Top 6 Free Video Players for Windows

Carrie Tsai
7 min readMay 28, 2021

Source: https://www.videosolo.com/video-converter-ultimate/

Using the best video players enables a better video streaming experience, which brings a good mood for people to enjoy their favorite video content. But when there are many selectable video players launched on Internet, what is the best option for Windows?

Are you also considering this question? Then you are in the right place! This blog brings the top 6 free video players for Windows to you. Preview the list for better selecting the top video player for yourself now!

CONTENTS

1. 6 Best Free Video Players for Windows

2. VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate — Convert Your Video to Any Formats

1. 6 Best Free Video Players for Windows

Considering the video format compatibility, in-app performance, and video playback quality, these 6 video players for Windows have been selected out.

* VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player is one of the best video players for Windows. Instead of Windows, it also supports other popular systems such as Mac and Linux. VLC can be used to stream videos of almost all formats. Additionally, online content like YouTube videos can also be played by VLC, so for users who enjoy both online and offline videos, VLC is absolutely a good choice.

Pros:

Open-source with no need to pay for any fees;

A variety of video and audio formats can be supported;

The highest resolution to stream video and audio content;

Easy-to-grasp interface for use.

Cons:

Online YouTube video streaming sometimes fails because of poor network conditions.

Available systems: Windows (Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP), Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

VLC Media Player

* PotPlayer

PotPlayer is a Windows video player developed by Kakao, a popular South Korean company. It allows users to customize the software's appearance. For its performance, because PotPlayer is designed in a lightweight size and with accelerated mode, the performance can reach a high state. Additionally, PotPlayer also enables users to choose sound cards, bookmark a scene in the video, and so on.

Pros:

Popular for playing common videos in formats such as MP4/FLV/AVI/MKV;

3D videos playback supported;

Comes with convenient shortcuts and hotkeys to control the playback;

Multifunctional features to customize personal playback experience.

Cons:

Only limited to Windows users;

Supports fewer video formats than VLC.

Available systems: Windows (Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP)

PotPlayer

* GOM Media Player

GOM Media Player is a free video player for Windows which supports the playback of videos in many common and popular formats. Except for the basic video playback feature, GOM Media Player also brings more attractive functions such as A-B repeat, Media Player Capture, speed control, and so on. It is an all-features player for Windows to enjoy video playback.

Pros:

Download service supported for saving subtitles of the videos;

Multifunctional features to enjoy videos;

Clean interface without adware;

Able to find the missed codec.

Cons:

It is possible that the player doesn’t support some common video formats.

Available systems: Windows (Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7)

GOM Media Player

* SMPlayer

SMPlayer is also a free source for playing videos on a computer with a smooth and high-quality experience. It supports media files in all popular formats. Just like VLC Media Player, SMPlayer can also support playing YouTube videos with resolutions from 240p to Full HD, so many people would also use SMPlayer for streaming online content for entertaining.

Pros:

A built-in codec for automatically encoding or decoding a digital stream;

Set skins and icon themes for customizing the software while using;

Multiple languages supported;

Available to download subtitles;

DVD video playback is also supported.

Cons:

The subtitle search of SMPlayer would fail to function to find subtitles sometimes;

Windows-only.

Available systems: Windows (Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10)

SMPlayer

* MPV

MPV is a reliable and open-source video player for Windows, which is launched by GNU. MPV supports more formats than MPV, such as the common audio/video codecs, and also different subtitle types. It brings an on-screen controller so users can control the video/audio playback easily and instantly.

Pros:

Easy setup process to quickly master this software;

Powerful scripting abilities to enable stronger player performance;

High-quality video quality to stream videos with the best visual effects;

C API design to enable the video integration into other applications.

Cons:

Not user-friendly for ordinary people but more recommended for experts or advanced users.

Available systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux

MPV Player

* Nvidia 3D Vision Video Player

For playing movies on Windows, Nvidia 3D Vision Video Player is absolutely an ideal choice. It is developed for playing movies with the best quality. With the ability to play 3D video clips, Nvidia 3D Vision Video Player brings the cinema-like movie watching experience to users, so they don’t need to enjoy the movies in the cinema anymore!

Pros:

Best video player for Windows to convert MTS to MP4 for playing back;

Built-in library to save movie settings;

Controls the movie playback easily;

GUP acceleration is set for playing 3D videos.

Cons:

Too complicated for streaming common video files;

Only available for several Windows systems.

Available systems: Windows (Windows 7/8/8.1/10)

Nividia 3D Vision Video Player

2. VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate — Convert Your Video to Any Formats

Summarizing from the above-introduced video players, the shortcoming of them may be obvious: fewer supported video formats or some certain common formats can not be supported in the program, just like the GOM Media Player. So a backup solution is provided here — to convert the video formats when they are not supported by your video players.

VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate is a powerful and reliable video converter. Its powerful compatibility makes itself support to convert any formats on both Windows and Mac within just simple clicks. The easy operation enables this tool to be user-friendly for everyone, no matter you are just a green hand or an advanced user.

Features of VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate:

Over 200 common formats are supported;

In-app editing functions to quickly personalize the video/audio files before converting them;

The conversion speed can be reached up to 6X faster with its added GPU hardware acceleration;

Extra tools provided — Video Compressor, Media Metadata Editor, and GIF Maker.

Now, let’s also check this brief guide on how to convert video formats via VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate. Ahead of all, install it on your Windows or Mac device.

Download on Windows

Download on Mac

STEP 1. Add Video Files

Open VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate after installing it. Directly by hitting the big “+” button in the middle and you can select the video files for importing to the software.

Add Video Files

STEP 2. Choose Format to Output

When the videos are added to the list, you are able to select the output format for them from the “Convert All to” drop-down menu.

Convert Files

(Optional) STEP 3. Edit the Video

By hitting the magic stick icon under the video info, you are available to edit the video using the provided editing functions such as “Rotate&Crop”, “Effect&Filter”, “Watermark”, and so on.

Editing Functions

STEP 4. Convert the Video

Finally, when your videos are edited, simply by hitting the “Convert All” icon in the lower-right corner, and VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate will convert them all to the selected output format.

Convert Files

That’s all for this blog! With the top 6 video players for Windows, you are able to enjoy the smooth and high-quality video playback on weekends with your favorite video content for killing time. When you discover the video formats are not supported, VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate will be the small-size backup helper for you. Give them a try!

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Carrie Tsai

Carrie Tsai is part of team software and she enthusiastically dives into the depths of the software industry waiting for new cool stuff to be shared with you.