UBP-X800

Extremely impressed, this player is a beast. Not just in terms of construction (build quality is impeccable) but performance. I must confess I was sceptical this 4K player would make that much of a difference over my Xbox One X as a 4K player, but I can appreciate the difference. I wouldn't say it is a night and day upgrade, but the enhancement in clarity and colour production is appreciable. The player is also very quiet in operation, which is a must in my view. Although build quality is very robust - made from high-grade materials - aesthetically there are no standout features - though being minimalist could be deemed a positive. Note that at 43cm in width this player is rather wide, and sitting below my Xbox One X it really is a beast in terms of size. Fortunately I have several cm to spare either side in my TV unit, but I can image some may struggle to accommodate such a large device. My advice, take measurements first! In summary, a fantastic 4K blu-ray player which lives up to the positive reviews. The picture performance, build and number of features can't be faulted. Neither can the price, because at £280 I feel I have purchased a bargain. My Xbox One X is a good 4K player, but if you are a videophile and want the best 4K picture possible, then you can't go wrong with the Sony X800. Also note it is a very good performer with standard blu-ra discs; across the board it is a 5 star product.

This is an excellent 4K bluray player ,it is top class ,it plays all my discs perfectly ,even the ones I have recorded on recordable discs from TV ,the picture on my 4K LG tv is brilliant from all sources and sound through my sound bar is detailed and precise,the build of the player is very Rob and it looks damn good 👍.The set up was very easy the instructions are clear in the booklet , choose Auto for most settings and tell it your screen size ,internet connection is also excellent and the apps ,Amazon prime ,Netflix and BBC are adequate along with You Tube. For those of us who still own a 3D tv the pictures are just stunning. In summing up I thoroughly recommend this player and the fact that I got 30% off in your recent sale makes my recent purchase of this machine very sweet indeed ,thanks again Amazon.T.E.

***Update***: Well, today I went to watch a Blu-ray I had borrowed only to discover my unit is now dead. Barely 18 months old with very light use. I can’t believe it. I’ve changed the fuse and done the few troubleshooting things you can do when the device won’t even power on. This is connected to a surge protector and other devices on the same socket are absolutely fine. It’s had an extremely easy life. Out of warranty, and out of luck. Buyer beware. Original review: This is a good player and relatively fuss free. In the short time I’ve had it I’ve had to upgrade the software twice. This has been slightly annoying as you cannot seem to defer them if you want to use any of the ‘internet’ content e.g. Netflix; you’re forced to do the firmware update before you can proceed. The first upgrade went smoothly. The second upgrade just left me at a blank screen. This is not a good user experience at all because you have no way of knowing if the firmware has updated successfully, has failed, or is still in progress. I waited half an hour before I held onto my butt and powered off/hard reset the machine. Luckily I didn’t brick the device and it came back on ok. However, the only thing worse than updates is no updates, so I will stop short of complaining about this. I’m not sure I share the enthusiasm about the improvements in picture and audio quality. It is a good player, but I would not say it is streets ahead of my other relatively cheap LG player. It is much quieter in operation which I do appreciate. The UI is basic but snappy and responsive. I’m slightly disappointed in the build quality. Again, some reviews on here seem to oversell it. It does have some weight to it but... so what? The buttons and the disc tray are plastic and feel just as cheap as inexpensive players. Same with the remote. I’m reasonably happy with my purchase, and if it stays reliable in the long term it will justify the expense. I just think some of the other reviews are overly favourable and raised my expectations unnecessarily. If you can get this on sale closer to £200 then it would be a great buy. Edit - I’ve had this player a couple of months now, and still going strong. I like the player. One thing I have noticed is that the DVD upscaling is pretty good. Considering how many pixels you’re feeding the player the final output is impressive. I would go as far as to say if you have an investment in DVD, it would be well worth spending the extra on this player.

