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Need help?3G2 to M4R: Ringtones From Old CDMA Phone Clips
A .3g2 file uses the 3GPP2 container, the variant of the 3GP format defined for CDMA2000 phones. In the United States that meant handsets on networks such as Verizon and Sprint, and Verizon shut down its 3G CDMA network on December 31, 2022, so these files are archive material now: videos and voice clips copied off old phones and memory cards. Their audio is often a cellular speech codec such as QCELP or EVRC, sometimes AMR, and on later handsets AAC. An iPhone wants a ringtone as an .m4r, which is AAC audio in an MPEG-4 container with the extension that marks it as a tone. This converter decodes the 3G2's audio, re-encodes it to AAC, writes the .m4r and drops the video. Trim keeps the clip to 30 seconds or less, the length Apple gives for custom ringtones. The page accepts both .3g2 and .3gp.
How to Convert 3G2 to M4R
- Upload Your 3G2 File: Drag the
.3g2onto the page or click "Add Files". Batch upload works, so a folder of old clips can run as one job, on a computer or in a mobile browser. - Choose the Moment with Trim: In Advanced Options, switch Trim on and enter a Start time plus a Duration of 30 seconds or less, in seconds or
HH:MM:SS.sss. - Size the Bitrate to the Source (Optional): Audio Codec is AAC, the only codec for M4R. For speech codecs, Audio Channel Mono with a Constant Bitrate (8-384 kbps) of 48-64 kbps is plenty; File Compression also offers Variable Bitrate, Custom Bitrate and a target file size.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert and download the
.m4r, free with no sign-up or watermark, then copy it to your iPhone and select it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone.
What Is in a 3G2's Audio Track
| Codec in the 3G2 | Sampling | Built for | What the ringtone will sound like |
|---|---|---|---|
| QCELP (13K) | 8 kHz, mono | Early CDMA handsets, about 13 kbps | Telephone-band voice, clear but narrow |
| EVRC and EVRC-B | 8 kHz, mono | CDMA voice at a few kbps | The same narrow, call-like sound |
| AMR-NB or AMR-WB | 8 or 16 kHz, mono | Shared with the 3GP side of the family | Narrow (NB) or noticeably fuller (WB) |
| AAC | Up to 48 kHz | Later handsets recording music-grade audio | As good as the original recording |
The speech codecs keep roughly the band a phone call carries and nothing above it, and AAC cannot add back what was never captured. A voice, a laugh or a short sound effect makes a perfectly good ringtone this way. Music recorded on a CDMA phone will stay thin; that is the source, not the conversion. Rarer vocoders such as SMV may not be readable at all, in which case you will not get a usable tone from that file, so if you have many clips, try one short one first.
3G2 vs M4R
| Property | 3G2 (source) | M4R (output) |
|---|---|---|
| Container | 3GPP2, MPEG-4 family | MPEG-4; ffprobe reports major brand M4A |
| Phones | CDMA2000 handsets | iPhone |
| Video | H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2 or H.264 | None, the video is dropped |
| Audio | QCELP, EVRC, AMR or AAC | AAC-LC |
| Channels | Almost always mono | Original, Mono or Stereo |
| Length | Short phone clips | 30 seconds or less, per Apple |
| Works as an iPhone ringtone | No | Yes |
Bitrate and Size
Size in kilobytes is bitrate in kbps times seconds, divided by 8. Thirty seconds at 48 kbps is about 180 KB, at 64 kbps about 240 KB and at 128 kbps about 480 KB. For a QCELP or EVRC source, anything above about 64 kbps mono spends bytes on silence above the telephone band. Reserve 128 kbps or more for 3G2 files that already contain AAC. Leave Audio Sample Rate on Original; resampling an 8 kHz voice clip to 44100 Hz is possible but adds no detail.
Getting It Onto the iPhone
Connect the iPhone to a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, select it in the Finder sidebar and drag the .m4r onto it, or use iTunes on Windows; the tone then usually appears in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone. Without a computer, save the file to Files, import it into GarageBand on the iPhone and choose Share > Ringtone, the route Apple documents in Create a custom ringtone on your iPhone. For one caller only, go to Contacts > the person > Edit > Ringtone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between .3g2 and .3gp?
Both are MPEG-4-family phone containers. .3gp comes from the 3GPP side used by GSM and UMTS phones, .3g2 from 3GPP2 for CDMA2000 phones, and the main practical difference is the speech codecs inside. This page accepts both; 3GP to M4R covers the AMR-based GSM files in more depth.
Will an EVRC or QCELP clip sound better as an M4R?
No. Those vocoders sample at 8 kHz and keep only telephone-band audio, so the AAC version sounds like the original: recognisable, a little tinny. What you gain is a file the iPhone can actually use as a tone.
My clips came off an old Verizon or Sprint phone. Will they work?
That is exactly what this page is for. Those carriers used CDMA, and their phones wrote .3g2. Most clips use QCELP, EVRC, AMR or AAC audio and convert normally; try a single file first if you have a large batch.
Should I choose Mono?
Yes, for almost every 3G2 clip. Phone microphones recorded one channel, so Mono gives the same sound at half the data. Leaving Audio Channel on Original also keeps a mono source mono.
How long can an iPhone ringtone be?
Apple says ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long, and its GarageBand for iPhone guide gives 30 seconds as the maximum for exported ringtones. A 40-second limit is still quoted from the iTunes era, but it is not in Apple's current documentation; keep Duration at 30 seconds or less.
What if I want the whole clip as audio, or I use Android?
For the full recording as an Apple music file, use 3G2 to M4A. Android does not need M4R, since ringtones there are usually MP3 or OGG, so Android users should pick 3G2 to MP3.
What happens to my files?
They are uploaded over an encrypted TLS connection, converted on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours, together with the M4R. There is no sign-up and no watermark. For other sources, see the M4R converter.