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Best Free Media Player [1]

Last updated by George.J [2] on 19. February 2017 - 04:17

  Read this article in Spanish [3]
  Read this article in Chinese [4]

Introduction

Finding an all-in-one media player used to be impossible. In the past you needed to use several separate programs to play MP3 files, streaming media from Real, Mpeg files, Quicktime movies, CDs and DVD discs, but with the advent of Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP), all of these media types could be played in one player. Over a period of time, however, WMP has become bloated and isn't compatible with all of the available file formats. WinAmp, which began as an mp3 player, now plays almost everything, although it uses a lot of system resources and may contain adware if you aren't careful on the installation. iTunes has become more prevalent on many PCs due to the almost universal reach of the iPod, but it also uses a lot of resources and is processor intensive.

So I've done some major research to find alternative media players capable of playing multiple types of media files, including various digital audio and video formats, CDs, and DVDs. They are also easy to install and use and are light on system resources. Not only do these programs replace WMP, iTunes and WinAmp, but they also exceed their functionality.

Check out Tips and Warnings at the end of this article.

 

Rated Products

[5]

PotPlayer [5]   [6]

A powerful media player provides awesome video and audio quality, supports all modern formats and seamless media playback.

Our Rating: 
5
License: Free
Very fast updates and fixes, supports almost all media formats, 1000 files seamless playback, supports GPU acceleration, built-in codecs, extensive configuration options, light on system resources and fast startup, auto resume for 200 files,configurable xml skin files.
No help files, default 'automatic' video renderer not the best.
Read full review... [6]
[10]

VLC Media Player [10]   [11]

An excellent media player with a highly portable framework and works across different platforms.

Our Rating: 
5
License: Free
Available on multiple platforms, media converter and streaming capabilities, excellent playback quality and stability, plays Internet radio and TV, great choice for DVD playback, GPU and DSP decoding, support for extensions.
Large download size, Uninstalling can be problematic as it integrates into WMP components, seeking real media files causes short time glitches, many options can be confusing to non-technical types.
Read full review... [11]
[16]

KMPlayer [16]   [17]

Feature rich, easy to use, extremely customizable and available in multiple languages.

Our Rating: 
5
License: Free
Play damaged AVI files, locked media files and compressed audio albums, Live URL broadcasting support, User friendly interface, Good picture quality and playback, Extensive configuration options, Apply user defined external filters apart from built-in, Plays almost all media files, Strong user base and active forum, Multi-language support.
Lacks a professional web representation, Slower than some media players like VLC, Contains Opencandy, Ask toolbar, Pandora TV Service.
Read full review... [17]
[22]

SMPlayer [22]   [23]

A front-end for award winning MPlayer with extensive features and ease of use.

Our Rating: 
4.5
License: Free (Open source)
Great playback quality, Pleasant and colorful interface, Remembers playback position and customizations on close, Online subtitle search and YouTube browser, Light, portable and stable, Karaoke effects, Highly customizable, Shortcuts for nearly every function, Supports nearly every format.
Installer is bundled with OpenCandy. DVD menu's seems experimental, No icon library for supported file formats, No Win7 playback controls.
Read full review... [23]
[25]

GOM Player [25]   [26]

Plays flv and other media files with internal codecs and its ability to play some broken media files.

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free
No extra codec packs are needed, capable of playing broken avi files.
Bundled with OpenCandy (see information link in review text). May not play DVD discs on some systems.
Read full review... [26]
[29]

MPC-HC [29]   [30]

An incredibly small program packs a vast set of features and requires no installation on your PC.

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free (Open source)
Very fast and lightest, no installation required, extremely easy to use, 64 bit versions available.
No support for syncing music, no picture quality controls.
Read full review... [30]
[31]

SPlayer [31]   [32]

Provides great picture quality with some neat and creative optimization features.

