How to Record Portrait and Landscape Video at the Same Time on Android (2026)
The short answer: the camera app that came with your Android phone can't do it. Samsung Camera and Pixel Camera record in one shape per take. To get a 9:16 vertical file and a 16:9 horizontal file from the same take, you either crop one out of the other afterwards, shoot in 4K so the crop has pixels to spare, or use an app that records both files at once from the full sensor.
I build one of those apps, so read the maths below as the useful part. The arithmetic is the same whichever tool you pick.
Can the stock Android camera record portrait and landscape at once?
No. The stock Android camera apps record in one shape per take: the one you picked, or the one you held the phone in.
- Samsung Camera has an aspect ratio setting in the camera, and Samsung's own support page lists 9:16, 1:1 and Full among the options, with the caveat that "available ratios may vary depending on your device's camera specifications." You choose one. The phone records one.
- Pixel Camera: Google's help page for the Pixel Camera app documents aspect ratio choices for photos (Wide crop 16:9 and Full image 4:3). It documents no aspect ratio choice for video. A Pixel video is horizontal or vertical depending on how you hold the phone.
- Google Photos can crop a finished video to a different aspect ratio afterwards. That is Option 1 below, with the same cost.
Neither Samsung's nor Google's support pages describe a mode that saves a portrait file and a landscape file from one take.
Option 1: How much do you lose cropping landscape video to portrait?
You keep 31.6% of the width and throw away 68.4% of the scene. Here is the arithmetic for a standard 1080p landscape video:
- The landscape frame is 1920×1080.
- A 9:16 crop at full height is 1080 × 9 ÷ 16 = 607.5 pixels wide.
- 607.5 ÷ 1920 = 0.316, so 31.6% of the width survives.
Then the 607×1080 strip gets scaled up to 1080×1920 for TikTok, Reels or Shorts. That is 1.78 times on each axis, which is why cropped verticals look soft. Going the other way is worse: a 16:9 crop of a 1080×1920 vertical is a 1080×607 strip stretched to 1920×1080, from a slice that only ever saw a phone-shaped view of the room.
Crop in post when the person fills the middle of the frame and the second format is a bonus. Avoid it for travel, sport, product shots, or any scene where the background matters.
Option 2: Can you shoot 4K landscape and reframe it as vertical?
Yes, and on a phone that records 4K this is the best free fix. A 9:16 crop from a 3840×2160 frame is 2160 × 9 ÷ 16 = 1215×2160 pixels, which is more than the 1080×1920 a vertical platform plays. The resolution problem from Option 1 goes away.
The framing problem stays. The vertical is still 31.6% of the landscape width, so the subject must sit dead centre for the whole take, and anything you composed for the wide shot (a skyline, a second person, a product on the bench) is outside the vertical. You also edit every video twice, and 4K has four times the pixels of 1080p, so the files fill your phone much faster.
Option 3: How do you record both formats at once on Android?
Record the sensor's full 4:3 frame and cut both shapes out of it during capture. A phone sensor is 4:3, which is wider than a 9:16 frame and taller than a 16:9 frame. Take an illustrative 4000×3000 sensor frame:
| Method | Vertical slice of a 4000×3000 sensor | Share of sensor area |
|---|---|---|
| Record 16:9, crop 9:16 later | about 1266×2250 | 24% |
| Crop 9:16 from the full 4:3 frame | about 1688×3000 | 42% |
The full-frame vertical sees 1.78 times more of the scene, and the 16:9 landscape keeps the sensor's full width (4000×2250). Neither file is a crop of the other.
This is how ContentCam for Android works. One take saves a 9:16 file and a 16:9 file, on the rear and front cameras. On phones that expose an ultra-wide lens, a 0.5× option gives both crops a wider view. If you hold the phone sideways, both files are tagged with the right orientation so they play upright in CapCut or Premiere. The free tier records 1080p at 30fps with no watermark; premium adds 4K and 60fps where the phone's hardware supports them.
The honest limit: Dual Lens mode, which records the wide and ultra-wide lenses at the same moment for two different framings, is iPhone only for now. The Android app's own page lists it as not yet available.
Which option should you use on Android?
| Your situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Talking head, face fills the frame, landscape is a bonus | Crop in post (Option 1) |
| Phone records 4K, subject stays centred, you don't mind editing twice | Shoot 4K and reframe (Option 2) |
| Both versions need to look framed on purpose | Record both at once (Option 3) |
| Selfie camera | Record both at once, it works on the front camera |
Frequently asked questions
Can an Android phone record portrait and landscape video at the same time? Not with the stock camera apps. Samsung Camera and Pixel Camera record in one shape per take. A third-party app that records from the full 4:3 sensor frame can save a 9:16 portrait file and a 16:9 landscape file from the same take.
Is there an Android app for simultaneous landscape and portrait video recording? Yes. ContentCam for Android records a 9:16 portrait file and a 16:9 landscape file from one take, on the rear and front cameras, at 1080p on the free tier.
How much of the picture do you lose cropping 16:9 video to 9:16? About 68%. A 9:16 crop at the full height of a 1920×1080 frame is 607.5 pixels wide, which is 31.6% of the 1920-pixel width.
Can I record front and back cameras at the same time on Android for reaction videos? Yes. ContentCam's Front / Back mode records the front and rear cameras in one take on Android, which covers reaction-style videos without a second phone. It is a premium feature with 5 free recordings to try.
Does filming in 4K on Android let me crop a vertical video out of a landscape one? Yes, with resolution to spare. A 9:16 crop from 3840×2160 is 1215×2160 pixels, more than a 1080×1920 vertical needs. The subject still has to stay centred when you film.
Stop filming everything twice. ContentCam is free on Google Play; record a take and look at both files before deciding anything.
Stock camera details were read from Samsung's support page on camera ratio, Pixel Camera Help and Google Photos Help on 4 October 2026. Related: the iPhone version of this guide · best Android camera settings for video · vertical vs horizontal video