Why do two videos of the same length have different sizes?

Size depends on resolution, frame rate, codec, and how much motion the scene has — encoders spend more bits on complex motion. Length alone is half the story.

Does 60 fps double the file size?

Close to it at the same resolution — Apple’s 4K estimates go from about 190 MB/min at 30 fps to about 440 MB/min at 60 fps.

Are screen recordings as heavy as camera video?

They can be — they record at screen resolution and often run long. They are also the easiest deletion decision on the phone.

How Much Space Do Videos Actually Take on Your Phone?

Published 2026-09-04 · Star Cleaner

The numbers by resolution

Apple publishes per-minute estimates right on the camera settings screen (Settings → Apps → Camera → Record Video; Settings → Camera on older iOS), in the high-efficiency HEVC format:

720p at 30 fps — about 40 MB per minute.
1080p at 30 fps — about 65 MB per minute.
4K at 30 fps — about 190 MB per minute.
4K at 60 fps — about 440 MB per minute.

What does that mean at library scale?

An hour of 4K/30 footage is roughly 11 GB; at 4K/60 it passes 25 GB. Meanwhile a typical photo is a few megabytes — so a single long video can outweigh a year of photos. When a phone reports full storage, the largest handful of videos is almost always the fastest space back.

How to spend less space on video

Record at 1080p/30 unless you specifically need 4K — the setting lives in Settings → Apps → Camera → Record Video on iPhone (Settings → Camera on older iOS) or the camera app’s resolution menu on Android.
Keep high-efficiency formats on (HEVC/H.265) — same footage, roughly half the size of the older H.264 format by Apple’s own description.
Compress the keepers you rarely rewatch, and delete screen recordings and accidental clips outright.

Find your heaviest videos in one pass

Star Cleaner lists your largest videos and screen recordings sorted by size, shows what compression would save, and re-encodes on-device — nothing uploads. The free scan shows the totals before you commit to anything.

Frequently asked questions

Why do two videos of the same length have different sizes?: Size depends on resolution, frame rate, codec, and how much motion the scene has — encoders spend more bits on complex motion. Length alone is half the story.
Does 60 fps double the file size?: Close to it at the same resolution — Apple’s 4K estimates go from about 190 MB/min at 30 fps to about 440 MB/min at 60 fps.
Are screen recordings as heavy as camera video?: They can be — they record at screen resolution and often run long. They are also the easiest deletion decision on the phone.