The invention relates to a method and device for playing a content. The method comprising: reading a pre-stored content which include information relevant to a downloaded content; detecting available bandwidth; sending a request for downloading the downloaded content according to the information relevant to the downloaded content, wherein the request includes the information of the bandwidth; receiving the downloaded content according with the detected bandwidth; and playing the downloaded content combined with the pre-stored content. Because said method and device according to the present invention adopts the automatic real-time detection for the current usable bandwidth of the network playback device connected to, and it changes the quality of content requiring downloading, seamless playback can be realized, while avoiding the trouble due to the quality selection by the user himself.