3G2 to Y4M Converter
FileFlip converts 3G2 to Y4M entirely inside your browser, using FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert a 3G2 file to Y4M?#
- Drop your 3G2 file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to Y4M and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 30.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs FFmpeg on your own machine.
- Save the Y4M file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting 3G2 to Y4M lose quality?#
Y4M is a lossless format, so nothing further is lost here, but nothing is recovered either. Whatever the 3G2 encoder already threw away is gone, and the Y4M file will usually be several times larger for exactly the same content.
Is it safe to convert 3G2 files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts 3G2 files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What 3G2 to Y4M actually does to the file#
Converting 3G2 to Y4M runs on FFmpeg, downloads 30.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, writes a lossless file that cannot recover what the source already discarded, and drops encoded streams.
| Engine | FFmpeg |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: 3G2 → Y4M |
| Downloaded to your browser | 30.8 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Lossless output, but nothing is recovered |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Encoded streams | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
What is a 3G2 file?#
A 3G2 file holds video and audio in the multimedia container 3GPP2 defined for CDMA-lineage mobile phones, the same MPEG-4 Part 12 lineage as 3GP but tuned to the codecs and networks used across North America and parts of Asia.
There's little reason to create new 3G2 files today; it matters only for handling video already recorded on an older CDMA phone.
Convert 3G2 to MP4 to play old CDMA phone footage on current devices, since almost nothing besides that original phone's own software still targets 3G2 directly.
What is a Y4M file?#
A Y4M file holds YUV4MPEG2 data, raw uncompressed video frames in planar YCbCr with a short plain-text header, the format codec developers feed into encoders like x264, x265 and vpxenc so nothing but the codec under test touches the pixels.
Use Y4M when testing or comparing video encoders, where the point is to remove every other codec from the pipeline so the one under test is the only variable.
Convert Y4M to a compressed format like MP4 for anything other than encoder testing, since the raw size makes it impractical to store or share.
3G2 to Y4M questions people ask#
What produces a 3G2 file?
3G2 files come from older CDMA-network mobile phones, the kind carriers like Verizon and Sprint sold before those networks were shut down. Video recorded or received as an MMS message on those phones typically saved in this format.
Why won't my 3G2 file play?
3G2 is rare enough that many players never added support for it, and its CDMA-specific audio codecs like EVRC or QCELP aren't included in general-purpose decoders. VLC is the most reliable option for opening a 3G2 file directly.
What's the difference between 3G2 and 3GP?
Both are the same MPEG-4 Part 12 family of mobile video container, but 3GP was defined by 3GPP for GSM-network phones while 3G2 was defined by 3GPP2 for CDMA-network phones. The practical difference is mainly which audio codecs each permits, matched to the voice codecs their respective networks already used.
What should I convert a 3G2 file to?
Convert 3G2 to MP4 to get old CDMA phone footage playing on a current device. MP4 supports far more codecs and doesn't depend on decoders that were only ever built for CDMA-era handsets.