Sony UBP-X800 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player

While this player does everything as advertised, I do have a few complaints. The lack of a front-panel display, as noted by other reviewers, just seems cheap and annoying. Ditto the remote, which has no direct-access numeric keys. The remote control for my old Sony Blu-ray player--which can operate this new player and vice versa--included a direct-access keypad. Just seems like a cheap omission on a player that costs considerably more. Oh, and for some unfathomable reason, Sony decided to switch the placement of JUST the skip and scan buttons on the remote. Otherwise, the placement of every other button is identical. So I'm constantly skipping when I want to scan and scanning when I want to skip. This improvement brought to you by the let's-screw-with-your-head-for-being-a-loyal-customer department at Sony. Now maybe it's my TV--which is a 4K, HDR capable set--but none of the several 4K UHD disks I have played on this machine look noticeably superior to a good Blu-ray of the same material. In fact the colors on one, my 2001: A Space Odyssey 4K disc, look decidedly less vivid. I don't see any significant difference in resolution. I would have chalked it up to being unobservant or that my TV isn't up to the task, except that I can definitely see the difference between 4K UHD steaming materials and regular HD streamings on Netflix or Amazon using the same TV. My other complaint is that it appears to be more finicky about playing damaged or compromised optical disks than my old player (which cost about a third what this one does). Refused to play some of my older CD-R discs, which are starting to deteriorate, I guess. The pros: Appears to be a very well made piece of equipment--certainly if weight is anything to go by It's practically silent Love the additional HDMI audio only output Plays a huge variety of disc formats--including SACDs! Wonderful audio quality for music discs and video soundtracks I had none of the problems performing the firmware update reported by some of the other reviewers. I assume those problems have now been corrected. Cons: Somewhat slow to turn on. Even slower to turn off! No front panel display except for a single green power light Very hard to see the front-panel's only two buttons: eject and power. Constantly pressing the wrong button Remote has no direct-access numerical keypad. Also, keys do not light. Very cheap remote. Could not read a couple of damaged CDs and DVDs that my old Sony Bluray player has no trouble playing

We purchased our LG OLED TV when we did our remodel of our house back in late 2015 but chose the EF9500 as it could handle UHD both streaming and via an external blueray player where the other models at the time couldn't. We never purchased a blueray player since then as the Samsung came out first and it didn't get great reviews (but if you HAD to be the first one with a 4K blueray player your options were very limited other than one that upscales). We chose to wait. A lot of people were thinking that 4K was a flash in the pan and would be like 3D on LED tv's where people snapped them up but then realized they never used the 3D feature. Fast forward about a year and a half. In the last 6-8 months, there are now more choices for 4K blueray players and a lot more content in 4K both on disc and streaming. We have this setup paired with our Marantz SR7010 and a nicely appointed Def Tech surround system with 2 powerful subs and ATMOS up firing speakers. I have recently prior to purchasing this player streamed some movies in 4K and it's a great picture (how could it not be on an OLED screen). But, watching on this Sony X800 player is an upgrade over the quality of steaming in 4K. First off, even the audio is amazing. Normally you hear things above and behind you but this player combined with an action paced 4K blueray is AMAZING. Really, it's like being at the theater in my family room. Picture is great, brightness levels are great. Now, one other thing we DID have done was a tech come out and set the ISF level standard when we first purchased this TV. If you aren't aware of what this is just Google ISF tuning. Now, I have read reviews on the OPPO 203 and it might be slightly better and have more fine tuning features but for us it was not worth twice the price. Some people have commented on the lack of a display on the front of the unit. I am using mine with a Harmony Elite remote (which is EXCELLENT by the way) and all you have to do is push INFO button and it's displayed on screen. I like the way the whole front door opens (like the Panasonic 900) as it's a clean looking machine. Some reviews have complained that there isn't a display on the front of the player. This really isn't a problem as it does display time/information on the tv screen. I actually never even opened up the factory Sony remote (went straight with the Harmony). The only thing I would say that could possibly be a negative (which it really isn't too bad) was that there are a LOT of options in the setup screen and you need to know which ones to adjust and which ones to just leave on AUTO. Like for instance, the 4K Upscale setting to Auto 1 or Auto 2 depending if you want it to upscale ALL discs to 4K (then Auto 2 should be selected). By default, it comes on Auto 1 assuming you are hooking it up to a Sony TV. Also, the BD Audio Mix setting needs to be addressed---this is to change the way the audio is handled. In ON, both primary and secondary audio handled by disc player. In OFF, primary by disc player and secondary audio all handled by the audio player (receiver). All in all, this player is a bargain for the $300 price. It even feels like it's constructed very well. It doesn't include an HDMI cable but you will want to buy a high quality one capable of high speed to go along with this machine. I personally went with the Audioquest Cinnamon. Not sure if it makes a difference but I am using the same cables for my tv hookup to my Marantz receiver and they seem to work well. I also purchased the Square Trade extended warranty as for 3 years it's only about $25 and this warranty company has come through for us a few times over the years. Hope this review is helpful to those on the fence about whether to purchase or not.

