YouTube is now teasing Android users with 4K 60fps K-pop videos

Technology moves fast and the folks at YouTube are doing their best to stay ahead of the curve. In recent months, we’ve seen Google take new steps to fortify YouTube with a handful of new features and enhancements to keep bleeding edge viewers happy.

By now you’ve heard virtual reality is gearing up to become the next big thing in tech. Although actual VR content is scarce, YouTube recently launch 360-degree 3D videos viewable through the Android app and Chrome web browser. And while most of us are still watching movies/TV shows on our 1080p televisions, love it or hate, we’re now seeing smartphones move to higher-resolution 2K displays. With that, Google added a 1440p option in the YouTube for Android app.

Today, YouTube is now going 1-step above normal 4K steaming, where they’re now experimenting with 4K resolution video running at a blistering 60 frames per second. It’s enough to bring anyone desktop PC to its knees, with our 3 month old MacBook Pro stuttering and freezing like it was on dial up.

Unfortunately for Android users — as with the rest of YouTube’s 60fps content — this is desktop only for now. Not that we would even stream at 4K/60 on our smartphone (the Snapdragon 810 caps at 1080p/120) but 2K would be nice. We’re not sure how much longer this will be the case, but can Android users get a little 60fps love, Google?

Check down below for a few more YouTube videos running at 2160p/60fps (or check out the 6 video playlist here). That Star Citizen video is really impressive.

My pants after watching K-pop in 4K/60fps

YouTube app for Android finally adds 60fps option for everyone and it’s wonderful [VIDEO]

It’s finally here. After launching 60fps 4K videos back in March for Chrome on the desktop, we had a feeling it was just a matter of time before the higher frame rate eventually made its way to mobile apps. That time is now, with the folks at YouTube officially announcing that 60fps video playback is now finally possible in their Android and iOS apps.

Also known as HFR (high frame rate), the resulting video is something that almost looks surreal, especially on our mobile devices. While the verdict is still out on whether or not this improves the cinema experience, it’s flipping awesome for watching anything that has to do with video games. Providing they’ve been uploaded in 60fps, of course. To be clear, this update doesn’t enable 60fps 4K videos, that’s something we probably wont see for a long while and besides, most desktops can barely handle it without melting.

Watch this video in the YouTube app on your Android device

Users will find that when watching a video in the YouTube app where 60fps is available (the above video for example), it should default to the higher frame rate on HD, providing you have a fast connection. In other words, don’t worry about having to change any settings to enable it. If you can stream HD, you’ll be streaming the higher frame rate. If for whatever reason it doesn’t, you can always press the 3-dot menu button followed by the little gear icon to change the quality.

We’re not sure what the impact on battery life will be, but we watched a few trailers on our Nexus 6 and it seemed to work without a hitch. No slow downs, judder, or any overheating. Just silky, smooth video. Check it out for yourself.

[Twitter]