A portable DVD player is the last piece of consumer electronics that does one thing, needs no account and works in a dead zone. Put a disc in, close the lid, and a child in the back seat is watching the same film for the fourth time without touching your phone, a data plan or a hotel’s Wi-Fi. That is the whole product, and in 2026 it is still selling by the thousand a month on Amazon for exactly that reason.
The catch is that the category has collapsed into three or four factories selling the same chassis under a dozen brand names, and the listings are written to look different rather than to be different. Screen sizes are quoted by the bezel, not the panel, so a “17.5-inch” player has a 15.6-inch screen. Battery hours are quoted at their best. Nearly all of them refuse Blu-ray discs, none says so in the product name and most bury it in a format bullet, and several rule out MP4 files too. None of this is a scandal, but it means you need to know which four numbers matter before you buy.
This guide sorts ten players into five groups: large-screen players for the sofa and the caravan, mid-size players that travel, small swivel players built for a car headrest, dual-screen sets for two children, and one portable Blu-ray player for people who want the better picture. Every listing was read on the day this was written, every claim about a player comes from that player’s own Amazon page, and the price and stock under each pick are pulled live rather than typed in and left to go stale. Players with a built-in screen only: no external DVD drives for laptops, no in-dash car units, and no decks that plug into a television, which are a different purchase with a different search.
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The ten at a glance
Screen size in the table is the panel the listing quotes, not the bezel in the product name. Battery hours are the listing’s own figure for the main unit; the buyer’s guide below explains why the second screen of a player-and-monitor set roughly halves it.
| Pick | Best for | Screen (listed) | Battery (listed) | Price | Stock | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. Boifun 17.5-inch Portable DVD Player | The big screen most people should buy | 15.6 in, 1280 x 800 | Up to 6 hours | $114.99 | In stock |
 | 2. DBPOWER 17.9-inch Portable DVD Player | The same size for less | 15.6 in, 1280 x 800 | 6 hours | $69.99 | In stock |
 | 3. ieGeek 15.9-inch Portable DVD Player with HDMI Input | The one with an HDMI input | 14.1 in, 1366 x 768 | Up to 6 hours | $84.99 | In stock |
 | 4. BOIFUN 15.7-inch Portable DVD Player | The mid-size all-rounder | 14.1 in, 1366 x 768 | 6 hours | $69.96 | In stock |
 | 5. DBPOWER 11.5-inch Portable DVD Player | The car player with the track record | 9 in, 800 x 480 | 5 hours | $44.99 | In stock — low |
 | 6. ieGeek 11.5-inch Portable DVD Player | The car player with the eye-friendly screen | 9.5 in | 5 hours | $47.99 | In stock |
 | 7. MEGATEK 10.5-inch Portable DVD Player | The car player with everything in the box | 10.5 in, 1024 x 600 | Up to 6 hours | $59.99 | In stock |
 | 8. WONNIE 10.5-inch Dual-Screen Car DVD Players | Two players, two films, two children | 10.5 in x 2, 1280 x 800 | Up to 5 hours each | $125.99 | In stock |
 | 9. FANGOR 7.5-inch Dual Car DVD Player | One player, one extra screen, less money | 7.5 in x 2 | About 5 hours, 2.5 with both screens | $73.99 | In stock |
 | 10. WONNIE 17.6-inch Portable Blu-ray Player | The one that plays Blu-ray | 15.4 in, 1920 x 1080 | Not stated (5000mAh) | $249.99 | In stock |
Prices and availability as of 16:08 EDT — details
Large-screen players
These are the players sold as 17.5 or 17.9 inches, which means a 15.6-inch panel in a laptop-sized shell. They are the right choice if the player will sit on a table, a bunk or a caravan shelf and be watched by more than one person, and the wrong choice for a car headrest, where they are too heavy for a strap and too wide for the gap between the front seats. Both here run the same 1280 by 800 panel, the same 5000mAh battery and the same six-hour claim; what separates them is the brand’s record and, on the day this was written, a fair gap in price.
