The best audio player for android. Top free players for Android: which music player to choose

If you have already accumulated a large audio collection of tracks, then this requires a more serious approach to management, which means you need a good music player. Although if you are going to choose the best player, then it should also offer the best user experience and the best sound, otherwise you won’t be able to listen to your favorite songs.

There are dozens or even hundreds of music players. However, finding the best music player for your needs can be a time-consuming task. Therefore, we have 5 players on the list that can be considered the best - depending on your criteria. I think this will help you quickly understand what suits you.

1.Poweramp

Poweramp is one of the best music players with huge customization options. In addition to the basic playback functions, there is support for almost all known formats (wav, tta, aiff, flac, ogg and others). It has its own 10-band graphic equalizer, which offers amazing sound customization and separate options for low and high frequencies.

Poweramp has support for themes, OpenGL animation, and plugins for additional functions. However, this player is paid and there is a free 15-day access. Price: free trial version, full version $3.99.

2. Equalizer

As the name suggests, Equalizer really has a huge bunch of all sorts of audio settings, amazing equalizer, bass enhancement. There are a total of 10 equalizer presets, which are classified according to music genres such as “acoustic”, “hip-hop”, “electro”, “jazz” and “pop”, etc. There is even its own built-in amplifier to make the sound louder by force.

Bass Booster is available to get maximum bass and the visualizer is fun and you can feel the rhythm. In addition to these functions, there are a lot of standard ones - “library”, “shuffle”, a customizable “repeat” function and background playback. Price: Free or $4.90.

3. doubleTwist Music

doubleTwist Music is an omnivorous player that can satisfy all needs. It is mainly used to sync music between iTunes and Android device, but it has many other functions. doubleTwist Music supports almost all audio formats - mp3, mp4, wav, tta, ogg, flac and others. There is also access to manual equalizer settings and other options to ensure maximum music enjoyment.

Most of the standard features are available for free, but all other additional features can be purchased separately in the application itself. You can also play music via Airplay, including videos, using the Airsync feature (paid) in doubleTwist Music. Price: free, but additional options are paid.

4. jetAudio Music Player+EQ Plus

jetAudio offers a huge list of features, including some not found in other music players, although most of them are available in a paid version. There is a free version of jetAudio with basic features including a 10-band equalizer, sound effects, an audio amplifier, and support for multiple audio formats. However, its paid version will please the most demanding music lovers: 20-band equalizer, support for displaying song lyrics, 2 lockscreens, 14 widgets, playback speed control, tag editor and much more. Plugins can be downloaded separately to expand functionality. Price: free or $3.99, in-app purchases available.

5. Shuttle Music Player

If you are looking for a music player for Android that can meet your requirements for free, then Shuttle Music Player is a good option. Although it has a paid version, still all the necessary features are available for free, meaning it is not necessary to purchase the paid version. The interface is very simple, in Material Design style, there is a 6-band equalizer with bass boost.

You also get features that support displaying lyrics, continuous playback, background playback, themes, sleep mode, etc. - all this is free. Paid features include a tag editor, folder browser, and access to premium themes. Price: Free or $0.99.

