What are heat/Temp expectations during use of a Note 4?

[jecilop]

Hello,
I'm in the process of purchasing a used Note 4. I have been able to work with one that is being sent back unrelated reasons.
However, while working with it for short intervals even on VERY low brightness, I noticed that it gets surprisingly hot.

I was wondering what the experiences are of regular note users since I am told it gets great battery life with regular use (frequency and type of use). This one is NOT getting good battery life at all. Also, please provide actual battery temps that you notice IF you keep that info at the ready as I did with my prior phone.

I've adjusted settings a great deal. I am not talking about when it is "sleeping" overnight or not in use. That barely registers a change. I'm talking about actual use.

Tested conditions:

• Android 5.1.1
• Verizon (USA) so Qualcomm processor
• not rooted
• Stock with no mod's that I am aware of if rooted and made prior to the 5.1.1 install.
• OEM battery but may be used and at end of life - no other battery to compare yet. Says the phone itself has had less than 290 charger cable connections per the PhoneInfo app.
• LOW BRIGHTNESS - 1/8 to 1/4 inch on the brightness bar. (ie, much less than 1 cm)
• Wifi only
• Background programs greatly reduced.
• Even with the Grayscreen in use.
• No major background apps running, just whatever I have running on the screen. If Facebook, well that one is an obvious drain so I tested otherwise.
• The last definitive look at this was in grayscreen mode turned way down with the screen on for about 15 minutes. The battery temp went from 78 in the resting, cool environment to 95 in the same exact environment. I was only reading. I didn't look until I really felt the heat at the back which tends to concentrate where the battery contacts are and the opposite side of that.
• Prior to trying via grayscreen, I noticed how (even with very low brightness) it got very hot when testing the camera if only for a few minutes or certainly when playing video.
• I do know how to tweak performance settings and disable apps to save battery, so this was tested under those conditions. Of course, it's not tested under the ability of root to adjust some of that including bloatware, but that's because Verizon is a jerk about "their" phone's bootloader....
  
• ADDITIONAL TEST CONDITIONS update in answer to other posts:
• This phone is all set up for a couple of days now. All syncing of the account is done. Nothing like that was active.
• No downloads/updates were in progress.
• A factory reset was performed before install of the same stuff used on my SG3.

My reference in experience with this is multiple SG3's and the original HTC Evo. This doesn't seem right, so I want to know what others have experienced so I know if the used phone I get is in good shape in that respect. I will be getting a good battery anyhow. I keep a battery temp in the notifcation bar to monitor this. It has really helped understand phones and why they may be slowing or draining battery power over the years and what typically affects the temp. That's why the last test seem so odd. I would usually expect such use to put it in the mid 80's at most on an SG3 in color.

Again, I know I need to try another battery, but the post is to get an idea of temp and heat expectations from experienced users.

Thanks!

 

[srkmagnus]

Were your test done immediately after a factory reset and while the Google account connected to the device was syncing? Or, was the test done well after some use and the device was already setup? That could make a big difference as well.

I have a feeling the issue with battery life has more to do with the battery rather than the operating temperature of the device. More so if it's the original battery shipped with the Note 4. I would suggest replacing it and see how your results fair after that.

 

[jecilop]

answers used to update original post at the end of the list.

 

[natehoy]

My experience is that the Note 4 heats up fast when you are using it for something that pulls a lot of GPU. Great examples of this are games - Ingress and Pokemon GO are great examples of ways to heat up the phone, though a lot of games do it - even Minecraft to an extent. Unless I'm doing something really heavy on the phone, though, it is generally very cool and battery life is good.

If the phone is heating up while just sitting there with nothing running at all, there is either a background something running hard (unlikely since you said you factory reset it and have not installed much), something is wrong with the phone itself, or the battery has a problem.

The first and cheapest thing to do if your replacement heats up the same way is to swap the battery. A battery with a bad cell puts extra load on all the other cells, which can cause heat generation. If it is an original battery and has been charged ~300 times, there's a really good chance the battery is simply on its way out. Depending on technology 300-500 cycles is about the expected battery life of your average phone battery.

 

[jecilop]

Thank You. I had forgotten about the bad cell effect of batteries. The charge cycle is new info. Thanks again.