Galaxy S3 Overheating

**SimT** · 09-01-2012, 02:48 AM

Hello

My friend and I have owned the Galaxy S3 for a week now, and yesterday, something strange happened to my friend's S III. Before she went to sleep at around midnight, she left her phone charging. In the middle of the night, at around 4 or 5 in the morning, she unplugged it because it was fully charged. She put it next to her on the bed so that she could hear the alarm that she had set. When she woke up, she realized the phone was really hot and had shut off. When she powered it back on, the battery was at 17%. That's 100% to 17% within a few hours. She then checked to see what was going on and saw that "Android System" was using about 80% of the battery usage. When she started charging it again, she also got a temperature warning (It was the you see when you start charging, and she said every 5 seconds, a little thermometer icon would pop up).

Today, we compared our phone usage after a full charge with moderate to little usage, and there is a definitely a noticeable difference in battery life (see attached files). After about 2 hours 35 minutes, I'm at 91% battery, but she's already at 53%. Now her "Android System" seems to be fine, but we don't know if it will act up again.

Does anybody have an idea of what has happened with her phone? We truly appreciate all your input.

**534n** · 09-01-2012, 11:15 AM

She appears to have a LOT of backround services running, including location enabled devices. GPS tracking takes a LOT of battery and heats the device up quickly. If you combine that with the weak WiFi signal and possible attempts to pipeline data between WiFi and data, you have your answer. The "data" I mention is tracking and whatever data is going to those apps in her tray, including the updates for Android. I recommend installing all updates and disabling GPS tracking when she goes to bed, seeing as I do not think she will be traveling anywhere :P

**Sarangnath** · 09-14-2012, 01:17 AM

are u sure it isnt anything else and only gps and wifi related issues.....this thing has me worried........do i have to go n get it checked....i just brought my s3 home a few weeks back...

**mala86** · 11-01-2012, 10:38 AM

Hi. I just bought this phone brand new..recieved it via ups yesterday so my phobe is ABSOLUTELY clean and ive alreadt started noticing the hotness on the bottom on my phone and i checked and itbsays my andriod system is using MAJORITY of the power (probably causingbthe overheating feeling) my battery hasnt blown yet because its only a day old but im sure thats the next step smh...

**WAWood8** · 11-01-2012, 01:52 PM

My wife had to STOP using her GS3 for Internet viewing because it would keep overheating and freeze up! Her really OLD HTC Incredible (1) still works and can do Internet work for hours on end without even geting warm. She now carries around the old Dinc to do net surfing because this piece-of-junk S3 keeps freezing on her!

Mine has started doing much the same -- but in my case, I'm only listening to music using PowerAmp and suddenly, the screen freezes and I get a popup saying Touchwiz has stopped working.

**Soundtrack to Chaos** · 11-01-2012, 04:14 PM

I haven't had this issue but I'm always aware of my battery temperature just in case

It usually goes up to about 105 when I'm charging, have open apps and am watching video at the same time

The most its ever reached is 113

I used to use physical buttons, and then I found button savior
-S. T. C

Sent from my rooted, debloated CM10 jelly bean 4.1.2 Samsung Galaxy S3 #LikeABo$$

**funkylogik** · 11-01-2012, 07:35 PM

androids do get hot and as the pattery levels are a percentage, when the phone isnt being used then android system will have used the highest percentage but that doesnt explain the battery drain. i always have wifi on even though i dont use it and battery is fine but GPS does use a lot

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

**sal the wop** · 11-02-2012, 07:21 AM

You may have an app which is misbehaving. I would download watchdog lite from play store.

It monitors what's using your phones CPU/ram, etc. This includes system as well...

Good luck!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

**Sabisawesome** · 12-14-2012, 06:28 PM

Hi I think it has something to do with your friend putting the phone in her bed. The same thing happened to me today when I put my phone in bed with me. After I woke up, it was incredibly hot. I guess it's because I opened GPS and wi-fi along with many other apps so that the phone was constantly searching for signals under my comforter. Three hours ate up 80% of the battery. I'd never seen it happen before. I shut my phone off and let it charge right now. Will see if it ever goes back to normal. >.<

**WAWood8** · 12-15-2012, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by Sabisawesome

Hi I think it has something to do with your friend putting the phone in her bed.

Except ... mine overheated (and trashed both the SD card and the internal file system) when it was setting on a flat surface playing music.

