Why Do Cell Phones Die In The Cold?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Our cold winter temperatures make a lot of things difficult, from travel to just getting the mail.
Even our cell phones don't like the frigid cold and start malfunctioning when the thermometer drops.
In less than five minutes outside, a phone can go from 25 percent battery life to dead in the single-digit temperatures.
According to the Geek Squad at Best Buy, at 32 degrees--or freezing--battery life drops 20 percent.
"It all comes down to the battery and the chemical reaction takes place," said Best Buy geek Justin Kemper. "As it gets cold, the chemical reaction slows down, so it can't produce a lot of energy."
And it just gets worse from there.
"When they get to zero degrees, the battery life will cut in half--go from 100 percent, down to 50 percent," Kemper said. "When the phone shuts down, it may appear that the battery is dead, but most likely it's that the chemical reaction isn't happening. So if you get it warm, put it in your pocket for about a half hour, get it back up to that optimal temp, most likely you can power it on and get a little bit of a charge out of it."
He had some tips to preserve battery life.
For Androids, set your phone to power-saving mode.
"That dims your display, dims the processing power and makes it last up to 30 percent longer," he said.
For iPhones, turn down the brightness and turn off the bluetooth and wifi. Your other option is to get a portable battery pack.
The optimal temperature for a phone and its battery is 70 degrees, so the best way to save battery life in the cold is to keep your phone warm in a pocket.
