3GP and 3G2 are the video formats of older mobile phones. The clips are small, often 176 × 144 or 352 × 288 pixels, with H.263 or MPEG-4 video and AMR or AAC sound. Current computers and phones often refuse them, so converting old phone videos to MP4 keeps them watchable.
How to convert 3GP to MP4
- Upload the 3GP or 3G2 file (up to 2 GB).
- Keep Convert to: MP4.
- Download the MP4.
What happens
- Video: H.263 and MPEG-4 Part 2 are re-encoded to H.264. Clips that already use H.264 are copied unchanged.
- Sound: AMR voice recordings (AMR-NB and AMR-WB) are re-encoded to AAC, which every MP4 player understands. AAC sound is copied.
- Size: the video keeps its original size in pixels; it is not enlarged, because enlarging adds no detail.
Upright videos from phones stay upright: a rotation flag is kept when the video is copied, and applied to the picture when it is re-encoded.
Converting the other way
To play a video on an older phone, choose 3GP as the output. The video is re-encoded to H.264 in its most compatible form (baseline profile) at 480p or smaller, with AAC sound. Clips that are already H.263 or MPEG-4 are copied.
Tips
- Old phone clips often have a low frame rate (15 fps or less); it is kept as it is.
- If a 3GP file was cut off while copying it from the phone, the part that can be read is converted; completely unreadable files are reported as damaged.
More about what this tool reads and writes: Video Converter.