Eli5: Why do smartphones not need cooling fans like other computers do?

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Everybody always talks about the massive computing power of smartphones (movies love the moon mission comparison) but still my phone rarely gets hot. (Only when I use it while charging sometimes)

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The phone will switch between performance states to never cross certain thermal thresholds both to protect the user and the battery, think of your phone as a performance free diver skilled at holding breath, while larger active cooling computers will have some functional breathing apparatus like a snorkeler or a diving bell, and when you get into liquid cooling you are more like submarines or just scuba divers. Charging will be the greatest thermal load especially if you are using a fast charging system, especially the top 20% of your batterys charge.

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