Every year, our phones are getting bigger, better, powerful and have large screens. And with it, every smartphone company has tried to give you the best video experience. In fact, HD content is something, which actually makes a premium phone worth having. With bigger and better screens and lots of available HD content, it has become easier than ever to turn your Android phone or tablet into a portable theater. However, watching locally stored video on your device can be a chore. There are a ton of codecs out there and not every video player can play every one of them. Thankfully, you can find many good video players on the Google Play Store that supports multiple video formats, extra features, and hugely improved user experience through good design.
To help you pick the right app for your videos, we have compiled a list of 10 Best Video Player Apps For Android that are free, have better battery optimization and are easy-to-use. So, without further ado, let us check out the best video player apps for Android!
1. VLC For Android
If you are looking for a versatile, all-in-one media player that will play just about any file format that you can throw at it, then give VLC for Android a spin. The VLC player has quickly made a name for itself as one of the must-have video player apps. It has a slew of unique features, including the ability to stream videos if you have the URL.
Out of the box, it can play almost anything from the ubiquitous MP3 and MP4 files to more unusual formats such as MKV and FLAC. In addition to playing local files, VLC for Android also supports network streaming and media library organization. It also has advanced playback features such as multiple audio tracks and subtitles.
Unlike most, it also has all of its codecs built-in without the need for additional plugin downloads. If you want to see the next features before they come out, you can try out VLC beta! Both apps are completely free as well and have no ads.
2. Kodi
For something a bit more muscular than just a simple video player, try out the Android version of Kodi Media Center (formerly known as XBMC). This is a is a media center application that allows you to view your various video and audio files quickly. It turns your Android device into a portable media hub, accessing locally stored content, as well as media and streams from network storage and the Internet.
The interface is beautiful, but it is also designed for larger screens like tablets and Android TV devices so it may not be great on your phone. As a media player, it works as expected, although you may need to find something more powerful if you use unique codecs. Kodi is chock loaded with sorting and playback features, but this also makes it more intimidating to run and set up the first few times. Still, if you are willing to poke around, Kodi is a powerful media center app with a rich developer and user community.
It is also completely free, which is always nice and has no advertising. Kodi is a great option for anyone with a bigger screen and they really want to see it work for them.
3. MX Player
This is one of the best music players you will see, in terms of general performance. The best thing about the MX Player is that it offers quality playback and is very simple to use. The app supports multi-core decoding, CPU optimizations, child lock and of course the ability to play almost any type of video with subtitles.
The player also allows to control playback with simple gestures, like swiping up/down for volume adjustments, or swipe left/right for rewind/forward into the video. This video player gives the option for hardware acceleration that can be applied to more videos with the help of new H/W decoder.
There are custom codecs available for MX Player online which adds extra support for features such as DTS and AC3 audio. The free version of MX Player is ad supported and if you want to remove the ads then you have to purchase the pro version. Apart from ads, there are no differences between both versions.
4. AC3 Player
Due to a variety of reasons, many video players have issues trying to play video files with encoded AC3 audio and the AC3 codec has become a common headache for Android user. If you have encountered that problem one too many times, you might want to consider AC3 Player. It is a multipurpose video player derived from VLC Android that is designed to support AC3 audio.
The AC3 Player is a fairly simple video player app that allows users to play the tricky codec without any additional plugins or downloads. It boasts under-the-hood optimizations to help improve overall performance, frame rate, and more. It also supports a bunch of other video codecs, and many audio codecs as well.
There is also subtitle support, hardware acceleration, playback speed control, and a sleep timer if you need those. It is one of the easier, simpler video player apps out there. That said, AC3 Player does come with one big irritation: unsightly banner ads that fill the center of the screen when your video is paused.
5. Archos Video Player
Archos does not just build Android hardware, it also has a solid Android video player app in the field. The Archos Video Player supports hardware accelerated playback on numerous formats and devices and comes with some plenty of advanced features. You will also find network playback support, subtitle support, and a subtitle downloader.
Archos video player automatically downloads accurate posters and details for movies and TV shows making it very easy to organize your video library. If you love organizing your video library then, Archos video player provides a Netflix-like view of your entire library for easy browsing.
6. Wondershare Player
The versatile Wondershare Player may not have the same advanced playback and system settings of more technically oriented apps, but it supports a wide variety of file formats. This one not only plays your locally stored videos but also provides a hub for video streaming. You can see videos on sites like YouTube, Vevo, TED, ESPN, and even Hulu (Features available only in the US), with the option to download videos from some sources for later viewing.
It boasts support for all common video codecs as well as audio files. Wondershare also supports video streaming via the link the same way that VLC does. It is surprisingly powerful and it has additional features if you happen to use the Wondershare desktop app as well.
7. BSPlayer
BSPlayer is one of the first video players introduced on the Android platform that supports a large variety of formats. It supports multi-core hardware acceleration and support for streaming files from your PC to Android with DLNA. Like many of the other alternatives, BSPlayer supports most video files formats, subtitles, video streaming, multiple audio tracks, and hardware acceleration. One of its advantages is a convenient search engine for subs and the ability to access files on your computer by remote.
It also offers background playback in a popup window that unfortunately does not offer playback controls. One other unique feature is the playback of media files directly from uncompressed RAR archive. This uncluttered video player with swipe gesture support is further enhanced by a variety of skins, letting you customize the interface to your liking. The free version is ad-supported and lacks support for Chromecast, but has all other the features. There are also additional plugins for even better support.
8. QQPlayer
This is another video player for Android that can play all the popular formats of videos on the market, including AVI, FLV, MP4, 3GP, MKV, MOV and etc. In addition, QQ Player also supports SRT, SMI plug-in subtitle, and MKV embedded subtitle, as well as multiple audio tracks switching. Its smart core technology auto detects video formats and makes it much easier for you to enjoy smoother, better quality videos with limited resources and smaller screen.
The most interesting feature of QQPlayer is that it has a Private locker, where you can easily hide your private videos with a password. In addition, it also supports gestures, as well as multiple audio tracks switching.
9. MoboPlayer
Much like MX Player, this is an all-purpose movie player that can play almost all video formats, even some formats that your Android device might not normally support by using software decoding. It also has support for multiple on-screen subtitles (SRT, ASS, SAA, and more), network streaming, and a media management mode makes it one of the favorite media players on the Android platform.
Moreover, it features a floating window mode allows you to keep a video window floating atop your other apps while working, texting or calling. Similar to QQPlayer, Mobo Video Player also allows hiding videos. In addition, you can stream video through HTTP and RTSP protocols if you want to. There are additional plugins you can add to increase functionality, but it is an overall solid offering.
10. GPlayer
The best feature of the GPlayer is the floating window feature, which lets you do much more while watching videos. The app’s resizable popup windows can display up to six videos simultaneously (with corresponding increases in memory footprint). The app supports a wide variety of video formats, from the standard MP4 to more unusual files such as MKV, complete with subtitles. The app also comes with additional features as support for streaming video directly from URLs and group media sharing over WiFi.
A few last words
While there are many apps available on Google Play Store, we believe that these were the 10 Best Video Player Apps for all type of Android Phones/Devices. If you are someone who watches movies or other videos on your Android device, then you should really try some of the apps in the list. If we missed any of the best Android Video Player apps, tell us about them in the comments and do not forget to subscribe for more updates.
See Also
- 6 Best Free Music Player Apps For Android
- 6 Best Live Streaming Apps For Android
- Top 5 Free Android Apps To Hide Your Photos And Videos
