Codecs
H.264 vs H.265 (HEVC) vs AV1: which codec should you use for phone videos?
The codec decides how much quality you get per megabyte. Here's what the three that matter actually trade — and why "the newest one" isn't always the right answer.
A codec is the method used to compress the pictures in a video. The container — MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM — is just the box the compressed video and audio travel in. When people say “convert to MP4”, the codec inside is what actually decides size and quality.
For phone video, three codecs matter.
The short answer
| If you want… | Choose | Because |
|---|---|---|
| It to play everywhere, for anyone | H.264 | Every phone, browser, TV and PC plays it |
| Small files you keep on your own devices | HEVC (H.265) | Similar quality at roughly half the bitrate of H.264 |
| The smallest file for modern players | AV1 | Smaller again than HEVC, royalty-free — but slow to encode on a phone |
H.264 (AVC): the one that plays everywhere
Standardised in 2003, H.264 is the most widely supported video codec there is. Every phone can encode it in hardware, and every browser, smart TV, laptop and messaging app can play it.
It’s the least efficient of the three: for the same quality, it needs the most bitrate. But when you don’t know what the other person will watch on — an email attachment, a video for a relative’s old laptop — compatibility is worth more than a few megabytes.
HEVC (H.265): the everyday upgrade
HEVC, finished in 2013, was designed to match H.264’s quality at around half the bitrate — and on real phone footage it gets close. That’s why iPhones record in HEVC by default (Settings → Camera → Formats → High Efficiency), and many Android phones offer it as a camera option.
Modern phones encode and decode HEVC in hardware, so it’s fast and battery-friendly. The catch is outside the phone: some Windows PCs need a small paid extension to play it, and older TVs and browsers may not play it at all.
AV1: the efficient newcomer
AV1 was finalised in 2018 by the Alliance for Open Media — a group including Google, Apple, Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft — as a royalty-free codec. It typically makes files smaller than HEVC at similar quality, and it’s what large streaming services increasingly use.
Two caveats for phones. Hardware decoding of AV1 is on recent flagship chips but not yet universal, so an older phone may play it slowly or not at all. And hardware encoding AV1 on a phone is still rare, so creating an AV1 file usually happens in software — noticeably slower than HEVC.
The others you’ll see
- VP9 — Google’s predecessor to AV1, widely used on YouTube. Efficiency roughly comparable to HEVC.
- VP8 and MPEG-4 Part 2 — older codecs, mostly useful for compatibility with legacy devices and formats.
Which should you pick?
- Sharing with other people: H.264. It will play, full stop.
- Freeing up space on your own phone: HEVC. Your phone plays it natively and the saving is large.
- Archiving for years: HEVC at a generous quality setting — efficient, and widely supported by the software you’re likely to own.
- Uploading to YouTube, Instagram or TikTok: it matters less than you’d think. The platform re-encodes whatever you send; give it a good-quality H.264 or HEVC file in the resolution it expects.
Codecs in Ninja
Ninja writes all six — H.264, HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1 and MPEG-4 — into twelve containers. H.264 and HEVC run on your phone’s hardware encoders, so they’re the fastest. The share presets pick a codec and resolution for their platform; Convert lets you choose both yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Is H.265 better than H.264?
For file size, yes: at similar quality, HEVC files are substantially smaller. For compatibility, H.264 still wins — it plays on everything.
Is AV1 better than HEVC?
AV1 usually makes smaller files at similar quality and is royalty-free. It’s slower to create on a phone and less universally playable today.
What codec do phones record in?
iPhones default to HEVC. Android phones vary by maker and model; many record H.264 unless you switch on a high-efficiency option in the camera settings.