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Cinematic nirvana from the comfort of your living room

If you want the best picture and audio for movies without making a trip to the cinema (or, alternatively, you just want to dodge the latest Netflix price hike), then 4K Blu-ray is the way to go. The format is one of our favourite ways to enjoy high-res movies without relying on streaming sites, whether you're watching Ryan Gosling rolling about in The Gray Man, immersing yourself in the bleak darkness of The Batman or reliving a classic like The Godfather.

The best 4K Blu-ray players give you unrivalled video resolution and sound performance, especially when wired up to one of the best 4K TVs and a crisp soundbar, and if you really want to go extra you can always bring the cinema experience home by connecting them to a 4K projector, or even a portable projector. Trust us, once you’ve beamed a 120-inch image right onto your living room wall, you won’t go back. Put simply, no home theatre setup worth its salt is complete without a 4K Blu-ray player.

Not sure where to start? Our picks for the best 4K Blu-ray players are perfect if you’re after an ultra-sharp image, sleek design, booming audio and streaming features. So whether your shelves are already full of Blu-rays or (like us) you’re patiently waiting for Top Gun: Maverick to release so you can play it on repeat while debating whether you should grow a moustache (yes), here are the best 4K Blu-ray players you can buy in 2022:

Even in the age of streaming, physical media is far from dead, as those of us who contributed to the 21 million Blu-ray and DVD sales in the UK last year already know. From turntables to CD players, we reckon picture and audio quality often trumps convenience, and relying on a Blu-ray player means you won’t have to worry about internet issues ruining a movie night or a film disappearing from the cloud.

Most 4K Blu-ray players these days cost around £200 to £300 and come from Sony, LG or Panasonic, but you will easily pay more if you want a model for a home theatre setup. Still don’t know your coaxial cable from your High Dynamic Range (HDR)? There’s a guide under our recommendations that translates the jargon.

Available at Amazon, Panasonic and John Lewis

If you’re a cinephile with a huge Blu-ray collection and want a player to sit at the heart of your home theatre setup, check out the DP-UB9000. It’s easily our most expensive pick, but the spec sheet reads like a wish list of everything you could want: Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+, 4K upscaling, voice control, streaming platforms and a wealth of ports to connect audio and video HDMIs, internet and a sound system.

Its sturdy build quality is our favourite out of any model on our list, with thick aluminium panels on the front and sides paired with a steel plate mounted to the drive that reduces small vibrations that can impact how you hear the audio. The DP-UB9000 will proudly sit on display in your living room beside your turntable, and is the best way to enjoy a 4K cinematic experience from the comfort of your own home.

Dimensions: 43 x 8.1 x 30 cm Weight: 7.8 kg Multi-region for Blu-ray/DVD: Yes HDR: HDR10+, Dolby Vision Built-in Wifi: Yes Built-in Streaming: Yes Voice Assistance: Compatible with Google Assistant, Alexa Connectivity: HDMI x2, Optical, Coaxial, Analogue, Ethernet Remote Control: Yes

Available at John Lewis, Amazon, Sony and Richer Sounds

If you need a sleek 4K Blu-ray player that blends seamlessly with your 4K TV setup but still offers stunning visual clarity, the UBP-X800M2 is for you. We love that it has Bluetooth, so you can pair your favourite wireless headphones and avoid annoying your housemates. Or do the opposite: connect a booming soundbar to enjoy room-filling audio.

It goes without saying that the 4K quality is stunning for movies, but if you feel tempted by Netflix or Prime both apps come pre-installed for streaming via wifi. We 're big fans of the matte black design on the top and bottom that will appeal to anyone who dislikes the chunkier aesthetic of the DP-UB9000 above. Believe us, this player looks great whether it’s on a cabinet, hooked up to an AV receiver or peeking from under your TV stand.

There’s no HDR10+ (which is a slightly fancier way of showing colour depth on a 4K telly) but most eyes won’t notice a huge difference, and this remains a top pick.

Dimensions: 43 x 5 x 26.5 cm Weight: 3.8 kg Multi-region for Blu-ray/DVD: No HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision Built-in Wifi: Yes Built-in Streaming: Yes Voice Assistance: No Connectivity: HDMI x2, Coaxial, USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth Remote Control: Yes

Available at Amazon, Richer Sounds and Panasonic

If you want to spend your money on growing your Blu-ray collection rather than on the player itself, Panasonic’s DP-UB150EB is the most affordable option on our list. It gives you the top picture and audio credentials you expect from a 4K model, but it has a price tag of well under £200. You get HDR10+ for fantastic brightness and colour quality during movies, and you can also connect a 4K camera or 4K camcorder to show off high resolution videos and images taken during your latest adventures. The port selection is no-frills, there’s no wifi and the design is a bit uninspired, but it’s a great value choice.

