When I upgraded from my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ to my current Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, one of the big things that changed in the camera department was the upgrade to 8K video recording. I was excited to have this new addition on the spec sheet since I tend to record quite a bit.
However, pretty quickly, I realized that 8K video recording on a smartphone is one of the most technically-impressive gimmicks. Just like all other gimmicks, you’ll find people who give it a lot of use, but you’ll also find that the majority of people will never even touch this feature.
8K Recording Is Amazing On Paper But Almost Useless Without The Hardware To Play It
The Pixel 9 series is launching in less than a month and rumors have it that some of the devices in the series are finally going to come with 8K recording since the Pixel 8 phones only supported up to 4K. However, the thing is, as much as it might seem like Google was late to the party, I think they knew that they didn’t even need to be at the party in the first place (and they still don’t).
Here’s the thing. Almost all modern televisions (especially around that sweet 55″ mark) have 4K/UHD resolution. So, if you record something on your phone in 4K, you’d be able to watch it in its native resolution on your TV (or a computer monitor if you’ve got one as high-end as that). That means that 4K video recording has its moments where it’s actually useful for some people.
Let’s switch our gaze over to 8K though. 8K TVs exist and you can get one today if you want to, but they are far from mainstream for obvious reasons. You’ll find yourself paying a few thousand dollars for the average 8K TV, you need to have space for what will likely be at least 75 inches diagonally, and there’s very little content that you can natively watch at 8K. For anyone outside a very niche audience, there’s no reason to go with 8K hardware.
And that ties exactly into why 8K recording on smartphones is mostly pointless. You can record in 8K on your smartphone but you’re going to be hard-pressed to find an instance where you can watch that content in its full glory. Plus, it results in absolutely ridiculous file sizes. I’ve recorded in 8K on my phone to give it a shot, but besides that, it’s never been touched. These phones are future-proofed though and I will acknowledge a point will come when 8K TVs (and even monitors) will be mainstream. That time isn’t now.
There Are Some Reasons 8K Recording Is Useful, But Most People Don’t Care
You might be one of the twelve people with an 8K TV and you like to record your trips and adventures in 8K to watch on your TV when you get home. That’s a fair point, but you’re in a very tiny minority if that’s the case.
However, perhaps the most useful reason to have 8K recording on your phone is if you’re a content creator (and ironically, you still won’t be uploading your content in 8K). Like how a 200MP telephoto camera can crop into the sensor for some pseudo-optical zoom, you can do similar with an 8K recording by cropping or reframing, and you’ll still potentially have a 4K or FHD video after the crop.
Of course, we can all acknowledge that most people won’t bother with this — and even some content creators would just rather use a proper professional camera. 8K recording is cool to have on paper, but there’s little point to it at the end of the day.
