Why do Smartphones overheat?

Smartphones are getting smarter day by day but as the technology keeps on improving, overheating is an issue that just doesn't go away. Phones becoming warm should not be a cause of concern. They are designed to work that way (YES, they are) but if they are becoming unpleasantly hot, there could be potential harm to your device. Today, we break it down for you.


What causes overheating?

• Processor: Processor is always active, no matter, if your phone is in use or on standby. Your CPU and GPU is housed in central system-on-a-chip (SoC). As we demand more, the heating will be more. The electrons in the semi-conductor are bound to produce heat as any other electronic device.

• Overloading: If you run your car at 160 km/h instead of 60 km/h, your engine is bound to be heated up more. Same goes for you SoC. In short, if you multi-task ( say record a 4K video or play a demanding game over an extended period of time), the phone will get heated up.

• Battery:Battery has always been dealt with unfairly in the development of the smartphone. The ever slimming phones of ours dissipate a lot of heat and finding no space to radiate due to it's densely packed nature, heat can be easily felt. If your phone gets heated while charging, it is completely normal ( No need to panic). The quick charging ability definitely dissipates a greater amount of heat and that should not be a concern.

• Ambient Temperature: Our bodies can be potentially harmed under the tarring heat of the sun. Imagine what could happen to our phones. Exposing the phone to high surrounding temperatures ( in summer) definitely heats up the device than it can during winters.

• Brightness: We have a bad habit of maximising the brightness even when it is not required. Let alone the harm it causes to our eyes, it also consumes a greater amount of heat than it should.

• Poor Connectivity: Whenever we face poor connectivity, our phone supplies greater power to the antenna to optimise signal strength of Wifi or our Carrier Network. This in turn, generates a lot of heat.

• Metallic Back: Metallic backs conduct a greater amount of heat, so the phones feel a bit warmer.

When to worry?

As we mentioned earlier, your phone is designed to handle heat, so getting warmed up during charging or multi-tasking even upto 40- 43 degress is completely normal but if the device behaves in the same way regularly even during standby, it could be a hardware malfunction and you should consider replacement.

Tips to prevent overheating:

• Do not expose your battery to heat: Do not use your phone actively when charging. Maintain a charge cycle of 30-80%. This may sound a bit tiring but it can go a long way in taking a good care of your phone.
• Keep your phone updated: Phones with same processor may heat differently because the hardware and software may not work in sync. Software updates are provided to keep a check on performance issues.
• Background apps: They suck a lot out of your data as well as battery life and they are no way behind in overheating your phone. Closing background apps, restricting data consumption in background is a good way to keep a check on heating. Do the same for all the new apps installed that could heat your phone more.
• Turn off your phone: It sounds silly but even the best phones need a fresh start. Turning off your phone once in a while gives the much needed break to your CPU.

If your smartphones get heated up, do not worry. Keep these tips in mind. The processor will automatically throttle it's speed and prevent any potential harm. In extreme cases, you may get a warning shutdown message. If nothing works, you can always throw your phone in the water and get a new one :P.(Don't sue us, though)