1. Boifun 17.5-inch Portable DVD Player
This is the portable DVD player Amazon shoppers actually buy, with close to ten thousand ratings and a “bought in past month” figure in four figures, and it is the one to measure the rest against. The listing quotes a 15.6-inch 1280 by 800 screen inside a 17.5-inch bezel, on a hinge that rotates 270 degrees and flips 180 degrees so the lid can fold flat against the base and the whole thing becomes a thick tablet. The frame is 14.9 by 10.6 inches and 1.3 inches deep, which is exactly the footprint of a 15-inch laptop and worth checking against the bag you mean to carry it in.
The battery is a built-in, non-removable 5000mAh pack that the listing rates at up to six hours, and the box includes both a mains adapter and a 70-inch car charger, so it charges from the cigarette lighter without an extra purchase. It plays CD, DVD, DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, VCD and SVCD, and it is region-free, so a disc bought abroad plays. It does not play Blu-ray or Dolby discs, and the listing says so plainly. From a USB stick or an SD card of up to 32GB it will play VOB, AVI and MPEG video and MP3 and WMA audio, and there is a built-in anti-shock function for the disc drive and a break-point memory that resumes where you stopped. No HDMI socket is listed: video goes out to a television over the supplied AV cable, and that is it. Boifun sells a newer version of this player with a TV tuner and an HDMI input; that model is too new to have a record, so the standard one is the pick.
2. DBPOWER 17.9-inch Portable DVD Player
On paper this is the same player as the Boifun: a 15.6-inch 1280 by 800 screen, a 270-degree swivel and 180-degree flip, a 5000mAh battery rated at six hours, dual speakers, a remote and a car charger in the box, and the same list of formats (CD, DVD, the recordable and rewritable variants, VCD and SVCD, but not Blu-ray). It plays MP3 and WMA audio, JPEG photos and MPEG-2, AVI and DivX video from USB sticks and SD cards up to 32GB, it is region-free, and it resumes from where you left off.
What you give up against the Boifun is a shorter listing and a thinner record: DBPOWER’s page has five bullets and a what’s-in-the-box field that says only “DVD”, and a little over a thousand ratings against the Boifun’s ten thousand. What you get is the same screen for noticeably less money on the day this was written, from the brand that makes the most-reviewed small player further down this page. If the player is for a caravan, a workshop or a grandparent’s bedside and will spend its life plugged in, this is the sensible buy.
Mid-size players that travel
The 14.1-inch panels are the compromise size: big enough for two people on a hotel bed, small enough to fit a rucksack, and light enough that a headrest strap will hold them for a short trip. The two here share a resolution of 1366 by 768, a 4000mAh battery and a six-hour claim. One of them has a feature no other player on this page has, and it changes what the product is.
3. ieGeek 15.9-inch Portable DVD Player with HDMI Input
No other player in this guide has any digital input. This ieGeek has an HDMI input: the listing describes plugging a Fire TV Stick or a games console into it, with the Switch and the PS5 named, and using the player as a second screen. That turns a disc player into a portable monitor with a battery, which is a different and more useful object for a caravan, a child’s bedroom or a hotel room where the television is bolted to a wall and welded to a menu. The screen is 14.1 inches at 1366 by 768, on the usual 270-degree swivel and 180-degree flip, and the listing claims a shockproof function for bumps and vibration.
As a DVD player it does what the others do: all-region discs, DVD and CD in their recordable forms, VCD and SVCD, and no Blu-ray, Dolby or pirated discs, in the listing’s own words. From USB and SD cards up to 32GB it plays AVI, MPG, VOB, FLV and RMVB video at a maximum of 720 by 576, which is standard-definition, and MP3, WMA and OGG audio. The 4000mAh battery is rated at up to six hours, the box has a 1.8-metre mains adapter, a car charger, an AV cable and a remote, and ieGeek lists larger buttons, dual speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, auto-resume and a two-year warranty. If you only ever want discs, the BOIFUN below does the same job for less. If you can imagine ever plugging something into it, buy this one.
4. BOIFUN 15.7-inch Portable DVD Player
The mid-size Boifun is the plain version of the 14.1-inch idea: a 1366 by 768 swivel screen, a 4000mAh battery rated at six hours, a car charger and mains adapter in the box, and a remote. Its format list is a long one: alongside the usual CD, VCD, SVCD and DVD variants it names MP3, WMA, OGG and AAC audio and AVI, MPG, VOB, FLV and RMVB video from USB and SD. It still will not play MP4 files, and the listing is unusually honest about it: convert them to AVI first, it says, and offers to help.
