VLC vs. MX Player

MX and VLC are the two media players with vibrant video and audio tools. An Indian company owns MX Player, while we all know VLC Media Player.

How do both stand against each other? Let’s find out in VLC vs. MX Player comparison.

Quick overview

VLC is a video player with vast codec and device support. It also works best if you have HDMI and Chromecast.

One thing it lacks is a nice interface, which is what MX Player is all about. MX Player also supports many formats, but not as many.

Features

VLC focuses more on the technical aspects, whereas MX Player also focuses on customization and personalization.

MX Player initially was just for videos, but now it supports audio files. Take a look at the below table for complete tools and options.

Feature	VLC	MX Player
Audio support	✔	✔
Streaming	✔	✔
Hardware acceleration	✔	✔
History	✔	✔
Night mode	✔	✔
Android TV support	✔	✔
Save brightness/audio settings	✔	✔
Picture-in-Picture	✔	✔
Subtitle size	✔	✔
Subtitle color	✔	✔
Remember subtitle timing	❌	✔
Screen settings	✔	✔
Change app colors	❌	✔
Adjust forward/backward speed	❌	✔
Local network	✔	✔
Equalizer	✔	✔
Audio boost	✔	✔
Continue video	✔	✔
Highlight new videos	❌	✔

Winner: MX Player

Related: 8 Best Video Converter Apps for Android

Play screen options

The below table compares the options found on the video player screen.

Feature	VLC	MX Player
Choose subtitle	✔	✔
Subtitle delay	✔	✔
Choose audio	✔	✔
Audio delay	✔	✔
Audio play	✔	✔
Playback speed	✔	✔
Sleep timer	✔	✔
Equalizer	✔	✔
Crop video	✔	✔
Lock	✔	✔
Repeat options	✔	✔
Download subtitles	✔	✔
Video shuffle	✔	✔
Screenshot	✔	❌

Winner: VLC

Play screen invisible options

Feature	VLC	MX Player
Forward and backward	✔	✔
Volume +/-	✔	✔
Zoom / change ratio	✔	✔
Brightness adjustment	✔	✔
Double-tap forward and backward	✔	✔

VLC Media Player’s swipe forward/backward feature can be improved because the video doesn’t forward if you forward it for a few seconds.

Apart from that, if you manually add a subtitle file and then minimize and maximize the app, you will not see the subtitles.

The problem worsens as the subtitle menu does not respond. Going back to the main menu and playing the video again is the only option.

Both apps allow you to move video clips forward and backward with a double click.

In VLC, you can adjust the double tap time delay from 1 to 100 seconds. In contrast, MX Player lets you adjust the time delay from 1 to 60 seconds.

Winner: Tie

Equalizer

The equalizer is available in both apps. It is used to enhance the audio experience. In VLC Media Player, you can configure the volume level of 10 different frequencies in the range of +20dB to -20dB.

Furthermore, it offers 18 preset equalizer options, including full bass, full treble, pop, soft, rock, live hall, etc.

On the other hand, the equalizer in MX Player allows you to configure five frequencies in the range of +15dB to -15dB. It also has a bass boost function.

There are 10 preset options, including classical, flat, heavy metal, jazz, rock, etc.

Winner: VLC

Media files structure

VLC and MX players have slightly different ways of extracting and organizing media files. VLC Media Player enables us to group files by name and folder.

While grouping by name, it intelligently organizes similar files into distinct folders based on their titles. It has three sorting methods: file name, length, and recently added.

In comparison, MX Player also allows us to group files by folder or name. But it takes the lead in terms of sorting. It offers 10 sorting methods that are listed below:

• Title
• Date
• Played time
• Status
• Length
• Size
• Resolution
• Path
• Frame rate
• Type

Winner: Tie

Background/PiP mode

This feature controls how videos play when you switch between apps or go back to the home screen. In that case, both the VLC and MX players give you the following three options:

• Stop playing
• Only audio in the background
• Picture-in-picture mode (a draggable mini popup video player)

Winner: Tie

HDMI and Chromecast

Many mobile devices, such as Note 10, support HDMI ports, but both tools deal with HDMI differently.

VLC supports HDMI, and when a device is connected, the device displays the screen saver with the VLC logo. It also supports most of the buttons to control the playback.

MX Player does not properly support HDMI; hence, the media is simultaneously played on TV and mobile. Watch the above video to see both in action.

Regarding Chromecast, VLC acts like HDMI, but MX Player also supports Chromecast. It displays an image from the video with the device title and all the necessary control buttons.

Winner: VLC Media Player

MX Player extra features

Private folder

MX Player has a private folder to hide files from other users. It is a password-protected folder where you can save personal files. Only those knowing the password will be able to access this folder.

Video downloader

This feature lets us download files from various social media and entertainment apps such as Facebook, Dailymotion, and TikTok.

Save WhatsApp status

One of the unique and useful features of MX Player is the ability to save WhatsApp status. When you view WhatsApp status, it gets stored in the device cache storage.

Then MX Player gets this status video file from the cache storage and lets you save and share it.

MX Share

MX Share or MX File Sharing is a tool that allows transferring video files fastly with the combined help of Bluetooth and WiFi. This powerful sharing technique can also be found in many apps, such as Google Files.

The app only supports video files; the receiving end must have MX Player installed. VLC does not offer sharing tools except the default sharing features.

Related: VLC Media Player vs. MPV

App details

Android

VLC was released for Android in 2015 and has over 100 million downloads. On the other hand, MX Player was released in 2011, and so far, it has over 1 billion downloads. Both occupy over 70MB of storage.

The app has one customizable widget on Android. You have the below options to personalize it:

• Choose between a light or dark theme
• Configure the opacity of the widget
• Dynamically modify widget color based on the media cover image
• Change the foreground and background colors

iOS

VLC Media Player for iOS is about 169MB, with an average user-based rating of 3 stars. MX Player takes 85 MB of storage and has an average user-based rating of 4.2 stars in the US.

Pricing

VLC is free software without any annoying advertisements. MX Player, contrarily, is a commercial app that shows ads while browsing. The ad types include in-video when you pause, in between videos section, etc.

The premium version of MX costs a few bucks depending on the location, which gives access to the ad-free experience.

Video

Still not sure about the two? Watch this VLC vs. MX Player video and see both in action.

Download

Wrap up

I would suggest going with VLC because it supports more extensions and is free. MX Player is great, but to get rid of ads and unlock premium features, you’ll have to pay money.

I hope the article VLC vs. MX Player helped. Which app will you be using? Would you please share your views in the comments below and subscribe to the newsletter for future updates?