Audio playback is one of the basic functions of any Android smartphone or tablet. This review will look at the most popular audio players for mobile devices on this operating system, which include both primarily online ones, for example, Google Play Music or Soundcloud, and those designed primarily for offline use, such as Poweramp or AIMP. In total, 10 audio players from among the most common on the Android platform were selected for this article. They were sorted in descending order of the number of downloads from Google Play - Google Play Music and Soundcloud were first on this list, and jetAudio Music Player and Shuttle Music Player were at the bottom.
Audio players for mobile devices can be divided into two categories based on the principle of operation - online and offline. The former work with Internet services that allow you to listen to and buy music online, and in some cases download it to the device’s memory. This approach has been gaining momentum recently due to the rapid growth in Internet access speeds and the relatively small sizes of audio files by modern standards. For most users, the aural difference between *.mp3 and *.flac is almost unnoticeable, although the first of these formats is many times “easier” than the second.
Offline audio players are primarily aimed at playing audio from the memory of a mobile device. It is worth noting that there are not many fully online or offline players - most modern programs in this segment are a hybrid with a shift in emphasis in one direction or another. For example, Google Play Music plays tracks located on a memory card, and some offline audio players work with podcasts and radio.
In general, audio players for mobile devices provide a set of tools similar to the functionality of similar software for desktop PCs, but with some limitations. Typically, mobile platforms have fewer settings and a somewhat simplified interface, adapted for touch input. It is worth noting that against the backdrop of the rapid growth in popularity of services such as youtube, vimeo, etc. audio players are becoming less and less in demand. A significant part of their additional functionality is in the form of an equalizer, etc. is not needed by most users, and if you have a high-speed Internet access channel, you can use your browser to find any song in a couple of clicks without installing additional software. On the other hand, this approach is not very common on smartphones, whose browsers often do not handle media content well.
All audio players reviewed were rated on a 10-point scale in terms of functionality and usability. When assigning an overall rating on the same scale, a number of additional parameters were taken into account, such as working with online services, support for additional audio formats and streaming audio.
Google Play Music is the most popular music app on Android. The origins of its popularity are the same as in the case of the Google Chrome browser - the active promotion of its products for the Android operating system by Google. In terms of the number of downloads, Google Play Music almost surpasses all other participants in this review combined. Currently, the application’s audio library contains about several tens of millions of records, and in addition to mobile clients for Android and iOS, a web version of the service is available.

An unpleasant surprise for some users will be a paid subscription, without which you can only work with manually downloaded tracks. The cost of a one-month subscription is about 200 rubles; there is also a free trial period, to activate which you will nevertheless need to provide the details of an active bank card or connect your PayPal account.
The Google Play Music application is primarily intended for listening to audio online, although it also works with tracks located in the device’s memory. After subscribing, you can get full access to the audio library. You can't save audio from Google Play Music on your device, but you can store up to 20,000 tracks offline through caching. Songs are usually broadcast at 320 kbps, but in order to save traffic, you can lower the quality.
The usability of the mobile version is not satisfactory, but the functionality is somewhat different. Due to the fact that Google Play Music is still not so much a simple audio player as an online service, it is not necessary to require an Android application to have a large number of functions and settings. On the other hand, some music lovers may find this approach too minimalistic due to the small number of parameters in the equalizer, the absence of a number of advanced functions, etc. In the program settings, you can change your Google account, select the type of Internet connection, activate automatic caching, add additional devices, etc.

It is worth returning to the terms of subscription once again. In fact, without it, installing Google Play Music makes no sense. Unlike a similar service from Yandex (“Yandex.Music”), the web version of which is available even without authorization, you will need a Google account and confirmation using a bank card. This applies to both a trial subscription for a month and gaining access to the service in principle. Otherwise, you will have to be content with tracks uploaded to the cloud manually or located in the device’s memory. Most likely, such an approach will scare off many Russian users due to the peculiarities of the consumer culture that has formed in this country.

In general, Google Play Music is a very functional online service for working with music, but the need for a paid subscription makes it less attractive for the Russian market.
SoundCloud is one of the most popular audio players for Android, second only to Google Play Music in the number of downloads from the official repository. The concept of work is similar to the popular product from Google, i.e. SoundCloud is also an application for listening to music over the Internet, but offline functionality in the form of working with tracks from a memory card or caching is practically absent here.

The SoundCloud service first appeared on the Internet back in 2008 as a website and since then its audience has gradually increased. Unlike Google Play Music, there is no paid subscription, and all functionality is available by default. Moreover, each user can download a track, although the set of songs is somewhat different from Play Music, both in quantity and in terms of genre. SoundCloud has less popular content from famous artists, for example, entire albums of some celebrities may be missing, which is partly offset by user-uploaded tracks and playlists.
From a usability point of view, the SoundCloud mobile app is very well designed. Navigation between playing song, main menu, settings, etc. quite convenient, during playback the audio recording is rewound by swiping to the sides, and the progress bar reflects not only the position during playback, but also the volume scale of the track.

