The Sony Xperia 1 V could be hotter than the sun

When we reviewed the Sony Xperia 1 IV we loved its display, its design and its camera system – but we weren't so happy about its heat management, which often made it uncomfortably hot. A successor is imminent, and without some clever cooling it could be even hotter than the current model.

According to GSMArena, which has collated the latest leaked images and specifications, the imminent Xperia may be announced at the annual MWC show in Barcelona later this month. And if the images are real, it's going to be an interesting phone.

Why the next Sony Xperia is likely to be a hot phone

According to a leaker on Chinese social media Weibo, the Xperia 1 V will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is the standard system on a chip for 2023's higher end Android devices. That's not surprising, but it appears that the Xperia will be the thinnest of those phones – which could mean that it's also the hottest of the Gen 2 devices in terms of how hot it gets under sustained load.

Hopefully another very specific rumour means Sony has solved that. Late last year, a Weibo leaker claimed that the next version would have significantly improved heat dissipation – 50% better, in fact, than the Xperia 1 IV. The solution is apparently a new ceramic-like material for the rear casing alongside some clever heat-dissipating design.

I hope that's true, because the heating problem was a rare flaw in an otherwise fantastic phone and a particular pain because of its tendency to overheat just when you needed the camera. If Sony's sorted it, the new Xperia could be one of this year's best phones.