Mobile phones and cold
 

I have had an iPhone 6S for just over two years now and had no plans to replace it any time soon. However, at this point I think I am annoyed by this cold issue enough that I am willing to look at other options.

The issue is that it simply dies in the cold. It does not even have to be that cold; could be just above freezing. I have a fully charged phone and ten minutes later it is at 10% remaining and then it just dies when I turn it on. Not quite sure but I think the numbers the charge drops to are always the same. I have briefly researched it on the internet (not much, really) and saw that they blame it on the lithium ion batteries not being able to perform in the cold or something similar (I think I read that on Apple website or one of their affiliates). This did not make any sense because the trail cameras run on lithium batteries way below freezing temperatures for weeks/months. My cordless drill and other tools perform in the cold with no problems either.

Before heading out on a day-long hunt yesterday, I figured I will try my wife's phone (also iPhone). I took it outside for 10 minutes or less. It was -7C at the time. When I brought it back in, it showed 10% of charge remaining. So exactly the same thing as mine.

Once the phone warms up, the charge is restored and it is back to normal.

On my old (also) iPhone, 3G that I used for years prior to getting this one, I did not have such an issue. I remember walking on a dike and talking to my wife for close to an hour (she was away helping out her parents for a couple of months) when it was below 30 degrees Celsius outside and everything was fine. I remember it showing me a message like "too cold" or whatever it was after a looooong time of use, but it never shut down. Keeping it in the back pocket close to my ass was enough to keep it warm. This "new" phone I pretty much have to keep next to my base layer in order to keep it working and that's not really working for me.

Anyway, I know my cousin has a Samsung, about the same age and quite a bit cheaper. He has no such issue.

What do you all think? What phone do you have and do you have similar issues?

If you want to participate in the experiment, it would be even better. Take your phone outside and leave it there for 10-15 minutes and see if it works after and if there was any significant change in battery charge remaining. Then report here the result and the model of the phone you use. I will now go and try it with my old phone.

Thanks!

No clue, but my iPhone did the same thing just the other day. Had it in the console of my truck the other day in Edmonton when it was around -9, and before my truck warmed up the phone had gotten so cold it was showing 10% battery.

I have a 5SE.

It’s just an old lithium battery, they lose charge over time and add cold to that and viola, you got a dead phone.

You can go to the Apple store and get it replaced for like $30. Just phone and make an appointment ahead of time. I guarantee you it will work better in the cold.

Apple batteries are terrible. Google pixel 2 battery good all-day outside no issues

apple have safety shut off too if it get too cold , my phone turned off when i was hunting and stay off until i get it warm up .

Totally agree with this

I've used a bunch of iphones in the last few years, I had a 5 for work that would die in -20 when you tried to take pictures but my old 4 had no issues.

Its the type/age of your battery, see if you can get it replaced

Keep it warm.
 

A pair of underwear with a phone pocket sewed in.

Same issue here. I use those hot pockets in my pocket. Will be replacing battery soon though...

I have a samsung s9. The battery is one of the strengths of these phones. It can run for over a day and a half with all things on.
If I turn off wifi and bluetooth, 2 days no sweat.
When out camping with my old phone i usually had a small aux battery pack for those quick charges.

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I run into this problem while sledding, as mentioned before if you take the adhesive toe warmer packs and stick it to the back of your phone it helps a lot.

Not true at all. I phone 5 and 6 had this issue from day one. Huge PUS.

I upgraded to a 7, and so far no issues there. I also have a Samsung and it has never cutout on either extreme of temp but both I phone 5 and 6 did.

My iPhone 7 is crap out in the cold, and I just had the battery replaced last
week. I miss my 5s, it was far more stable, and the battery was better for me.

I did some reading and I am fairly convinced that any iPhone will do exactly that - shut down. It has nothing to do with battery being replaced or not (unless some new batteries hit the market just recently, but I have not found anything). 1899b, do not replace your battery just yet, you will be wasting your money, in my opinion. Read, it happens to all iPhones, all models. I just proved it to happen to 3G, one of the first models. Like fishtank mentioned, it has to be some "feature", not sure about the "safety" part though.

As promised, I took my old 3G (I am not even sure how old it is, it seems like it was ages ago when I got it) outside and left it there. I checked in about 10 minutes and it was still working fine. Then I forgot about it for a while. I think it was right about 0 degrees outside, maybe 1 or 2 below. When I finally remembered and went to retrieve it, I saw this:

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attac...1&d=1542093137

Lol. I was sure the message I saw before was "too cold" or something. I am 100% sure I talked on that phone for about an hour many many times in very cold weather. Maybe the heat from my hand was enough to keep it going and the newer iPhones do not work this way? I don't know. When I swipe the bar (which for whatever reason offers to me to do that in Spanish when it is cold), it lets me call the emergency number. The new phones do not offer even that.

Anyway, if people with cellphones other than iPhone would take a part in the experiment I outlined in the original post, I would greatly appreciate it.

