If, amidst the dearth of new models, you were worried about what might happen when your 4K Blu-ray player conks out Sony has some good news for you.
The A/V behemoth has launched its first new 4K Blu-ray player in almost six years, the UBP-X700/K, which is an updated version of its £239 UBP-X700 physical media player.
We were big fans of the model in our review back in 2018, giving it a 4.5-star score from a possible five stars. It also sits at the top of our best 4K Blu-ray player guide for its upscaling capabilities.
“The Sony UBP-X700 is a cracking 4K disc spinner that boasts great performance and features, at a very tempting price,” our reviewer wrote. “Thanks to a firmware update that adds Dolby Vision support, it will surely be the player of choice for many Sony TV owners.”
So an updated version is great news, right? However, while there’s still support for the major AV features like Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ on the video side, DTS:X and Dolby Atmos providing the high-end sound, and it’ll also play nice with your Bravia telly too.
However, there do appear to be some changes that’ll restrict the UBP-X700/K to its indented purpose of disc playback. FlatpanelsHD reports there’s no Wi-Fi on board, nor is there access to streaming apps, as well as screen mirroring. This is unlikely to be off-putting to people pre-occupied with playing their 4K Blu-ray collection.
Anyone interested in this level of visual fidelity is on the enthusiast level and will almost definitely have an excellent 4K smart TV with access to all of the connected features you could hope for. So it might actually be nice to cast off those distractions.
Last of a dying breed
Overall, though this is good news considering Samsung and LG have discontinued their respective physical media players. At least Sony is keeping its range of products alive. Failing that, there’s always a PS5 Disc edition.
