like gaming or video streaming
- Close background apps not in use
- Remove protective case when doing demanding tasks
- Do not charge and use the phone simultaneously
- Avoid direct sunlight on hot days
- Keep the phone on a hard surface for better airflow
- Avoid completely depleting the battery
Also, be sure to keep the phone’s internal temperature sensor uncovered. This allows the phone to accurately monitor its internal temperature and engage cooling mechanisms or throttling when needed.
How to Cool Down an Overheating Phone
If your phone starts to get uncomfortably warm, here are some steps you can take to cool it down:
- Stop any resource-intensive tasks immediately
- Turn on airplane mode to stop wireless radios
- Close all apps not in use
- Remove any protective case or cover
- Move the phone to a cool, shady location
- Point a fan directly at the phone to improve airflow
- Avoid powering off the phone, allow automatic cooling measures to work
You can place the warm phone down on a table or other surface so air can circulate underneath. Just be cautious of metal surfaces which can transmit heat.
As a last resort if the phone will not cool down sufficiently, you may need to power it off completely. This stops all internal processes from generating additional heat. But allow the phone to cool down adequately before powering it back on.
Signs of Heat Damage in Phones
Here are some signs that prolonged overheating may have caused damage to your phone:
- Reduced battery life
- Phone feels warm or hot constantly
- Apps stutter, freeze, or crash unexpectedly
- Discoloration on display or melted plastic components
- Phone restarts or turns off unexpectedly
- Swelling or puffing up of battery
- Cracked display glass
- Separation of display/body due to melted glue
- Camera, GPS, or other components malfunction
Severe overheating can even result in complete failure of components like the processor or battery. The phone may no longer power on at all in such cases.
If you notice any of these issues, consider taking your phone to a repair shop for inspection. They can check for any physical damage and test components like the battery.
When to Replace an Overheated Phone
Replacing your phone can be an expensive proposition, so it’s not always necessary if it only overheats occasionally under heavy use. Slight battery degradation or minor cosmetic damage does not make the phone unusable.
However, consistently high temperatures even during normal use along with multiple symptoms of failure likely indicates irreparable damage. It becomes risky to keep using such a phone.
Consider replacing your phone if you experience:
- Frequent overheating with normal use
- Crash, failures or unexpectedly hot areas
- Sharp decline in battery runtime
- Swelling or puffing up of battery
- Melted or separated components
- Overall sluggish performance
- Multiple hardware components malfunctioning
Compare the cost of a replacement phone or battery vs further investing in a severely damaged phone. In most cases, it makes economic sense to invest in a new phone.
Conclusion
Overheating can definitely damage smartphones, especially if allowed to persist for a long duration. Lithium-ion batteries are particularly vulnerable to heat degradation over time.
However, phones are designed to withstand normal spikes in temperature during intensive use. Only sustained temperatures above 113°F (45°C) are likely to impact the long-term health and performance of your phone.
Be mindful of the conditions that cause overheating and avoid them when possible. Act quickly to cool down your phone if it gets too warm. Look out for symptoms of heat damage, which may indicate when it’s time to replace your phone.
With proper care and precautions, you can enjoy using your phone for years before overheating poses any real threat of permanent damage.