The functionality of SoundCloud is somewhat limited due to the specifics of this service. It is worth noting the small number of settings and the absence of an equalizer. The advantages include convenient work with playlists, likes, as well as ample opportunities for commenting on songs and posting links to them on social networks. You can follow the profiles of other users to keep track of updates or new tracks, if we are talking about the profiles of musicians, of which there are many on SoundCloud.
In the application settings, you can enable notifications, select a network connection channel, clear the cache, etc. It’s also worth paying attention to the “Activity” menu, which will help you find data about what the user listened to and when.

DoubleTwist Player is a hybrid of offline and online audio player. This application works both with audio recordings from a memory card and with a variety of podcasts and radio broadcasts.
From a usability point of view, the doubleTwist Player interface looks very thoughtful - on the left side of the display there is a vertically scrollable panel with a list of main functions and audio sections, such as “Albums”, “Playlists”, “Songs”, etc. The top panel also allows you to search and add podcasts. When you select any item in the panel on the left, it is highlighted, and the corresponding information is displayed in the main part of the display, be it the playback screen or the file list. While playing audio in full screen, you can use rewind, change the order of tracks in the playlist, change equalizer settings, etc.

In terms of functionality, doubleTwist Player is somewhat ambiguous; it has all the standard offline functionality, as well as support for podcasts and radio, which sets this player apart from other participants in this review. However, some functions are blocked in the free version, for example, an equalizer. doubleTwist Player Pro at the time of writing this article costs 200 rubles, which is not so much, but still more expensive than most other paid applications in this segment. The positive aspects of this payment model include the absence of a time-limited trial period, i.e. Most features are available at any time, even in the free version.

Podcasts and radio stations are divided into categories such as politics, sports, various music genres, etc. The program also has a video playback mode, albeit a very limited one, and supports scrobbling with Last.fm. As for the settings, here you can specify the properties of podcasts, wireless connections, screen locks, select a control scheme, etc.

doubleTwist Player performed excellently in almost all the criteria considered and became the most versatile player in this comparative review. Its few disadvantages include a somewhat lackluster interface and the need for a paid subscription to gain access to additional functions.

AIMP is a classic offline audio player for Windows that first appeared in 2006, and a version for Android was introduced in 2013.
In terms of the set of functions declared by the developer, the mobile version of this player is not much inferior to its analogues. Additional audio formats are supported here, including *.ogg, *.s3m and many others. There is an 8-band equalizer, auto-detection of encoding, control from a headset, etc. AIMP doesn't work with online audio services or streaming audio, but its offline functionality is really impressive. It is worth noting that, unlike many other participants in this review, AIMP is completely free and any of its functions are available without any restrictions.

The interface of this audio player is simple and concise; the main screen displays a list of tracks and playback controls, such as rewinding, stopping, going to a playlist, etc. The general inexpressiveness of the colors and visual design, as well as the somewhat strange arrangement of the control elements, is striking. On the main screen there are two buttons with three vertical dots, the icon in the center is responsible for the main menu - equalizer, settings, adding files, etc., and the same icon in the upper right corner is used to manage the playlist - sorting, grouping, saving lists playback This approach to the design of the user interface seems to be a very non-standard and not very successful solution - it is easy to confuse two identical icons on the same screen, especially since in most applications an icon with three dots in the corner serves to display the main menu, which has already become a kind of tradition that is not AIMP developers considered it necessary to comply with.

In the application settings you can change the language, screen orientation, encoding, pause between tracks and much more. It is also worth noting the presence of a widget for the desktop.

Despite minor comments on the interface, AIMP performed well in terms of functionality and definitely deserves attention as one of the leading audio players for Android and Windows.
jetAudio Music Player is a music player for Android devices with rich functionality and support for a large number of file formats.
The jetAudio Music Player interface is quite simple and intuitive, although not the most attractive from a visual point of view. On the left there is a vertical panel with items such as “Albums”, “Folders”, “Lists”, etc., and in the center there is an explorer or playback menu that can be expanded to the entire display. All basic functionality is available from the playback screen - rewind, settings, equalizer and much more.

