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Asklemmy @lemmy.ml

person @lemm.ee

11mo ago

Have you ever had a phone's flashlight LED just fail?

When the phone was otherwise in a working condition.

18 comments

The LED should be expected to outlast the rest of the phone by a large margin. That said, given enough units out there, it's statistically inevitable to get a couple with some issue that die earlier.

If phone manufacturers cheap out, they can fail to handle the heat from continued LED use (e.g. as a flashlight) which can cause premature failure

No but I did have a flashlight fail me while I was exploring a long abandoned power plant and in a dark room with evidence that someone may have been living in the facility. I only shit my pants a little

I think it only fails on horror movies other than that i have never seen one fail IRL.

I once got a „refurbished“ phone from a third party shop where it was not working. But I guess it was a defect from the refurbishment itself. They repaired it though.
Other than that, no. And I don’t think the LED would fail, maybe the plug would rattle loose.

No, at least not independently of other hardware failures.

Now I'm curious as well. I use it often, but not for that long each time. I know it gets hot after a while and it drains the battery.
How long is it supposed to last?
- LEDs should last for tens of thousands of hours. There may have been a manufacturing defect in OP's case.
  
  This isn't necessarily true. LEDs are capable of running for years, but not all LEDs are designed this way or are operated this way. An LED in a given application can die quicker if:
  the LED manufacturer cheaps out
  the phone manufacturer runs the LED at higher current for more brightness
  the phone is poorly designed, allowing the LED to heat up
  the phone is exposed to significant heat and/or the LED is covered while used for a long enough duration

Yes. Samsung S6 edge I think? Before flashlight was an intentional functionality. I had an app or a ROM that gave me a flashlight button but if I used it too long it would stop working for a while. It would come back eventually but made me nervous so I avoided using it for more than a few seconds.

No

Fail as in did not provide enough light to walk through the woods, then yes. I have flashlight in my EDC.
- Why is it whenever I see someone say they have an EDC, I imagine fingerless gloves?

If you mean the screen, then yes.

no but I have often thought that it would be a good thing if it did because I hate light

18 comments