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Hands-on: Movavi Video Suite 2023

Movavi’s new suite of software does far more than just video editing, and it offers a lot for beginners for very little outlay

Updated: Oct 19, 2023 11:51 am
Hands-on: Movavi Video Suite 2023

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Video is slowly taking over the world. Smartphones have given everyone the power to be filmmakers, and YouTube is now accessed by over 40% of all global internet users monthly. That’s created a big need for easy-to-use video editing software that doesn’t cost the earth, which is where Movavi Video Suite comes in. But how does it stack up to heavyweight packages such as Adobe Premiere and is it worth your money?

We’re going to be mainly focusing on the video editor to answer this question as this is ultimately the bread and butter of the software, but we’ll look at everything this handy suite of software has to offer. 

Getting hold of and installing Movavi Video Suite is simple. All you need to do is navigate over to Movavi’s website and select either ‘try now’ or ‘buy now’. You can download a free trial of the software, but this comes with a watermark on anything you export.

The software itself is laid out simply and beautifully and really doesn’t need much explanation. You can find all the different elements here but we’re going to focus mainly on the Movavi Video Editor.

movavi suite min 1

Getting started with Movavi Video Suite

One really good thing we noticed straight off is that you’re greeted with immediate instructions on how certain bits of video editing work, which is a great feature to have if you’re brand new to this sort of work. It can be daunting to use software like this for the first time and a bit of hand-holding is good.

The playback area consumes just less than the top-right quarter of the screen space. This is good as a default, but it can be resized. Playback volume and screenshot options are situated just below.

Since this is a video editor aimed at new users, the layout is clean and simple with different aspects of the editor like filters and stickers sitting separately on the far left of the screen. The timeline spans the entire width of the screen by default, and this is where the bulk of your work will happen. Like everything else, you can customize this to suit. 

movavi timeline settings

Video editing made easy 

The interface is simple and intuitive. Everything has its place, and thanks to the lengthy tutorial you get when you launch the software, you should already have a basic understanding of what everything does. You don’t even have to worry about forgetting what certain buttons do, though, as hovering your mouse over them gives you a brief on-screen description. There’s no assumed knowledge here and that’s good.

Importing media is a breeze. You just click on the blue import sticker at the top and choose a source file. You can also import files via the ‘file import’ tab just to the right of the blue sticker. Movavi Video Editor supports a wide range of file formats, so no matter how you shoot your film it should be fine. Once a file is imported it sits in the media bin, where you can drag and drop it to the timeline to work on.

Highlighting a clip makes the buttons just above the timeline active, such as snip, bin, and crop. These buttons are greyed out when no applicable media is selected.

movavi video suite

Double-clicking on a clip allows you access to its properties, such as volume, speed, and opacity, as well as giving you the option to add a fade in and out at the beginning and end.

You can apply effects to clips easily from the ‘more tools’ sticker on the left-most panel. Here you have plenty of options and effects similar to those you’d find in high-end editors, such as stabilization, Chroma Key, scene detection, and even slow motion.

What else do you get in the Movavi Video Suite? 

The video editor might be the main reason for purchasing the software, but you get a whole lot more besides. 

Movavi Video Suite also provides you with a video converter, allowing you to convert between 180 different multimedia formats, and the ability to record your screen. Surprisingly this screen recording software allows for masses of customizability, allowing you to select areas, target windows, refresh rates, resolutions, and more.

movavi suite video converter

Perfect video editing for beginners

Movavi has done really well with the 2022 version of its software. Sure there may be alternatives that do a slightly better job and have a more refined experience, but that kind of video software is aimed at advanced users and can be daunting for a newbie. It can also be really expensive.  

The Movavi video software is incredibly lightweight, taking up less than 1GB of space. This is an area we know Adobe fails in, with Premiere taking up a ridiculous 14.6GB in comparison.

Movavi scores on price too. Currently, the Movavi Video Suite is available for £65.95 down from £101 for one year’s access to the suite. You can get lifetime access for £79.95 down from £181 and this includes the photo editor. This is a very reasonable price and will save you hundreds when shopping for an editing suite against something like Adobe, and that doesn’t even ship with a video recorder.

movavi video price

The Movavi Video Editor is feature-rich and holds up in some areas against industry giants like Adobe Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve. More experienced users may find it a little slow, but for beginners or enthusiasts it’s a really solid option. We can highly recommend it for the next aspiring Michael Kahn.

You can download a trial version of the Movavi Video Suite for either Mac or Windows.


Jack is a Tech and News Writer who has a vast and proficient knowledge of CPUs, Motherboards, and Computer technology.

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