A common problem with 3GP files today is missing audio, and it usually comes from AMR codec incompatibility, as many playback tools don’t include AMR decoders, so they show the video but drop the audio entirely, giving the impression it’s gone when it’s intentionally unsupported.

Another important factor is cross-platform consistency across devices, since early mobile systems were fragmented and required different formats for different networks, whereas modern media is expected to work smoothly on phones, computers, browsers, and apps, making MP4 the preferred choice due to wide support and flexibility, leaving 3GPP2 mostly in legacy backups, MMS archives, voicemail systems, and regulated records where old formats are kept for authenticity rather than relevance.

Saying 3GPP2 puts small size and reliability ahead of image quality reflects an intentional engineering approach made during a period when CDMA networks were slow and unstable, bandwidth was costly, and phones had minimal hardware power, requiring aggressive compression, low frame rates, and speech-centered audio so clips would reliably transfer and play, even if that causes noticeable softness and pixelation today.

Reliability was equally important as minimizing file size, so 3GPP2 included mechanisms to stay synchronized despite delays, ensuring playback continued even when conditions were rough, making a functioning low-quality video far more valuable than a failing high-quality one, which is why the format—although crude by modern standards—still appears in archives due to its durability and readability Here's more info about 3GPP2 file structure have a look at our own site. .