Dimensions: 32 x 4.6 x 19.3 cm Weight: 1.2 kg Multi-region for Blu-ray/DVD: No HDR: HDR10+ Built-in Wifi: No Built-in Streaming: No Voice Assistance: No Connectivity: HDMI x1, USB x1, Ethernet Remote Control: Yes

Available at John Lewis, Currys, Argos, Sony and Amazon

A more affordable alternative to the X800 above, Sony’s X700 4K Blu-ray player is smaller and lighter than its slightly more expensive sibling – with one of the main differences being that it lacks Bluetooth so wirelessly pairing soundbars and smart speakers will require going through your telly settings.

This is a top all-rounder, though, ideal for anyone who is new to the world of 4K Blu-rays or who needs a compact device with a handy selection of pre-installed streaming apps, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and YouTube.

Rear port selection is solid, if not huge, coming with a coaxial audio output, two HDMI outs and an ethernet slot – alongside a single USB port at the front. It has wifi and 4K upscaling capabilities to enhance and sharpen any non-4K Blu-ray discs or DVDs (given your 4K TV also supports that) plus both HDR10 and Dolby Vision to make the colours on the screen pop. Want to show off your 3D Blu-rays? It does that, too.

Dimensions: 32 x 4.5 x 21.7 cm Weight: 1.4 kg Multi-region for Blu-ray/DVD: No HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision Built-in Wifi: Yes Built-in Streaming: Yes Voice Assistance: No Connectivity: HDMI x2, USB x1, Coaxial, Ethernet Remote Control: Yes

Available at Currys, LG and Richer Sounds

The LG UBK90 is similar to other models around the £200 price point on this list, including the UBP-X700 above, but we think it stands out due to its sleek and minimalist design, with a longer and more slimline frame that will look fantastic sitting beside or under your 4K telly. It’s a no-fuss model, with four buttons on the front and a handful of ports to the rear, but it comes with a pleasant user interface and super-fast start-up and disc loading times. This will slot very nicely into your home setup without drawing too much attention.

Dimensions: 43 x 4.55 x 20.5 cm Weight: 1.92 kg Multi-region for DVD: No HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision Built-in Wifi: Yes Built-in Streaming: Yes Voice Assistance: No Connectivity: HDMI x2, USB x1, Optical, Ethernet Remote Control: Yes

Check availability at Amazon, Very, GAME and Sony

So you want to relax after hours of dying over and over again in Elden Ring? Sit back and pour yourself a cold one, because your PS5 is also a fully-fledged 4K Blu-ray player too. That’s right, as long as you have the disc edition you can watch movies in gloriously high resolution without needing to fumble around switching TV inputs.

Given that the PS5 is a next-gen gaming machine and also has easy access to all the major streaming services, this is actually one of the best all-in-one Blu-ray setups you can buy in 2022 – if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one, of course. For the best Blu-ray specs – such as HDR10+ and Dolby Vision – and audio port selection, you’re still better going for the Panasonic DP-UB9000 at the top of our list or the more affordable Panasonic UB820 directly below, but for the sheer simplicity, it's a great choice.

Dimensions: 39 x 10.4 x 26 cm Weight: 4.5kg Multi-region for DVD: No HDR: HDR10 Built-in Wifi: Yes Built-in Streaming: Yes Voice Assistance: No Connectivity: HDMI x2, USB x3, Bluetooth, Ethernet Remote Control: Optional

Available at John Lewis, Amazon, Currys and Panasonic

Blu-ray purist? Say hello to the UB820. It takes many of the best features of the much more expensive Panasonic DP-UB9000 at the top of our list – particularly the stunning 4K quality. But for us, the standout feature is its impressive handling of HDR on your 4K telly. It supports every type – Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+ – and has the smarts to up brightness and contrast based on how much light is in the room.

There’s a multitude of rear ports – but comes in at a fraction of the price. It has the exact same Hollywood Cinema Experience (HCX) picture processor, too, which is a jargon-heavy way of saying the picture will look fantastic, bright and vivid.

The UB820 costs more than some others on this list, including another of our favourites, the Sony UBP-X800M, but we think it’s worth the extra pounds. The remote has a button to launch either Alexa and Google Assistant for hands-free control, and wifi comes as standard. There’s also an ethernet port for even better quality when watching Netflix and Prime, which can both be launched directly from the box and used to play 4K movies.

