These days, the majority of our smartphones come with the ability to shoot videos in 4K resolution at a buttery smooth 60 fps. However, it has been discovered that the recently-announced Google Pixel 4 does not have the ability to capture video in 4K at 60 fps, but rather, it is capped at 30 fps.
So what’s the deal? When asked about it on Twitter, a Google rep responded by saying that this is because the majority of users tend to stick to 1080p quality. They also note that 4K at 60 fps tends to take up a lot of storage, something that they took into consideration as well, which is why the Pixel 4 only shoots at 4K at 30 fps max.
While we suppose those are valid points, especially with the Pixel 4 maxing out at 128GB of storage, it would have been nice for Google to at least give users the option of enabling it. Even Apple’s iPhone, which shoots at 1080p by default (check out our guide on how to enable 4K video recording), gives users the option to enable it.
Hi, Pixel 4 supports 4k video recording on the rear camera at 30fps. We find that the majority of users stick with 1080p, so we focus our energy on improving our quality in this mode, versus enabling a 4k 60fps mode that could use up to half a gigabyte of storage every minute.
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) October 20, 2019
In any case, if you’re a budding videographer who would prefer having that flexibility, then it looks like the Pixel 4 might not necessarily be the device for you. So far, many seem to be rather dissatisfied with Google’s explanation, but whether or not it will sway the company to enable 60 fps recording remains to be seen.
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