Here’s something I didn’t expect to read about in 2025: the launch of not one but two brand new high-end Blu-ray players, as well as a new model from Sony.
Launching new Blu-ray players may seem weird when everybody’s supposedly streaming, and plenty of firms have exited the market for Blu-ray hardware. But as with vinyl and CDs, I think there’s a growing awareness that Blu-ray discs deliver a lot of benefits that are well worth having.
1. Blu-rays are yours forever
I went to stream a movie for the kids the other day only to discover that it’s gone from the streamers I subscribe to.
Rights expire and streamers often prune their catalogues, some of them very aggressively. And that means you can never be sure that what you want to see is going to be available on the service(s) you subscribe to.
2. Nobody’s going to insert annoying ads
What worries me isn’t so much the existence of ad-supported streaming tiers – I subscribe to some of them – but the addition of ads to previously ad-free ones, or even worse: the end of ad-free streaming altogether.
That’s not me being paranoid; streaming is a saturated market now, streaming feels more like the cable TV it was supposed to do away with, and platforms are looking for ever more ways to sell ad space including ads when you pause playback. My Blu-ray player doesn’t do that.
3. They won’t ask for more money when you want to play them
You can add another item to Ben Franklin’s famous “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”: streaming services hiking their prices.
A Blu-ray is a one-off purchase and then it’s yours forever and always available. And that one-off purchase price is doing what streaming prices don’t: it’s getting cheaper.
4. Discs are incredibly cheap now
Even buying brand new Blu-ray is a lot cheaper than it used to be. For example, at the time of writing, the 4K Steelbook edition of Mission Impossible 2 (and several other MI movies) is just £14.99 in the UK (around $20 / AU$30), and so is a nice reissue of True Romance; there are tons of decent titles on multiple reputable retailers for less than £20 (about $27 / AU$40).
Live Blu-rays of my favorite musical artists are typically under £20 too. And there are often sales that make them even cheaper: just a few weeks ago in the UK HMV did a huge sale on Blu-rays that took 20% off the prices of some of our very favorite films.
5. Pre-owned movies are an even bigger bargain
If you don’t want to buy new, then pre-owned is definitely the way to go. I’m scanning the racks of one resale site and there are tons of Blu-rays for £1.99 apiece ($2.70 / AU$4), cheaper than I can rent them digitally.
There are tons of blockbusters for £2.99, and various deals such as two Blu-rays for £5 or 3 for £8. That’s not much money for a lot of movies.
6. Blu-ray is better for movies – and magic for music
TL;DR – 3 reasons to back Blu-ray
1. Streaming isn’t forever
Streaming services are constantly pruning their catalog as licences expire or they just decide to remove less popular titles. That means you can’t be sure specific movies will be available to stream in the future.
2. Discs are really cheap now
The cost of pre-owned Blu-Rays has plummeted, with stacks of blockbuster movies available for less than the cost of a coffee. New, sealed discs are also relatively cheap – check out our five new favorites that have entered our TV testing rotation.
3. You have the hardware
You don’t necessarily need to buy a Blu-ray player to enjoy Blu-ray titles – although dedicated players can be really great in your home cinema setup. Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 play Blu-rays too.
Even the highest-quality streaming tiers use compressed file formats, and that means some of the information is lost in the compression between the master copy and your home cinema or TV setup (and more can be lost if your internet connection is congested).
As a rule of thumb, a 4K stream gives you roughly the same data throughput as a 1080p Blu-ray – and of course a 4K Blu-ray gives you the full uncompressed 4K. Audio soundtracks are uncompressed, too.
If like me your idea of a good time is watching a live recording of your favorite musical acts, that means you’re missing a crucial part of the experience if you stick with streaming.
We’ve tested it, and definitely found a difference between the sound of streaming and the sound of Blu-rays. In the example of John Wick 4 above, the Blu-ray (right) had deeper black levels and stronger colors compared to the Prime Video version (left).
7. They’re outage-proof and you can take them anywhere
My broadband was down for six hours today. During that time I could have watched two Blu-rays, or streamed absolutely nothing.
Physical media is also portable and shareable (and sellable): if you lend a friend one of your treasured Blu-rays, they’re not going to get a message on their TV telling them they can’t watch it because they’re not a member of your household. And portable players can be life-savers for parents taking the kids on long trips.
8. You get more good stuff
Streaming doesn’t usually come with special features. Blu-rays do, often very generously in the case of remasters and special editions.
So if you want to go behind the scenes of The Toxic Avenger or have a copy of This Is Spinal Tap that goes up to eleven on the features front, discs are the medium for you.
9. You don’t even need to buy a player…
If you’ve got a PlayStation 5 (the one with the disc drive) or an Xbox Series X you don’t even need to spend money on hardware: both consoles play Blu-rays, albeit with the odd minor issue such as the Xbox only supporting Dolby Vision in games and giving you plain old HDR10 for discs.
Still, if you do buy a separate player, it’ll really show off your system. If you’ve got one of the best 4K TVs teamed up with the best soundbars or best AV receivers and speakers, then Blu-ray is the best way to see and hear your system at its best: uncompressed 4K on a 4K TV and uncompressed audio into a high quality audio setup is bottled sunshine.
The best 4K Blu-ray players for all budgets
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