Two small things make it a better bedroom player than its price suggests. The listing lists an A-B loop and slow and fast motion, which are the controls a music student or a language learner uses, and a “SimpleSync” mode that pushes the picture to a television or projector over a single AV cable. The listing also claims its anti-skip protection reduces the noise of the spinning disc, which is the complaint every portable player collects. At a shade over four pounds it is not a headrest player, but it is the one to take to a hotel.
Car and kids players
Small swivel players are the original portable DVD player: a nine- or ten-inch screen on a hinge, folded flat against the base and strapped to the back of a front-seat headrest. They are lighter than the big players, the two 11.5-inch models run on a 2500mAh battery for a listed five hours, and they are the cheapest way to solve a long drive. All three here are region-free and none plays Blu-ray. Two of them are among the most-reviewed portable DVD players on Amazon, which is worth more than any specification when every specification is the same.
5. DBPOWER 11.5-inch Portable DVD Player
With nearly fifteen thousand ratings this is the most-reviewed player in the guide by a wide margin. The screen is a nine-inch panel at 800 by 480 pixels, and at arm’s length in a car that is fine. It swivels 270 degrees, flips 180 degrees and folds flat so the whole player mounts to a headrest, and the product name lists a car headrest alongside a remote, a 1.8-metre car charger and a mains adapter.
The 2500mAh battery is rated at five hours, it plays CD, DVD, VCD, SVCD and the recordable disc types but not Blu-ray, and from USB and SD cards up to 32GB it handles MP3, WMA and WAV audio, JPEG photos and MPEG-2, AVI and DivX video. Two things on the listing matter for a family car. The AV output goes to a television, so the same player does duty at home. And there is a break-point memory, so the film resumes after the engine has been switched off at a service station. It is not the sharpest screen on the page and it does not pretend to be.
6. ieGeek 11.5-inch Portable DVD Player
The other long-running small player, with more than eight thousand ratings. The screen is 9.5 inches and the listing’s claim for it is an “eye-protective” panel that is not a recycled one, which is marketing, and the listing gives no resolution for it. The rest matches its rival: swivels flat to mount on a headrest, a 2500mAh battery rated at five hours, a mains adapter and car charger in the box, all-region discs, no Blu-ray, and USB and SD playback up to 32GB of VOB, AVI, MPEG, MP3, WMA and JPEG files.
Two speakers, a 3.5mm earphone jack on the right side for one child with headphones, a remote, and an auto-resume so the film picks up after a stop. The box includes an AV cable for a television. Between the two 11.5-inch players there is nothing to choose on features; pick the DBPOWER if you want the biggest record and a mount in the box, the ieGeek if the screen matters more, and buy a mount separately (there is one in the accessories table below).
7. MEGATEK 10.5-inch Portable DVD Player
The MEGATEK is the small player for people who would rather buy once. Its 10.5-inch screen is 1024 by 600, a step up from the 800 by 480 panel on the DBPOWER 11.5-inch (the ieGeek 11.5-inch listing gives no resolution), and it swivels 270 degrees and flips 180. The battery claim is up to six hours rather than five. And the box, per the listing, contains the two things most of the others make you buy separately, a headrest mounting pouch and wired headphones, along with a remote with its two AAA batteries, a six-foot mains adapter, a six-foot car charger and a five-foot AV cable. The listing adds that the control keys on the display panel work while the player is mounted, so a parent can pause it from the front without the remote.
It is region-free, does not play Blu-ray, and plays the usual disc types plus MP3 and JPEG discs. Its USB and SD support is the widest on the page, up to 128GB, with the honest caveat that the card must be formatted FAT32, and it reads MPEG-2, AVI and VOB video, MP3 and WMA audio and JPEG photos. The remote gets a screen-off mode for power saving, resume, repeat and parental controls, and the drive has anti-shock with error correction. It has a fraction of the ratings of the two players above it, and that is the only mark against it.
