Among all these smart and technologically developed TVs that offer a presentation at a 4K quality, we also need DVD players to play them. The new Sony UBP-X800 is a first-class Ultra HD Blu-ray player that costs $200 and offers a top-notch quality that you’ll quickly fall in love with.
The player looks great alongside an AV-receiver. Its all-black aluminum chassis and glass contours really look the part. Oddly, there’s no LED display, which is a slight disappointment, but on the flip side, this leads to a clean, uncluttered look that wouldn’t be out of place in the most snooty of home cinema setups.
Design and connectivity
Despite the lack of display, there’s plenty going for this player in terms of features, though. At the rear is an HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2-enabled video output for all your 4K content plus an HDMI 1.4 audio-only output for devices with single HDMI inputs. You get one coax S/PDIF digital output, plus an Ethernet port and a USB input for media playback at the front beneath the X800’s physical eject and power buttons. Surprisingly, there’s no optical output.
The UBP-X800 has dual-band Wi-Fi for internet connectivity and multiroom streaming via compatible Sony audio products. There’s also Bluetooth transmission for streaming audio directly to wireless speakers and headphones. It also supports LDAC, which means that it’s more capable of producing higher quality sound, but you need to have such compatible headphones or speakers because not all of them able to decode LDAC over Bluetooth, so if you want the perfect and best home system you have to ensure first-class speakers for optimal presentation, too!
What I really like about this player, and shows that the engineers put real effort in the creation of this player, is the design of the remote control. Some of you may not notice it. but I think that it’s an important aspect because if you happen to use the TV often you’ll expect easy and comfortable access. The buttons are small, yet easily located and responsive and there’s a sensible selection of controls, not an overflow of unnecessary complication. There is also a shortcut button for Netflix app and one for your personal favorite, so you can quickly open it with no need of searching and scrolling through the apps list.
Performance and quality
What the Sony UBP-X800 impresses us with is both its audio and video quality, that are incredibly spectacular and responsive. The way it presents images is incredible and shows movie scenes right from the director’s perspective and offers us a whole new kind of experience if you have a full set of home cinema.The detail with High Dynamic Range (HDR) feels deeper and smoother than ever. Combined with the clarity of 4K, HDR allows for a greater range of color contrast and brightness, enhancing details from the original film format.
You’ll love the well-known for its quality Dolby Atmos, that treats sounds as separate objects, releasing them from typical channels to move freely around and even above you, for deeply immersive surround sound. Here comes the fact again, that your audio system should be high-class too. Once you get them you can play literally anything on this player because the UBP-X800 supports a host of master-quality 24-bit audio formats, from AAC and WAV, to DSD 11.2 MHz and more, so there is almost no chance that you could find a file format, that it could not decode and play.
On the other hand, if you can’t afford a set of new speakers, but have high-class headphones, you could use them too and it’d be actually for the better if they are Beats Studio 3 or close to similar to this model. You can use them wirelessly because the player supports Bluetooth connectivity so you can throw yourself directly in the scene. Connect it to your home Wi-Fi and you can browse your favorite YouTube channels or stream the most interesting shows for you or just listen to music of your choice. The sound quality is 24-bit Hi-Res audio and the tracks are promisingly far higher quality than MP3s and even CDs, letting you hear every breath, every drumbeat, every note.
As I already mentioned above, the Sony UBP-X800 costs surprisingly $150 and it’s totally worth the money and will suit any home-cinema system perfectly! You can find more information about it and how the shipping and delivery happens on the product page on Sony’s website.
