Yeah I switch to MPV maybe a decade ago from VLC. I just like the outward simplicity. It can do everything but it doesn bother showing you unless you ask, whereas VLC is like an all you can eat buffet, kind of overwhelming for day to day use.
I still use VLC occasionally when I want to do something funky and don’t want to bother digging into how to do it with MPV for a one off.
They are. Look at the meme, Linux phones get the tux.