YouTube App for Android Now Supports 4K HDR Playback

Spotted by the nice people at Android Police, the YouTube for Android application now supports playback at an impressive resolution of 2160p at 60fps (4K @ 60), filled with HDR (high dynamic resolution). This might be really exciting news, only if there have been more smartphones with the capacity of benefiting from videos that crispy. Alas, there’s just a handful.

If however you own a Sony device making use of their 4K HDR displays, this can be a big day for you personally. For example, the Xperia 1 II includes a display that can use this. I believe Sony includes a few others, too.

I’ve tested playback on my Pixel 5, obviously pointless since my resolution tops at 1080p, but I could confirm the choice is live. You'll just need to look for a video originally uploaded in 4K with HDR. As you’d expect, those options may also be somewhat limited, however the number is certainly growing as 4K adoption becomes more typical.