Overheating is a serious problem and you should not neglect it as it’s dangerous; if the battery has gone beyond its heat threshold, it will explode. This kind of problem doesn’t only happen to entry-level devices, it also occurs to premium phones like the Samsung Galaxy S9.
Some of our readers who own this device reported that their devices started to heat up after they updated the firmware. There is a big difference between “heating up” and “overheating” but the former may actually lead to the latter if you just turn a blind eye. You must try to do some procedures to determine if the problem is caused by hardware problem or not because if it is, then you should immediately bring it to the tech.
Now, there are times when a phone heats up badly especially you’re into gaming while the device is charging with it’s screen brightness set to the max. But even if that’s the case, it will take several hours before the phone shuts down due to overheating. You can leave the phone for 15 minutes and then you can go back to action. However, if your phone overheats even if you’re just using an app you usually use, then that’s not a problem. Continue reading as this short post may help you one way or another.
But before anything else, if you have another issue with your phone, drop by our troubleshooting page as we have already addressed hundreds of issues reported by the owners. Odds are that there are already existing solutions on our website or at least, there are similar problems we already fixed. So, try to find ones that are similar or related to your problem. If you need further assistance, however, feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.
How to troubleshoot Galaxy S9 that overheats after an update
First off, if your phone heats up too much while charging, disconnect it from the charger immediately and then turn it off. That should prevent further troubleshooting. If you accidentally dropped it or left submerged in water for so long and then this problem started, you should bring it to the tech so it will be examined properly. But assuming none of this happened to your phone and if the problem started after a firmware update, here’s what you should do.
First solution: Forced reboot
Minor glitches may also cause overheating sometimes but don’t worry because if it’s just due to a glitch, you can immediately fix it by a simple reboot. However, instead of rebooting your phone the usual way, it’s better to do the Forced Reboot which is far more effective as it refreshes your phone’s memory and reloads all apps and services.
To do this, press both the volume down button and the power key at the same time and hold them down together for 10 seconds or more. Your phone will reboot like it normally does and when it becomes active, use it normally and observe if it still becomes too hot to the point that it will overheat. If it does, try the next solution.
Second solution: Find out if your downloaded apps have something to do with it
Applications may also cause your phone to overheat so it’s important to know if this is the case with your phone and if it’s due to third-party apps or not. You should reboot your phone in safe mode to temporarily disable all downloaded apps. If the phone doesn’t overheat in safe mode, then the problem clearly caused by a third-party app or some of them. At least, this is not a big problem as you only have to make sure each heavy application is closed before you use another. Just hit the Recents button and close everything before switching to another app and that should take care of the problem.
Here’s how you run your phone in safe mode:
- Turn the device off.
- Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
- When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
- Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
- Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
- When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
- While in Safe mode, you can also uninstall apps that are causing a problem.
However, if the phone is still overheating while in safe mode, then the problem could be with the firmware.
Third solution: Reset your phone
After doing the first two steps and your phone is still overheating, then the next thing you should do is reset your phone. If this is just a problem with one of the apps or the firmware, a reset will fix it and your device may not overheat again. However, after the reset and your phone is still overheating, then you have no other choice but to bring it to the shop. Before the reset though, make sure to backup your files and data as they will be deleted. Now, here’s how you reset your phone:
- Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Samsung account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Samsung credentials to finish the master reset.
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
- Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
I hope that this troubleshooting guide have helped you one way or another. If you have other issues you want to share with us, feel free to contact us anytime or leave a comment below.
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