How hot is your Lumia 920? Question and my personal experience

WPer

New member
Nov 12, 2012
59
0
0
Visit site
I got my Lumia 920 black on this Tuesday. I find that it turns warm/hot with some particular apps running. Most Nokia apps can make it hot very fast (in one minute), like Nokia maps (if you keep zooming in/out, dragging, checking the venue maps), City Lens, Nokia Drive+ Beta. It usually get to the temperature that higher than my body (About 45 degree Celsus?). I know that a lot of guys here also complain about the heat problem. But how hot is your 920 and what are you doing when it gets hot? Is the temperature I got normal? Is a replacement necessary for me?

Other apps will also warm up Lumia 920 a little bit but not as quickly as those Nokia apps. The temperature will not be as high as with the Nokia apps.

And the heat problem becomes severe during charging.

I initially thought the heat was coming from the battery discharge. But after checking the photos of dissembling Lumia 920, I find the heat focus at the processor (top half of the phone), not the battery. Another point that may worth to make is that the heat doesn't seem to be from Wifi transmission because: 1. I got the heat problem even playing with downloaded maps in Nokia Map. 2. I tried watching Youtube video for about 20 minutes and the heat is much less than playing Nokia Maps for 2 minutes.

I guess the reason would be the lack of code optimization for those Nokia apps (probably other Mango apps too). We know that most of those apps have versions that can be run on Mango or even on Symbian. It is possible that they just did a quick porting to WP8 in a limited time without fine optimization. Maybe a release/update version can do a better job.

Now about the battery life, for the first charge, I got a 2-day-1-night duration with light usage (check emails occasionally, 1-2 phone calls, installed about 5 light apps (like Bank of America) and tried them). And for the second charge which took 5 hours to get to 100% last night but I unplugged it this morning (10:00am), I get a 55% now (5:35pm) with a moderate usage (emails, web browsing, Youtube video). I think it can hold to the end of the day. Streaming the 20-min video only cost about 8-9%. Other consumption comes from randomly using apps and testing maps, etc.

Although the heat is not likely to be from the battery, heat is always transformed from discharging. A cooler device will always have a lower power consumption. I would expect a boost of battery life when more and more WP8-optimized apps, including new versions of Nokia apps.
 

WPer

New member
Nov 12, 2012
59
0
0
Visit site
Full charge on Friday night. Only made a 10-minute call on Saturday with 920. On Sunday morning there is still 88% left. Acceptable standby time...
 

peachy001

New member
Nov 3, 2012
1,354
0
0
Visit site
Mine has got warm, but I wouldn't say it was hot. Happens when on it for a while. Also, I notice that when charging it is fine until the last few % and it warms a little.

regarding battery life, it is not great on mine, but difficult to tell as I can't stay off it for long. Wordament is monopolising my time something crazy. I charge to full approximately 6 hours ago and am at 57%. I don't think that is very good considering I don't have any network access, so I am practically in flight mode. I am hoping it will settle down a bit. Back at work tomorrow and that will be a better test as I can't keep picking it up. I am letting it run dry at the moment and then charging to full each time.
 

WPer

New member
Nov 12, 2012
59
0
0
Visit site
Good to know, peachy001.

I think you are right about the battery life. The battery level drops if we keep playing with it. But did you charge it for the whole night? Someone says that we need to charge it even when it says it gets to 100%.

I tried to use mine almost like a feature phone (I did use browser for about 15min and some light-weight apps for less than 30min) this weekend and it lasts more than 2 days and now still has 45% left.
 

wamsille

Banned
Aug 30, 2012
544
0
0
Visit site
My Lumia 920 doubles as a hand warmer. This morning I drove to the office and used Navigon to plan my commute and let that run for a while. In an 'open air' environment, meaning it wasn't in my coat or pants pocket and not in a compartment in the car, the sucker could have been letting off steam it was getting so hot. My Lumia has gotten warm before. That's fine. I get use, prolonged and extended use above and beyond 5-10 minutes at a time will do that. Playing games does this. Listening to music does this. Playing videos does this. Using GPS does this. All acceptable in my book.

