This is how low the temperature can get before your phone starts acting up

When the temperature drops, phone problems rise

Like most humans, our mobile gadgets really don't appreciate sub-zero weather. Try to use your cell phone in the freezing cold and it's likely to die or give you errors. How cold is too cold? Let's take a look.

PCWorld Finland did a study in 2012 comparing smartphones in 32 degree weather and lower. They found most of the 15 phones died when the temperatures were 5 to -4 degrees, whereas feature phones (you know, "dumb phones") actually worked down to -13 degrees.

The Apple iPhone 4s and Nokia N9 were the first to fail starting at 23 degrees, while the Samsung Galaxy S2 held out to an impressive -22 degrees. (The phones aren't the latest models, but you can still get an idea of temperature limits.)

The takeaway may be that if you need a phone that can stand the cold when you do, it might make sense to have a dumb phone around.


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