Hacker News Reader

Comment by seanmcdirmid | Hacker News Reader

Haerbin in China is typically at -40C or worse in the winter, and it isn’t that bad...except my digital camera battery died really quickly. I wonder how a modern smart phone would fare (that was...2005, we only had normal cellphones). Of course, Haerbin is a huge city with central heating, so its quite different from being in a small community or in the wilderness.

View on HN

Not better. I live in Quebec City. When we get anything under -30C, my iPhone XS battery dies in a matter of seconds once out of a pocket.

Whoa there, did you have an especially horrible winter there? It's been closer to -20 C in my experience (which admittedly was only a couple of weeks). Maybe you're thinking of Mohe? Also smartphones don't fare well if you leave them out. I had to constantly warm up my phone in my pocket, otherwise the battery would often die if I was out and about and left it out in my (gloved) hand too long.

Maybe I’m misremembering it? I remember the digital thermometer falling from -30 to -40 on the bus I was riding on from Changchun, but maybe it was something like -20 to -30? Anyways m, Beijing felt absolutely balmy when I finished that trip.

>except my digital camera battery died really quickly

Indeed!

Batteries still dislike extreme cold, afaik.

Never heard of Haerbin before, but the pictures are beautiful!

The ice sculptures are worth it, as is the huge frozen solid river. They also sell ice cream in the winter and don’t bother using freezers.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com