When a device becomes uncomfortable to hold, I have a problem with that. The heat coming off the Lumia could be due to the materaials used. I have had a Nexus S 4G run wickedly hot before. I have had a Droid Incredible run to the point of burning the back battery cover around the LED flash. However, in both of those cases I'm able to open the back cover, remove the battery and let the phone cool down rapidly. I remember at times using the ice pack from my lunch to bring the back of the phone to a comfortable temperature so I could hold/operate my phone. Playing music on my Lumia 920 my phone right now isn't even the slightest bit warm. It is actually cool to the touch. The hardware isn't being taxed. My comparison I've had my Android devices run hot while trying to play music - a fair amount of that was due to the device trying to get a data connection. Inside my office Sprint and Verizon had a hard time penetrating walls, however WiMax worked on my Nexus S until I got deep into a hallway away from windows.

I chatted with AT&T and the rep I got said that I should exchange my Lumia for another Lumia or like device. OK, sure. But, if the overheating is due to a design flaw or because of the materials used then switching phones won't necessarily fix this. I don't like the HTC 8X. I don't want to go back to Android - your phone becomes out of date after a few weeks or less. I'm glad I didn't keep the One X - seeing the One X+ and the Droid DNA out now would have frustrated me. At least there is support for Windows Phone and the devices released on it.
 

peachy001

New member
Nov 3, 2012
1,354
0
0
Visit site
A guy posted that his battery was improved by going through 4 100% - 0% -100% cycles.

Mine was turned off last night, been on it a fair bit today nad had to charge it again as I got down to 23% by 1pm.That is nearly a full day with plenty of use. Not ran any videos or music though, just games and internet and Smartglass. I was hoping for more but did not really know what impact that screen real estate would have. Turned it up to full today, I actually find it too bright. Seems to really glow. I did notice that the thing rinses the battery though.
 

dkp23

New member
Feb 3, 2012
1,494
0
0
Visit site
warmth on my phone is ok, nothing abnormal IMO except when i use whatsapp. Once i do, in a few minutes, the phone gets hot, not warm, but hot.
 

WPer

New member
Nov 12, 2012
59
0
0
Visit site
Mine is pretty normal compared to my iPhone 4 except when I play Minesweeper it becomes very warm.

Just downloaded Minesweeper from MS. It did get pretty warm. I thought Minesweeper is the simplest task for processors that 920 has. With this trend, I cannot image how hot it is if NFS is ported to WP.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

bitseizure

New member
Nov 19, 2012
27
0
0
Visit site
Mine gets very warm when using the CPU heavily... my wife says its too hot for her to touch... The heat is localized just above the camera lens. I find that when I'm playing poker, I put my fingers over the hot parts to act as a heat sink.

Anyone seem any cases with usable heatsinks (no sharkfins or other protruding metal objects - short circuiting the smart-asses)? Would be a good idea if not... :)
 

vlad0

New member
Oct 9, 2012
1,069
0
0
Visit site
Except for the gaming part, non of this sounds normal to me. The phone shouldn't get that hot while performing simple tasks like navigation, listening to music, or using the camera. Every time the phone gets hot it generally means that the battery is being aggressively discharged, and that shouldn't happen while doing any of the tasks I mentioned. My iPhone 5 and my Nokia 808 only get warm while gaming..

Microsoft has to find a way to quality control the applications in the store I guess.. Whatsup should not make your phone that hot. And Nokia better optimize their navigation suite for wp.. There are no such issues with it on Symbian.
 