My iPhone 6s had the same issue. I’ve recently upgraded to the iPhone X and the battery is much better. I’ve spend 6 hours in the bush at below freezing temperatures and my battery life is still in the 80’s.
As previously mentioned, If you didn’t want to upgrade, I would recommend changing out the battery and using those hot packs in your pocket. Hope this helps


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^ How did you carry or where did you keep the X when you were out? I was looking at those, but I am not willing to shell out the cash if they have the same issue.

I don't have any problems with my phone otherwise. In "normal" conditions, my 6s Plus works just fine and the battery lasts at least a couple of days with my normal use, maybe significantly longer. Once I am outdoors in the cold though, it becomes useless weight that I am kind of getting tired of carrying. Like BuckCuller suggested, a pocket in my underwear would work great, but...

Wow eh upgrading to crap.....old iPhone 4 still plugging away.....don't use it much though....odd text....pics....don't much care about anything else when I am in the woods just stick it in my pocket and watch the sunrise, activities, sunset....repeat....now if this fandangled thing could rustle me up a gagger buck.....maybe add some deer doe pee on it and hang it from a tree....:)

Any battery loses power when it gets cold, as the reactions required to release electricity slow down.

I just carry mine in my shirt pocket, inside my coat. Keeps it at about body temperature, and power stays just fine. If I'm doing heavy hiking, I'll put it in a baggie to keep moisture off it.

I honestly just keep it in the front pocket of my hunting pants. I noticed a huge difference in the battery life over my old 4, 5S, and 6S, but as you mentioned, it’s a personal decision on if you consider upgrading to be worth it for just a battery. The battery on the X vs 6S was a contributing factor to upgrading for me, along with the camera. Not trying to turn this into an iPhone vs Android debate, or claim that it’s the best phone on the market...haha. I’m just letting you know that I had the same issue, and don’t anymore.
Keeping your phone in an inside pocket and attaching Two ‘hothands’ hand warmers to either side would more than likely make a huge difference as well. The battery replacement wouldn’t hurt either.


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Had a 6S same issue. However if you look it up on apples website. This is a recall with the early 6S phones. They will replace your battery. Sent mine in. They put a new battery in it. And worked fine after that. Found it easier to go through Online and mail it in. Then take it to the apple store.

This isn't an iPhone problem. As a couple of guys have mentioned, this is the chemical reaction from the power in the batteries. Batteries slow down and become weaker in the cold. Vehicle batteries? Same basic principle with different technology.

I had a Samsung that did it, Nokia, Motorala, and iPhone. Just put the phone in an inside pocket and pick up an external battery pack.

Batteries on all devices do slow the colder it get's-but iPhones most definitely perform the worst.

Although I dearly miss some of the apps and the ease of how they operate I don't miss the crappy battery life soon after replacing & re-experiencing their quick drain characteristics.

The last thing a person needs to worry about in sub zeros is losing battery on the device that's controlling an active drone or remote control on an intervalometer with a time lapse in progress.

Android is superior (sony samsung) for these applications ime.


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If it's an old phone replace the battery, it helps significantly. I also keep it inside my insulation layers, next my to my base layer. Helps preserve battery considerably. If camping I sleep with the iPhone in the bag and also carry a charger pack with enough juice for 4 full charges.

That hasn’t been my experience. My worst was a Nokia, followed by Motorola, iPhone, and Samsung. I am now using a 3 month old Samsung S9+ or a 6 month old, 2 months use, iPhone 8. We’ll see if either give me problems while relatively new.

You could pretend that it’s late 90’s or early 00’s when not everyone had to have a phone with them at all times, and simply not bring it with you.

But, how would I keep my thumbs warm???

:bad_boys_20:

You could also for once not pretend that you have something to contribute and actually move along without posting?


As for the battery replacement, I am fairly sure at this point that it will not help. There is got to be some protective mechanism that shuts the phone off at some point. I have now checked on 5 i-devices (phones and tablet) and it is the same thing.

Like I already mentioned, my cousin's Samsung does not have this issue. Maybe it will slow down and die eventually (I don't know), but it does not just shut itself off.

So no one with a phone other than iPhone wants to participate?

Do you think you can leave it outside or in the vehicle for 15 minutes in the cold and see if it will shut down and post the result?

Just replaced the battery in my 6s and teh cold is essentially no longer a problem. FYI it's under $40 until the new year and then the price doubles

I went hunting a couple weeks ago and slept outside in -3, I set the alarm on my iphone 6 before bed and stuffed it into a pair of wool socks. Alarm went off in the morning and it didn't lose anymore battery power than normal.

Hmm Let's see you are trying to use a 'smart' phone in the bush while it's cold and complaining about the battery not lasting.

and you are trying to get people to use their own devices in some sort of trial and error and post results that would help you out.

Sounds like a real first world problem.

Or you can just leave the dam phone at home for a few hours and go without.

Problem solved.