HQ-Player

HQ-Player is a media player that is intended to open audio and video files from your computer. Visually, it’s delivered as an emulation for an analog stereo system with detachable speakers which you can place anywhere on your screen.

HQ-Player’s main advantage is its rather nice old-school stereo resemblance which gives it a bit of charm. You get a central unit with two spekes and just the must have buttons for any player.

To control playback you have the standard play, stop, forward and rewind buttons, along with a seek bar, volume knob and a button that allows you to load multiple files. It’s all basic so if you’re looking for an equalizer, recorder, or embedded audio editor, you need to move on.

HQ-Player also comes with a feature that allows you to use a remote in order to control playback. That doesn't mean that you can link your mobile to the app, but that the entire application transforms into a remote which occupies less space and offers the same functions.

Just like with the main console, files can be added through a simple drag and drop motion. In the stereo version you do get a kind of a playlist (in which you can see two tracks) but the Remote look only allows you to see what’s playing which is a bit of a bother.

All-in-all, HQ-Player looks nice but it does have its hiccups when it comes to performance. It sometimes crashes when you load multiple files and unfortunately it doesn't memorize the tracks you load so you won’t have to add them again when you open the player next time.

Most importantly, to play more than the standard audio or video files you need to install Standard Codecs. HQ-Player has the installer for them when you download it but you do need to be a bit careful as the codec pack is ad-supported.