It seems I'm one of the lucky ones to have had this player for 6 years without any problems....yes no problems until recently when it started freezing (once on a while) I do have to unplug and plug it back to continue playing. Anyway having used it for 6 good years with no playing issues and have performed efficiently (both audio and video), I should give this player an excellent review and a great recommendation to anyone looking for a great player. I understand others may have had problems with it but for me, if not for the once on a while freezing, I'm still using it with no major problem until January 2025 when it started freezing constantly (even after unplugging and plugging again). I sometimes have to switch to another player to continue watching the movie, after an hour or so it will start playing again. With all complaints made by us (courstomers) I expect sony to have come with a solution to this nuisance and frustrating problem. An other built-in inconvenience of a problem is the MANUAL dolby vision adjustment instead of AUTO which would have made this feature easy to operate when needed. I hope sony would consider updating these features on the next 4k uhd player. As stated previously, audio and video performance of this unit have been superb except for the two problems stated I would have given it a 5 stars instead of 4 stars.

UPDATE 11/20/17: Well, the second player didn’t work out and has been returned. It got to a point where the picture was distorted, would blank out, and/or the player would freeze up and only a hard reset would fix the issue. To be clear, yes the HDMI cable was updated and more than capable of handling 4K, the picture would distort when playing both discs (DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K) and apps (Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Vudu), and it wasn’t the TV because I even purchased a new Sony XBR55930E. This player is a piece of junk and is not worth the hassle. Amazon has reduced the price of this player for Thanksgiving; yet, as tempting as that is I still have no interest in dealing with a 3rd player and it’s inevitable issues. I’m just going to wait for a new model to come out. Buyer beware, this is a great player when it works but it is absolutely not worth the time, effort, and frustration. I'm on my second UBP-X800 player, and things don't look any better the second time around. First thing is first: when the player functions as intended, the picture quality is phenomenal! Truly amazing! The images are crisp, action sequences are smooth, and the colors are vivid and vibrant! However, this thing freezes up CONSTANTLY! Player #1: Easy set up, everything loads very quickly, and the control is noticeably heavy, in a good way. We enjoyed this player issue-free for about two weeks, when it started to randomly shut down. The screen would go black, a Sony image would come on, and then it would just shut off. After making sure I had the latest software and performing a hard reset, I contacted Sony and they were no help. They simply told me to do the same thing. So the problem continued, and then I contacted Sony again, at which point they informed me I'd have to go through their warranty services division. Then out of nowhere, the picture become distorted. So back this player went. Player #2: Same easy set-up, same gorgeous picture. However, within 1 week, the player would freeze up when watching Netflix using the auto-play feature. For example, an episode would end, and the countdown to the next episode would begin. But just as the countdown hit the 1 second mark, it freezes up. The only remedy is to do a hard reset (unplug, wait, plug back in.) This is beginning to happen more frequently, and is very frustrating. Considering our entire A/V set-up is Sony, and we've had terrible experiences with Samsung blu-ray players, our choices are very limited in seeking out a 4k Blu-ray player. At this point, it would seem we have to keep returning and purchasing a new one until Sony can get their act together. Therefore, unless you absolutely ~must~ have a 4k blu ray player (we've invested pretty heavily in 4k movies at this point), then I would hold off on this purchase until improvements have been made.