Functionally, jetAudio Music Player is not satisfactory - a 10-band equalizer with 32 presets, a large number of supported audio formats, a timer, various sound effects, etc. The player even works with *.aiff and *.wma files.
jetAudio Music Player settings are divided into categories such as Display, Miscellaneous, Browser, etc. Here you can buy a paid version of the program for 200 rubles. This version is distinguished by the presence of expanded functionality - a 20-band equalizer, more than a dozen different widgets, additional lock screens and much more. The cost is not that high, but for most users the basic set of functions is enough.

Among the online capabilities of this player, one can only note scrobbling with Last.fm; this is not the strongest side of jetAudio Music Player, which also lacks support for radio and streaming audio.

Overall, jetAudio Music Player doesn't look the best visually, but in terms of functionality it is one of the leading audio players for Android with one caveat - most of the additional features are only available in the paid version.
Shuttle Music Player is an audio player for Android with a nice interface and support for a basic set of functions.
The strength of this player is its visual design, reminiscent of the latest applications from Google. In the center of the screen there are five swipe-scrollable tabs, including “Genres”, “Recommended”, “Artists”, etc. On the top panel there is a search icon and an icon for opening the main menu in the upper right corner. In the settings you can change the color scheme; by default in the free version there are only two of them - light and dark.

In terms of functionality, Shuttle Music Player is not particularly behind its opponents, although it does not provide some additional tools, such as support for rare audio formats. The only online functionality that can be noted is scrobbling on Last.fm; the player cannot work with broadcasts.
In addition to the free version, there is also a paid option called Shuttle+ costing 85 rubles. The difference in the feature set primarily affects the strong point of this application, i.e. visual settings. Other changes such as broadcasting music to TV or editing tags are not so important for most users.

In fact, the difference between the free version and Shuttle+ is very small, and the basic set of tools is the same - a 6-band equalizer, continuous playback, widgets, a sleep timer and much more.


In general, Shuttle Music Player could make a good audio player if the emphasis was placed not on appearance, but on functionality, which is more typical for applications in this segment. But it’s also impossible not to note the visual component of this application - in terms of interface design, Shuttle Music Player is one of the leaders in this review.

Conclusion
All audio players reviewed received an overall score of 7 to 9 points, with the leaders including Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Poweramp and doubleTwist Player, including two online and two offline players. None of the contenders received a score of 10 due to the lack of a universal player among them that supports all possible functions.
In terms of the number of downloads from Google Play, Google Play Music confidently leads, which is explained by the great popularity of the service among owners of Android devices. In second place in popularity is SoundCloud, which is essentially an online music service, like Google Play Music, only with a slightly different focus in terms of content and access conditions. The remaining contenders are seriously behind the leading pair in terms of key indicators on the Google Play Market.
The top four in the final assessment included both online players, which work primarily with network audio catalogs, and offline players, designed to play tracks from the device’s memory. In addition to the aforementioned Google Play Music and SoundCloud, Poweramp and doubleTwist Player also took the lead, the first of which is almost completely offline, and the second is a kind of hybrid and is the only audio player out of ten that supports streaming audio and radio broadcasts. The interface and the need for a paid subscription to gain access to additional functionality prevented doubleTwist Player from becoming an absolute leader.

The worst player in terms of overall score was Shuttle Music Player, which received a score of 7 points out of 10, which is caused by the rather limited functionality of this player. Almost all offline audio players managed to support alternative audio formats, and the outsider in terms of additional parameters was SoundCloud, which received only one “+” out of five and the only player that does not support playing audio from the device’s memory.
It's worth noting that 7 out of 10 applicants provide paid content in one form or another. Google Play Music has become a kind of leader here - the service is practically useless without a paid subscription, and a free month of use can only be obtained by providing payment details. Poweramp and n7player are provided for a two-week period, after which a purchase is required to continue working. The rest of the review participants are either completely free or provide a paid version with no time limit for use.

When choosing an audio player for personal use, you should first of all take into account the sources of data acquisition - some applications are better suited for playing audio from the network, and others are better suited for playing audio from a memory card. Due to the fact that online audio services are actively developing, and offline players are not yet a thing of the past, it is recommended to have at least a couple of different types of audio players on your device for stable work with any data sources.

Perhaps the best and most famous alternative to the standard player is offered by the Poweramp application. Download a free trial version of the player and enjoy all the benefits of the application.

