WMV to 3GP Converter

How to Convert WMV to 3GP Online

1. Upload Your WMV File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select one or more .wmv files from your computer. Batch conversion is supported, and processing happens in your browser session — no account required.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Default is Very High. Pick Medium or Low to hit the small footprints typical of 3GP (often 70-90% smaller than the source WMV). For finer control, switch to Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Constant Quality, or Constraint Quality under File Compression — or set a Specific file size target in KB/MB.
3. Set Resolution and Trim (Optional): Under Video resolution, pick Keep original, choose a Preset Resolution (176x144 QCIF, 320x240 QVGA, 640x480 VGA), enter custom Width x Height, or scale by Resolution Percentage. Under Trim, select a Time Range to keep only the segment you want.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are produced in video/3gpp (.3gp) — no watermark, no sign-up, no email.

Why Convert WMV to 3GP?

WMV is Microsoft's Advanced Systems Format (ASF) container, designed in the late 1990s for Windows desktops. 3GP is the 3GPP mobile container standardized in April 2003 for 3G UMTS/GSM phones — it carries H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2 (Simple Profile), or H.264 Baseline video alongside AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC-LC audio. Converting WMV to 3GP is mostly about reaching older mobile hardware and tooling that never spoke ASF.

• Legacy GSM/feature-phone playback — Pre-smartphone Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and early Samsung handsets from roughly 2003-2010 record and play 3GP natively. Most do not play WMV at all.
• Embedded systems and forensic archives — Older car infotainment units, dashcams, kiosks, and surveillance DVRs frequently default to 3GP/H.263 because the codec's complexity fits low-power decoders. Forensic tooling expects the same.
• MMS and constrained networks — 3GPP defines 3GP as the carrier format for MMS, MBMS, and Packet-switched Streaming Service. Carrier MMS gateways still cap attachments at roughly 300 KB to 1 MB, and a small QCIF 3GP fits where an HD MP4 would be rejected.
• Tiny size for clip-of-the-day storage — At 176x144 with AMR-NB audio, a one-minute clip lands in the low hundreds of KB. Useful when you need to bulk-archive a CD-ROM of training videos to a few thousand entries.
• Cross-tool compatibility on Linux/macOS — VLC, ffmpeg, MX Player, and QuickTime all read 3GP cleanly without the Windows Media codec packs that WMV historically required.
• Educational uploads to legacy LMS platforms — Older Moodle, Blackboard, and SCORM packages whitelist 3GP for mobile-learner playback while rejecting .wmv MIME types.

WMV vs 3GP — Format Comparison

3GP Codec and Resolution Picker

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the converted 3GP file so much smaller than the WMV?

Two reasons. First, 3GP almost always pairs H.263 or MPEG-4 Part 2 video with AMR audio at an 8 kHz sample rate (voice quality), versus WMV's typical stereo WMA at 44.1 kHz. Second, 3GP is built around QCIF (176x144) and QVGA (320x240) presets, while WMV often carries SD or HD frames. A one-minute SD WMV around 8-12 MB will commonly become a 300-800 KB 3GP at QCIF/AMR-NB. If you keep the source resolution and pick H.264 + AAC, file sizes get much closer.

Will the audio still sound okay after AMR-NB encoding?

AMR-NB is voice-optimized — it sounds clean for speech, narration, and dialogue, but music and ambient sound will sound thin and band-limited. Switch the Audio Codec to AMR-WB (16 kHz, used on later 3G phones) for noticeably better speech, or to AAC-LC if your target device supports it. AAC-LC inside 3GP plays on Android and modern QuickTime; it does not play on the oldest GSM handsets that only support AMR.

Which resolution should I pick for an old Nokia or Sony Ericsson phone?

For most 2004-2008 feature phones, 176x144 QCIF is the safe baseline; many models also accept 320x240 QVGA. Avoid VGA or anything wider than 320 pixels on hardware older than roughly 2009 — the decoder may refuse the file. Newer Android handsets from 2010 onward usually handle H.264 Baseline at 640x480 or even higher inside a 3GP wrapper.

Does 3GP support subtitles converted from a WMV?

3GP supports 3GPP Timed Text (defined in 3GPP TS 26.245) as a sidecar/embedded track. xconvert does not transcode SAMI or embedded WMV captions into Timed Text automatically — if you need subtitles for the 3GP, export them as .srt and burn them into the video before conversion, or pick WMV to MP4 which has broader caption support.

Should I convert to 3GP or just use MP4?

If your target device is a 2003-2010 feature phone, an MMS gateway, or an embedded player that explicitly lists 3GP, stay with 3GP. For any modern smartphone, tablet, laptop, or social platform, MP4 (H.264 + AAC) is the better default — it is universally supported, has higher quality ceilings, and is the format Android, iOS, and the web actually optimize for. Reach for WMV to MP4 when in doubt.

Will the 3GP play on an iPhone?

It depends. iOS supports 3GP files that use H.264 + AAC, but not 3GP files using H.263 + AMR (which is the most common combination from feature-phone-era cameras). If you need iPhone playback, pick the Modern 3GP (H.264) profile from the picker above — and again, MP4 is a more reliable choice.

What's the difference between 3GP and 3G2?

3GP (.3gp, MIME video/3gpp) was standardized for GSM/UMTS handsets; 3G2 (.3g2, MIME video/3gpp2) was standardized in January 2004 for CDMA2000 phones (Verizon, Sprint in the US, KDDI in Japan). 3G2 adds CDMA-era voice codecs like EVRC and QCELP but drops HE-AAC v2 and AMR-WB+. If you specifically need 3G2 instead, use 3GP to 3G2 after converting.

Can I trim the WMV before converting to keep MMS-friendly sizes?

Yes — under Trim, switch from Unchanged to Time Range and enter start and end timestamps in HH:MM:SS.ms. Combine that with a 176x144 resolution and Specific file size target (e.g., 280 KB) and you can reliably land under typical 300 KB-1 MB MMS gateway caps. Carrier limits vary; check with your provider before relying on a specific cap.

What if my WMV is DRM-protected?

xconvert cannot strip Microsoft PlayReady or Windows Media DRM. WMV files that show "Licensed content" in Windows Media Player will fail to decode here. You'll need to play the file back through licensed playback software and re-capture, or convert from a non-protected source file. See compress WMV if you simply need a smaller WMV to keep in the same container.