How Do Phones Cool Themselves?[Smartphone cooling Basics]
Phones have components that generates heat when the phone is under heavy use. Excessive heat can cause the components to overheat and melt.
To avoid this damage, smartphone makers have to come up with efficient ways for the smartphones to cool themselves. And the challenge is hard due to the smartphone sizes.
So how do phones cool themselves.
How Smartphones Stay Cool
1. Heat Sink
A heat sink is any material that can transfer heat fast.
Any part of the phone that produces heat during operation is attached to a heat sink. Heat sinks are able to take away heat from the parts through conduction.
2. Cooling Tubes
The heat sinks are attached to cooling tubes. The cooling tubes are able to spread the heat away from the processor and other heat producing components.
These cooling tubes contain a liquid. As the phone gets hot, the heat sinks heats the cooking tubes. The liquid closest to the heat sinks evaporates. The liquid from the cool parts of the phone moves to occupy the space left by the vapour. Also, the vapour moves the cooler parts of the phone and codense thereby cooling the phone.
3. Throttling
CPU/ Processor Throttling
As a final result, the phone will innitiate CPU/ Processor throttling if heating continue to rises.
An app you are running on the phone will become painfully slow or even stop.
Most people at this point usually turn off the processor heavy apps which in turn starts the process of cooling the phone.
4. Low Power Consumption
Smartphone use less power compared to laptops and desktop computer, therefore, they produce less heat. In turn, they don’t need lots of cooling. Desktop computer use around 60 to 300watt hours(Wh) of power per day.
Laptops operate at around 6.3 to 230 watt hours(Wh) of power per day.
Smartphone use around 3 to 25watt hours(Wh) of power per day.
Phone Cooling Frequently Asked Questions[FAQ]
How are smartphones cooled?
Smartphones are cooled through through heat sinks and cooling tubes. The heat is dissipated through conduction from heat sinks and evaporation and condensation from liquids inside the cooling tubes.
Is phone cooler good for your phone?
A phone cooler is not neccessary for your phone.
Do smartphones have cooling systems?
Yes smartphones have elaborate cooling sytems. These sytems include heat sinks, cooling tubes and processor throttling.
Do smartphones have liquid cooling?
Yes, smartphones utilize liquid cooling. But it is not the same liquid cooling used on desktop and laptop computers. Due to their small size, they use liquid cooling inside cooling tubes.
Is there a fan in a smartphone?
Smartphones don’t contain any fans. Smartphones are able to cool themselves using other means like heat sinks and liquid cooling.
Why do phones not need fans?
Phones do not produce enough heat to justify adding fans.
Adding a fan on a smartphone would increase its size significantly.
Finally, phones are usually put in enclosed spaces like bags and pockets. Hypothetically, if phones were to produce lots of heating, cooling with fans would be ineffective in enclosed spaces.