Stay cool Protect your smartphone from the sun & heat: Useful tips
High temperatures and direct sunlight can affect the performance of your smartphone and even cause permanent damage. Here you can find out how your phone can safely survive the next heatwave - if it comes ...
One downside of summer weather: smartphones can suffer permanent damage in extreme temperatures. Depending on the manufacturer, different maximum temperatures are specified for storing the smartphone: For Apple devices, this is 45 degrees. Samsung specifies a maximum temperature of 50 degrees. Ideally, devices from both brands should not be actively used at temperatures above 35 degrees.
To make it clear that these figures don't come out of the blue, let's take a quick look at the potential damage to your smartphone in extreme heat:
Dangers to your smartphone in extreme heat:
- Battery overheating: extreme heat can damage your smartphone's battery. This can lead to a reduction in battery life, faster discharge or, in the worst case, to the battery blowing up or leaking, which poses a potential fire hazard.
- Reduced performance: Overheated smartphones can respond more slowly as the internal components such as the processor and RAM no longer work efficiently. The device may crash or shut down automatically to prevent damage.
- Damage to the display: High temperatures can damage the display. This can be noticeable through discolored or permanent stains on the screen. Touch functionality may also be impaired.
- Deformation of housing parts: Plastic and metal parts can deform when exposed to high heat, which can affect the structure and tightness of the device. This can lead to poorer protection against water and dust.
- Data loss: In some cases, extreme heat can cause memory chips to be damaged, which can lead to data loss. Important files, photos and apps could be irretrievably lost.
- Camera problems: The heat can also affect your smartphone's camera. Images could become blurred or the camera could fail completely.
- Damaged internal components: Solder joints and other sensitive electronic connections inside the smartphone can become loose or damaged by heat, which can lead to permanent malfunctions.
So what should you do when temperatures soar?
1. a place in the shade
Even if you like to take your smartphone with you wherever you go - be it to the lake, the beach or the mountains - you should always protect it from direct sunlight. The shady side is the trump card here. It's also better to carry your cell phone in a bag or rucksack rather than in your trouser pocket when you're out and about, as this allows less heat to build up.
2 Don't leave it in the car
Don't leave your phone in the car in summer. It heats up very quickly at high temperatures, which leads to extreme heat inside the car. Especially on dark surfaces such as the dashboard, temperatures can reach up to 70 degrees when the sun is shining in the car - not good for your smartphone!
3. avoid power-intensive apps
If possible, avoid using apps that require a lot of computing power at high temperatures, as these will heat up your smartphone even more. For example, apps for graphics and video processing, games, streaming and multimedia apps, navigation and augmented reality as well as downloads and system updates are particularly performance-intensive.
You can also monitor your smartphone's system resources yourself and find out which apps are particularly taxing on your phone:
Android: Go to Settings > Battery or Settings > Apps > App usage. There you can see which apps consume a lot of battery and resources.
iOS: Go to Settings > Battery to see the battery consumption by apps.
4. please do not put it in a cool place
Under no circumstances should you cool your smartphone in the fridge or freezer, as the significant temperature difference can damage the device. Sudden temperature fluctuations can cause condensation and thus moisture damage.
Hopefully we have been able to help you keep a cool head and protect your smartphone from the heat. These simple measures will keep your device protected even on hot days. Stay cool and enjoy the summer!
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- Smart helpers for hot summer days
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- Cell phone myths put to the test - part 1 & 2
Your opinion counts
What do you do to keep your smartphone cool? Tell the community! We look forward to your opinion.