How to fix a Galaxy S8 that overheats and crashes randomly [troubleshooting guide]
Your #GalaxyS8 is expected to get warm the moment you switch it on but today’s troubleshooting article addresses a more serious overheating problem. We think that overheating is causing an S8 to turn off repeatedly. Keep reading to find out.
Today’s problem: Galaxy S8 Plus turns off again and again
Hello Sir. I purchased second hand s8 plus from someone but i am facing the problem my device is getting off again and again. If i am using the mobile it’s turning off randomly and if i put the device somewhere it’s not getting off.
I already reset the whole device but not getting the solution and it’s getting little hot from backside and switching off automatically. Please tell me the solution. I live in West Africa country. I already show to technician here but he don’t get the solution. Please tell what i have to change in Device for working properly. — Ketan Luthra
How to fix a Galaxy S8 that overheats and crashes randomly
Random or frequent crashes can be a symptom of either a software glitch, a hardware malfunction, or of both. In this troubleshooting material, let’s discuss the possible reasons why smartphones like an S8 overheats and restarts randomly for no reason.
Overheating leads to crashes
Smartphones use integrated processors called SoCs or system-on-a-chip in order to process tasks more efficiently. By design, SoCs can tolerate a high degree of temperature so it’s perfectly normal for a device to get warm, especially if it’s being used for resource-intensive tasks like gaming, streaming videos, among others. In most cases, your S8 should be able to handle such tasks without going over the limit of SoC’s heat tolerance. To do that, this chip will try to manage rising temperature by slowing down its operating speeds. If, for some reasons, this built-in mechanism fails to lower down the temperature further, your S8 may display a warning that it’s about to overheat or is already overheating so you’ll have to shut it down to allow the system to cool off. Under severe circumstances, the system may not be able to display any warning at all and may simply have to turn itself off to avoid damaging components. We think this is the reason why your S8 keeps on shutting down on its own.
In this situation, the shut down is being caused by an overheated system. In turn, this overheating issue may also be caused by a poorly coded software, or a hardware malfunction in one of the components.
Keep in mind that overheating may occur under normal circumstances, that is , even when there’s no software glitch or hardware malfunction at all. However, if overheating frequently occurs and you don’t know why, you should do some steps to figure out the cause.
Limit your gaming sessions
We’ll understand why some of you may find this suggestion upsetting or unacceptable but smartphones are not gaming consoles. They may be marketed as such but the design and buld of smartphones today are not ideal for prolonged gaming. If you regularly use your S8 for gaming for hours at a stretch, it can eventually succumbed to overheating issues as the graphics chip can push internal temperature too high fairly quickly. We recommend that you be mindful of how long the phone has been in used for gaming and to turn it off for at least 30 minutes if it crashes or shuts down due to overheating.
Don’t expose your S8 to direct heat
Another reason why your device may be getting warm or unpleasantly hot fairly quickly is because it’s been exposed to direct sunlight or heat. It’s never a good idea to leave any electronics near a heat source and the same is true for your S8. Doing so can damage components especially the battery.
Overheating can damage the battery, causing frequent shut downs
And speaking of the battery, yes, it can be damaged easily if it’s regularly exposed to high heat, like when your phone’s core temperature goes up abnormally during gaming sessions, or when the device is exposed to heat. Lithium-ion batteries works by taking advantage of movements of particles between the anode and cathode in each cell. If the battery cell is experiencing high outside temperature, it can hasten the decay of the battery, or cause permanent damage. A damaged battery can be unreliable so it may cause random shut down if left unattended. Heat can also significantly reduce the capacity of a lithium-ion battery so the more that you use it, the shorter its lifetime becomes. Again, the same result can occur in this case: random shutdown.
Avoid multi-tasking
Opening a number of resource hungry and demanding apps and games at the same time can tax your device unnecessarily, causing it to generate heat at a fast rate. The longer this situation extends, the more likely that your S8 will overheat. To avoid encountering problems that may affect system performance or overheating, make sure to close apps you don’t use. For example, some games may continue to run in the background even if you’re not actively playing them. The same can be true for other apps. Once you noticed that the phone is beginning to get sluggish or warm, that can be sign that the system is now trying to manage the SoC. Help it by simply stopping what you’re doing and letting the device to cool off.
Contact Samsung
If your phone continues to overheat or shuts down on its own even when you’re not using it for gaming or demanding apps, that can be an indication of a hardware malfunction. We understand that you’ve already tried a reset (factory reset) and that did not change anything so that leaves you with bad hardware as the possible reason. Whether this hardware malfunction is battery-related or not, or if it’s some other component, we don’t know. You’ll need to let Samsung open the device so they can run hardware diagnostics. We know this is a pre-owned device but it may still be under warranty so repair may be free for you. Otherwise, just prepare to invest in repair.