Video shows Sony Xperia X has camera overheating problems

Update 2: Android Authority’s own Bailey Stein, who currently has an American Xperia X review model, provided the following statement having sought to test his model for similar problems:

While I did see the “some functions may be disabled” message after eleven minutes of recording 1080P at 60fps, the camera app did not close even after 30 minutes of recording on my Sony Xperia X review unit. Do keep in mind, however, that there are other variables to consider and each unit may perform differently.

It should be noted that Mr. Franc, the originator of the video this post is based on, has indicated he has a German model Xperia X and thus it’s possible this could be a regional-related issue specific to different firmware.

Update 1: Mr. Damir Franc, the man who posted the video, provided some feedback – which can be seen in the comments section below – that offers more insight into the matter at hand:

I didn’t buy it, it was a review unit I got from the press agency who handles review devices for Sony in Germany. I was also not the first one who got the unit, I guess 2nd or 3rd.
The issue was easily reproducible and I noticed it during my camera comparison because the video in the viewfinder got very stuttery like in the video just after a few minutes of recording.
I didn’t think this would get the attention it did and that’s why the test isn’t quite thought-through, I just wanted to show my few viewers what i found, nothing more, nothing less. Nothing was done on purpose to make it look bad, that was never the intention, especially since I still like the phone and therefore gave it a quite positive review.

The issue now becomes one of if the device (1) was running pre-release software, (2) was somehow damaged or such by the previous individual(s) who had previously used it before, or (3) was, and is, in need of software patches or even a hardware modification to deal with the heat-related problem. As Mr. Franc has indicated the issue is easy to reproduce, it certainly seems to be a potentially big problem for videographers.

When Sony announced its Xperia X line of products some months ago, the collective conclusion was somewhat of a concession of confusion: the Japanese OEM looked as if it was terminating its Xperia Z line of smartphones and instead “rebooting” it as the X, instead. Some weeks earlier, there was a report that said Sony aimed to rebrand all of its Xperia devices under the umbrella, yet lo and behold just this past week a new – or rather “old” – letter was reused. Still, branding aside it’s the hardware and performance that matters most, right?

Something seems to be amiss however, as one YouTuber, Damir Franc, has recorded a video that shows the Xperia X apparently has major problems when using the camera app for too long to record video. Specifically, the device begins to overheat and as a result, terminates the video recording to cool down. Take a look:

The clip, which compares the Xperia X to the Samsung Galaxy S7, recreates the problem with perfect precision. The issue is, in and of itself, likely to be a potential headache for Sony, which had already made the decision to throttle the Xperia X’s camera recording down to 1080p, rather than the more standard-fare 4K video recording which is present on most higher end smartphones these days.

Now it’s quite possible that a future software update from the OEM may alleviate the issue at hand here, but at the same time it’s quite concerning that a device running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 is having trouble sustaining video recording due to heat-related issues. The upset is all the more relevant given the fact that the device itself has a 5-inch Full HD (1920 X 1280) display, not even a QHD panel.

It’s also worth pointing out that this is just one report of an overheating issue and therefore may not be indicative of a systematic problem. Mr. Franc may have simply purchased a defective unit and hence the device used is more prone to overheating issues.

Still, assuming this is not a one-off problem, given just how many devices there are on the market with a Snapdragon 650 SoC and how infrequently this issue is raised, something seems to be amiss 0n Sony’s software or hardware side. Hopefully the problem will be patched or fixed soon, less there may be a considerably number of complaining customers commenting and claiming.

Have you purchased an Xperia X? Have you noticed any problems related to the video recording or anything else? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!