mpv
Very light, very fast video player with almost no interface. Best on older or low-powered computers.
Our verdict
mpv is the video player for people who want the film and nothing else. Double click a file and it plays, with a slim control bar that appears when you move the mouse and vanishes when you stop.
Its advantage over VLC is weight. On an older computer, or with a high resolution file, mpv stays smooth where heavier players stutter. It is also the quietest option on screen, which suits a laptop being used as a television.
The trade is control. The project says openly that it provides no real graphical interface, so adjusting anything beyond volume and subtitles means editing a configuration file, which is exactly the sort of thing this site assumes you do not want to do. If you want menus and settings screens, install VLC instead and keep mpv for the machine that needs the speed.
What's good
- Starts instantly and uses very little memory, which helps on an old laptop
- Plays high resolution video smoothly where heavier players struggle
- Nothing on screen but the video and a small bar when you move the mouse
- Free and open source with no ads or tracking
What to know first
- Almost no interface, so there are no menus to browse for settings
- The project's own site says it provides no real graphical interface
- Changing how it behaves usually means editing a settings file
- No playlist manager or media library worth the name
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- Yes (GPL-2.0)
- How you install it
- App store (Flatpak), .deb installer, .rpm installer, Built-in app store
Windows apps it can replace
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