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free (Open source)
Smooth and excellent playback, many options to enhance display, H/W acceleration support, includes audio and video equalizer, low on system resources, played almost everything, best for non-techies.
Open Candy installation, didn’t get sound out of a video in rare situations, too simple, confusing and clunky interface, non-ethical marketing: compares various media players on their homepage, some Chinese left in main interface & only Chinese documentation available.
Read full review... [32]
[34]

JetAudio Basic [34]   [35]

A very good, solid and feature packed media player for audio and video files.

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free (Limited features)
Supports all major file formats, customizable interface, good subtitle rendering and video quality, floating bar mode, various extra tools packed inside, music management capabilities, auto-resume all files, internet broadcasting.
Big download, Interface not very user friendly, Registered encoders, decoders and filters on system, Need to tweak for hearing AC3/AAC sound(due to licencing restrictions; method given in full review), Offers 3rd party applications during installation (which you can choose to ignore).
Read full review... [35]
[38]

Kantaris Media Player [38]   [39]

An intuitive all-in-one polished media player designed with style.

Our Rating: 
3.5
License: Free (Open source)
Awesome interface, Colourful visualization effects, Plays video files inside RAR archives, Online subtitle matching, Organise video library in 3D, watch and play latest movies and songs from Apple movie trailers and Last.fm.
Not as configurable as some other players for those requiring advanced features, Shortcut keys incomplete.
Read full review... [39]
[41]

UMPlayer [41]   [42]

A short addition to players using MPlayer as the core with integration of YouTube and Shoutcast.

Our Rating: 
3.5
License: Free (Open source)
Sleek Interface, light on resources,Plays any kind of media file, Automatic subtitle download from opensubtitles.org, Built-in support for YouTube and Shoutcast,Record files and reads damaged files,Plays online TV and Radio.
Problems with HD media playback (.h264 mkv files), quite a few bugs: setting equalizer and certain menu's pauses video for a moment, files with asian characters doesn't play , associates media files aggresively,Time incorrect sometimes,Help file needs improvement.
Read full review... [42]

Products to be Reviewed

RealPlayer [46] | Light Alloy [47] | QQPlayer [48] | MPlayer WW [49] | VSO Media Player [50] | DivX Plus Player [51] | DA Player [52] | Zoom Player Free [53] | FreeSmith Video Player [54] | ALShow [55] | ALLPlayer [56] | AK-Player [57]

 

Tested & Not Recommended

  • Splash Lite [58]: The Bad: Capture frame, Playback resume and Basic video controls & audio controls only available in the PRO version. Splash Lite just feels like an advertising for its commercial version. No support for URL playback. Doesn't play many files properly. The Good: HD videos playback quality is good, certain broken files plays well.
  • Toolwiz Player [59]: The Bad: Nearly everything. No seeking, no right click context menu, a waste of time! The Good: Plays certain files!
 

Tips and Warnings

  • Codecs: Some programs reviewed in this article may require additional codecs for expanded functionality. For more information about codecs, including what they do, legal issues and download links, see this article Understanding Codecs [60].
  • Use Codec Packs At Your Own Risk (especially Mega Codec packs). They are capable of producing software incompatibilities, system crashes and sometimes doesn't let your new media player to play your files properly. In case you want to use one, I recommend using lightweight ones (CCCP [61], Windows essentials [62]). Read Why Codec Packs Are Bad [63], Codec Packs Are Evil [64], Microsoft's Caution [65].
  • Fake Players: Download media players from reliable resources such as the "Get It" links suggested in our reviews. Many websites are offering fake versions of the player.
  • Video Renderers: This option is useful especially for PotPlayer and KMPlayer. They include a number of renderers and switching between these renderers may give you better image quality.
    • Personally I find that EVR and VMR9 renderless works great for most systems especially for Vista/Win7 (Microsoft.Net 3 framework should be pre-installed in XP to use them).
    • For older systems Overlay Mixer might give better performance and clarity. You need to have Haali Media Splitter installed to use Haali Video Renderer. It doesn't work for old video cards though.
    • MadVR (Madshi) is a newly released renderer and to use this renderer you should install MadVR filters first and have a fairly powerful GPU.
  • Stay Updated: Get beta and stable updates of your favourite media player through e-mail using Altert me! tool at Videohelp [66].

