Phone runs warm; anybody else?

[rtacemery]

I apologize in advance; this will seem like a duplicate post, but isn't. The short version: I'm looking for affirmation that everyone's phone gets warm when browsing the web, downloading from the Market, and sometimes during phone calls; not explanations, just confirmation.

I've noticed that my Droid gets very warm during moderate use. There are other threads about this, but the responses were usually along the lines of "this is why it would happen". I'm looking for "mine does this too"; with enough of those, I'll see it as normal behavior.

The back of my Droid gets warm when charging the battery. I expect that; batteries get warm when charging, so that's normal. It also gets warm when I'm playing games. I expect that; as other threads have mentioned, this is really a portable computer, and computers get warm when the processor is taxed.

But I've also noticed that the back near the camera lens gets very warm when I'm browsing the web and especially when I'm downloading from the Market. It also sometimes (but not always) gets very warm when I'm on a phone call (I use very little voice, so this is hard to pinpoint). When I say warm, I don't mean too hot to touch. It's just noticeably (sometimes very, rarely uncomfortably) warm.

I've read explanations in other threads that it is probably the radio(s), and that makes sense. I also read that the metal case probably acts as a heat sink. I accept that, and all of the explanations sound reasonable. If *everybody's* phone acts this way, then I'm happy to accept it, and I can live with it. But I know that heat is a killer of electronics, so if it's a defect in my particular phone, I want to get it swapped (assuming they'll let me).

So, my question is "does everyone notice the same behavior?"

Thanks in advance,
Rick

 

[New2u]

Yes there have been many many many posts on this. It runs warm because it's basically a mini computer in a phone without a great way to cool it down. This is decently normal, if it starts getting past warm, and nearing if not reaching burning, you should check the temp of the unit and then shut it down for a minute.

 

[skagmire]

Like nearly every other smartphone on this planet, the Motorola Droid gets warm/hot during use.

Yours does, mine does, everyones does... droid does

 

[rtacemery]

Thanks, I feel much better now. I forgot to mention in my initial post; this is my first smartphone, so I wasn't sure it was expected behavior.

Thanks again.
Rick

 

[friedmal]

Is there an app that can monitor the internal temp of the phone and warn you when it is approaching critical?

 

[rtacemery]

...you should check the temp of the unit and then shut it down for a minute.

Is there an app (or somewhere in settings; I couldn't find it) that tells the temperature of the phone? Or did you mean to check it by feeling it?

I'm using the "Battery Life" widget, which can be configured to tell the battery temperature. That should be pretty close, right? Does anyone know the temperature at which to become concerned (I've seen it as high as 104 degrees F, but only once)?

 

[ManlyDad]

Warm, related to short battery life?

After reading several posts about warm Droid, I'm still uncomfortable. I have occasional warming, and it seems that when warming occurs, the battery life is much shorter--on the matter of several hours.

Seems to happen to me once every 10-14 days. Today, for example, I had played with several applications (Google Goggles for one) that apparently left programs running in the background. Later in the afternoon, I found the unit uncomfortably warm and battery life around 10%. I stopped 4 or 5 programs running (that must have been initiated by other apps I had canceled out) and set about recharging.

Later, was cooled. I'm going to keep watching this.