Sony has just announced its first 4K Blu-ray player in over five years, the UBP-X700/K. This is an updated version of the UBP-X700 that was initially released back in 2018. It does sport an almost identical design, and also has support for Dolby Vision HDR as well as HDR10+. There’s also support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio. It also has the same remote as the original version. Begging the question, why did Sony bother to release this one?
The company did remove WiFi from this Blu-ray player, but there is still an Ethernet port. But because of the lack of WiFi, it also loses support for streaming services like Spotify Connect. It does still feature two HDMI outputs, and will spin Blu-rays and DVDs in addition to the 4K Blu-rays.
Sony appears to only be selling this in Japan
Blu-ray has been suffering a slow and painful death, and this release from Sony was a breath of fresh air. However, it appears that this is only being sold (for now) in Japan. That is Sony’s home market, but also a fairly small market for something like a Blu-ray player. It’s currently not listed on Sony’s US, UK or European website. That could change, but for now, it’s not there.
Pricing is also said to be a bit higher, around 25% higher, versus the UBP-X700. This Blu-ray player is said to be launching in other markets in April or May. So there’s still time to see official pricing and what other markets this player might be available in.
Blu-ray has been dying over the past several years, as more and more people rely on streaming services, instead of buying Blu-rays or Blu-ray players. But there are still people out there with a large Blu-ray collection who want to watch Blu-ray versus compressed streaming titles. We’ve already seen LG, OPPO, and Samsung continue all of their Blu-ray players, this was a surprise release from Sony.
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