Set up in 10 minutes, required a software update which popped up on screen and done in a further 5 minutes. Very easy install, including wifi connection and movie stream apps. The 4K UHD image is stunning and audio is very impressive. I only have a 50" TV but the differential between HD and UHD is very noticeable, when typically you would appreciate the differential on the larger 60"+ plus TV's. The chassis is strong and has very clean lines. No LED display, just one very subtle power on light, which I personally prefer avoiding the distracting timer displays or counters. With its standard hifi width chassis, it slots perfectly in to my AV rack. I waited a few weeks after the launch in April to check on first reviews and to benefit from the expected price drops. So with 5 star reviews and a saving of £40 on launch price, I'm delighted with this purchase. For around £350, this is the best unit currently on the market, and I looked at all the £250 to £400 options.

OMG, yes oh my God,Sony have come up trumps with this bit of kit. This top end 4K Blu ray player is the muts nuts. My TV is a Samsung 65'' UHD 4K ready and I have been using a PS4 as a Blu ray player, display was good but not upscaled. Open the box, plug it in and the set up is VERY simple. It detects your Wi-Fi, you log it on, it detects that it needs a software update, it downloads and updates and re-starts.It displays all the streaming services available. I have Amazon Prime so can stream movies for free, well the quality of the stream is perfect, as if you were playing the Blu ray disc itself. The audio Hi-res quality is stunning, yes I have a sound bar which helps. At £400 it is high end but you really get what you pay for, a very good buy that will last for ages. Please make sure that you buy and use a high quality HDMI cable, High Speed 18Gbps - Gold Plated Connectors - Ethernet, Audio Return - Video 4K 2160p, HD 1080p, 3D. No good buying a Rolls Royce and filling the tank with water. This really is a VERY good player and the perfect match for a top level TV display what ever the size. BUY IT !

Excellent DVD player delivering outstanding picture and sound quality. Have paired it up with an LG OLED TV 55", and the ONKYO 3D SOUND SYSTEM LS7200 The quality of the HDMI cable is important in connecting your system up.. using cheap cables just doesn't make any sense. It's like buying a carbon fibre road bike, and sticking your granny on.. why would you do that? When you could have Chris Frome? I know there are people out there that say there is no difference between a cheap hdmi cable, and an expensive, well built one, but there is, and they are wrong. And probably too stingy to part with their money. I would definitely recommend this Sony DVD player. Simply outstanding bit of kit. UPDATE: Lasted 3 years of light use, in fact I bought 2 of these players for 2 different rooms and guess what?… they both stopped working! Simply refused to play any dvd. In fact, one disc is still in the player as it failed to even turn on. And yes I did try several power cycles to no avail. The dog’s dangly bits but for the wrong reasons. I personally would never ever buy a Sony player again.

