Can a smartphone flashlight melt plastic?

The Internet has dredged up some viral videos of the flashlight on a smartphone melting through plastic trash bags. Tom’s Guide put this phenomenon to the test, pitting the flashlights of a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, an iPhone 17 Pro Max and a Google Pixel 10 Pro against various trash bags. The results found that all three would eventually melt a small hole in the bag if it was left pressed as close to the flashlight as possible while on the brightest setting. The Samsung was the fastest, and the Pixel was faster than the iPhone but made a smaller hole.

This was only the case with black trash bags though. The flashlights were unable to melt through white trash bags, likely because black absorbs more light and heat than white. It also stands to reason that a smartphone flashlight would not fare as well against something thicker than a trash bag, but it’s still a good cautionary tale. Just make sure your flashlight is switched off before you put your phone in your pocket.