Undoubtedly, one of the biggest problems affecting smartphone users is overheating. This is usually caused by prolonged use (even while charging) or by activities like playing games, which can shorten the phone's lifespan. But it seems a new vapor chamber system will help solve this problem.
This type of technology has long been used in computers, which require greater cooling capacity due to the numerous processes they perform. It is now also found in mobile devices, where it helps dissipate heat through the evaporation and condensation of liquids to cool the components.
Learn about vapor chamber cooling
As its name suggests, vapor chamber cooling uses precisely that: a chamber to cool the equipment, through a conduit containing a liquid inside, which, when it evaporates, condenses easily without the need for anything else.
These vapors settle in the cooler parts of the chamber to release the absorbed heat. As they change back to a liquid state, the substance returns to its initial position and repeats the cycle as many times as necessary to prevent overheating. In other words, in the cooler area, the vapor concentrates and, as it does, is sent back to the heat source for the next cycle.
Equipment manufacturers can choose different materials for their construction (aluminum, graphite, and others) to ensure better heat radiation away from the chipset.
This system is excellent, especially for newer devices, which, while they have features that help minimize overheating, aren't powerful enough. In contrast, this system optimally and consistently keeps the device cool when it's at rest or charging. It's precisely designed for this purpose: to prevent overheating during charging and avoid explosions or other malfunctions.
Furthermore, there's the issue with the chips themselves, many of which contribute to raising these temperatures to incredibly high levels. Among these is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for Android. Devices equipped with this processor, when running multiple demanding tasks simultaneously, such as gaming, experience temperature increases well above normal levels.
This is something users can clearly notice, and this is where companies have focused their efforts to prevent smartphones from overheating, by incorporating more sophisticated cooling solutions like the one we've discussed. These vapor chambers are created with six or seven layers of different materials, each working together to dissipate heat from the processor.
Some smartphones that use this technology
Phone companies have been looking for ways to improve cooling, and one of them was Xiaomi, which a few months ago announced a new technology called Loop LiquidCool. This concept helps keep the device cooler when running resource-intensive tasks.
This system uses micro-valves inside the chamber to raise the surface channels through which the hot vapors travel. This means that all phones released since the end of 2021 have this system incorporated, although previously they only had the vapor chambers on their own.
Samsung is another company that has embraced this technology; in fact, it was the first manufacturer to implement it in models such as the Galaxy S10, Note 20, Galaxy S20, Galaxy A7, and Galaxy S20 Ultra, among others. It's worth noting that they had previously abandoned it to save money, but are now using it again in their mobile phones.
These are just some of the devices that use it:
- ASUS ROG Phone 6: It uses graphite sheets and a vapor chamber, which is 30% larger than that of the ROG Phone 5.
- OnePlus 10 Pro: It has a five-layer cooling system.
- Realme GT 2 Pro: It uses one with nine layers, one of which is made of stainless steel.
- iPhone 14 Pro: The company's next team will apparently be equipped with a large vapor cooling chamber.
- POCO, the F4 5G: Called Liquidcool 2.0, this chamber is made up of 7 graphite sheets that have managed to reduce CPU throttling to just 5% compared to 18% for an IQOO 9 SE or 29% for the OnePlus 10 Pro.
With Liquidcool 2.0, we are further upping the game when it comes to thermal management. During strenuous tasks, as the chipset gets hotter, the vapor chamber absorbs the heat generated and turns the liquid inside into vapor, which then condenses & brings down the ambient [5/6] pic.twitter.com/ch85IKLUvp
— POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) June 10, 2022
