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Pixel 2 thermal issues

How long do you record video for?

Cameras are often significant power consumers, and the flash will generate heat, so this is a usage scenario that I can imagine heating the phone. But it shouldn't rapidly get extremely hot.

I can't say from experience. I use the flash as a torch most days, often for a few minutes, and have never been aware of significant heating from that alone. I've literally never used the video camera (I am a stills photographer, but rarely take videos), and have never on any phone used the flash with video.
 
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Capturing and processing high-resolution video is an intensive process which consumes a lot of power on its own. The LED flash also requires a relatively large amount of power. Heat is a natural byproduct of power consumption so I'm not at all surprised that you observe the phone getting hot while using the flash and video processing capabilities simultaneously.

Of course, "feels hot" is a pretty subjective measurement that covers a huge range of temperatures. The phone is constantly checking the actual temperature measurement of many components and will present a high temperature warning or even automatically shut down as temperature thresholds are exceeded.

I'd make sure that you're only using the flash for videos when it's absolutely necessary, and encourage you to consider external lighting options if possible (the resulting videos will look better too!). Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about the phone feeling hot to the touch.
 
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Though I have not, as yet, recorded video with the flash on, I can say that regardless of what I have thrown at my OG Pixel and now my Pixel 2XL they refuse to get hot or bog down. I have been quite amazed by this as my last phone (Nexus 6) was a trooper and I did and do love it, but it did have some pretty serious heating issues when I beat it up.
 
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