As Ⅳ-Ⅵ compound, tin telluride belongs to direct band gap semiconductor materials. Under the condition of room temperature and atmospheric pressure, tin telluride has a stable face-centered cubic crystal structure. Being a topological crystal insulator, tin telluride has a highly symmetrical crystal structure. Due to its helical multiple surface states and strong topological protection characteristics, tin telluride can be used to fabricate new electronic devices without energy consumption. Moreover, on account of its excellent properties such as band-gap free topological surface state and narrow band gap posture, it has great potential in the field of preparing new photodetectors with wide spectral response from ultraviolet, visible light to infrared. In addition, because of its high mobility at room temperature, tin telluride is expected to be used for high performance photoelectric detection with ultra-fast response speed. In this review, the preparation methods, crystal structures and properties of tin telluride materials were summarized from the point of view that they were suitable for photodetectors. And the research progress of tin telluride in infrared photoelectric detection in recent years was summarized. Then the development potential of tin telluride in the field of photodetectors was prospected, and several aspects that need to be further studied as photodetectors were also put forward.