The 7 Best 4K Blu-Ray Players of 2023

Best Overall

Sony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player

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Prices for 4K DVD players have fallen rapidly since they first came out, and you can now buy a feature-packed player from a major brand for under $200. The best example? Sony's UBP-X700.

Physically, it's a fairly plain-looking black box, but it's what's inside that counts. Support for Dolby Vision, rare in this price range, makes for brighter, more-vibrant video and smoother color transitions on discs that support it.

The X700 also does a better job of upscaling SD or HD content than any of its lower-cost competitors and many more expensive ones. That will be particularly important if most of your existing discs are in these older formats.

The disc caddy and the remote control respond quickly, and the interface is refreshingly simple. The player also supports several streaming services, including the usual suspects like Netflix and YouTube. If you don't already have them via your television or a plug-in device, that's a valuable extra.

Best Value

LG 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray Player

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LG's UBK80 is a solid barebones option, cutting out the extras to focus on what's important to most buyers: 4K Blu-Ray performance.

That's what it's best at, with smooth motion and impressive detail even in technically-challenging scenes. There's no Dolby Vision or HDR10+, although neither is a significant concern today, given the limited availability of discs in either format.

There are no streaming service options available (in fact, there's no network support), but you can play music, video, and still images from a USB stick or portable hard drive via the socket on the front.

Quickly responding to commands from the basic remote, the user interface is straightforward, rather than getting in the way, as many others do. There's good backward compatibility with CDs, DVDs, and non-4K Blu-Ray discs. The UBK80 is a great value option in the 4K Blu-Ray space.

Best for Upscaling

Panasonic DP-UB820

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One of the problems with switching to 4K video technology is what to do with all your old movies and shows. You won't see all the benefits of that fancy new 4K television if all the content you're playing on it is only in standard (SD) or high definition (HD) format.

While no DVD player can make older content look like it was recorded in 4K, some do a much better job upscaling SD and HD video than others. The Panasonic DP-UB820 is arguably the best of the lot, and if you've got a lot of older discs, you'll want to consider it for that reason alone.

Panasonic's "HDR Optimizer" can make a noticeable difference when viewing HDR content, especially very bright scenes (or parts of scenes) that lose detail on most televisions. It even takes the type of display you're using into account, reducing or intensifying the effect as needed.

This player has support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, Ethernet, and the latest Wi-Fi standards for high-speed network playback. The UB820 is a high-quality 4K Blu-Ray player worth looking at, especially if you want to maximize your existing disc collection.

Best Budget

Sanyo FWBP807FP 4K Ultra HD Blu Ray Player

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At the other end of the market, from premium models, sits devices like the Sanyo FWBP807FP. Typically selling for under a hundred dollars, it's a plain 4K player that does very little beyond the basics. At that price, though, it's all it needs to do.

The unit is simple, with eject and power buttons on the front and HDMI and Ethernet ports (no Wi-Fi) on the back. The remote is small, but it does the job well enough unless you have giant hands.

While you won't get any extras like Dolby Vision or HDR10+ here, the quality of native 4K content is surprisingly good for the price. Besides the occasional stutter on complex scenes, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between players costing twice or thrice as much.

The player also does an excellent job of upscaling older DVD and Blu-Ray discs and playing audio discs and files, but don't expect to stream online content.

Best for Versatility

LG UP970 UHD Blu-Ray Player

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If you tend to watch content from a variety of sources, take a close look at the LG UP970. This mid-range player is as versatile as it is attractive, able to handle almost any audio-visual content you're likely to consume.

As well as Dolby Vision-compatible 4K HDR Blu-Ray discs, the slimline device can play both commercial DVDs and CDs and all of the various writeable disc formats. Playback is also multi-region compatible, so it should be able to handle your DVD and Blu-Ray discs regardless of where you bought them.

The playback options don't stop there, though. You can stream from Netflix and YouTube, select media from a USB stick or portable drive, or via local Wi-Fi or physical network. Over a dozen different audio and video encodings are supported.

There's a pair of HDMI outputs, separate optical audio out, and a simple but effective remote.

Best Splurge

Panasonic DP-UB9000 UHD Blu-ray Player

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While it may be expensive, the Panasonic DP-UB9000 is a 4K Blu-Ray player that stands second to none. This heavy metal-clad player features all contemporary types of HDR; HDR10, 10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision. This player also features a variety of high-quality digital audio converters (DACs) and dual-channel and surround-sound output.

Besides providing high-quality playback for all your physical media, the UB9000 also features Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity for streaming content and firmware updates.

It may cost multitudes more than some of the picks on our list. Still, for anyone that demands the best experience from their Blu-Ray player, the DP-UB9000 provides unrivaled visual and audio quality with a smattering of handy features to help justify the hefty price tag.