Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Top 5 Best Smartphone Video Editing Apps
Which video editing app is best for Android and iPhone users?
Do you use your phone in recording your videos?
Have you tried editing videos using your phone?
It is very convenient for content creators nowadays to record and edit videos on just one device. Free and affordable video editing applications are now available on smartphones and tablets. Some of the top video editing apps are KineMaster, Inshot, VideoLeap, LumaFusion, and CapCut.
Whether you are an Android or iPhone user, there is a perfect app that will help you create good-looking videos.
Let's dive into these video editing apps and break down their pros and cons to know which application will serve the needs of your workflow.
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KineMaster
KineMaster is a video editing app built for mobile devices.
KineMaster is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iTouch with iOS v11.4 and with Android OS v6.0 or later.
You can also run this app on computers with Windows operating system but you’ll need an Android emulator to be able to download and use this app.
It won’t work as efficiently as your desktop software but it’s a great option when you need to edit a video while being away on your computer.
When compared to other mobile video editing apps, KineMaster is more advanced and has a more comprehensive interface.
It is a free video editing app perfect for beginners. You can also avail a premium membership if you wanted to get access to other features of this app.
When you buy the KineMaster Premium account, whether it is monthly or yearly, your subscription will automatically renew. If you wish to end your subscription, you need to cancel it in Google Play or App Store.
Price: $4.99/month or $39.99/year
Pros:
- You can download and use the app for free.
- Beginners can create attractive videos quickly because you can adjust your video’s color and lighting.
- You can easily find and apply transitions between one clip to the next.
- You can record, edit videos, and share with your community using only your phone. It’s accessible anytime and anywhere.
- It has advanced audio editing. You can add several layers of audio clips, you can adjust the audio levels of each clip and adjust its volume as it plays.
- You can write or draw directly on the video.
- You can create vertical or square format editing.
Cons:
- Within a free subscription, your final video will have a watermark. You also have limitations to its advanced features.
- If you are looking for a mobile video editing app that offers professional color grading, KineMaster is not for you because it doesn’t have the depth of fine-tuning option.
- This app offers limited transitions to clips. You can only animate clips in and out.
- When you use an older phone model, you may encounter poor performance.
- You cannot change the video format during editing.
InShot
Inshot is a mobile video editing app that is very popular with content creators and actually one I like to use quite often on the go for quick edits.
Its interface is very user-friendly and super simple to use. Their user interface of tools is easy to locate in the app and conveniently all on one row.
It’s a great video editing app for beginners. You can do basic video and photo editing, from 1080p to 4k video files, and they're constantly adding new updates from Instagram like filters to transitions and various video/photo effects.
You can use the InShot app for free but, like any other editing app out there, you need to pay a subscription to be able to use some of its advanced features.
InShot Pro has no limitations on the effects available for use, filters, transitions, and stickers that you can apply and use in the app. Upgrading to premium will also remove the watermark and ads, which is nice and keeps the interface distraction-free.
The premium version is available monthly or yearly, or by subscribing to a lifetime access account.
If you don’t want to spend a lot for an app, you do have an option to only pay for the removal of the watermark and the ads, but you won't have access to its advanced features.
Price: $2.99 to remove watermark and ads | $3.99/month subscription with 3-day trial | $14.99/annual subscription with 3-day trial | $ 34.99 for lifetime access
Pros:
- You can download and use it for free.
- It has a lot of transitions and stickers to choose from.
- It has a very budget-friendly option to remove the watermark and ads only.
- Has a lifetime access subscription option.
Cons:
- The free subscription comes with a watermark and ads. (Which isn't uncommon.)
- This app doesn’t offer tutorials/guides.
- There is no search function and the icons are tiny. It is hard to search for stickers.
- It’s difficult to determine which frame of the video you’re on in the slider. It could be a struggle when you want to delete or duplicate something.
VideoLeap
VideoLeap is a superpower editing app that's only available on iOS today but is soon releasing an Android version.
It can easily combine clips, edits videos, and has some pretty advanced effects for a smartphone editor.
Whether you are a professional video creator or just starting to create videos, you will have fun editing videos using this app.
It has a Mixer feature that allows you to mix two videos or images to create an imaginative scene. You can put the ocean on top of the mountains!
Another great feature is the Freeze option. It allows you to freeze or stop the motion of some part of your video.
These features are so cool!
VideoLeap can be downloaded for a 7-day free trial. You need to subscribe to access the app and use its premium features.
Price: $7.99/month or $139.99/year
Pros:
- You can download the app for free.
- It comes with helpful mini-tutorials within each feature.
- You can create videos anywhere and anytime. Your projects are saved automatically.
- You can preview your work on full screen.