 

Related Products and Links

 

Editor

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor George.J., a software engineer just graduated and working in Software Development and Testing unit. Reviewing software and writing articles are one of my passions. Registered site visitors can contact me here [77].

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[1] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-windows-media-player-replacement.htm
[2] https://www.techsupportalert.com/users/georgej
[3] https://www.techsupportalert.com/es/mejor-reproductor-multimedia-gratuito.htm
[4] https://www.techsupportalert.com/cn/best-free-media-player.htm
[5] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/potplayer.htm-4
[6] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8579
[7] https://potplayer.daum.net/
[8] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/installer_advice.htm
[9] https://plus.google.com/118396188147577447707?rel=author
[10] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/vlc-media-player.htm-2
[11] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8580
[12] https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id650377962?mt=8
[13] http://www.videolan.org/vlc/#download
[14] http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
[15] http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html
[16] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/kmplayer.htm
[17] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8581
[18] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kmplayer/id835776444?mt=8
[19] http://www.kmplayer.com/mac
[20] http://www.kmplayer.com/features/features
[21] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/installer_warning.htm
[22] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/smplayer.htm-0
[23] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8582
[24] http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/en/downloads
[25] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/gom-player.htm-1
[26] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8583
[27] https://itunes.apple.com/app/gom-player/id672542880
[28] http://player.gomlab.com/
[29] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/mpc-hc.htm
[30] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8584
[31] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/splayer.htm-0
[32] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8587
[33] http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html
[34] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/jetaudio-basic.htm-0
[35] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8588
[36] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jetaudio-music-player/id894888135?mt=8
[37] http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Other-AUDIO-Tools/jetAudio-Basic.shtml
[38] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/kantaris-media-player.htm
[39] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8585
[40] http://codecpack.co/download/Kantaris_Media_Player.html
[41] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/umplayer.htm-0
[42] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/8586
[43] https://sourceforge.net/projects/umplayer/files/UMPlayer-0.95/
[44] https://sourceforge.net/projects/umplayer/files/
[45] https://sourceforge.net/p/umplayer/wiki/Home/
[46] http://www.real.com/realplayer?bypass=us
[47] http://www.light-alloy.ru/en/home/
[48] http://www.qq-player.com/english/
[49] http://www.mplayer-ww.com/eng/
[50] http://www.vso-software.fr/products/vmp/vso-media-player.php
[51] http://www.divx.com/en/software/divx-plus/player
[52] http://www.digiarty.com/
[53] http://www.inmatrix.com/
[54] http://www.freesmith.com/free-video-player.html
[55] http://www.altools.com/ALTools/ALShow.aspx
[56] http://www.allplayer.org/en/product/tips
[57] http://freemediaplayerdownload.org/
[58] http://mirillis.com/en/products/splash.html
[59] http://www.toolwiz.com/products/toolwiz-video-player
[60] https://www.techsupportalert.com/understanding-codecs.htm
[61] http://www.cccp-project.net/
[62] http://www.mediacodec.org/
[63] https://www.howtogeek.com/198492/beware-never-download-codecs-or-players-to-watch-videos-online/
[64] http://blogs.msmvps.com/chrisl/2004/07/04/codec-packs-are-evil-dont-install-them/
[65] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15070/windows-media-player-codecs-frequently-asked-questions
[66] http://www.videohelp.com/tools/
[67] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/installing-media-player-classic-step-step-guide.htm
[68] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-music-players-and-organizers.htm
[69] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-cd-dvd-burning-software.htm
[70] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-audio-video-format-conversion-program.htm
[71] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-video-editor.htm
[72] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-streaming-media-recorder.htm
[73] https://www.techsupportalert.com/Best-Free-Audio-Editing-Software.htm
[74] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-screen-session-recorder.htm
[75] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-image-viewer.htm
[76] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-mp3-tag-editor.htm
[77] https://www.techsupportalert.com/user/17656/contact