MP4 VS 3GP
The ultimate comparison guide. Understanding the technical differences between MPEG-4 Part 14 and 3GPP Multimedia.
MP4
mp4The most compatible digital multimedia container for video and audio.
Pros
- Universal compatibility
- Good compression/quality balance
- Streaming support
Cons
- Compression is lossy
- Editing requires re-encoding
3GP
3gpLightweight container for early 3G phones prioritizing tiny file sizes.
Pros
- Extremely small files
- Optimized for low bandwidth
- Easy MMS sharing
Cons
- Low resolution
- Poor audio fidelity
- Outdated on modern hardware
When MP4 wins
Stay with MP4 when you need web video or social media. Its strengths center on universal compatibility and a feature set native to MPEG.
When 3GP wins
Choose 3GP when your workflow prioritizes legacy mobile devices or feature phone archives. It delivers extremely small files plus modern compression perks.
Technical Specifications
| Feature | MP4 | 3GP |
|---|---|---|
| MIME Type | video/mp4 | video/3gpp |
| Developer | MPEG | 3rd Generation Partnership Project |
| Release Year | 2001 | 2001 |
| Best For | Web video, Social media, General storage | Legacy mobile devices, Feature phone archives |
Need to switch?
Where MP4 still wins
Keep MP4 when you need universal compatibility and workflows depend on web video / social media. Link those teams directly to the converter above so they can ship 3GP deliverables without leaving their browser.
- • Reference the .mp4 glossary from this page.
- • Embed the conversion CTA in docs, wikis, and onboarding runbooks.
- • Use 3GP for legacy mobile devices while archiving originals as MP4.
Keep crawlers in the conversion hub
Link this comparison to the relevant tool, glossary, and documentation pages so every crawl discovers a monetizable route.