5 Simple Tips to Protect Your Phone From Overheating

Warm weather and sunny days are spreading across the country, forecasts suggest rising temperatures, so it means the summer is here. To stay cool, put the big coats away, flip-flops and light clothes are welcome. While we are all aware how to keep ourselves cool, do you know that your phone needs protection from heat as well? There are no sun creams for devices, but we have a few tips to share, so your phone is protected from overheating in the summer.

What Causes My Phone to Overheat?

Same as humans can get sunburn or dehydration, powerful smartphone components that are tightly packed in the body of your device are easily affected by weather conditions, whether it be cold or hot. As a result of exposure to direct sun rays without protection, your phone's performance can suffer, forcing the phone to shut down and battery life can experience significant drain. In very extreme conditions, the battery can even catch fire or your phone’s internals can start melting.

Not only do weather conditions cause phones to overheat, but usage patterns as well. Power-hungry apps in use or multiple apps running in the background require lots of work from the battery which as a result causes it to drain fast. Batteries don’t cope well with working overtime and therefore your phone can overheat.

How to Protect My Phone from Overheating?

Image: Compare and Recycle

If you'd rather never see this warning message pop up on your phone or if it does happen you know how to fix it, here are a few don’ts to keep in mind and tips to protect your phone and yourself:

Avoid direct sunlight

If you leave your handset on the dashboard of your car on a hot day or in direct sunlight when you are having fun outdoors, high temperatures acting as external heat source will cause overheating and potential damage to the battery or sensitive electronics. This can lead to the phone ending up in non-working condition and a costly repair might be required (if it's not too late).

Turn off anything you’re not using

Some devices are programmed to turn off unnecessary functions like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or Location automatically when an initial warning message appears. Turning these off or ideally putting Flight Mode on as well as lowering your screen’s brightness can prevent your battery from heating up.

Carry multiple devices separately

Do you carry your phone, tablet, power bank and gameboy all in one bag? You shouldn't. Carrying your gadgets close to each other increases the chance of more heat being produced. Make sure you keep them separate and enough air flow is allowed to each device.

Don't cool it down too fast

As soon as you see a warning message, your reaction might be to rush and place your phone in the coldest place you can find, perhaps a freezer.. That's a no no. Speeding the cooling down process can initiate condensation to get trapped inside of your phone and lead to water damage which is definitely something you shouldn’t do to your phone. Additionally, extreme temperature swings can be damaging to the device. Instead take your phone indoors, away from exposure to the heat and leave it to cool down on its own.

Remove the case from your phone

Unless your case is one of those thermal protection cases you can get on Amazon, take it off, so enough airflow travels to your phone as general cases tend to trap heat or help it build up. If the thermal protection case idea caught your interest, check out a company called PHOOZY, their pouches will do the job. Unfortunately, they are not as pretty as other covers, but most essentially they will resist the heat and that's what they are needed for.

Stay safe and keep your phone safe

All in all, the tips mentioned above are not complicated and once you are aware of them, you won't end up making a hundred pound mistake. If your phone does overheat on a regular basis, it is worth diagnosing the issue and look at repairing it if possible. Alternatively, you can recycle your device and visit our refurbished comparison to find yourself a like-new, nice and cold phone that is kinder to the environment.

• Read More: Guide to Buying Refurbished Phones

• Read More: Are iPhones bad for the Environment