Best Blu-ray Player for 2024: Tested by Our Experts (original) (raw)
Article updated on December 16, 2023 at 5:08 PM PST
We’ve rounded up all the best HD and 4K ready Blu-ray players on the market
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
- Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Streaming might be convenient but for unbeatable at-home cinema experiences in HD and 4K, nothing beats the picture quality and audio fidelity you get from a Blu-ray disc. Blu-ray players aren't constrained by internet speeds and bandwidth, so you'll never have to deal with your movie stopping to buffer part-way through. The best 4K UHD Blu-ray players support Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, DTS:X and HDR10 formats for even higher image quality. Blu-ray players should work with your old DVD and CD collections, too. And of course discs are something you own, so watching Blu-rays doesn't require a monthly subscription.
To make choosing the right Blu-ray player easier, here are our favorite picks.
Best Dolby Vision 4K Blu-ray player
Sony UBP-X700
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Best Xbox for Blu-ray movies
Microsoft Xbox Series X
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Best PlayStation for Blu-ray movies
Sony PlayStation 5
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What is the best Blu-ray player for 2024?
The Sony UBP-X700 is at the cutting edge of 4K Blu-ray technology, thanks in part to its Dolby Vision compatibility. Throw in a bunch of streaming app services, and this Sony Blu-ray player rewards you with a solid performance at a reasonable price.
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If you want to spend the bare minimum on a Blu-ray player, then the Sony BDP-S3700 should be your choice. It offers a lot of features for little money, but as it's only 1080p you'll miss out on advanced features like 4K resolution picture quality and Dolby Vision.
The Xbox Series X is the only current Xbox model that accepts optical discs. It can play DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays, in addition to Xbox game discs. It can also be used with standard IR remotes, unlike the PS5. Note that the cheaper Xbox Series S does not have a disc slot.
The high-end PS5 (the $500 model) includes an optical drive that accepts DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays, in addition to PS4 and PS5 game discs. The cheaper PS5 Digital Edition does not have a disc slot.
Can I play normal DVDs in a Blu-ray player?
All Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray players are designed to be backward compatible with your existing DVDs. Most will also upscale DVD to 1080p (or 4K), which will mean a boost in image quality when played on a flatscreen TV.
If you have DVDs from other regions -- e.g., you live in the UK and have Japanese DVDs -- you will need to check with the manufacturer to make sure your player is compatible.
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Does Blu-ray work on all TVs?
Blu-ray will work on virtually any TV made since 2004; and if it's a flatscreen, it's compatible. There are exceptions -- rear projection, for example -- and so what you will need is an HD resolution (720/1080p) and an HDMI port. Sadly, no current Blu-ray players under $1,500 support the analog connections (component and composite) that are used by older TVs.
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