For sodium niobate (NaNbO 3 ) ceramics containing in the nonpoled state about 30% of the ferroelectric Q phase, the temperature dependences of the dielectric constant ε and pyroelectric coefficient p are studied. The results obtained show that the transition from the Q phase into the high-temperature nonpolar phase seems to be a diffuse one and the remanent polarization remains nonzero up to %370 C, i.e., well above the temperature of the p(T ) maximum (%270 C). Poled NaNbO 3 ceramics possess high figures of merit for pyroelectric sensors and NaNbO 3 -based materials are prospective for application in the noncooled infrared detectors.