Dual-screen car sets
Two children, two headrests, one argument about which film. A dual-screen set either gives each child a full player, so they can watch different discs, or gives one child a player and the other a plain screen that mirrors it. The first costs more and does more; the second is the cheap way to stop the argument if both children will watch the same thing. On the two-player set each unit has its own battery; on the player-and-monitor set the monitor has none, so it runs from the main unit and roughly halves its time.
8. WONNIE 10.5-inch Dual-Screen Car DVD Players
This is two complete players, not a player and a monitor. Each unit has its own 10.5-inch 1280 by 800 screen, its own disc drive, its own built-in battery rated at up to five hours, its own two stereo speakers with a volume control from 0 to 20, and its own headphone jack, so one child can watch a cartoon while the other watches a film, or an AV cable can link them to show the same disc on both. The listing says two mounting brackets and two headrest straps are included, which are the two ways of attaching a player to a headrest, and it claims the newer chip is more stable than earlier versions.
Power comes three ways: two mains adapters, a two-in-one car charger for a 12-volt socket that feeds both units at once, and the batteries. Discs are all-region DVD and CD in their recordable forms plus VCD and SVCD; USB and SD cards up to 32GB, formatted FAT32, play VOB, AVI and MPEG video at no more than 720 by 576, MP3 and WMA audio and JPEG photos. Blu-ray, MP4 and Bluetooth are all ruled out in the listing’s own words. There is a last-memory function per unit and an AV output for a television. It is two of everything, which is what you are paying for.
9. FANGOR 7.5-inch Dual Car DVD Player
The FANGOR is the other kind of dual set: one main player with a disc drive and a battery, and one secondary 7.5-inch screen that shows whatever the main player is playing, connected by an AV lead and a DC lead. The listing is unusually candid about what that means. The monitor has no battery, so the pair runs for about two and a half hours from the main unit’s charge against about five hours for the player alone; the monitor cannot be driven from the remote and is set with the buttons on its own panel; and the two AAA batteries the manual mentions are not in the box. Read that as a correction notice and you know more about this product than about most.
Both units are 7.3 by 5.8 inches, the player 1.4 inches thick and the monitor 0.9. The player is a clamshell, so discs change without unstrapping it from the headrest, and the listing claims an upgraded chip that reduces skipping on rough roads. Formats are the same as the WONNIE’s: all-region DVD and CD variants, VCD and SVCD, USB and SD to 32GB at up to 720 by 576, no Blu-ray, MP4 or Bluetooth, a last-memory function and an AV output to a television. The box, per the listing, holds two headrest straps, the AV and DC leads that join the two units, an RCA cable for a television, a remote, a mains adapter and a car charger. It is the cheapest way on this page to put a screen behind each front seat, and the trade is that both children watch the same film.
The portable Blu-ray player
One player on this page is a different product: a Blu-ray drive, a full-HD screen and an HDMI output, at a price that reflects all three. It is here for the reader who owns Blu-rays and wants them to look like Blu-rays away from home, and for nobody else.
10. WONNIE 17.6-inch Portable Blu-ray Player
Every DVD player above that quotes a resolution plays a DVD on a screen with more pixels than the disc has. This is the one player in the guide that closes that gap from the other side. The panel is 15.4 inches at 1920 by 1080, and it plays Region A Blu-ray discs and Region 1 DVDs, which is the American set: BD, BD-R and BD-RE, plus DVD, CD, VCD and SVCD in their variants. The file support is a different generation from the DVD players: MP4 and MOV at last, with AVI, MPG, FLV, VOB and ASF, video up to 1920 by 1080 at 30 frames per second, PNG and GIF images alongside JPG, and WAV audio alongside MP3 and WMA, from USB and SD cards up to 32GB formatted FAT32.
It also has the only HDMI output on the page, at 1080p, so it doubles as a Blu-ray deck for a television or a projector; the cable is not included, and the listing notes the player’s own screen switches off when it is connected. Its other socket is an AV input, per the title, with an RCA cable in the box; an AV output is not listed, so an old television with only composite sockets is not this player’s job. A 5000mAh battery, a car charger and a mains adapter, dual speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 270-degree swivel and a resume function complete it, with the listing’s own tip that resume only works if you take the disc out before powering down. The box has the player, a remote, the two chargers and an RCA cable. It costs a good deal more than any DVD player here, and it is the only thing on this page that a Blu-ray collector should consider at all. Note the region lock: this is a player for discs bought in North America.
