When I got my S7 a month ago I was able to use gearVR for extended periods of time and never got an overheating warning. Recently I get a warning after only 10 minutes or so. What's going on? IS it possible there is some physical damage that is causing this behaviour? I tried reinstalling the Oculus apps due to the recent fiasco, but that hasn't helped.
Posted Oct 4, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC
frozen gel packs solved my overheating problems with my s6
Maybe i was imagening things but i had sometimes the impression that after some Oculus updates, i got overheating faster and after some other updates i got them less often.
So it could be a software thing but also an app thing (i often get the pop up message Next VR has stopped) or just my imagination.
Turn down the brightness. You adjust to it really quickly and it definitely reduces overheating.
Turn off 4G. You can use WiFi but in my experience, downloading is the quickest way to overheat.
Before you start, close all of your apps.
Buy a cheap soft ice pack. I bought one for a just a few dollars from Walmart. It comes in sheets like this. I cut that into several small sections that fit over my phone. Then I use a rubber band on each side to secure it to the GearVR. I don't even freeze the ice packs. The water acts as a heat sink.
Lots of factors can increase the chances of overheating:
room temperature
phone's starting tempreature (like if it was just taken off the charger)
ventilation
the app you're using
having the Gear VR's plastic backplate attached
background processes running
4G instead of WiFi
recording video
etc...
I doubt it's physical damage unless you have a really good reason to believe it is.