[Updated] Sony Xperia 1 IV 'overheating' & 'performance' issues come to light

Here’s the crux of the article in video form:

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on June 22, 2022) follows:

Successor to the Xperia 1 III, Sony announced the Xperia 1 IV in May this year. It sports a 6.5-inch 120Hz OLED screen protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the phone runs on Android 12 out of the box. It is backed by a 5,000 mAh battery that can be charged up to 50% in 30 minutes.

The Sony Xperia 1 IV also boasts a rear quad camera setup that consists of a 12MP main sensor, 12MP telephoto lens, 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 0.3MP depth sensor.

And while the hardware might sound pretty impressive on paper, recent reports from Sony Xperia 1 IV owners suggest that the phone is overheating at times (1,2,3).

It looks like the device heats up when performing resource-intensive tasks such as using the camera, on video calls, or transferring files. Apparently, the overheating of the device is leading to some performance issues.

So I’ve had this phone for a few days now. It gets toasty whenever I use the camera, even while on video call. I also noticed heat whenever it does more intensive tasks (e.g. transferring files, importing media). The heat is not uncomfortable but it’s quite noticeable. I live in a tropical environment but the climate does not aggravate the phone’s thermal spikes. Also the phone is quite choppy; the throttling was surprisingly noticeable while undergoing load. While this is not news (for any phone), just wanted to share my experiences so far.
(Source)

I’ve been testing the Xperia 1 IV outdoors shooting photos and 4K video the past few days. While shooting video it’s overheating in under 3 minutes, and while taking pictures it’s only a matter of a few more minutes. I’ll have the camera app open and taking a few pictures or switching modes. Weather 95-100F outside and bam, same thing. Once it overheats it’s game over because it takes forever to cool off. Anyone else having similar experiences?
(Source)

It looks like the device throttles to a point where it reaches performance levels similar to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Exynos variant.

While some are blaming the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, others are blaming Sony’s thermal solution. That said, we are yet to come across any official word on the matter.

However, setting the phone refresh rate to 60Hz seems to be helping with the overheating problem.

I didn’t need the 120hz option so I turned it off. I have no overheating issues. I understand this is frustrating for people who wanted to use 120hz. I had hoped setting it to 60hz all the time would make the phone usable as I don’t care about 120hz and it did the trick for me.
(Source)

As always, we will be keeping tabs on the matter and update this space as and when we come across more information so make sure you stay tuned.

11:53 am (IST): According to a Redditor, Sony support said that they won’t release any firmware update to address the overheating issue.

Moreover, they claim that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 overheats under load and this isn’t anything to worry about. You can check out the full statement in the screengrab below.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Sony section so be sure to follow them as well.

Featured image source: Amazon

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