With brighter, warmer days ahead, here are some tips to keep your cellphone safe this summer.


What You Need To Know

  • Too much sun or high heat can damage the internal components of your phone

  • High heat will often limit your phone's functions

  • A thermal case can reflect the majority of the heat from the sun away from your phone

One of the best things about laying by the pool or on the beach is having some tunes playing while you're working on your tan.

Picture a 90-degree day with bright blue skies. You're by the pool, not at work, and you have a cold beverage beside you. "Summertime" by Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff is playing. All is right in the world, then the music cuts out. Your phone overheated.

It's obvious, right? Get your phone out of the sun and to a cool, shady place. That's definitely your first move, but there are some other things you'll want to do, or not do, to keep your phone from being damaged.

Remove your phone's case

Typically, you never want to remove your protective case, but this is one of the few exceptions. Cases are usually made of hard plastic or metal and can prevent heat from escaping.

Cool your phone down slowly

While cooling down your cellphone fast may sound like a good idea, you actually want to avoid that. Turn your phone off, bring it inside where it will be much cooler, and give it a rest.

Placing your cellphone in front of a fan will also help, but avoid putting it in the refrigerator or freezer. When cooled too quickly, the phone could suffer water damage because of condensation getting trapped on the inside.

Use a thermal phone case

I know I just told you to remove your phone case, but that's your run-of-the-mill plastic or metal case.

If you're unwilling to put your pool-side jam session on pause, you can spend a little more money to keep the tunes playing and your phone cool.

Thermal cases like the Phoozy use NASA spacesuit technology to reflect more than 90% of the sun's heat away from your phone to help prevent overheating. The case can also be used as an insulator to extend battery life in cold conditions.

So before you head to the pool or beach this summer, don't forget what you need to keep your cellphone safe and cool!

Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.