KineMaster: A complete video editor for your smartphone

The outbreak of digital video recording has involved a total change of paradigm. Recording films used to be the domain of the well-off, as recording and developing in 35mm (and derivatives) came at a ridiculously high cost. But the advent of the digital format has revolutionized everything. Anybody can record, put together, and export a video in a very small amount of time. And now you can do it from your smartphone, with KineMaster being a good video editor option for Android systems. Surely icons like Griffith and Eisenstein would have appreciated this.

KineMaster shows its stuff early on. Those of you who’ve edited video on desktop with Final Cut and Adobe Premiere will see lots of their potential hidden in this pocket editor. The app developed by NexStreaming is very complete, more so than one might expect from a video editor for smartphones. It surprised me, at least. And even with all that it’s still very easy to use.

KineMaster surprises with its friendly interface, full of clarifying icons showing which attribute or effect you’re fiddling with at all times. KineMaster has as many possibilities as the creator wants or needs. You can put together a video made of different media in very little time and very easily, and also add some odd or unique effects to give it a special touch.

If you need something top-notch, this Android app’s got it: from adding new layers (images, video, text, freehand drawing over the video) to adding photos or audio you take in the moment. This material can be shaped with a high level of customization and you can even add different input and output transition effects: fade, increase or decrease size, sideways swipe… It’d be dumb to list all of them here but I’m trying to make the point that the program has all the effects you need to make precisely the video you have in mind.

Likewise, KineMaster lets you mess with other parameters like brightness, volume, and audio intensity or the speed of the media you put together. The different layers on your timeline give you a comprehensive view of your project as well as great ease in editing it. You can even work with videos in chrome. The possibilities are enormous.

The problem comes when you try to export your video and then see the watermark in the top right corner of your project. Understandable given that they’re not going to give away a quality product in exchange for smiles. Still, I can’t say these program’s watermarks are my favorite thing. I tend to narrow my eyes a bit when I see stuff like these and KineMaster is no exception. Getting rid of this problem will cost you €3.56 a month, although you can try its features for free for 14 days. You can also get other types of subscriptions like a 30-day license for €7.50, or an annual one for €28.46, which works out to a bit more than 2 euros a month.

Another sticking point in KineMaster is that it doesn’t work the same way on all smartphones. In my case, the more than decent Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro won’t let me export videos in 1080p. On other devices you can’t introduce videos by layer or can’t work with chrome. This is understandable because the app works completely smoothly and I guess those add-ons on certain phones would do a number on the app’s performance. But still, it’s a shame that not everyone can enjoy all the available features. Check out this list to see if your phone can handle everything or not.

KineMaster is a great editing program. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. On top of everything above I should mention that it can export video in different quality levels (with the corresponding change in size) or upload video right to Facebook or YouTube. Its two great virtues are its ease of use and how complete it is as an editor.

A versatile and professional app that contains many possibilities – so long, that is, as you’re one of the lucky ones who can enjoy all its features. Otherwise you might miss out on some of its most attractive bits. Still, it’s an editor to keep in mind if you’re looking for something more than just stringing videos and images together. For more meticulous projects, KineMaster is a good friend to have with you.

KineMaster for Android on Uptodown [APK] | Download
More information | Official KineMaster website