It is a beautiful machine and is big and heavy and looks impressive. It was real easy to install and works fine with my 65 inch 4K Samsung TV. I am running it through a Yamaha receiver and using the best HDMI cables. The ATMOS sound is good but I guess you need some speakers that point straight up or put some speakers in your ceiling. I went with DVD in 1999 and had a standard 32 inch TV which meant I was leading edge and the DVD picture was the best ever. I was using a Pioneer receiver and big Ceran Vega speakers and was the cat's meow with my group of friends. In 06 I went to 52 inch 1080p TV and bought a Samsung Blu-ray player and this was while the battle between blu ray and HD TV was still going on and blu ray 1080p was definitely better and probably worth the bucks. I have had 9 DVD players since 1999 and early on the firm ware up dates drove me and everyone else crazy. I replaced a Sony "upscale" machine with this one. If upscale actually did anything it was wasted on me. We installed the new machine last night and watched the movie Sing. It was beautiful but was it way better that regular 1080p blu ray. If it was then it was also wasted on me. I really am a media freak and listen to digital music in the gym and on the road but in the "man's cave" I listen to vinyl. Anyway, to keep this short and sweet--if hyou are going to go full up 4K you will have to replace everything if you have a home theater. Well, you can keep your old speakers. You need a 4K TV, a 4K DVD player (this one is awesome for the bucks) and Stereo receiver that will recognize and process the audio (ATMOS and DTS-X). The upgrade cost me about 3 thousand dollars and then I decided I needed all new Klipsch speakers but that is just me. You could probably go with a 52 inch TV and go full up 4K for 2 thousand but here is my point. If you are on a budget, trying to raise kids then I recommend that you save your money. There may be a difference between 4K and blu-ray 1080p and I am relatively certain that there is a technical difference but I don't think it will WOW your senses like the fist DVD experience or first 1080p blu ray with DTS did and don't think ATMOS sound will blow you away either versus DOLBY 5.1 or DTS 5.1. On the other hand--if you have extra cash or are old and retired like me and looking for things to entertain yourself then maybe 4K is the way to go. When I first ordered this machine I almost re-purchased The Life of Pi in 4K. I already have it blu ray but the visuals in this movie are awesome but am now glad that I did not because I don't believe I would notice the difference. If you need a new player this one has all the bells and whistles but if you are expecting a giant leap forward. Sorry.

As the powers that be shunt us ever more irrevocably into an age where they don’t want you to own anything, just purchase the rights to stream the data, it’s nice to see that Sony is still supporting the physical Blu-ray format in such a robust way. For those of us still clinging to the “old ways” (yeah, Blu-ray is ancient technology eh?), this unit is just what the doctor ordered. From the moment I unboxed it, I was impressed with the heft, the fit and finish, and the appearance. I initially experienced some unstable video reproduction, but all it took was replacing the cable sending the ARC signal to the television. Once that was replaced it was truly plug and play. The video quality is truly spectacular, whether viewing Blu-ray or upscaled DVDs, I haven’t noticed any of the artifacts I have become used to seeing on the regular DVD players, and the audio is absolutely stunning. If I had one complaint, it would be that I would like a full suite of transport controls still physically accessible from the front of the player, it’s a nice backstop should you lose the remote. For the record, this is run through an Onkyo AV processor with a Samsung 7 series UHD TV, and Martin Logan Source speakers. No compatibility issues at all, just awesome hi def movie greatness.

