PowerAMP Music Player | Life of Android

The Story

PowerAMP is a fully-featured music player for Android that allows you to tweak the equalisation of your tracks, view album art and play a dazzling array of file formats. It’ll even handle video files, although it’s primary use is to handle your music and turn your Android into a genuine i-something-or-other-killer…

The Experience

PowerAMP ticks all the right boxes from the off. The search/folder selection option allows you to select your music folders and scour your phone for music files, which are automatically added to PowerAMP’s music library.

A 10-band graphic equaliser takes care of sonic nuances and you can tailor your sound to your exact requirements if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, fear not, PowerAMP also includes 10 preset EQ setups, including Bass Extreme, Classical, Dance, Rock, Techno and Phone Speaker. If you’re confident you know what you’re up to, you can even assign custom EQs to specific tracks. A very neat feature. Owners of some Android handsets have been complaining that they’re models play music too quietly – PowerAMP includes a pre-amp slider on the EQ board to pump up the volume of quiet tracks. Problem solved.

Playlist management appears tricky at first, but delve into the menus and you can set up your own playlist folders or use Android’s music library fields to find music on your device. Album art appears above the main playback controls and, if you’re missing the vital pic, PowerAMP can go and find it for you.

PowerAMP’s exhaustive features will impress music purists who want the flexibility to set up their own EQs and playlists. Equally, though, it’s the perfect app for those who just want to collate all their music in one place and play it, as simply as possible, on their Android. Genuinely something for everyone, then…

NB: The version on Android Market is a 15-day free trial, you’ll need to buy the PowerAMP unlocker to maintain the full functionality once the trial has expired.