Dimensions: 43 x 6.2 x 20.4 cm Weight: 2.2 kg Multi-region for DVD: No HDR: HRD10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision Built-in Wifi: Yes Built-in Streaming: Yes Voice Assistance: Compatible with Google Assistant/Alexa Connectivity: HDMI x2, USB x2, Optical, Analogue, Ethernet Remote Control: Yes

You want to make sure your 4K Blu-ray player will be able to give you top picture and sound quality, so here’s what you need to consider when picking one up in 2022:

Budget: You will pay around £200 to £300 for a 4K Blu-ray player from Panasonic, Sony or LG – three of the trusted brands still pumping out these devices. The most affordable on our list costs £160 so it’s possible to get 4K without paying the big bucks, but if you want a player to pair with a home theatre setup – think multiple external speakers and a large 4K TV – spending between £800 and £1500 is entirely possible.

Port selection: Have a look on the front and back of the Blu-ray player to see what ports you will have available. You will always get at least one HDMI port that’s used to wire it directly to your 4K TV, but some players have two and this is so you can separate video output and audio output. Video out should be at least HDMI 2.0 and this goes into your telly, while audio out goes through your home theatre (or AV) receiver. What does that mean? You can use it to get the best sound quality possible. Will you hear the difference if you already have a banging 4K telly? Possibly not. Staying on audio for a second, you may also see ports for coaxial audio – to send sounds via an external speaker system – or optical audio, which connects to an amplifier or soundbar. Aside from HDMIs, check for an ethernet port that can be used to connect the player to your router – this gives you the best signal when streaming. Most 4K players have wifi built-in, but this may not always be stable enough to enjoy screenings without interruption.

HDR: This stands for High Dynamic Range. There’s a lot of TV jargon here, so let’s break it down. HDR boosts the contrast of your movies, so the black sections are darker and the white sections are brighter. Why? The picture quality looks better defined, and with much more depth. Whether you notice a big difference will always depend on the quality of your 4K TV, as models with better brightness show better HDR results. Only 4K Blu-rays show this effect, you won't see it when using standard 1080p Blu-rays.For the sake of your sanity, here are the three main types you will see on the box and need to look out for. HDR10 is the common standard and applies to most 4K tellys, but there are also two slightly better types: HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. These make the results of HDR even better as they adjust the quality frame-by-frame of the movie. Not every 4K TV or AV receiver handles all three, so check your specs before you buy. And… breathe.

Don’t forget, you will want to keep money aside to actually buy some 4K Blu-rays, and these usually sell for between £12 and £25. Not sure where else to pick up the latest movies, TV seasons and documentaries in high res? Here’s where you can buy them: • Buy 4K Blu-rays at Amazon • Buy 4K Blu-rays at HMV • Buy 4K Blu-rays at Music Magpie • Buy 4K Blu-rays at Warner Bros • Buy 4K Blu-rays at Zavvi

As you can probably tell, we love physical media here at Esquire. Popping a disc into a top 4K Blu-ray player may not be as convenient as scrolling through the vast library of movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime, but cinephiles and audiophiles always get the best viewing experience and sound quality using pairing a top 4K player with a high-end 4K telly, and letting the soundtrack boom out from an external speaker system.

Aside from resolution, there are other pros to physical movie media. First, you actually own it, rather than relying on a streaming service to host it (often temporarily) and second, your internet connection suddenly going down without warning won’t ruin your evening.

But we are not about to claim streaming is bad. While they may charge more for the luxury, most of the big platforms offer 4K content, and you can’t argue that after a long day or work the last thing you may want to do is mess around with audio cables or hear the faint hum of a Blu-ray player in the background. You will see debates about bitrate and compression, but when it comes down to it, sometimes convenience wins.

Here’s the good news: you can have the best of both worlds. Most 4K Blu-ray players have streaming services like Netlflix and Prime built-in, so let’s all just get along.

Thankfully, not for 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays – discs will work regardless of where you bought them and any 4K player accepts any 4K Blu-ray disc. Nice and simple.

Region codes are used for standard 1080p Blu-rays and DVDs. This restricts the movie from playing when used in a different region than it was made. For example, a DVD bought during your weekend in New York won’t play when you get home to the UK.

Want a lesson in region coding? You’re in the right place, but let’s keep it brief. Standard 1080p Blu-rays come in Region A (Americas), B (Europe and Middle East) and C (Asia, Russia, rest of world). DVDs are classed in pretty much the same way, from regions one to eight. What does this mean for you? When you’re buying a 4K player, consider if you want it for non-4K Blu-rays or DVDs. If so, make sure it’s labelled as “multi-region.”

Yes, all 4K Blu-ray players will also play standard 1080p Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs, although they won’t magically make your image quality suddenly become on the same level as a 4K disc, regardless of what upscaling claims are made on the box. You will be disappointed if you try to watch a 4K disc using a 1080p player. That doesn’t work. The same goes if you plug a 4K player into a 1080p TV, the image will work, but it’s downgraded to match the resolution of the telly. A 4K Blu-ray player needs a 4K TV.