I sold my old Blu-ray player to help pay for this 4K upgrade (because that's what you do when you want the latest and greatest). — DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION — This is a solidly built machine. Once you lift it you know there are some premium material in this. One of the reasons for this is to prevent micro-vibrations from spinning, as well as electrical shielding. The design is a simple rectangular box and matches other Sony home theater electronics. — 4K — This plays 4K discs well and quickly. It can also play my 3D and regular Blu-ray discs. And if I wanted, it could play high-res audio discs. — AUDIO OUTPUT — I wish they had an optical output instead of the coaxial connection. One way around this is to connect via HDMI to your TV, and have your TV output optically to your receiver. Luckily I had that option so this doesn't bother me, but be aware for yourself if you have a preference. — INTERFACE & FEATURES — The interface and UI was easy to understand intuitively and use. In regards to features, times have changed and even though I'm pretty techy, there were a lot of settings and options which I was not familiar with which I had to look up. There are *a lot* of settings and it can be very confusing, even for someone like me. Certain "features" are annoying to have and I just want settings off and have a straight signal from my disc to my TV without visual "enhancements." Be aware of the default settings, especially if you know how you want your image to look. — WIFI — This can connect with WiFi to access its Smart features, or you can plug in a LAN cable. Since my main Smart device is an Apple TV 4K with a hard line connected to it, I use WiFi for this 4K player and use it solely as that. — SUMMARY — I got the one year old model because it became cheaper. I think the design, features, and construction make this a worthwhile purchase. If you have an Apple TV 4K and prefer digital movies, that's all you need. For those that prefer physical discs, this Sony 4K player plays solidly. Recommended. *** NOTE *** I was aware of complaints about lockup during playback before I bought this. This has not happened to me yet, and from what I gathered it only seems to be happening for certain discs. Fingers crossed that it doesn't happen to me.