Was dubious about buying a dedicated 4K blu-ray player as I already own an XBOX ONE S and that works well as a 4K player but...and this is where most review seems to say 'if you own an XBOX ONE S, you already have the best value for money 4K player'...the XBOX ONE S is loud when it plays 4K films; clearly running a film stresses the XBOX far more than playing a game, this wasn't just disc spin noise but cooling fan noise too. So, if like me you wanted a good 4K set up and thought it would end at the ONE S, it might not. On the unit: excellent build quality, clean, uncluttered front; it feels like a proper hi-fi component and fits in perfectly, same width, with my AV amp [Yamaha RX-A660]. Setup was simple and unit was up and running in minutes if you don't take into account what now seems to be the obligatory 'out of the box' firmware update. That in itself was simple enough and was announced by the player on switching on. There's no display on the front of the player just a very small green LED on the far right top corner to show it's on. I saw this mentioned in other reviews and found the concept a bit odd, I like an LCD display but there's no need for it, I don't miss it and should you be using an XBOX to play films you wouldn't have on anyway. The main thing I have to mention is how quiet this unit is; that was the motivation for getting a dedicated player and it's worth it for that alone. I would have to describe it as whisper quiet; the disc tray is probably the loudest aspect and even that is quiet. You literally can’t hear the player running while you watch even when the volume is down low. I can't fault the quality of sound or picture this unit puts out but of course a lot of that will depend on what you are running it through but suffice to say, I'm happy that the player is doing its job and not letting the side down. Remote control: A little bit boxy and utilitarian but well-made and does the job. Raised rubber buttons make it easy to operate, maybe some backlighting would be good as generally you're watching films in sometimes less than half light, well at least I am but as none of my remotes have backlighting now I keep a small torch handy just in case: my eyes just aren't up to seeing the buttons in the dark. Interface: I find the GUI to be a little dated in appearance, for the money I was expecting something a little bit more akin to the PS4 home screen. As I have no plans to use the player for Netflix and apps etc. this is not really an issue. I just put a disc in and play it so no need for anything fancy. Having to look at the home screen at start-up though it would have been nice to see some continuity between Sony products; my last Sony AV amp was very PS3 like at the set up screen. All in all very happy with my purchase, I don’t have that any of that ‘did I really just spend that much?’ feeling. If you go for it buy yourself a certified 4K HDMI cable at the same time as there is one in the box. I bought several from Amazon during my 4K set up quest and they were all around a tenner each, all doing a grand job. I went for these OMARS® Premium HDMI Cable 2m Ultra Speed High Support 21Gbps 4k@60Hz (HDMI V2.0b) ****UPDATE**** Had this since November 2017 and been getting issues such as picture freeze resulting in having to turn the player off as it stops responding completely and black screens where the picture and sound are lost for a second or two. The player is now at a warranty repair shop awaiting a 'DVD mechanism'; not sure if that was their way of telling me they hadn't looked at it yet as 'DVD mechanism' is a fairly generic term, that they didn't think I would understand was really wrong or it will just come back and do the same again. Either way, Google these issues in regards to this player and you'll find there are quite a few people out there with the same model and problems. I contacted Sony initially an they asked me to do all the usual things, check firmware, turn it off and on again [as an IT engineer I love that one]. ****UPDATE 2**** After a month te player comes back from the warranty repair shop. First disc in, Bladerunner 2049 for what it's worth...screen goes blank about 40 minutes in but does recover. Not ideal though and not what you expect from a £270 player. Will be calling the service center back but in ther meantime...are these players worth the effort?

I have always been a big fan of Sony's hardware as, in my experience, they tend to be well-built and reliable. Although they are usually more expensive than the competition, they are usually worth it in my opinion. The Sony UBP-X800 gives a good first impression. It's surprisingly large (well wide) and heavy but solidly built, giving the impression of a premium piece of kit. However, in use the unit is less impressive. For starters, there is no front LED display and on ejecting the disc tray the entire front face of the player opens which seems like poor design. The user interface also looks soft and blurry, like its 720p and lacks the crisp 4K text and icons you'd expect on a premium Blu-ray player. Those issues would be forgivable but what lets this unit down is its tendency to intermittently freeze during disc playback or streaming. I've had two units and both have exhibited this issue. It affects DVDs, BDs and 4K BDs as well as streamed content from YouTube, NetFlix and Amazon Video and seems completely random. I can plays discs and watch streamed content for days then suddenly the player will freeze, usually causing it to reset but sometimes requiring it to be unplugged from the mains then plugged back in as it wouldn't otherwise turn off or eject the disc. The issue is not with the discs as they play fine a second time and on my Xbox One X, it's the player itself which seems to have some kind of bug that can eventually cause it to crash. It doesn't happen often enough to be an annoyance or for the unit to be classed as "defective" but it happens enough to make me regret the purchase. I will definitely consider buying other players in future rather than just Sony. I've read around on the forums and it seems like a lot of people have experienced this issue so just be aware of that if you are planning on buying it. My player is updated to the latest firmware by the way and I have tried several different premium-rated 4K HDMI cables to try and isolate what is causing the issue. I am currently using an HDMI 2.1 8K cable with higher bandwidth so we'll see how that goes! Otherwise, when it isn't freezing, this player offers very good picture and audio. It is also very fast to load discs and streaming is otherwise excellent on my fibre Wi-Fi connection. The blurry, low-res interface is a bit of a let down as is the limited selection of apps. Design wise, the players look nice and solid but seems overly large compared with other 4K BD players (it reminds me of earlier DVD and BD players before they were downsized to smaller models).