Free Mobile Converter for Windows

Motorola's Free Mobile Converter isn't "mobile" software; it converts videos to play on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Free Mobile Converter can convert videos one by one or in batches between tons of file types. It's easy to use, which makes for fast conversions, but it also supports up to 19 presets to make regular jobs even faster. As the name indicates, Free Mobile Converter is freeware. It's suitable for Windows NT to 8; we tried it in Windows 7.

Video file converters tend to share a resemblance, not just in looks but also in functionality, and Free Video Converter's plain gray wrapper is as efficient and nicely rendered as anyone has a right to expect in freeware--plus you can change the default theme if you don't like it. Basically, Free Mobile Converter's interface has a large window for displaying lists of files to convert, a smaller window for previewing videos, and a typical assortment of buttons, entry fields, and options, including a Crop tool. We opened the Web-based Help file, which was written for a previous incarnation of Free Mobile Converter but does a good job describing how to use the tool and depicting it with screenshots. A point of emphasis with Free Mobile Converter is that it's easy enough for absolute beginners but also packs enough features and options to satisfy advanced users, and the interface follows through with General and Advanced settings tabs. The General option is easy indeed: Load and select videos, choose your device type from the Group menu (for example, iPhone or Samsung), and then select your output file type from the Profiles menu, if more than one is available. Then click "Convert." We did all of the above, including exploring the advanced options, with good results.

We didn't care for the way Free Mobile Converter's Add Files tool only displays files of each type individually instead of all available files; an All Files menu entry is badly needed. Also, we couldn't add files by dragging and dropping. Other than that, Free Mobile Converter does its job as well as the competition.