How to Compress a Video on an Android Phone

Smartphones are our trusty companions. We cannot imagine being somewhere, whether at work, in the gym, or in the park, without having these devices close to us. From sending important messages and reading emails to keeping in touch with loved ones, almost everything we do today is performed via mobile devices, which is why we cannot deny the importance of this technology.

As smartphone technology continues to improve, we see a lot of impressive features come to life. One such amazing improvement is the increased quality of pictures and videos. New Android devices boast of high-definition cameras that take cleaner shots than their predecessors. Their resolution is becoming so high that their pixel density is increasing as well. While this enhancement is amazing, it comes with the added trouble of more storage space being taken with each picture or video file that you create. This is because these HD cameras shoot large videos.

If you have an Android device with a large storage capacity, this might not matter to you. However, when you need to send a video to someone through email, it can be a problem. Email apps, WhatsApp, and some other applications set a limit on the size of video that you can send at one go. Besides, sending a large video through email can be time-consuming.

You can choose to change your phone’s camera settings to reduce the size of your video files. However, this, in turn, reduces the quality of your videos. Another challenge is that using your phone’s camera settings to decrease the size of your video files does not always help. In some instances, your videos can still be too large for email and Facebook.

Therefore, it is important to know how to compress a video on an Android phone for email. In addition, you also need to learn how to do this for WhatsApp and Facebook. However, you don't only need to compress video for email. You also have to compress large video files to meet WhatsApp and Facebook limits. After all, we use these applications on a daily basis. Compressing a video maintains its quality to a reasonable extent. This makes it a better option than altering your camera settings. The good news is that converting files is easy to do. You just need the right tools for that. A video converter or compressor comes in very handy in these situations.

Without further ado, let’s look at how to compress a video file after using your camera’s default settings. Follow the guide below to find the answers that you seek.

How to Compress a Video on an Android Phone for Facebook, WhatsApp, and E-mail

In this guide, we will show you how to use Wondershare UniConverter. This program allows you to browse for the video you want to compress without leaving the application you’re using. However, it is also possible to go through your gallery, select the video you want to convert, and then press the Share icon. From the available options displayed, choose the one for the compressor tool. Then select Profile. When the next page opens, go down and choose Manual.

Note: If you are using the pro version, there is no need to select the Manual option. Instead, choose the Reduce Size (Pro) option. You can use this to reduce your video to the size of your choosing.

When you have chosen the Manual option, the app will take you to a new page where you can adjust the specifications to meet your needs.

Note: If you want to learn more about FPS, Resolution, Codec, and Bitrate, make sure to check the next section, which deals with how to compress videos for YouTube.

Now that you are in the Manual section, it is time to adjust the specifications:

1. Go to the Container option and set it to mp4. You can also set it to 3GP if you want. However, keep in mind that mp4 offers better video quality than 3GP. In addition, 3GP video files are smaller in size. Therefore, if you want to reduce video size while maintaining video clarity, go for the mp4 format. On the other hand, if you are looking to reduce your video size even further and you do not mind having a video that isn’t very clear, use 3GP.
2. For the Codec option, choose H.264. This codec format will give you a good-quality video of a smaller size. However, if you do not like the quality you get, you can switch to the MPEG-4 option.
3. Now move to the FPS option – FPS stands for Frames Per Second. Set the number to 23.98.
4. Set the Res option (Resolution) to 176x144 if you are looking to get a low-quality video of a smaller size. However, if you want to get better video quality, set it to 480x360. This setting will give you a video that is optimized for mobile devices.
5. As for the Bitrate option, set it to Specify and then enter the value 800. Also, make sure that your audio codec is set to AAC. You can leave the other options as they are unless you want to change them.
6. Go to the top right portion of your screen and tap on the App symbol there. The application will then begin to compress the video according to your settings.

As soon as the compression and conversion procedures commence, you will see the progress shown in the notification bar. When the process is complete, it will also be shown there. You can then watch the video and see whether it meets your requirements.

How to Compress Video Files for YouTube: What You Need to Know

When it comes to compressing videos for YouTube (this also applies to WhatsApp and Facebook), there are two types of compression available:

1. Lossless compression
2. Lossy compression

When it comes to lossless compression, you cannot reduce your file size to less than 50% of the original video size. Compressing it to less than that will give you a low-quality video.

Keep in mind that the most widely used codec around the web is MP4 AVC H.264. If you want to send your video to any platform easily, you should use this format for your file compression. Since you are sending your video through a mobile device, you should also use the 480x320 or 320x240 resolution.

