The Best Video Player for Android TV - And the One You Should Avoid

Most video players on the Play Store were built for a phone, so on a TV they ignore the remote, go silent on surround-sound films or fill the screen with ads.

If film night has ever ended with a spinning wheel, a black screen or 'audio format not supported', the player is usually the problem, not the box.

Below are the five free players worth installing on an Android TV, Google TV or Fire TV device, ranked by how well they work from the sofa.

There is also one app you should stop using - the media player your box came with.

1. VLC for Android - Best for Almost Everyone

Best for: anyone who wants every file to play on the first try.

VLC carries its own decoders, so MKV, MP4, AVI and MOV files play with HEVC, AV1, DTS or EAC3 inside them. There is no codec pack to hunt for and nothing extra to install.

There is no separate TV download either, which catches people out. The same app detects a television, switches to a big-tile layout you can drive with the arrow keys, and installs from the Play Store on Android TV and Google TV devices.

VLC is made by VideoLAN, a non-profit, so there are no ads, no account and no paid tier. The honest downside is looks - it shows your folders and files as they are, without the posters and plot summaries Kodi pulls in.

• Plays almost every video and audio format with no add-ons
• Remote-friendly TV layout that turns on by itself
• Opens network shares over SMB, FTP, NFS and UPnP/DLNA
• A Digital audio output (passthrough) setting sends Dolby and DTS sound untouched to a soundbar or AV receiver

The catch: a plain, file-browser interface with no library artwork.

2. Kodi - Best for a Big Film and TV Library

Best for: people with a large collection of films and shows they own.

Kodi for Android is less a player than a whole media center. Point it at a folder or a network drive and it builds a library with posters, plot summaries, cast lists and episode tracking, so your TV looks like a private streaming service.

It was designed for a television and a remote from the start, and it plays the same wide range of formats as VLC. The stable version is on the Play Store for Android TV, while Fire TV owners install the APK.

For home cinema setups, Kodi can switch the TV's refresh rate to match each film, which removes the stutter on slow panning shots. The trade-off is setup time - a tidy library takes half an hour of naming folders properly, which is overkill if you watch one downloaded file a week.

• Automatic posters, summaries and episode tracking for your own files
• Interface built for a remote from day one
• Refresh-rate matching and audio passthrough for home cinema setups
• Add-ons for live TV playlists, subtitles and more

The catch: setup takes real time, and third-party add-ons outside the official repository range from useful to dodgy.

3. mpv - Best for Picture Quality Tweakers

Best for: people who want control over how the picture is scaled and smoothed.

mpv for Android is the Android version of the desktop mpv player, built on the same engine. It plays 10-bit HEVC, AV1, DTS and EAC3 with nothing extra, and it has no ads, no tracking and no in-app purchases.

Its reason to exist is picture control. Settings for scaling, debanding and frame interpolation go well beyond anything else on this list, and desktop mpv users can bring their own configuration.

Android TV is supported, but quietly - the TV version is only available from F-Droid or as an APK, not from the Play Store on your TV. The interface is deliberately bare, with no library, and heavy picture settings can make a budget box stutter.

• Advanced scaling, debanding and interpolation settings
• No ads, no tracking and no in-app purchases
• Plays 10-bit HEVC, AV1 and surround audio with no add-ons

The catch: not on the TV Play Store, and no library or artwork.

Numbers four and five are excellent phone players that also run on a TV. That difference matters more than it sounds, because a TV player is driven by arrow keys and a phone player by taps and swipes.

4. MX Player - Best If You Already Use It on Your Phone

Best for: MX Player fans who want the same player on the big screen.

MX Player is quick, familiar and has some of the best subtitle controls on Android. It was built for phones, though, and on a TV parts of the interface still expect a touchscreen.

Do not confuse it with MX Player TV in the Play Store. That app is a streaming service for films and shows in India, not a player for your own files.

The bigger catch is surround sound. MX Player does not include DTS, AC3 or EAC3 decoders, so films with that audio play silently or show 'audio format not supported' until you add the free MX Player Custom Codec.

• Light and quick, even on cheap hardware
• Excellent subtitle styling and sync controls
• The same controls you already know from your phone

The catch: a phone-first interface, ads in the free version, and a separate add-on for surround audio.

5. KMPlayer - Best for Videos Stored in the Cloud

Best for: people whose videos live in Dropbox or OneDrive.

KMPlayer for Android can sign in to Dropbox and OneDrive and stream your videos straight from there. That saves copying films onto a TV box that has very little free storage.

It also opens home network shares over SMB, FTP, WebDAV and UPnP, and it can cast to a Chromecast. Like MX Player, though, it is a phone app first - its Play Store listing covers phones, tablets and Chromebooks, not TVs.

Surround audio is its weak spot. KMPlayer needs an external codec for EAC3, and that add-on only loads on older 32-bit devices, so do not count on it for Dolby tracks.

• Streams straight from Dropbox and OneDrive
• Network shares and Chromecast casting built in
• Wide subtitle support, including styled SSA/ASS files

The catch: a phone-first layout and unreliable surround sound.

The One to Avoid: The Media Player Your Box Came With

Many Android TV boxes and budget streaming sticks ship with a basic built-in app called something like Media Player, Video or HD Player. It is behind a lot of 'my TV box will not play this file' moments, and it is rarely the box's fault.

Here is what these stock players commonly get wrong:

• Limited formats. They lean entirely on the box's own decoders, and Android's guaranteed format list includes no AC3, EAC3 or DTS audio at all.
• Weak subtitles. External SRT files are often ignored, and accented or non-Latin characters can turn into boxes.
• Few settings. There is usually no audio track picker, no passthrough switch and no way to fix out-of-sync sound.
• No real updates. They are updated with the box's firmware, so when the maker stops supporting the box, the player stops improving too.

The fix is simple: install one of the players above and make it the default. The next time a file asks which app to open it with, pick your new player and choose Always.

If the old player keeps grabbing files, open Settings > Apps, show system apps, and select the stock player. Choose Clear defaults, or Disable where your box offers it - the labels vary a little between manufacturers.

What Actually Makes a Good Android TV Player

Most 'best player' lists are written for phones, and a TV box asks for different things. These are the ones that decide whether film night works:

• Remote-friendly layout. You should be able to do everything with the arrow keys, the select button and Back.
• Its own decoders. HEVC, AV1, EAC3 and DTS should play without depending on what the box maker licensed.
• Hardware decoding for 4K. Decoding 4K HEVC in software is too heavy for most budget boxes and ends in stutter.
• Proper HDR handling. An HDR film should switch the TV into HDR mode instead of arriving dull and washed out, though Dolby Vision depends on the box as much as the player.
• Audio passthrough. A soundbar or AV receiver owner needs a setting that sends Dolby and DTS sound through untouched.
• No full-screen ads. A 'free' player that interrupts a film with an advert has failed the only job it had.

Getting a Player onto Your Box

On Android TV and Google TV devices, VLC and Kodi install straight from the Play Store on the TV itself. Search for them with the remote and you are done in a minute.

Fire TV devices and many cheap TV boxes have no Google Play, so the usual route is Downloader by AFTVnews. It is a free app that fetches an APK from an address you type with the remote, and the device asks you once to allow it to install apps.

Only install APKs from a source you trust. Our APK Checker reads the package name and signing certificate before you install, so you can confirm a VLC file really came from VideoLAN.

Which One Should You Install?

Quick questions

If you only install one thing today, make it VLC for Android - then stop letting the player your box came with open your films.

Get VLC for Android for your TV box, or tell us which player you use and what it still struggles with.