Video streaming has taken over in a big way. Lots of people have Netflix, Hulu, VRV, and even YouTube subscriptions. However, there are still a lot of us with video files on our phones. Watching videos is not as difficult as it used to be. Most video player apps can play the most popular video codecs without problems. That is, unless you are using a strange codec. Even if you do, you still have a lot of options to view it. Let’s take a look at the best video player apps for Android!
10 best video player apps for Android
AC3 Player is a fairly straightforward video player app that allows users to play tricky codecs without additional plugins or downloads. Benefits from under the hood optimizations to help improve overall performance, frame rate, and more. Also supports a bunch of other video codecs. There’s also subtitle support, playback speed control, and a sleep timer if you need it. It is one of the simplest video player apps on the market.
MX Player has long been one of the most popular video player apps. It supported more formats long before other video player apps did and was also among the first to include things like hardware decoding, hardware accelerated playback, and other similar features. It still has all of these options with gesture controls (including pinch to zoom), subtitle support, a kid’s padlock to keep your kids watching their Disney movies, and it supports virtually all codecs. Like MoboPlayer, it comes with additional plugins to add more functionality if you need it.
BSPlayer has been around longer than most video player apps, and has continued to be one of the best throughout. It includes multi-core hardware decoding, hardware accelerated playback, and support for streaming from network devices (DLNA). On top of that, there’s subtitle support, the ability to play files from compressed formats, and you can even have a pop-up window if you want. The free version is ad supported, but has all the features available. There are also additional plugins for better support. The full version costs $ 5.99.
AllCast is a video player that specializes in sending content stored locally to your Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, Xbox 360 / One, and other DLNA compatible devices. Along with videos, it also supports other types of media. It had a bit of a rough start, but it quickly grew into one of the more stable casting apps. The free version has a five minute limit for content while the pro version has no limits. You can also turn your Android device into an AllCast receiver (capable of being broadcast) with the AllCast Receiver app.
LocalCast is a competitor to AllCast and they use almost the same functions. This includes streaming content from your device to a Chromecast, Xbox 360 / One, Roku, Fire Stick, or Apple TV. Together with AllCast, it allows streaming from cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox), and it should work on most DLNA compatible devices. It only has the codecs supported by Chromecast.
MoboPlayer is another one of those video player apps that has apparently been around since dinosaurs roamed the planet. Don’t worry, the app received a lot of updates during this time. It claims to support all video formats (you might have to switch from hardware to software decoding sometimes), which is great news. It also supports subtitles, playlists, continuous playback and you can stream video through HTTP and RTSP protocols if you want. There are additional plugins you can add to increase functionality, but this is a solid overall offering.
Plex is currently the best answer to the question of what to do if you have a lot of videos and only 32GB of storage on your phone. Allows you to set up a server on your computer and then stream content from your computer to your smartphone. It’s a bit unique compared to other video player apps, but it doesn’t require you to keep your files on your device. This frees up valuable storage space for other things. The service is free, the mobile app costs $ 4.99, and you can get an optional $ 4.99 per month subscription to unlock all the features of the Plex Pass.
VLC quickly established itself as one of the must-have video player apps. It has a bunch of unique features including the ability to stream videos if you have the URL. It can also play some obscure video formats like DVD ISO. Unlike most, it also has all of its codecs built in without the need for any additional plugin downloads. Other features include subtitle support, full multimedia support (including audio), multitrack audio and more. There is also a beta version in case you want to try out the latest features.
The HTC Service Reader has made great strides in recent years. These days the reader can read just about anything. You already have it in your app drawer. It’s already taking up storage and you usually can’t get rid of it. It can read the most popular codecs quite well. Some of them even have Chromecast support. Your stock video player should be more than enough for most cases.
Video Player All Formats is a basic video player application. It’s also a bit of a diamond in the rough. It supports most video codecs. Some of the other features include Chromecast support, a night mode, privacy folder, and variable speed playback controls. It seems to tick all the right boxes in our testing. Also, it does not claim any banner ads. There are other advertisements, however. You can get rid of it with a purchase of $ 3.99 for the pro version.
Bonus
Video Player is a very efficient and convenient media player.
It can play most media files as well as discs, network streaming devices and protocols.
We make sure that your file is played back in the original resolution, by optimizing a file’s encoding format’s reading speed and efficiency to achieve the best results.
