Download MX Player for Android

MX Player is a media player available on a number of platforms, most notably Android. The app boasts that it can play every major video format. It is the app's ability to play a large number of video formats on Android devices that has made it popular on the platform.

Though most well known as an Android app, MX Player is available as a desktop application on Windows-based machines. However, unless you are using the Windows 8.1/10 version from the Microsoft Store, you will need to go through a number of steps to get it working. Instructions can be found online.

MX Player is safe when downloaded from an official source. Such a source could be the official website,, or the Google Play Store. The Google Play Store is the safest option, as apps here are vetted to some degree. Installing from elsewhere requires deactivating certain security features on your device.

There is both a free and "Pro" version of the MX Video Player app. The free version has no functional limitations over the "Pro" version, so for all intents and purposes, the app is free. The free version does display advertisements, which is presently the only real difference between them.

By default, MX cannot play AC3 audio content. Video content with AC3 audio will be accompanied by a message stating that the audio cannot be played. MX does support external codecs, however, and it is possible to install the necessary codecs to allow AC3 audio to play inside the app.

MX Player is not compatible with Google Chromecast "out of the box", however it can be configured to work with Google's streaming device with a little help. The official website for MX Player recommends the Localcast app. Once instructions are followed on their site, streaming to Chromecast should be possible.

An iOS version of MX is available through the App Store, though it is not an official release by the same developers of the Android app. For this reason, the iOS version may lack in features over the Android one, seeing as it is not maintained by the same team.

Though a question like this is largely subjective, a number of people rate MX Player slightly higher than VLC. However, as most of the reasons for this are down to personal preference, it really is impossible to say with any kind of objectivity. Both perform very well on measurable metrics.

To install MX Player on your Android device, simply open the Google Play Store and search for the app. Decide whether you want the free version or ad free Pro version, and hit install. If you wish to install a different version, you will need to allow third party applications.

As with some other tricky file formats, MX Video Player does not handle MKV files very well by default. It can be made to do so with the help of an external codec, however. Instructions for which codec you'll need and how to install it, can easily be found online.