Samsung Ubd-m7500 4k Ultra Hd Blu-ray Player Review
Our Verdict
A capable UHD Blu-ray player, but non the best
For
- Speedy loading
- Precipitous pictures
- Virtually affordable UHD Blu-ray player on the market
Against
- Sound and flick need refinement
- No display
- Fiddly remote
What Hullo-Fi? Verdict
A capable UHD Blu-ray role player, but not the best
Pros
- +
Speedy loading
- +
Precipitous pictures
- +
Most affordable UHD Blu-ray player on the market
Cons
- -
Sound and movie need refinement
- -
No display
- -
Fiddly remote
Y'all're at the movie theatre. You sit down to watch the trailers, set downwards your super-sized beverage and begin digging through your bucket of popcorn.
You've been waiting to see this moving picture for ages, and at present it'southward time. Merely it's not all that impressive, because you saw something just like it the other mean solar day. Simply it was better and you can't help comparing.
Let's end stretching that metaphor and talk about the Samsung UBD-K8500, the company's commencement Ultra HD Blu-ray player. We saw a paradigm in Berlin terminal September, and it has finally arrived in our testing rooms.
Simply Panasonic got here first, and the DMP-UB900 blew us away with its vivid thought of what Ultra Hd Blu-rays are capable of. Unfortunately for Samsung, it set the bar very high indeed.
More: Samsung'south 4K Blu-ray player now on sale for £430
Design
No it's not your imagination, the casework really is curved. Why? It's something to practice with all those curved TVs we've been getting over the final couple of years. Assuming you lot take one of those, Samsung would like your Blu-ray player to match.
There are no performance benefits, it's just an aesthetic thing. Our feel with oddly-shaped boxes is that they look silly more apace than 'archetype' boxes – there was a reason Sony abased its geology-chichi Blu-ray players inspired by crystals.
Oh and the curve means you might see the UBD-K8500'south undercarriage peeking out.
MORE: Panasonic DMP-UB900 4K Blu-ray histrion review
The height of the player sports a sheet of metal, which looks and feels nice, but sadly, this doesn't extend to the rest of the player, which is coated in black plastic and feels a lilliputian tacky.
The Panasonic DMP-UB900 is besides liberally coated in plastic, only at least that has a overnice mirrored cease and makes a solid stab at justifying its cost tag.
At that place is no display, just a couple of LEDs blinking at you. With no screen telling you what the histrion is doing, yous don't know whether it's loading, or how much time is left on the picture show.
We might look this from a £90 Blu-ray histrion, simply not ane costing £430. Instead, you get a tacky plastic flap hiding a USB port.
Run into all our Blu-ray player reviews
Around the back, in that location are the essential plugs: power, ethernet, digital optical output and twin HDMI sockets.
That's less well equipped than the Panasonic DMP-UB900, which also offers an SD bill of fare slot and a digital coaxial output, plus a full assortment of multichannel counterpart audio outputs.
More than: Samsung UBD-K8500 Ultra Hard disk drive Blu-ray player receives UHD Premium certification
We round off our bout with a look at the remote control. It's pocket-size and easy to concur, not far from the little 'smart' remotes that come with many of Samsung's fancier TVs. But information technology'south fiddly, particularly in the nighttime.
At that place'due south not much to differentiate the directional keys from the central 'select' button, and y'all'll take a hard time hitting 'pause' in a hurry. Panasonic's backlight feature would accept come in very handy indeed.
Nosotros besides annotation this remote drops the typical AA and AAA batteries for those coin-sized 3V batteries.
Operation
On the whole, though, it'south pretty good to use. This UHD Blu-ray player doesn't lag horribly like the commencement Blu-ray players did. Loading, from the moment the disc tray clicks shut until the disc card appears, takes 30-40 seconds, which is decent, given that regular Blu-rays have about 20.
We did have a couple of glitches involving the picture disappearing, or the automobile crashing altogether. This was sorted out past restarting the automobile, and so we'd put it downward to hiccups, rather than a total-blown personality upshot.
The menu system is clear and piece of cake to navigate. Unlike Panasonic'due south minimalist approach, Samsung has gone for massive tiles, where the selection for playing a UHD Blu-ray takes up a quarter of the screen.
There are separate menus for settings and apps, which include include key video apps such as Netflix and Amazon, both of which allow for 4K streaming through the Samsung.
More than: 4K streaming vs 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray – which is best?
Sound
Fourth dimension to spin some discs, and we put on a UHD Blu-ray of The Martian, which comes with the actor. The opening is a good combination of interior dialogue and exterior action, where Kate Mara and Jessica Chastain talk near weather reports before heading exterior to a sand storm, mixed in a DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack.
But in truth, it's non a great audio performance from Samsung, which lags backside the Panasonic at every turn. The voices ofttimes have a hard edge to them, as practise the sound furnishings, which sound a piddling dynamically flat.
Meanwhile, the Panasonic'due south sound is richer and concentrated, with more than subtlety and detail, which adds a substantial dimensionality to the sound.
The Samsung's audio is also not as spacious, nor as dynamic. The sand storm never really feels as deadly every bit it should, and when Matt Damon is struck by a satellite, the impact never feels that strong. When the Panasonic does information technology yet, you lot fright for his condom.
MORE: Philips set up to release 4K Ultra Hd Blu-ray thespian
Movie
When it comes to video, the difference between the Samsung and Panasonic isn't quite as much of a chasm. On the whole, the Samsung puts out a proficient 4K picture with impressive clarity.
Information technology does a adept job with HDR (High Dynamic Range) material too, showing off extra detail in the shadows and providing a expert range of colours.
But the Panasonic notwithstanding retains the edge. The Samsung puts out a proficient amount of vibrancy in its hues, but they are not as rich as on the Panasonic, which is also meliorate at shading and providing a sense of depth.
As for Blu-rays and DVDs, the Samsung handles them with confidence, just information technology's the same deal with Panasonic offer a petty more in subtlety of shading and edge definition.
A last note on compatibility: you lot tin play 3D Blu-ray, merely not SACD and DVD-A.
MORE: HDR Boob tube: What is it? How can y'all go it?
Verdict
Overall, the Samsung UBD-K8500 is something of a thwarting. Nosotros have been very excited about 4K Blu-rays, but nosotros don't feel that this actor gets the most out of our discs.
Nosotros tin can't imagine a scenario where we'd recommend it over the Panasonic DMP-UB900, despite the price reward.
UHD Blu-rays be to give yous the very all-time picture and sound you tin become right at present. If that's what y'all're afterward, we'd suggest looking elsewhere.
Source: https://www.whathifi.com/samsung/ubd-k8500/review
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