FLV to 3G2 Converter

Converting FLV to 3G2: Read This First

This is one of the most niche conversions there is, so it is worth being honest before you start. FLV (Flash Video) is a dead container — Adobe's Flash Player reached end of life on December 31, 2020, though the files themselves still open in VLC and ffmpeg. 3G2 is also effectively dead: it was defined by 3GPP2 for CDMA2000 feature phones, and the networks it served are gone — Verizon's CDMA network was scheduled to retire on December 31, 2022 and Verizon's own support page records it as decommissioned as of January 3, 2023. 3G2 also discards most of your resolution and quality by design, encoding to tiny QCIF- and QVGA-class frames. So this converts a dead format into a dead-network format, and downgrades the picture on the way. If you simply want a small, playable, shareable clip, use the FLV to MP4 converter instead — keep reading only if a specific old CDMA-era handset, emulator, or test rig genuinely requires a .3g2 file.

How to Convert FLV to 3G2

1. Upload Your FLV File: Drag and drop your .flv onto the page or click "Add Files." Several clips can be queued and converted with the same settings.
2. Pick a Video Codec: Open Advanced Options and choose under Video Codec — the list is H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and Xvid, and H.264 is the pre-selected default. Choose H.263 instead for the oldest feature phones.
3. Set Video Resolution and Audio (Optional): Under Video resolution the page starts on Keep original; switch to Preset Resolutions for 240p or 144p, or use Width x Height to enter 176x144 (QCIF) for genuine feature-phone compatibility. Under Audio Codec pick AMR Narrow Band for speech-era handsets or AAC for music. File Compression starts on Quality Preset at "Very High (Recommended)"; Specific file size, Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Constant Quality and Constraint Quality are the alternatives. Trim takes a Start time and Duration in seconds or as HH:MM:SS.sss.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and download your 3G2 file. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, converted on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.

Walk-through: Matching the 3G2 to Your Target Device

The whole point of a 3G2 file is compatibility with one specific old device, so the codec and resolution choices matter more than usual. The defaults aim for broad 3G2 acceptance, but if you know what the target handset is, tune for it:

• Oldest CDMA feature phones (pre-2008 flip phones): set Video Codec to H.263 and Audio Codec to AMR Narrow Band, with Width x Height at 176x144 (QCIF). This is the most universally accepted 3G2 pairing.
• Later CDMA smartphones (roughly 2008-2012): leave Video Codec on H.264 and pair it with AMR Narrow Band or AAC at 320x240 (QVGA). It usually plays fine and looks slightly better.
• A strict file-size or bandwidth cap: keep the resolution small and switch File Compression to Specific file size, or drop the Quality Preset. 3G2 was tuned for low-bandwidth cellular links, so it goes very small.
• You are not sure what the device is: start with H.264 plus AMR Narrow Band, and if it will not play, fall back to H.263 plus AMR Narrow Band at 176x144.

The CDMA-native speech codecs named in the 3GPP2 file-format specification (EVRC, 13K/QCELP, SMV, VMR-WB) are decoded on the playback device but are not offered as encode options here — you will be using AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC for the audio track.

3G2 Compared With Its Neighbours

What Each Codec Choice on This Page Means

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "The 3G2 will not play on my old phone" — the codec is probably too modern for it. Re-convert with Video Codec set to H.263 and Audio Codec set to AMR Narrow Band at 176x144. The oldest handsets only decode that combination.
• "The output looks blurry or blocky" — that is expected. 3G2 targets QCIF/QVGA frames at cellular bitrates; the softness is the format, not the converter. No setting makes a 3G2 look like the source FLV. If quality matters, you want MP4, not 3G2.
• "My FLV will not upload or fails to process" — old FLV files are sometimes truncated or use a rare codec. Try the FLV to MP4 converter first to confirm the source decodes, then come back if you still need a 3G2.
• "The file is bigger than I expected" — you likely left the resolution at Keep original. Set Width x Height to 176x144 and pick a lower Quality Preset, or switch File Compression to Specific file size.
• "The audio is mono when the FLV was stereo" — both AMR modes are mono-only by design. Choose AAC if you need two channels.

