920 vs 830 - Heat from back of the device

[Jake52]

I've owned the 920 for about two years now and I LOVE the phone, but one of the main drawbacks is that whenever doing anything that taxes the processor the back of the device (above the camera) would get really hot. Like uncomfortably hot. I'm not sure if it was just my device but after doing some web searches it seemed like a common problem and something inherent with the device.

The other day I picked up the 830 as a replacement and I wanted to compare the two devices in terms of heat while playing a game. I have one of those infrared thermometers so I can measure the surface temperature of each device. I played geoDefense Swarm on each device for 20 minutes on the same level to get a comparison. It turned out that the 920 got around 13 degrees hotter at the top of the device vs the 830 and 9 degrees hotter in the middle and bottom. The 830 was very noticeably cooler to the touch.

Anyone on the fence about switching to the 830 and who was annoyed by the heat coming off of the 920 will be happy to know that it's much better with the 830. Your mileage my vary but it seems like the 830 runs a lot cooler.

 

[gedzum]

Thanks for the feedback. The 830 is one of the phones I've been considering moving on to. Is it possible for you to provide feedback in terms of skype video calls? When doing video calls on the 920 it would get considerably hot and the battery would drain quite fast. What is your experience with the 830?

 

[Jake52]

That's a great question, I haven't tested this yet so I'll definitely do some video calls with both devices and report back!!! The good news is that my wife also has a 920 so I can do video calls between her phone and my 920 and my 830 and I can check the temperatures of all devices to see if there are big differences. I do remember doing video calls on my 920 and it gets super hot, hopefully the 830 fares better.

P.S. This is the infrared thermometer that I got: Amazon.com: Nubee? FDA Approved Non-contact Infrared (IR) Thermometer (-58F to 932F) w/ Laser Sight MAX Display and Emissivity Adjustable: Industrial & Scientific Definitely a neat little tool for only 20 bucks.

 

[gedzum]

Awesome would really appreciate that thanks. I've been doing video calls more and more recently and the 920 is just not holding up that well for extended periods of time. So I'll need my next device to cope with this.

 

[Jake52]

So I did Skype video calls between my wife's 920 and my old 920. They both got pretty hot after 15 minutes, topping out around 95 degrees above the camera in the back. And they were both losing around 6% battery per 5 minutes. Ouch. Also, my wife's phone was really low on battery so I had to plug it in during the second test and I took the temp of the upper left corner of the back while plugged in during the Skype call, it got to over 110 degrees!!! That's definitely the hottest spot on the phone.

The 830 fared much better. It only got to around 88 at its hottest above the camera in the back and it lost around 3% battery per 5 minutes. It also feels much cooler even though the temps aren't that much different. I think it's because the 830 has a plastic shell on the back that's separate from the phone, the 920 is just one big piece of polycarbonate. The back shell might help keep the heat isolated from your hand when holding the 830, and it definitely cools off faster.

Any other apps you want me to test?

 

[Surendra Mallemputi]

my lumia 720 also having the same problem , how to solve it

 

[gedzum]

So I did Skype video calls between my wife's 920 and my old 920. They both got pretty hot after 15 minutes, topping out around 95 degrees above the camera in the back. And they were both losing around 6% battery per 5 minutes. Ouch. Also, my wife's phone was really low on battery so I had to plug it in during the second test and I took the temp of the upper left corner of the back while plugged in during the Skype call, it got to over 110 degrees!!! That's definitely the hottest spot on the phone.

The 830 fared much better. It only got to around 88 at its hottest above the camera in the back and it lost around 3% battery per 5 minutes. It also feels much cooler even though the temps aren't that much different. I think it's because the 830 has a plastic shell on the back that's separate from the phone, the 920 is just one big piece of polycarbonate. The back shell might help keep the heat isolated from your hand when holding the 830, and it definitely cools off faster.

Any other apps you want me to test?

Great feedback. Exactly what I was looking for and will definitely help when I consider which phone to get next. Skype and FB messenger are the apps I use the most. I notice similar issues in FB messenger as in skype when I am constantly messaging various people. So I guess that would be the only other one.

 

[Jake52]

I can try FB messenger next to see if there is a big difference in heat and battery usage between the 920 and the 830. So far I like the 830. It's not really a full flagship upgrade from the 920 but it think it's a good device to hold us over until 2015 when the rumored true flagships come out. It really sucks there isn't a brand new, high end device for the holidays but what can we do. My 920 was just getting old, the battery wasn't really holding up, and it was time to get something new.

I like the size and the feel of the 830, it's noticeably lighter then the 920 while being slimmer, the same width, and only slightly taller. Some people might complain about the screen resolution but I think it's perfectly fine. I have an LG G3 for work and that's probably my favorite device I've ever owned in terms of pure hardware (I'm not a big fan of Android). It fits a 1440 x 2560, 5.5 inch screen in a device that's almost the exact same size and weight as the 830. But when put side by side, there isn't a huge difference unless you are watching 4K video at full brightness. For everyday use the screen on the 830 is very good.

 

[gedzum]

Awesome. Just a bit of background on my FB messenger usage: I message 2-3 people consistently during the day as well as a couple of group chats. This leads to around 10% battery drain/hr(sometimes more) according to the Insider Pro app. The 830 seems like a good option and I like the feature set like microSD expansion and removable battery.

I hope I'm not going too off-topic, but final question, how is the front facing camera? Again for skype video calls.

 

[Jake52]

Sorry for the lack of updates, I actually had to exchange my 830 last night at the Microsoft Store. For some reason the headset on the device wasn't working. When I would try to talk to someone on the phone they could hear me but I couldn't hear them, the speaker was completely dead. Everything else worked great but first and foremost I guess all the phone features should work :smile:

So I have my new 830 and I'll try and test out FB messenger to see if the phone gets hot or drains the battery excessively. One quick note about the battery, it seems much more linear then any other device I've ever owned. What I mean by that is even if I don't use it maybe 30 minutes after taking it off the charger the battery percent is down to 99. I'm used to a phone holding at 100% for a while, even after using it for a few hours after a full charge. Maybe the hardware reports the battery percentage more accurately or something in the software has changed. Both of my 830s did this so I don't think it's a bug or a hardware issue, just something different.