Best Blu-ray player for 2021 – CNET [CNET]

There are some good reasons to watch movies on the humble Blu-ray player — even in the streaming age. A hardware player offers the best image and sound quality available, thanks to the enhanced storage capacities of Blu-ray discs. There are two types of discs available: 1080p Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray. Getting a 4K player will let you play both kinds and give you access to formats like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, DTS:X and HDR10. Streaming problems like bandwidth caps, dropouts or buffering are nonexistent. But if you somehow want those, most Blu-ray players can also stream Netflix (some even in 4K), while all of them will play your DVD and CD collections, too. 

Current gaming consoles like the high-end PS5 and the Xbox Series X can play both Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays, in addition to the latest games. And if you don’t have a 4K TV, and a library of only regular Blu-rays, you can save money by buying a 1080p-only player like the Sony BDP-3700.