I have had 2 of these beauties. The 1st one prompted user setup for wifi access and then promptly downloaded a firmware update. Download performed admirably, but half way through the install of the firmware, vertical lines appeared throughout the entire display. The vertical lines, while unique, were distracting for the update menu, but disappeared once I got back to the homescreen. Popped a 4K blu ray in as I was considering the display error only temporary, and yes, vertical lines throughout that crystal clear 4K picture. Phoned Sony, who surprisingly picked up quickly with a live person, though obviously in another country, helped me troubleshoot my unit, which consisted of removing all cables from the unit, including power, and waiting 2 minutes. This obviously, solved nothing, so then I began the RMA process on my brand new 4K player. The unit ships back to a Sony warehouse in Texas. Sony waits an entire week after tracking says they signed for it, to let me know they received it. This email also states that there are no worries, as they have exchange units in stock and ready to ship, and that I will receive another email with tracking once shipped. Fast forward 3 more days, I receive an email NOT with customer tracking, but with a plea for me to respond with a contact phone number so they can call me! They of course, already have all my phone #'s, since I had given them during the warranty process. Instead of replying, I google for the support # (since one is not stated in the silly email they sent.) The rep states that they are out of units and will instead offer me a refund and could I please send them a .pdf of my receipt? Again, this is funny, since I uploaded a pdf receipt onto their very warranty website when prompted during warranty registration. So I send them another .pdf receipt via email. No confirmation of receipt, no response, and no warranty replacement check. It's been almost 3 weeks since the nightmare began at this point. Since I have never had a defective consumer electronic out of the box, I figured I was unlucky, so while waiting on my rebate check, I order another unit. Retailers have stock readily available, yet the manufacturer can't get its hands on one? Hmmm. That tells me it's possible they know of a larger issue with this unit, and that it may have a high # of returns. I wire in ethernet this time before powering on unit, so as to take any wifi weirdness out of the equation. The firmware update goes off flawlessly. I pop in my 4K UHD Planet Earth II. And it is...beautiful. No denying. broadcasting in crystal clear DTS HD Master audio. Nice. Excited, I pop in another UHD, Pacific Rim, and again, it is...beautiful. This time with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that my receiver nicely confirms on its display. (note: you have to disable the audio mixing capability of the blu ray player if you want to "see" confirmation of what codec you're getting, otherwise the unit mixes the atmos with the embedded sounds of the player and only shows bitstream or PCM.) I decide to try my 3rd 4K disc. What it is about 3rd tries, I don't know. I pop in Blake Lively's The Shallows UHD disc. I start to hear a promotion about how great 4K is, as my screen goes dark. My LG B6P OLED 4K TV doesn't detect a signal. But the audio is still playing for the promo. At this point, the remote becomes unresponsive, and the only way to get the unit to turn off is to physically unplug it from the surge. If your setup is like mine, this is not fun to do, wading through the nests of wires while tip-toeing behind my 65 inch TV. I know from my previous experience with this unit that it can be very slow to respond to commands, or much else. So I wait 20 minutes with it unplugged. Upon powering on again...nothing happens. No input detected by the LG. I go over to my computer to find solace at AVSforum and literally 6 minutes in, the unit fires up to the homescreen, where I am able to perform a factory reset. I try another disc, audio starts, right as the picture goes black. As stated above, this experience is quite unique for me. I build my own home theatre PC's, and deal with multiple components and have never had a single defective unit out of the box. I had moved away from Sony quite a while ago, shortly after they abandoned their robotic dog AIBO project. And I will NOT try them again. This product is not ready for consumers. It is in BETA, at BEST. Their only response for bugginess is to wait for the next firmware update, yet one just came out at the beginning of May. Also, no rebate check to date. Amazon could have remedied this problem 12 times over for what Sony needs. The reason I don't use my home theatre PC for 4K is because the geniuses behind movie distribution have rendered the PC I built in December 2016 obsolete in terms of DRM/piracy compliance. I built mine with SkyLake Intel hardware. You can't play 4K blu rays with anything less than KabyLake. Guess I'm waiting for Scorpio for UHD, unless any of you guys have a better suggestion. I mention this somewhat in defense of Sony as they are having to deal with the technical absurdities that the movie industry is burdening them with. or "keeping the HDCP chain" as it were. For what should be a straightforward product from a design standpoint (spinning a disc), the complexities of DRM, piracy witch hunts, cripples the product. UPDATE: 5/22/17 So another major misstep happened today in terms of customer support. After going to the trouble to ask me to upload a pdf of my receipt for the 2nd time to receive my REFUND, I arrive home today to discover Sony had indeed sent me another unit. I have upped the review from 1 star to 3 simply because what is now the 3rd UNIT, is working. I did try an alternative hookup with 2 HDMI cables: 1 for video to display, and 1 to receiver for sound. There is a technology called simplink where devices try to talk back and forth via their HDMI connections, and even control one another to an extent. I am wondering if this unit has issues with that. Therefore, I am recommending you connect your device using the 2 HDMI cable method, EVEN IF you have a recent 4K passthrough receiver as I do, (the Denon AVR s920W 7.2 4K ultra HD receiver). This Sony unit struggles with the "pass-through" aspect of the HDMI signal, so just use 2 high speed HDMI cables instead of relying on the hardware's pass through logic. The AmazonBasics HDMI product is excellent and inexpensive. TL;DR clueless and ignornant customer support, am in process of revising review with what is now my 3rd unit.

I am speechless. What a mind-blowing genius of a multi-format player!

Excelente calidad , respuesta inmediata a todas las aplicaciones , la imagen es extraordinaria y el diseño y materiales de primera . 100% recomendable .

Very pleased with it.

Muy buen aparato para apreciar las películas en 4K. Ojalá hubiera más títulos disponibles. Aunque un poco arriba del precio estandar, pero si eres aficionado a la alta resolución, no te arrepientes del gasto.

This is a large, heavy unit but it offers amazing picture quality and other features so as long as you have the space for it, it is definitely worth it for your 4K TV. It loads quickly and is relatively quiet compared to other players. I love the tile based interface and that I can customize my apps displayed. While watching Netflix through it, I was amazed at the vibrancy of the colours as well as all the range of colour shades that I never seemed to notice using other devices. I need to buy more 4k Ultra HD Blue Ray dvds to fully appreciate everything this player offers but regular blue ray dvds also can be played. The remote it comes with is easy to use. I love that it has a Netflix button, this makes it easy to start up Netflix. I also love that you can connect it wirelessly to speakers using the SonyPal app or even to bluetooth headphones. If you make the investment of buying a 4K TV, it makes sense to buy this as well!