Fastest Blu-ray player we’ve ever seen

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In 2014, after selling millions of iPads, Apple found that sales are starting to peter out. One reason, according to CEO Tim Cook, is that people don’t tend to upgrade their tablets as often as other electronics.

If Apple sold Blu-ray players it would have said the same thing about the disk spinners a few years ago. If you already have a player there is little reason to upgrade, but Samsung and its BD-H6500 provide one compelling improvement. While disk playback quality has stayed consistent across different players regardless of price for several years, the focus is now on features and interface speed.

The BD-H6500 is the quickest player we’ve ever seen and also one of the most feature-laden for the money. While few will use the 4K upscaler — 4K TVs have perfectly good ones for the most part — the ability to instantly switch between playing a Blu-ray and Netflix is eminently useful. Additionally if you have Samsung’s Shape multiroom system the BD-H6500 can act as a source, which might be cool if you have a concert Blu-ray or DVD you want to stream around the house.

As good as it is though, if you want to save some money though then the BD-H5900 does without a couple of these features and goes for an even more palatable $90, likely making it the superior value. Look out for our review of the follow-up to last year’s Editors’ Choice soon.

Design


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While most Blu-ray players look the same, just as with DVD players and VHS decks before them, Samsung puts enough of a twist on its players to stand out. The most identifiable tweak is the single curved edge which doesn’t look much from front-on but is more impressive viewed from above. Given that the controls are on the top of the unit this is how it should be displayed: on top of a cabinet or TV unit and not under other components.

The player is a little smaller than the standard “full rack width” of 17.75 by 14.2 inches (0.45 meter by 0.4 meter), but still wider than the almost half-height Sony players, like the BDP-S3200. The Samsung’s size is otherwise typical at 1.6 inches high and 7.7 inches deep (4.1cm by 20cm).


Sarah Tew/CNET

The remote control is friendly and sensibly set out, but interestingly missing the Netflix shortcut of last year’s model. Even using the older remote’s Netflix button doesn’t work on this Blu-ray player any more.

The menu system is unchanged from other Samsung electronics — white text on a blue backgrounds — but the Home interface is different from last year. It’s now a little busier and in many ways mimics the company’s Smart TV interfaces, but the added complexity doesn’t translate to better user-friendliness. While there are now shortcuts to apps on the main page these aren’t as easy to configure as LG’s own smart interface.

Features

Most Blu-ray players these days are at the sub-$100 mark, with the few that do pop above charging for the privilege of 4K upscaling. At $130, it’s a given that the BD-H6500 will upscale Blu-rays and other sources to 4K resolution. (The H6500 is also available in the UK for £120 and in Australia for AU$170.) But whether you want this or even need it is another matter: all 4K TVs include some form of upscaling, and mostly of a better quality.

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