- It comes with 100 sound effects and different text fonts.
- Essential editing tools are displayed first when you open a new project
- You can export using 360 to 1080 resolution.
- You can control the cinematic feel of a project by setting the frames per second from 24 to 60.
- You can apply seamless transitions between clips.
Cons:
- A subscription is required to have unlimited access to its features.
- Pretty pricey Pro subscription for a smartphone editing app (For reference, Final Cut Pro is $299 USD)
- It has a beginner-friendly user interface but not all features are easy to use. It may take some time before you really learn how to figure out how it fully works.
- Most reviews are telling that the app crashed after they subscribe to the pro account or when they export the video to the phone gallery.
LumaFusion
LumaFusion is by far the most powerful, the best bang for your buck multitrack video editing app available for iPhones and iPads with iOS 10 and up.
While most apps tend to feel like it's missing features of a full video editing suite, LumaFusion surprises you with that same full scale of editing tools, even some pros use for their videos, baked into an intuitive and fairly easy user interface.
If you're getting ready to use more advanced video editing in the future like the Final Cut Pro, LumaFusion is a great stepping stone.
It allows you to edit your videos in an uncluttered interface. The tools at the bottom change according to your workflow. Tools are hidden until you need to use them.
You'll have a nice and neat workspace with this app.
It was designed for creators who have experience with video editing, and beginners may need some time to navigate this app. But if you're really willing to learn, you can find your way to create great videos in no time.
Price: $30 One-Time Payment
Pros:
- You can export your final video to your YouTube channel or Vimeo instantly. (Though you cannot write the full description of your video when you upload it via LumaFusion, you can still edit it when you log in to your YouTube account.)
- Allows you to edit multiple videos and audio tracks like a traditional full-scale editing suite.
- Offers color correction tools, the ability to add in LUTs, and even has an integrated stabilizer that helps stabilize videos.
- Allows you to customize your own presets like adjusting the color, brightness, contrast, and anything that can make your video look better.
- Truly a full-scale video editing app for mobile.
- Super budget-friendly price at a one-time fee.
Cons:
- No Free Version Available
- For iOS devices only.
- Requires a lot of storage on your phone for more extensive, more complex video edits.
- It has lacking features like speed ramping, radio scrubbing, advanced keyframing, and basic 3D.
- Rotating video clips requires you to use your two fingers which slows down your workflow if you're not used to it.
- You won't be able to save transitions. This feature is very important to make your workflow faster. It will allow you to apply transitions to your videos easier.
CapCut
This app is a favorite of vertical video creators, especially TikTok content creators. It's actually owned by ByteDance which also owns TikTok.
This app is a favorite of many beginners just getting started in video. You can cut, reverse, add effects and filters, control the playback speed, and more exciting features.
CapCut also offers a huge music library with an exclusive selection of copyrighted songs that you can use for your videos.
It also allows you to use the green screen overlays, where you can remove and change the background of your video.
It is absolutely free, and you don’t need to buy a subscription to enjoy all features. It also does not display any advertisements.
Price: Free
Pros:
- It's free!
- Available on both iOS and Android
- Your final video will have the watermark, but you can easily remove it. The watermark appears at the end of the final video. During the editing process, cut the time frame where the watermarks appear.
- You have access to a music library, and you can also import songs from your device.
- Tiktok users love this app because of the wide selection of stickers, text effects, and filters. They also love the bounce effect feature which is used on trending TikTok videos. They can also export your video directly to TikTok.
Cons:
- It has a 15-minute video limit
- It collects data upon download that can be liked to your identity. It can get your IP address, contact information, and other significant data about you. The data collected can be shared across all other services owned by ByteDance. Learn more about their privacy policy here.
Final Thoughts
Whether you're creating YouTube videos or just simple short videos for your social media accounts, these mobile video editing apps are game-changers and make it easy to create on the go.
These apps make it easier to take recorded footage and quickly edit your videos all on just one device anytime and anywhere.
It saves you more time and helps you stay consistent in creating video content for your audience.
But when you're creating a long-form of content and you need to do advanced video techniques, using your smartphone is not a good option.
Smartphones have limitations too when it comes to video content creation. They can't handle computer editing software.
You need to invest in a computer and video editing software that will meet the needs of your content.
What computer video editing software have you tried?
I personally love Final Cut Pro.
I've been using it to edit my videos as well as my micro contents posted on my social media accounts. I love that I can convert landscape videos into vertical videos, perfect for reels and YouTube shorts.
Have you been using Final Cut Pro and want to learn how to convert landscape videos into a vertical format?
I created a tutorial video that will walk you through how to create vertical videos faster with Final Cut Pro using its Smart Conform feature. You can watch it here.