Two accessories worth buying with the player
Only four of the ten players above come with a way to mount them on a headrest, and none includes a case. A mount is a strap-and-pouch arrangement that holds a flat-folded swivel player against the back of a front seat; buy one sized for the player, because a pouch for a nine-inch screen will not take a fifteen-inch player and a fifteen-inch player should not hang off a headrest anyway. A lined bag matters for the large players because their lids are thin plastic, and the laptop sleeves sold for them fit because they are laptop-sized.
| Pick | Best for | What it is | Price | Stock | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hikig Headrest Mount Holder | For the 9 to 11-inch players that come without one | Strap-on headrest holder for swivel-and-flip players from 7 to 11 inches | — | — | |
 | Carrying Bag for 14 to 17.5-inch Portable DVD Players | For the 14 to 17.5-inch players | Plush-lined carry bag with a handle, sized for 14 to 17.5-inch players and laptops | $29.99 | In stock |
Prices and availability as of 16:08 EDT — details
How to buy a portable DVD player in 2026
Screen size is quoted two ways
The number in the product name is usually the diagonal of the whole lid including the bezel (the MEGATEK, which names its panel, is the exception here). The number that matters is the panel, and it is about two inches smaller: a “17.5-inch” player has a 15.6-inch screen, a “15.9-inch” player a 14.1-inch screen, an “11.5-inch” player a nine or nine-and-a-half-inch screen. Resolution follows size. The 15.6-inch panels on this page are 1280 by 800, the 14.1-inch panels 1366 by 768, the small ones that quote a resolution are 800 by 480 (the DBPOWER 11.5-inch) or 1024 by 600 (the MEGATEK), the WONNIE dual set’s 10.5-inch screens are 1280 by 800, and the ieGeek 11.5-inch and the FANGOR give no figure at all. A DVD is 720 by 480 (or 720 by 576 in Europe), so every screen here that quotes a resolution has more pixels than the disc; a sharper panel makes menus and subtitles crisper, not the film. The Blu-ray player is the exception because a Blu-ray disc is 1920 by 1080 and its screen matches.
Battery hours, and what halves them
Listings quote five hours for a 2500mAh battery and six for 4000 to 5000mAh, and those are best-case figures at moderate brightness with the disc spinning. Two things cut them. Screen brightness at full, which is what a child sets it to in a sunlit car, and on a player-and-monitor set the second screen, which has no battery of its own and draws from the main unit; the FANGOR’s listing puts that at about five hours alone and two and a half with both screens. Every player in this guide ships with a car charger, so in a car the battery is a convenience, not a constraint; it matters on a plane or a train, where five hours is two films.
Region-free, and what it does not mean
Every DVD player here is region-free, which means a DVD bought in Britain or Japan plays alongside one bought in Ohio. It does not mean a Blu-ray disc will play: the DVD players refuse Blu-ray outright, and the one Blu-ray player is locked to Region A Blu-rays and Region 1 DVDs. It also does not mean PAL and NTSC are handled identically on the AV output to an older television, which is a question to ask the listing if you plan to use that cable in more than one country.
USB and SD playback is narrower than it looks
Every player has a USB port and an SD slot, and every listing lists the file types it will play. Read that list before assuming a downloaded film will work. The DVD players on this page play AVI, VOB and MPEG video at standard definition, typically capped at 720 by 576 and usually at 32GB of storage, and three of them (the BOIFUN 15.7-inch, the WONNIE dual set and the FANGOR) say in as many words that they will not play MP4, which is the format almost everything is in now; the others simply do not list it. The BOIFUN 15.7-inch says to convert MP4 to AVI first; the WONNIE Blu-ray player plays MP4 and MOV at full HD. If the plan is to fill a card with your own videos rather than to play discs, the Blu-ray player is the only one here built for it.