I'm on my THIRD now (second did the same thing), and every day, there's another NEW posting about these JUNK phones overheating and/or trashing SD cards.

**gazlyn3** · 02-10-2013, 06:29 PM

I have the same issues.. over heats at least once a week while i am at work where no wifi is on, no GPS on, everything appears nomal but still over heats. Goes from 100% at 9am in the morning and i drive 20 mins to work and i am at 12% now and will have no phone for the rest of the day... Starting to **** me off and not even 12 months old yet.

**meyerweb** · 02-10-2013, 10:04 PM

A few thoughts:

If you're playing music, especially if you're streaming it over the internet, it's normal for your s3 to get hot. Even more so if it's charging at the same time. Your asking the cpu to process a lot of data, which draws a lot of current out of the battery. Charging pushes current into the battery. Both of these things cause heat.

Simple internet viewing shouldn't make the phone get really hot unless, maybe, you've got a real weak signal. The weaker the signal the more power the phone uses to received and transmit, and that translates to more battery usage. If you've got a good signal and the battery is still draining really fast, you've got a misbehaving app or something else going on. Running properly, the S3 will get battery life as good as pretty much any other Android phone, and better than many.

If Android System is using most of your battery and you're getting really short battery life, check out this thread: Android System eating your battery? Check this. even if it's not one of the two processes specifically mentioned there, the technique I used will help you figure out what's killing your battery. There are any number of other threads dealing with short battery life, and many suggestions on what might be causing it, how to check, and what to do. Put a little effort into searching and you just might find your answer has already been identified. Try searching on "cell standby" to start.

If your phone is freezing or crashing, it's probably the result of a bad app, or combination of apps that don't get along with each other.

I'm constantly amazed at how many people just whine instead of actually taking steps to identify and solve the problem. And the exaggerate the extent of issues by making bogus statements implying that everyone is having problems with these "junk phones." The great majority of us are perfectly happy with our phones. Samsung's sold 40 million of these things, but a dozen people have a problem and post about it here and suddenly it's "junk." Right.

In that first photo, btw, I don't think the phone was just sitting unused. The only way the screen could use that much power is if it was on. Someone, or something, was keeping the screen in use.

**twarrington** · 02-13-2013, 11:23 AM

I'm having the same issue suddenly today my phone is overheating to the point where I can barely hold it at the bottom. I've done nothing new other than upgrade to the full version of "BeyondPod". The battery is draining extremely quickly. I've taken the battery out, let it cool and put it back only to have the same issue occur. Any help would be great.

**twarrington** · 02-13-2013, 11:25 AM

I've also installed watch dog and am hoping that it can point me in the right direction... SO far it has warned me that "Beautiful Widgets" is operating above a CPU threshold...

Originally Posted by twarrington

I'm having the same issue suddenly today my phone is overheating to the point where I can barely hold it at the bottom. I've done nothing new other than upgrade to the full version of "BeyondPod". The battery is draining extremely quickly. I've taken the battery out, let it cool and put it back only to have the same issue occur. Any help would be great.

**meyerweb** · 02-13-2013, 12:00 PM

If one app is randomly running out of control, and it's not a regular occurrence, a reboot will generally take care of it. I've seen this happen occasionally on a number of different phones.

Other than BW, do any other apps seem to be using a lot of battery or cpu?

**Ricky Babalu** · 02-13-2013, 12:40 PM

Wanted to chime in here, I have had my S3 since its release. I often have my S3 in the garage on weekends playing music while I putts around working, anywhere from a couple of hours to as much as 8 hours all on “TuneIn” radio. Never has the phone become hot, crashed or freezed. Typically I have GPS on all the time, and I have Wifi on when I am at home. Alternatively, I have had 2 instances where I have noticed what others have here: “Android System” using up to 80% of the battery and getting hot. In both instances I powered phone off took the battery out; The first time it happened the battery pull fixed the problem, the second time it happened the battery pull did not work, so I repeated the process and took battery out again, this time it worked and the phone was back to normal. What I suspect is happening is that certain processes associated with the “Android System” for a lack of a better word get “stuck” and do not terminate causing the CPU to get really hot. Nothing will ever be perfect and things can go wrong, usually though I have been able to resolve the problem by doing some basic troubleshooting. My computer freezes on occasion as well and a simple reboot corrects the problem, things will get wonky from time to time with electronics: It's a given.