If you are an audiophile, relying on a pair of wireless earbuds and your phone’s default music player app will be a mistake. To get the best sound quality, you need some controls, especially the ability to tweak the equalizer to match the audio profile you want to hear. Being a music lover myself, I have tried and tested a lot of tricks to get the best audio out of my phone. That is when, sometime in 2013, I stumbled upon Poweramp, a music player that finally gave my ears the audio profile I was craving.
Everyone has a unique taste in music and sound quality. Some incline towards heavy bass, while some may want a neutral profile. Poweramp gives you sound quality controls with its 64-band parametric equalizer. But the real magic is under the hood. If you thought unlocking great sound quality required spending thousands of dollars on getting the best hardware, think again.
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Why Poweramp is the best local music player
Deep bass, louder sound, and a flexible interface make it unique
Poweramp is one of the oldest music players available on the Google Play Store. Since its launch in 2010, the app has evolved significantly and received several upgrades. It is a paid application, but you still get a 15-day trial period to test the waters. And mind you, the water is quite sweet. While its features set it apart from competitors, it is nothing like Spotify.
Poweramp is strictly an offline music player. You cannot stream music like Spotify. You must manually download audio files and load them up onto the app. While it may be a trade-off for some, especially in this streaming era, its audio and customization features more than make up for it.
It unlocks Hi-Res audio by bypassing your smartphone’s standard limitations and directs your phone’s hardware to deliver the highest possible stream. Whether you are using LDAC Bluetooth headphones or plugging in an external USB DAC, Poweramp ensures that you don’t compromise on clarity and detail. With features like a multi-band equalizer, pre-output equalizer presets, control for boosting volume and bass without distorting sound, internal 64-bit processing, and support for a wide range of file formats, I believe it is the most capable offline music player on the Play Store.
Currently, I am using Poweramp on my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and I have noticed a few important things. When I compared it with the stock Samsung Music app, I instantly noticed that Poweramp’s sound had more bass and more voice clarity, while the Samsung Music app’s quality sounded flat. The granular sound controls that Poweramp has to offer are just unmatched, which the Samsung Music player misses out on big time. I tried throwing different file formats to each player, and Poweramp had no issues at all.
Poweramp’s customization is just on another level
From skins to themes, you can make it look exactly how you want
While you have to hear the sound to understand the difference, Poweramp’s customization is what you will appreciate immediately. It offers the option to switch between light and dark skins, or follow the time to automatically switch between modes. Fonts can also be changed, though the options are limited. On top of this, you can download and apply third-party themes, which are plentiful. There are not many music players that let you install a custom theme. You can even download themes meant for Poweramp from third-party sources.
That’s not all. You can also tweak various UI elements, such as label and button layouts, button backgrounds, Material You colors, rounded corners, and whether to use a transparent status bar or navbar, and much more. Mesmerizing visualizations move to the beats (and there are presets to choose from), and you also have the option to show or turn off lyrics, sync the lyrics, change the lyrics size, or use any third-party lyrics app altogether.
Poweramp also offers further customization options such as the ability to tweak cross-fade, fade, gapless, replay gain, resampler, volume levels, reverb, change the background of the list, folder, lyrics, etc. You can download album art in high-definition or assign one for tracks that don’t have them. Frankly, the customization on offer is so granular that sometimes it feels overwhelming. Even after using it for so many years, I am pretty sure that there are a few settings that I also don’t know about.
Poweramp should be the default music player on Android
Interesting that neither Samsung nor Google has tried to purchase it
If you are wondering, yes, Poweramp does support Android Auto, which lets you access your local storage audio files and playlists, and tune the equalizer for a better audio experience in your car. Additionally, there is support for Chromecast, letting you stream your local audio to your smart TV and other Chromecast-supported devices.
All these features make Poweramp the best offline music player available. Of course, if you love online streaming and supreme sound quality isn’t something you die for, then apps such as Spotify are a better fit. The only thing that you should remember is that Poweramp isn’t free. You have to pay a one-time license fee to unlock all features of the app. If you are using an Apple device, sadly, there is no iOS app.
If you don’t want to commit straight up, the 15-day free trial is sufficient to know the ins and outs of the app. This app requires standard permissions such as access to local storage, Bluetooth, and keeping the player running in the background. If you want the same equalizer experience as online streaming apps, then you should get the Poweramp Equalizer app instead. Psst…there is a spelling mistake on the official website (hint: right at the bottom).
Poweramp
- Operating system
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Android
- Price
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Paid