Davy Frey

New member
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
0
Visit site

I've had my red 920 for about 4 days now and it get pretty warm very easily, then if pushed it easily becomes almost too hot to touch in the back above the camera. Battery life is dissapointing, about 5-7 hours per full charge with little to no use or background apps. I'm no novice to wp, I've had the Samsung Focus for the last two years and loved that phone to death (it literally stopped working towards the end by overheating and resetting constanly). So this heat issue worries me, it seems like its a common problem. I'll give it a few more charge cycles to try to help the battery life and heat but if that doesn't help I'm switching to the 8x, as the Nokia maps and drive apps are disappointing as well coming from the very simple and helpful Bing Maps.
 

peachy001

New member
Nov 3, 2012
1,354
0
0
Visit site
Just a quick follow on from my last post:

I charged up last night, finished approx 22:45 (for reference that is 15 hours ago) - I played on it for approx 1 hour afterwards, downloaded the FREE Mirrors edge and went through the tutorial. Left it on overnight, had mobile internet on this morning until approx midday although only used it for hourly updates to my email. Made a few calls since midday, 1 text too. Currently at 83% and it says I have 1 day 4hours left. Got to be honest, I will be gaming a little later so that will not happen. Not really used it much today at all so didn't expect it to drop by much.

Got phone Saturday morning, ran it until it died early Saturday afternoon. Also, did a factory reset as I messed up my Xbox login on the 1st go. Did a full recharge and then a couple of half charges since. Yesterday charged from 7% - full.
 

socialcarpet

Banned
Apr 4, 2012
1,893
0
0
Visit site
Mine gets noticeably warm if I play a graphics-intensive game on it for 20-30 minutes, or watch a whole Netflix movie on it. Warm, but never hot. Nothing to be alarmed about IMO.
 

ZombieBacchus

New member
Nov 16, 2011
257
0
0
Visit site
My first black Lumia 920 got pretty darn hot. So much so that it was uncomfortable to talk on it for more than 10 minutes at a time. It would also get very warm/hot playing games. NOT just graphic intensive games but Angry Birds as well. When charging the phone it would also get warm bordering on hot. I didnt have any other issues with the phone but decided to exchange it last Friday.

My new black Lumia 920 no longer gets hot. I can talk on the phone for 30-40 minutes and it is cool to the touch. It does get slightly warm when playing graphic intensive games but no warmer than any other phone I have had. It also does NOT get warm when charging it anymore. Unfortunately, I do have the annoying rattle when the phone is on vibrate but I can live with that.

My battery life is excellent and I can take the phone off the wireless charging pad at 5:30 in the morning and when I go to bed at 11 I can still have 10-15 percent left and I use the phone quite a bit throughout the day playing games, checking email, IM and phone calls.
 

bamelin

New member
Nov 24, 2012
4
0
0
Visit site
Mine gets noticeably warm when talking on the phone for more than 10 minutes, or running certain apps.

Is this normal? It's not "hot" just warm ... Right above the camera lense .
 

wpoblation

New member
Oct 29, 2012
57
0
0
Visit site
Got mine yesterday. Charged it up to 100% around noon and off we went for some additional Black Friday shoping. Got hot enough (especially the back) to cause discomfort in the early evening, around 6:00 pm. No background apps except for Weather. In the last hour when the phone started getting hot, it was only used for half a dozen pictures, maybe 3 text messages and no phone calls, no games, no videos (watching or recording). Battery was down to 12% by this time. Charged it up to 100% and turned off Tap + Send. No Nokia app running in the background. Will see how today goes. I haven't drained it completely yet, or done a hard reset.

I also got me a GS3 at the same time, and the screen also got hot after doing maybe an hour or so of web surfing while waiting in the car. I turned off the GPS around this time. Battery life was excellent though and held up much better compared to the Lumia 920.
 

Davy Frey

New member
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
0
Visit site
Update::: After doing three 100%-0 decharges using the Battery Discharger App, my battery lasts wayyy longer. I've gotten it to even say at one point that it had 5 days 10 hours left! Now it didn't last that long but it does now last about a day and a half to two days with moderate use, which is such a load off. It still does get mildly warm though..
 

DaveGx

New member
Nov 5, 2011
756
0
0
Visit site
Mine gets very hot at times. I used it last night for the Smart Glass for Xbox, and wow. It got really hot and battery drained extremely fast. Love using the phone as an input device, but it gets uncomfortably hot. I was using it to surf IE on the Xbox and its great except for the high heat and battery drainage.
Overall, battery might finally be lasting longer. However, I still can't use my 920 as a smart phone unless I've got a charger/power source nearby.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
322,916
Messages
2,242,890
Members
428,004
Latest member
hetb