We will show you how to use another video converter/compressor called Format Factory to reduce the size of your videos and make them easy to send to YouTube. It is open-source software that works as a direct option for all qualities and devices. Another advantage of this tool is that you can use it on your PC as well.

1. Lossless compression for large files

If you have a 4K video that you want to compress without losing much quality, follow the steps below:

• Open the Format Factory app.
• Choose the MP4 option to go to the window from where you can add your video files.
• In this new window, go to the right side and select Add file. Browse through to select the video that you want to work on.
• Choose the option that says Output Settings. This will reveal a drop-down menu.
• From the drop-down menu, choose High quality and size. If you want to compress your video even further, then choose from the other options.
• Now go to the option for Video Encode and choose AVC(H264).
• For the next step, you need to go to the Video Size option and select 480p. Do not touch the other options. Leave them as they are.
• Go to the OK button and select it. Tap OK again and then choose Start. This will begin the compression process.

For a 323MB video file, selecting AVC(H264) alone reduces the size to 249 MB. Making a selection of both 480p and AVC(H264) further reduces it to 86.4 MB without significantly decreasing its quality. If you want to compress it further and you don’t mind the loss of quality, you can go ahead and choose Low quality and size.

2. Lossy compression for mobile platforms

If you are looking to use this tool to compress your file for sending it via a mobile device, choose Mobile Device. Remember that selecting the 3GP format will greatly reduce the video size and also diminish the quality. When 3GP was used as a compression format for a 323 MB file, it converted it to an 11.5 MB video. The clarity/quality of the video was low as well.

However, if you are more interested in your video’s size than in its quality, you can still go ahead and use the 3GP format:

• In the app, choose Mobile Device.
• From the options displayed, select MP4 480x360 MPEG4. This is the ideal format for almost all mobile devices. However, if you are looking to get a smaller video size, go to MP4 320x240 MPEG4 and select it.
• After making your selection based on the size and video clarity that you want, select OK to confirm your settings.
• At this point, select Add file and then follow the same procedure for converting files.

We recommend that you try out the other settings to find out what works best for you. This way, you can find a specific setting that will give you the quality and size that suit your taste. You can then continue to use it for subsequent conversion and compression operations.

How to Send Large Files Without Compressing Them

There are times when you just need to send a media file without tampering with its size or quality. In such instances, using email, WhatsApp, and Facebook will not work. You need to use a service that will send your files at high speeds, without altering their original characteristics, no matter the size.

While there are many data transfer platforms that you can use to transfer videos, most of them impose restrictions, such as limits on the size of data that you can send. In addition to this, they require you to subscribe to weekly or monthly plans. This can be a problem, especially if you don’t send large media files regularly. After all, it makes no sense to subscribe to a plan when you need to make a one-time data transfer.

This is why FileWhopper remains the best tool for transferring large media files. It is a cloud-based platform that allows you to send, share, and download files and folders of ANY size, without limits! Besides, it doesn’t require you to subscribe to any plans – it is a pay-as-you-go service that lets you pay exactly for what you want to send and when you want to send it.

Also, FileWhopper protects your transfer from hackers. You don’t need to worry about unauthorized individuals gaining access to your data. The platform encrypts your files during transfer, which means that no one can intercept them. It also gives you a password; you should give it to your recipient so that they can download and view your video.

Simply go to FileWhopper’s official website and select the file size that you want to transfer. The tool will show you a one-time price for it. There are no extra charges; you only pay for the data that you want to send. If you don’t want to compress your videos and reduce their quality, this tool is what you need.

FileWhopper is great because you don’t need to compress your videos to send them. Using this cloud-based tool means you don’t need to bother about using video converters.

FileWhopper Mobile File Transfer

In addition, you can now transfer large files of up to 2 GB from your Android device. Your recipients can also download the files on their Android devices. All you need is your web browser and you're good to go.

While the mobile service has a limit of 2 GB transfers, it will be enough to send videos shot on mobile devices. This way, you don't have to transfer the file to your computer before uploading. You also don't have to subject yourself to other cloud-based services that require monthly subscriptions.

You should also note that using the mobile option restricts you from uploading folders. That's because the security process required to upload folders could stretch the transfer process for hours.

That said, you're still able to enjoy all the perks of using FileWhopper. For example, you still get to enjoy the military-grade security and super-fast transfer speeds. Interruptions won't affect your transfer progress but you'll have to specify the file path to resume the upload.

Conclusion

We hope you find the tools discussed in this article useful. If you have other methods that you would like to share with us, kindly use the comment section below.

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