Even though there is a media player already when you got your computer, either the Windows Media Player or Movies & TV app, some playback tasks still cannot be completed. The default media player just won’t allow you to play some files like MKV, AVI, MOV. You still need some third-party players to get the job done. However, it’s not easy to find the right media player when a plenty of options provided on the internet.
What makes a good media player? The primary requirement is the ability to play what others can’t play, then the ease of use and additional multifunction. Check out below best free media players according to above conditions for your PC to play any videos and find the one that suits you best.
5KPlayer – Free video player for PC
With robust codec support, 5KPlayer is one of the best media player that can deal video from mainstream MP4/WMV/MKV/AVI to lesser known OGV/YUV/VC1 and so on. This player is aimed to play high and ultra high definition videos. Enhanced by NVIDIA, Intel and DXVA 2.0 hardware acceleration, it plays 720p, 1080p and 4K videos seamlessly. Besides, it can also play music, DVD, satellite radio and even 360 degree videos.
A straightforward design makes it very user-friendly. All the features are presented with icons clearly: Video, Music, DVD, Live (Radio), YouTube and AirPlay+DLNA. If you want to play a video, just click the “Video” sign on the UI, or drag a file and drop it to 5KPlayer. “Drag & drop” applies to almost all media players. There’s another interface of 5KPlayer, Library, which is used to manage played, added, downloaded, and streamed files by playlist.
5KPlayer is more than a UHD player. You can tell from the main UI, 5KPlayer is also an online downloader to save video music from the internet. The DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is to connect your computer with Android devices like Android phone, Smart TV to share video music. AirPlay feature of 5KPlayer is to mirror iPhone iPad iPod screen to computer, and even record the screen on the computer.
Pros:
* Easy to use, right for non-professional users
* Play 360 degree video
* A good video downloader too
* Video music streaming works well
Cons:
* AirPlay and DLNA is not easy to understand
MPC-HC – Free video player for windows :
Media Player Classic, shorted as MPC-HC, is indeed the lightest media player currently. The set up file is small, the CPU occupation and RAM consumption is quite low. It suits for the old computer very well, though the interface is not stylish.
In video music playback aspect, no need to be picky about this video player. It supports nearly all common video and audio formats, though some of the high quality video may not be supported. Except some of the settings which are a little bit confusing, MPC-HC is quite easy to operate.
Pros:
* Lightweight
* Quite easy to use
Cons:
*Make sure you create the shortcut on your computer when install MPC-HC, otherwise, you won’t find the installed program just in computer search.
PotPlay is another multifunctional media player that worth of recommendation. It is programmed based on KMPlayer though, it’s much better than KMPlayer. All the features of PotPlayer appear with a right-click on the interface. Even though the broadcast, TV connection and other professional preferences is hard for most people, the playback is powerful.
Playing common video is not a question for PotPlayer. It can also handle 360 degree, side by side and top-button videos. The auto detection is not very useful, it’s better to do a manual selection of 360 video type. In addition, it can play 3D videos as well as online links.
PotPlayer has the same problem as Media Player Classic on shortcuts. You must choose “add a short” when installing.
Pros:
* Easily play online videos when input URL in it.
* Can play more than one video at the same time, good for multiple screen computer.
Cons:
* Not very easy to use it
* Can’t play some DVD and DVD files
* Can’t choose not to associate the file format
* Need to install additional codec, or you can’t play some files
VLC media player – Video player for windows :
VLC media player is a famous open source program, which provides a lot of convenience to other developers. VLC is popular because it is equipped with a lot of features, and all of these are free for any platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS).
VLC can play video music in most formats and forms. Usual files can’t daunt VLC at all. You can have a detailed customization of your video playback with VLC. And it is a so-called video downloader and converter as well. The URL playback is available on VLC too.
Pros:
* A lot of functions
* Run on many platforms
Cons:
* Useful for tech-savvy users, complicated for non-professionals
* If you are lucky, you can get most of the features working.
None of above players can play absolutely all video files, especially on different computers. Pick the one or some that works for you to help your movie video entertainment offline on PC.