When This Doesn't Work

If you are trying to get a Flash video onto a current phone, 3G2 is the wrong target entirely — modern iPhones and Android phones receive MP4 over LTE and 5G, and the old MMS path 3G2 was built for is retired. 3G2 only makes sense for a genuinely old, offline CDMA-era handset, a carrier QA emulator, a feature-phone test rig, or a period-correct archive. If the target handset was on a GSM carrier, you want 3GP rather than 3G2 — convert FLV to 3GP instead. And for anything you actually want to watch or share today, convert FLV to MP4.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does converting FLV to 3G2 make my video look so much worse?

Because 3G2 is built to throw quality away. It was designed for CDMA2000 feature phones playing video at very low bitrates on tiny screens, so the standard frame sizes are QCIF (176x144) and QVGA (320x240). Re-encoding an FLV into 3G2 re-compresses the picture and usually downscales it hard. That size collapse is the whole reason someone targets this format, not a defect. If you need to keep the detail, convert FLV to MP4 instead.

Is 3G2 even useful in 2026?

Only in narrow cases. 3G2 was the video container for CDMA2000 phones, and those networks are shut down — Verizon's CDMA retirement was scheduled for December 31, 2022, and Verizon records the network as decommissioned as of January 3, 2023. So 3G2 is no longer useful for live MMS or any current phone. It still has a place for playing a clip on a specific old CDMA handset that works offline, feeding legacy hardware or emulators that only accept 3G2, archiving in the period-correct container, or producing the smallest possible file for a strict limit.

What is the difference between 3G2 and 3GP, and which do I need?

They share the same ISO base media container heritage (MPEG-4 Part 12) and the same core video codecs, so the split is really about the cellular network each was written for. 3GP is the 3GPP format for GSM and UMTS phones; 3G2 is the 3GPP2 format for CDMA2000 phones. 3G2 additionally allows CDMA speech codecs such as EVRC and QCELP that 3GP does not. If your target handset was on a GSM carrier, convert FLV to 3GP instead.

Which codecs can I actually choose for the 3G2 output?

We checked the option set on this page: Video Codec offers exactly four entries — H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and Xvid — with H.264 pre-selected, and Audio Codec offers AAC, AMR Narrow Band and AMR Wide Band. For the oldest CDMA handsets, H.263 paired with AMR Narrow Band is the most universally compatible pairing. The CDMA-native speech codecs in the 3GPP2 specification (EVRC, 13K/QCELP, SMV, VMR-WB) are decoded on playback devices but are not encode options here, so a 3G2 produced on this page will always carry AAC or AMR audio.

My FLV file is old — will it still convert?

Usually, yes. Flash Player itself reached end of life on December 31, 2020, but FLV files still decode in modern tools, which is what does the heavy lifting here. Typical FLV files carry Sorenson Spark or VP6 video — with H.264 in later files — alongside MP3 or AAC audio, all of which read fine. The exceptions are truncated or corrupted FLV files from interrupted downloads; if one fails, it is usually the source, not the format.

Does the conversion keep the original H.264 stream if my FLV already has one?

No. The server always decodes and re-encodes to build the 3G2, even when the source FLV already carries H.264 video. There is no stream-copy path here, so expect one extra lossy generation on top of whatever the FLV encoder already discarded. Keeping the Quality Preset on "Very High (Recommended)" and leaving the resolution alone keeps that generation as invisible as it can be.

Can I convert only part of a long FLV?

Yes. Switch Trim from Unchanged to Time Range and enter a Start time and a Duration, either in plain seconds or as HH:MM:SS.sss. Only that window is decoded and re-encoded, which also makes it the fastest way to test a codec and resolution combination before committing to the whole clip.

What happens to my files after I convert them?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. The main real-world limit on a large FLV is upload size and time rather than the conversion itself, so trimming the clip first or targeting a specific file size keeps the job fast.