AV1 vs H.264 – Which Video Codec is Best for In-App Video Calls?

Most conversations about video codecs get lost in theory. But when you are building real-time video inside a product — whether it is interviews, support sessions, telehealth, or live collaboration — the choice between AV1 and H.264 has direct impact on:

• Bandwidth consumption
• Latency
• User experience on low-end devices
• Infrastructure cost
• Global reliability
• Battery and performance on mobile

Here is a straightforward, engineering-first breakdown of AV1 vs H.264 for in-app video calls -

1. Compression Efficiency

AV1 is ~30–50 percent more efficient than H.264 for the same visual
quality.

In real terms, this means:

• Better quality at the same bitrate
• Or the same quality at significantly lower bitrate
• Or usable video on networks where H.264 breaks down

This matters a lot in India, Brazil, Southeast Asia, Africa, and rural regions — basically anywhere your video users do not have stable 20 Mbps connections.

Takeaway:
If your audience includes low-bandwidth regions, AV1 gives a visible quality uplift.

2. CPU Usage and Latency

AV1’s biggest weakness - encoding cost!

• AV1 encoding is heavier
• Decoding is lighter
• H.264 is extremely fast across all hardware

For real-time video calls, the encoding cost matters more than anything.

Higher encoding load → more CPU → more heat → more fan noise → more battery drain → more latency.

If you are building a live video product, you cannot afford this overhead on weaker devices.

Takeaway:
AV1 decode is fine but AV1 encode is expensive for real-time use.

3. Hardware Support

This is where H.264 still wins.

• Every browser
• Every mobile device
• Every GPU
• Every camera pipeline

has native hardware acceleration for H.264.

AV1 support is improving — newer Android devices, Apple M-series, and recent GPUs support it but it is not universal yet.

Takeaway:
If you must support all devices, H.264 is the safe baseline.

4. Cost & Infrastructure Impact

AV1 can reduce your bandwidth and relay/server cost by 20–40 percent depending on your architecture.

• If you are using SFUs → outbound bandwidth drops
• If you record a lot → storage drops
• If you stream → CDN cost drops

Real takeaway:
AV1 directly saves money but only if your CPU budget can handle it.

*Here’s a simple rule that matches real-world deployments- *

1. Use H.264 for real-time video calls

• Best cross-device compatibility
• Lowest latency
• Hardware accelerated everywhere
• No surprises

1. Use AV1 for

• Recordings
• Screenshare
• High-res playback
• Users on strong devices / connections
• Low-bandwidth regions where improved compression helps

If you are building video into your product, think about -

• Your device mix
• Your bandwidth cost
• Your global users
• Your latency envelope
• Your CPU budget
• Your recording needs

Then choose the codec strategy that balances performance, cost, and reliability.