Can Your Smartphone Handle the Heat?

A smartphone can easily cost $500 or more. The last thing you need is for your investment to be damaged by heat. Here are a few tips to prevent your smartphone from overheating during the summer and throughout the year:

• Keep it out of high-temperature areas: It might seem like common sense, but a smartphone heats up when exposed to high temperatures. To prevent your smartphone from heating up, don’t leave it on the dashboard of your car during the summer and keep it away from saunas, grills, heating units and other hot locations.

• Keeping a phone from heating up while charging:  It’s normal for a smartphone to warm up while charging. If it becomes too hot, you can attempt to remedy it by avoiding using or even turning the phone off during charging, getting rid of any unwanted apps, using a different charging cable or changing to a charger with less power.

• Dim the screen: Turning up the brightness on the screen causes your smartphone’s battery to work harder, which can lead to overheating. Using a glare screen can help when using your phone in bright sunlight.

• Monitor your usage: A smartphone overheats if it’s used for extraordinarily heavy streaming or gaming, so consider curtailing these activities.

• Remove the case: While the case protects your smartphone when you drop it, it also traps heat. Consider removing the case whenever practical, including during charging.

• Update your apps: The latest app versions tend to have additional fixes that can improve your smartphone’s efficiency and minimize the risk of overheating.