Off-topic but I've been curious: how well do phones handle saunas? I thought the heat and moisture would pretty much be the worst environment for electronics. Is that not the case?
I have a barrel sauna with a Harvia. I take my phone in all the time. One level only. Where my head is, is where the thermostat is. When the temp says 170F the phone which is maybe a half meter below my head will almost never overheat. At 190F it will overheat eventually. Usually around 15 minutes or so. The higher I hold the phone and the less I insulate it the faster it overheats. “Overheat” in this case simply is the iPhone warning that it is getting too hot. I have the most recent iPhone SE at the time of this writing (2022 iPhone SE)
There’s no danger to the phone whatsoever. The phone is very good about protecting itself. Outside of the heat warnings it cools down and functions normally afterwards. The only real problem is the annoyance of not being able to use the phone in the sauna because Apple is a little overprotective of the device.
There may be no risk to the phone electronics themselves, but you are abusing the battery and increasing the risk of failure though bulging and thermal runaway.
I would personally not call regularly exposing lithium ion cells to 170+ degrees F “safe”.
Not the one you asked, but I like to sauna in perfectly dry air more than in humidity. Also slightly lower temperature. As there is no humidity, the heat doesn't transfer as quickly. The phone doesn't get hotter than it does on a sunny day outside.
Yeah that's nuts. Sauna is for unwind and relax. You'll be spending max 10-15 minutes per entry, max 4-5 entries. I'm sure Americans are far more busy than Fins, but that somewhat ruins the aura of sauna.
I prefer the steam room at my gym over the sauna because it's much less crowded. I'm convinced the sauna gets more traffic in part because you can use your phone in the less humid environment.
