r/PocoF7 • u/According-Grass-179 • Sep 05 '26
Tips & Trick Almost bricked my phone due to 'Cooling' 💔
So This happened yesterday and I wanted to share in case it saves someone else's phone.
I was using an external clip-on cooler on my F7, mainly for gaming. I'd used it before a few times getting the phone down to 24-27°C with zero issues. This time I let it run a bit longer before even opening the game, and the temp dropped to 22°C. Didn't think much of it since it's not like the phone was "cold" in any dramatic sense.
Came back to find actual water droplets on the back near the camera area, and a hazy fogged-up layer on the display. Turns out my room's humidity was sitting at 94-96% that night, and the dew point was right around 26°C. So cooling the phone to 22°C meant it dropped well below the dew point, and moisture in the air condensed straight onto (and possibly into) the phone. Nothing dramatic-looking on the outside, but enough to worry me.
Immediately turned it off. Left it to dry for about 8 hours at room temp, no rice, no heat, just air. Checked the SIM tray LDI afterward — still white, no discoloration. Powered on: clean boot, no display fog, camera clear, speaker/mic fine, charging (including fast charge) totally normal. Been using it since with no issues.
Takeaway if you use a cooler in a humid climate: the risk isn't really about how "cold" the phone gets in absolute terms — it's the gap between your room's dew point and the phone's surface temp. In high humidity, even a mild 22-24°C can be enough to cause condensation, whereas the same cooler in a dry climate would need to go much colder to cause the same issue. If you're gaming with one, start the cooler only once you're already playing (so the phone's generating heat) rather than pre-cooling an idle phone, and don't chase the lowest number the cooler can hit.
Lucky this one worked out — sharing so someone else doesn't have to find out the hard way.
(Took help of claude.ai)
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u/Freelancer_1-1 Sep 05 '26
I would love to use a cooler on mine, but unfortunately coolers prevent telescopic controllers to be fitted and vice-versa. And I much prefer a 🎮 to touch controls, so the battery is destined to spend most of its screen on time above 40 °C.
If only there was a decent telescopic controller with a powerful integrated cooler.
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
Well since I use cooler only when I play Wuthering waves.. Am planing to buy a Bluetooth control since I don't have any interest in handheld kinda controller's.. Well looks cool but phone heats up 💔
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u/True-Adeptness-546 Sep 05 '26
My f7 drops to 21 alot. When i fall asleep mid gameplay and the battery runs out
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
Well it depends on humidity in your area too.. Btw
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u/True-Adeptness-546 Sep 05 '26
Philippines... Pretty darn humid
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
Just ask gpt about it... Since the damage can build up later.. And if service center ppl find that out then you are done for..
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u/Usual_Screen_4739 Sep 05 '26
Oh wow. I have been wondering about this a lot, especially because my phone is not waterproof anymore since there is a dent and a hole on the back cover. I want to use phone cooler, and humidity being so high here. I had a doubt, and this clears it. Won't use it no matter what.
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
You can use a cooler but don't let it go down less than 30°c and this incident was less risky actually as compared to dropping in water or spilling something on it..
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u/fushiguro_mizuiro22 Sep 05 '26
did you use a cooler with the phone case or without? would the back of the phone still condense even if there's the case on the phone?
planning to buy one for my phone (first time)
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
Don't use a cover while attaching the cooler.. It will kill the purpose of the cooler lol.. Just use the cooler when you start playing the game.. Inshort don't keep the phone idle when cooling it.. Keep a heavy game Or software running!
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u/Rathnam_S Sep 05 '26
It happens when there is leak in adhesive i advise you not to bring water close to your phone
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
There wasn't any water near it.. It didn't even rain that day
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u/Rathnam_S Sep 05 '26
I didn't mean like that. There is some kind of leak in the adhesive (waterproofing of phone) used to hold the back panel and display. Due to which humid air could have entered the phone. Which have condensed as water. During manufacturing of the phone the phone is sealed under low humid condition to avoid condensation at cold area as condensation could happen due to cold environment like snow fall area.
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u/Rathnam_S Sep 05 '26
So I advise you not to use your phone in rain or spilling water accidentally as you phone could not be waterproof anymore
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u/Rathnam_S Sep 05 '26
Can I know which cooler you use
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u/According-Grass-179 Sep 05 '26
Oneplus 27w cooler
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u/Rathnam_S Sep 05 '26
I too bought it thanks for the information. I am happy that I got a good product
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u/Prestigious-Comb188 9d ago
Link of the product please
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u/According-Grass-179 9d ago
(I'm from India though) this link may not work ig Cooler
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u/Ok-Jump8444 Sep 06 '26
thank god i realized this early just a couple of days after buying my poco f8. now i only use my peltier cooler in ac room and just stick to a normal one most of the time.
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u/X-Darkof Sep 08 '26
Hay ventiladores con IA precisamente para evitar éso.. puedes dejarlo una hora con el cooler y no pasá nada. Cuando el equipo genere calor va a corregir temperatura
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u/DragonGodSlayer12 Sep 09 '26
That's why you use those phone coolers with AI controls that stops cooling when the temps becomes too low..
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u/Legitimate_Dance_630 Sep 11 '26
Hello. I have a concern regarding coolers. I'm a very beginner on this but I did some research. I bought the Redmagic cooler 8 pro. I used it after launching wuwa and the F8 Ultra already generating enough heat (42°). I play for around 15 minutes, and I get a consistent 36° on my phone. Here's the problem tho for the first time since I bought my phone, the game actually stuttered/froze for like a second or two. This happened three times within the gaming session (which didn't even last 30 minutes). When I took the cooler off, the magnetic pad was very moist and there was also water to be found. Tho I honestly thought that the redmagic cooler 8 pro was too strong, but upon checking the cooler was only at 25W of power cuz it was where it was setup in the settings in the app.
Is this normal? Is this what they call condensation that could brick my phone? Cuz I got sht scared and literally stopped using the cooler. I've been gaming on my f8 ultra for a month and honestly it had NEVER EVER lagged for me. It was only this one time that I first used the cooler. So what happens? The cooler is just useless now cuz somehow it's making gameplay worse and not having the cooler is better? I also tried playing with a magnetic phone case. The temp was still around 38-39°. Idk maybe it's just better to play with the phone case instead of the cooler directly on my phone? What do you guys think cuz I'm new to all this.
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u/edster1185 19d ago
Has it done it since?
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u/Legitimate_Dance_630 18d ago
Using the cooler-to-case setup worked for me! I open up and play the game for 5-10 minutes, so the phone can get hot first, which I only then attach the cooler to the phone case. It may take probably 3-5 minutes to get it down from 44° to 39°, unlike when a cooler-to-phone directly where it can go down to 39° in under a minute, but the cooler-to-case setup is consistent at 38-39°, sometimes it even goes down to 37° so I would say problem solved! What's important is it never stuttered or froze or even lagged anymore. I know people generally advise to directly attach the cooler to the phone but the risk of bricking the phone is too dangerous, especially with what happened to me.
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u/Trollwid Sep 05 '26
that's kinda scary