• The menu organization is intuitive and simple. In addition, this music player has a very beautiful interface.
• With countless customization options and a built-in equalizer, you can tailor your music playback to suit your personal preferences. Certain settings can be applied to entire playlists, albums, and even individual songs.
• The player seamlessly plays all popular music formats. These include MP3, WAV, AIFF, m4a, FLAC and ALAC.
• If there are songs on your Android device that don't have a matching album cover, this app will automatically download the corresponding image for you. In addition, you can download lyrics and then sing along with the performers.
• If you like the player, you can download the main, Pro version from the Play Store, which costs only 79 rubles. After the 15-day trial period, you will no longer need to do this, as the demo version will no longer work.

Second place: Music player PlayerPro

The PlayerPro Trial music player also offers a good alternative to the standard application. Although it is not as beautiful as the above-mentioned alternative, it has almost identical functions.

• Using swipes, you can easily navigate through the menu and be able to conveniently control your music. In addition, you can pause music playback if you turn your smartphone over.
• If the album art is missing, this player can download it too, and you can add the missing tags quite easily.
• Various widgets allow you to place this music player directly on your desktop. Thanks to this, you can control your music literally in one click.
• You can use this application with full access to all functionality for free for 15 days. Then you will need to upgrade to the Pro version, which will cost you 199 rubles.

Third place: music player n7Player

n7Player has a one-of-a-kind interface that you won't find in any other music player.

• At the very beginning, you will be shown a “tutorial” from which you will learn how to control all the functions of the music player.
• The interface is designed in such a way that all artist names and group names are displayed in the form of a “name cloud”. Using swipes, you select the desired artist and proceed to selecting individual tracks or albums. If this is too complicated for you, you can choose the classic view, which shows the track title and artist in a list.
• You can test the full version of the application for free for 14 days, after which you will need to pay 239 rubles to continue working.

Fourth place: Double Twist music player

Double Twist Player is an excellent Android app that replaces the standard music player. Moreover, it is absolutely free.

• This free app is designed so clearly that you can quickly switch between your songs or playlists.
• You can sync playlists to your home PC by connecting to it either via cable or wirelessly through an additional app (free) called AirSync.
• Along with your own music, you can also listen to the radio or even play videos. Thus, DoubleTwist is a kind of universal player for your smartphone.
• You can also subscribe to podcasts with this music player. In addition, after updating the player, you will have the option to protect your podcasts with a password.

Fifth place: music player Google Play Music

Google's music player is called Google Play Music and comes with access to a large number of music tracks. In addition, this player is absolutely free.

Another good music player is Winamp. But since it is no longer being developed for Android, it would be more logical to use the applications from our review.

Android smartphones have a default music player to play audio. So, why should you look for an alternative music player? Since the default player may not be feature-rich, it may not provide you with a satisfactory equalizer, or its user interface may not be user-friendly. For example, most devices nowadays come with Google Play Music as their default music player. It's simple and gets the job done, but the library lacks features like folder browsing, the ability to edit tags for files, and many other essential tools.

Whether you're a music buff or a casual listener, this list of the best music " best music player for android 2017, 2018" will surely improve your perception.

Note. This list is not in order of preference. You are advised to choose one according to your needs.

8 best Android players

1. Pulsar music player for Android

Being completely free and light, Pulsar is one of the most preferred free Android player apps among many users. It's free and simple, but beautifully designed with great user interface and animations. You can even customize the interface with different color themes. Browsing your Pulsar library can be sorted by album, artist, genre, or folders.

In addition, the application offers all other features such as support for Chromecast (Google's digital media player designed to play streaming video or audio content via Wi-Fi from the Internet or local network), home screen widget, built-in tag editor, 5 band equalizer (available in pro version), last.fm scrobbling and much more. Although Pulsar is tiny, it is one of the best music players on Android that you can check out.

2. Music player Phonograph for Android

Phonograph is one of the best Android players for Android. It is a visually appealing application with a user-friendly UI interface. The user interface changes dynamically to match the color according to the content on the screen. Its theme engine allows you to customize the player as you wish. Not only does this player look good, but he also has rich capabilities.

