Sony hasn’t given up on Blu-ray just yet. Just two months after announcing its exit from the recordable Blu-ray business, Sony has unveiled an unexpected addition: its first new Blu-ray player in nearly five years. However, when it comes to features, it’s best to manage expectations.
Set to launch in Japan between April and May, the Sony UBP-X700/K is a 4K Blu-ray player based on the older UBP-X700, a budget-friendly favorite among physical media enthusiasts.
What sets the UBP-X700/K apart is not what it adds, but what it removes. The new model eliminates most of the X700’s wireless networking capabilities and services, including Spotify Connect, screen mirroring, and streaming platforms such as Netflix.
The official specifications for the X700/K make no mention of built-in Wi-Fi, a feature present in its predecessor. However, it does include an ethernet port, likely intended for firmware updates.
Otherwise, the X700/K retains most of the X700’s video and audio features, including support for Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X.
Whether the UBP-X700/K will make its way to the U.S. remains uncertain. Interestingly, FlatpanelsHD notes that the new player carries a 25 percent price increase over the older X700 in Japan.
As a former UBP-X700 owner, I can say that losing the player’s networking functions isn’t a significant drawback. I never used them, relying instead on my Apple TV for streaming. While I did occasionally update the firmware via Wi-Fi, doing so over ethernet is just as easy.
Sony Set To Launch UBP-X700KA welcome (though perhaps unlikely) improvement for the UBP-X700/K would be automatic Dolby Vision HDR detection on UHD Blu-ray discs.
The older UBP-X700 lacks auto-detection, requiring users to manually enable the setting before playing a Dolby Vision disc—or disable it before watching an HDR10-only disc. I can’t count the number of times I forgot to toggle the setting or lost track of which discs supported Dolby Vision, and getting it wrong does impact image quality.
Another issue with the UBP-X700—one that will hopefully be resolved, though expectations should be tempered—is its handling of triple-layer UHD discs. My X700 frequently froze when transitioning between the second and third layers.
For instance, my Top Gun: Maverick disc would consistently lock up on Tom Cruise’s eye as he lay in the snow after ejecting from his F/A-18. Ultimately, I replaced the X700 with the considerably more expensive Panasonic DP-UB820.
That said, the most significant takeaway from Sony’s latest UHD Blu-ray player isn’t its feature set—it’s the fact that Sony is producing a new Blu-ray player at all.
Most of the major competitors in this space, including LG, Oppo, and Samsung, exited the market years ago. Now, with Sony having abandoned the recordable Blu-ray sector in January, only Panasonic and Sony remain as the last big-name manufacturers still making Blu-ray players.
Simply put, Blu-ray isn’t dead yet. Long live Blu-ray!