Swivel, flip and the headrest
A swivel hinge rotates the screen through 270 degrees and flips it through 180, so the lid can face backwards and fold flat against the base with the screen outward. That is the position a headrest pouch holds it in. A clamshell that only opens like a laptop cannot be mounted this way, which is why the FANGOR’s main unit hangs as a clamshell and its monitor as a flat screen. Small players mount well; the 14.1-inch players will fit a large pouch but hang heavy; the 15.6-inch players are for a table.
Inputs and outputs
Most portable DVD players have one output: a 3.5mm AV socket that, through the supplied cable, sends a standard-definition picture to the yellow, red and white sockets on a television. The two dual sets and the Blu-ray player also list an AV input, which is how a second screen is fed. The exceptions that make this page interesting are two. The ieGeek 15.9-inch has an HDMI input, so a streaming stick or a games console can use its screen and battery. The WONNIE Blu-ray player has an HDMI output, so it can feed a modern television at 1080p. If either of those sentences describes something you would do, it decides the purchase.
What this page leaves out, and why
External DVD drives that plug into a laptop turn up in every search for a portable DVD player and are a different product: no screen, no battery, no use in a car. Decks that sit under a television are the subject of a separate guide, as are home CD players, which are the same shape and the wrong purchase if you want pictures. In-dash and roof-mounted car systems need installation and are not portable. And the unbranded seven- and nine-inch players that sell in enormous numbers at the bottom of the category were left out because a tier of listings that differ only in the name printed on the lid cannot be recommended one over another; the two 11.5-inch players above are what those listings copy, and they have the records to prove it. If discs are the point rather than pictures, our guides to portable CD players and cassette players were written the same way.
Frequently asked questions
Are portable DVD players still worth buying?
If you own discs, have children, and drive or fly anywhere a phone cannot stream, yes. They need no account, no signal and no screen-time negotiation about the tablet, and they cost less than a year of one streaming service. If you own no discs and never leave Wi-Fi, no.
Which is the best portable DVD player for a car?
For one child, the DBPOWER 11.5-inch, which folds flat, comes with a headrest mount and has been the category’s default for years; the MEGATEK 10.5-inch if you want the sharper screen and everything in the box. For two children, the WONNIE dual set if they will want different films, the FANGOR set if the same film will do.
Which is the best portable DVD player for kids?
The same small players, for the same reasons: they are light, they mount, and a dropped nine-inch player survives better than a dropped fifteen-inch one. Both 11.5-inch players have a headphone jack and a simple remote, and the MEGATEK adds parental controls on the remote. If the child is old enough to want a bigger picture in a bedroom rather than a car, the DBPOWER 17.9-inch is the cheapest large screen. If what you actually want is music rather than films, our guide to MP3 players for kids without Wi-Fi is the companion to this one.
Can a portable DVD player play Blu-ray discs?
Not unless it is sold as a Blu-ray player. Eight of the nine DVD players here say in their listings that Blu-ray is not supported, and the ninth, the BOIFUN 15.7-inch, lists no Blu-ray format at all; the WONNIE 17.6-inch is the one that plays them, and only Region A discs.
Can I connect a portable DVD player to a TV?
Eight of the ten list an AV output for the composite sockets on a television, most with the cable in the box; the DBPOWER 17.9-inch listing does not mention one either way, and the WONNIE Blu-ray player lists an HDMI output and an AV input instead. Only that Blu-ray player has an HDMI output. If your television has no composite input, which is now common, that is the one to buy or you will need an adapter.
Will it play my downloaded MP4 files?
Probably not, on a DVD player: the listings for the DVD players on this page list AVI, VOB and MPEG and several say MP4 is unsupported. The Blu-ray player plays MP4 and MOV. Converting a file to AVI with free software works for the others, and the BOIFUN 15.7-inch listing says so itself.
The short version
Buy the Boifun 17.5-inch if the player is for a table and you want the one with the record, or the DBPOWER 17.9-inch for the same screen for less. Buy the ieGeek 15.9-inch if you will ever plug a stick or a console into it, and the BOIFUN 15.7-inch if you will not. For a car, the DBPOWER 11.5-inch or the MEGATEK 10.5-inch for one child, the WONNIE dual set or the FANGOR set for two. And if you own Blu-rays and want them to look like Blu-rays on the road, the WONNIE 17.6-inch is the only choice on this page, and the only one that talks to a modern television without an adapter.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.