Phonograph automatically downloads missing information about your media. The tag editor in this player allows you to easily edit tags such as title, artist for single songs or entire albums. Phonograph can automatically download missing album art, or you can choose one from its internal storage.

The library is classified into songs, albums, artists, and playlists. Browsing through folders is also available.

Phonograph also has other features such as screen lock, gapless playback and sleep timer. The app offers in-app purchases.

3. Musicolet for Android

Musicolet is a free, lightweight music player with many unrivaled features. It allows you to control the music player using a button on your earbud; one click to pause/play, double click plays the next track, and triple click takes you to the previous song. Additionally, you can quickly forward a song with 4 or more repeat clicks. It claims to be the only music player for Android that supports multiple game queues. Musicolet has an intuitive graphical interface with easily accessible tabs for folders, albums, artists and playlists.

In addition, it has an equalizer, lyrics support, tag editor, sleep timer, widgets and much more. It is one of the best Android music players in terms of functionality.

4. Music player Pi for android

Designed and created beautifully, Pi Music Player loaded with all the necessary features that the user may prefer. When you launch, you'll be asked to choose a theme (among four other varieties), which you can later change if you wish. It features an excellent interface that makes everything easy to use. You can play music from any of its different types of library (tracks, albums, artists, genres, playlists, folders).

Moreover, it comes with Sleep Timer, Widget support, Ringtone Cutter and more. Its 5-band built-in equalizer allows you to enjoy any music with Bass Boost, 3D Reverb Effects, Virtualizer and ten amazing presets.

Pi Power Share allows you to share any songs, albums, genres, and multiple playlists with anyone in the world. The Pi Music Player app is available for free on the Play Store, but it does display ads. You can make additional purchases for ad free use.

5. Music player BlackPlayer for Android

BlackPlayer, is undoubtedly one of the best Android music players that comes with a lot of features. It is designed with a customizable user interface that can be fully controlled through checks and gestures. You can change the font and color of the UI precisely using custom values.

In addition, BlackPlayer has a 5-band built-in equalizer, Bass Boost and Virtualizer, Widgets, Gapless playback, ID3 tag editor, sleep timer, changeable themes and much more. It also supports standard local music file format such as MP3, WAV, OGG.

Apart from this, the BlackPlayer app is free and available on the Play Store. You can also purchase the paid version, which is available with many more features.

6. Music player n7player for Android

n7player Music Player for android has an innovative surface search and a stylish user interface where you can simply zoom in and out on any music file you desire. With graphical enhancements in the media library, you can search for any song in different views.

The n7 Music Player app comes with an advanced 10-band equalizer where you can customize the music to your liking. It also includes other exciting features such as gapless playback, bass and sound boost effects, tag editor, themes, sleep timer, widgets and more.

Although the free version is only a trial for 14 days, you can buy the full version from Google Play Store with a minimum amount to enjoy all its features. It will cost.

7. MediaMonkey for Android

MediaMonkey for android is a downloaded android player. Its library can be browsed by albums, audiobooks, podcasts, artists, tracks, genres, and even composers. Access to the folder is available for a trial period of 15 days. Its search algorithm is fast and predictably displays both artist and tracks. There is a five-band equalizer with stereo balance.

MediaMonkey can download your missing album covers and lyrics. It also supports Android Auto. You can sync your Android player with MediaMonkey for Windows. You can also view the track search bar in the notification panel by turning it on in Settings. Additional features include, but are not limited to, a sleep timer, Chromecasting, a tag editor, and home screen widgets. This is one of the best music players for Android that can suit your needs.

8. Musixmatch for Android

If you like to sing along with songs, Musixmatch for android is the player for you. Its floating lyrics can allow you to have access to lyrics synchronized in real time. You can view the lyrics even when using Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Google Play Music, etc. Moreover, it can identify the lyrics of the songs playing in your surroundings. Musixmatch allows you to search for songs by title, artist, or just one lyric. The player itself includes all the necessary functions and allows you to view media by albums, artists, genres and folders. The player displays ads, but you can get rid of them by purchasing the premium version.

We hope that our reviews were interesting to you and that you have decided on the choice for yourself, namely, the best music player for Android that you want to install!