A list of the best free media players has been scribbled down to give you a better idea of the options available in this category. When some of the most popular programs are available at no charge, shelling out the dough on similar ones doesn’t really make sense. Here you’ll find tools that are perfectly compliant with your content on various platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, iOS and Android.
1 – KMPlayer:
A versatile program, KMP extends support to various types of formats and plays back most files without the need for an additional codec package, thanks to its internal codec. It runs efficiently even on low-end computers and allows you to modify your environment for an enhanced experience.
This tool is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7 operating systems and extends support to most of the common A/V formats. Moreover, it has also been integrated with audio and video equalizers including spatializer, deinterlace, cropping and more.
2 – MediaMonkey:
As the developers of MediaMonkey software claim, the program serves as a audio and video organizer for serious collectors. Be it audio files or videos of any size scattered around your computer, this program comes to your rescue and helps you organize all of it. You can even choose to filter your content by genre, look up missing album art and customize the tool with different skins, plug-ins, visualizations and more.
And that’s certainly not all. Its Auto-DJ and Party Mode features let you enjoy your party, while they automatically play music from your own playlist. You also do not have to worry about fluctuating volume levels. It is programmed to take care of that as well.
3 – Winamp:
Taking our lineup further is Winamp, an easy-to-use software that is available on multiple platforms including Windows and Android. Besides synchronizing with playlists from Android devices and the iTunes library, this multi-lingual tool boasts of USB sync support as well as compliance with Flash videos.
As it has been integrated with a web browser, launching a search on the internet should not be a problem and the Monitor comes in handy when playing music on the web.
4 – Real Player:
Not only is this multitasking software efficient at playing multiple formats, but it also allows you to download videos from the web and convert them to a different format if you wish. Unlike a few of the other tools mentioned here, it is portable as well as social, considering that it lets you share your favorite videos with friends over networking websites like Facebook and Twitter.
Some of its latest features include private mode, the ability to have videos uploaded on Facebook displayed in one place, synchronization options and security improvements among others. It can burn CDs, manage your library and help you with editing the content as well.
5 – MPlayerX:
Considering that MPlayerX is armed with FFmpeg and MPlayer, it claims to be capable of playing almost any audio and video format without codec packages or external plug-ins. It takes advantage of the multi-touch gesture support in Mac computers and lets you control your content with a touch of the finger. Additionally, this tool is intelligent enough to detect subtitle encoding and eliminates the need for encoding conversions.
Apart from multi-monitor support, it works with Apple Remote and automatically finds the next episode of the series you are watching, so you do not have to waste time searching for it. The software even remembers where you left off and starts again from the same point.
6 – GOM Media Player:
A video playback software, GOM, has been included on our compilation as it has some powerful features that are simple to use. Meant for beginners as well as experts alike, it can be employed for the purpose of playing back almost all common audio and video formats such as WMV, MKV, FLV, MP4, AVI, MP3, AAC, OGG and many more.
And if that’s not enough, it tags along the Codec Finder service for missing codecs and some Image Capture methods to export images from videos it plays. You can use the existing keyboard shortcuts or customize it with some of your own.
7 – VLC:
This open source cross platform software employs framework that makes it compatible with most formats as well as DVDs, VCDs and some other video streaming protocols. It claims to be a simple, fast and powerful application that can play codecs like MP3, MPEG-2, DivX, MKV, WebM, WMV to name a few, without the assistance of codec packs.
Efficient with conversion and streaming, it is available for all major operating systems including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X along with mobile platforms like Android and iOS.
8 – DivX Plus Player:
DivX Plus urges you not just to play your videos, but play them well. It works with file formats including DivX, AVI, MOV, MKV and MP4 amongst others and comes with the DivX To Go feature that formats and prepares your videos saved on the computer for other DivX-certified devices like DVD players or gaming consoles.
This software also offers assistance with the task of managing your library and lets you make playlists based on genres, dates and more. Needless to say, it is even equipped with necessary features to enhance your audio setup.
9 – Kantaris:
Yet another piece of software which doesn’t need additional codec packages to play almost any audio or video file format is Kantaris. This open source tool featuring on our roster can be connected to an online subtitle database to find relevant subtitles for the video being played. A cool and modern default skin successfully adds a touch of style to it. Moreover, the developers are also planning to include support for add-ins so you can have your own features in the application if you so wish.
10 – QuickTime:
This application from Apple lets users enjoy high quality videos from their personal library or the internet, thanks to its QuickTime technology. It plays a number of file types including music, videos, still images, VR movies and graphics. The software flaunts a simple user interface and takes advantage of advanced video compression technology so the clip utilizes less bandwidth and storage, while maintaining its quality. Moreover, you can fast forward your playback and search through individual movie frames too.
11 – Poweramp:
While we came across Android versions of some software mentioned on this list, here’s a dedicated application that lets you enjoy your audio and video content on the move. Poweramp downloads missing album artwork or pictures and permits you to personalize the interface with the help of different built-in and third-party skins.
Additionally, it tags along lyrics of a number of songs and lets you adjust the sound using bass or treble adjustments and equalizers.
12 – 8Player Lite:
If you are looking for an application for your iDevice that can seamlessly stream content from your home theater system and other DLNA compatible gadgets, it is the way to go. Besides music and videos it can be used for images in formats like TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP and more.
And if the non-paid version appeals to you, you can consider buying the paid application to enjoy even more features on your iOS-based handheld device.
Conclusion:
That was a list of the best free media players. So if any of them managed to impress you with their features, you can simply hit the source link to install them on the device of your choice. While we’ve included the ones we feel are better than the rest, you may know of some that you think deserve a mention here. Do let us know about them.
