Photo: Mr.Mikla (Shutterstock)
Smartphones, like most computers, can overheat from time to time. It’s especially a problem during hot, sunny weather, or when using demanding apps and games. We’ve talked about general cooling solutions in the past, but when it comes to the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, those tips might not be enough. It seems these devices are overheating more than the average phone—and when your phone costs upwards of $900, you want it to perform better than average.
Redditors took to a thread on r/googlepixel Sunday to voice their negative experiences with their Pixel 6s’ cooling solutions (or lack thereof). User u/_Sway started the conversation, complaining their Pixel 6 Pro heats up significantly while using a lot of mobile data, which has the additional side effect of burning through the battery.
The discussion currently features dozens of comments echoing similar sentiments and noting varying issues, making it an interesting case study in the myriad of triggers for overheating Pixels. And if your Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro is getting unreasonably hot, you might want to consider the following fixes, suggested by Redditors.
Disable 5G
5G is the latest and greatest in cellular data connections and a big selling point for new phones, including the 6 and 6 Pro. That said, 5G can be taxing on a device, as many Pixel owners are finding. If your device won’t cool down while connected to 5G, consider disabling the feature and returning to 4G LTE. To do so, head to Settings > Network and internet > SIMs > Preferred network type, and choose the next-best option to 5G.
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As one Redditor points out, you shouldn’t have to disable a key feature of a smartphone in order to use the device as you’d expect. They point to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which, in their experience, doesn’t heat up while using 5G (and manages good battery life to boot). I agree. Google should do something about this problem. However, for now, putting a slight handicap on your Pixel’s cellular speeds might just be the thing to cool it down.
Identify a problematic app
There might be an app on your Pixel causing the processor to go haywire for one reason or another. For this Redditor, that app was, well, Reddit. They claim using the official Reddit app made their Pixel noticeably hot within 10 minutes. After switching to an alternative Reddit app, like Boost, things stayed cool.
Keep this in mind if your Pixel gets hot while using any particular app. Hopefully, whatever program you’re using has a lightweight alternative that can give you the same experience without the heat. If not, and that particular app is the only version of that program, trying uninstalling and reinstalling it.
Perform a factory reset
If the two simpler solutions above don’t solve your problem, consider a factory reset. Nobody wants to go through the hassle of erasing their entire phone, but there is anecdotal evidence a factory reset can help with overheating issues.
Full restores can often solve odd software issues for one reason or another. Perhaps your Pixel is dealing with a weird bug, and installing a fresh copy of Android can wipe it out. But don’t forget to back up everything important on your Pixel before proceeding, since a factory reset will delete all of your data.
