Best Blu-ray DVD players 2024: Which? Best Buys and expert buying advice

The most important feature of a Blu-ray player is that it plays your films and TV shows in the best picture quality. Despite being expensive when they first launched, Blu-ray players are now much more affordable, with some as cheap as £50.

The best Blu-ray players will all make your favourite films look crystal clear and sound great without the buffering you can experience when streaming online video. 

We've picked out five of the top models available right now from top brands like Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic; we've also highlighted some that scored abysmally in our tests, and you should steer well clear of.

To see all the models we've tested, head to our Blu-ray player reviews.

Best Blu-ray DVD players

Only logged-in Which? members can view our recommendations in the table below. If you’re not yet a member, join Which? to get instant access.

Table last updated April 2024

Blu-ray DVD players to avoid

Table last updated April 2024

Types of Blu-ray DVD players

4K Ultra HD

While you might have heard of 8K TVs, 4K is the latest standard of image quality when it comes to Blu-ray players. It’s an incredible four times sharper than Full HD, displaying content in a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. It’s worth bearing in mind that to get the benefits of high quality viewing with 4K UHD, you’ll need a 4K-ready TV and 4K Blu-ray discs.

Standard Full HD

It might not be as advanced as 4K UHD but Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) is still a good resolution for watching your favourite films or TV shows, allowing you to see the tiniest details in content that you’re watching.

Games consoles

You may not have known that some games consoles come with Blu-ray players pre-installed into the device. The most popular consoles, the Xbox and PlayStation, both have this feature.

How much should you spend on a Blu-ray player?

The amount of money you spend on a Blu-ray player depends a lot on the kinds of features that you want. The cheapest models with limited capabilities can cost less than £100, while more advanced players such as those with smart features could set you back £300 or more.

One thing to consider is the cost of fully enjoying these types of features. 4K Blu-ray discs tend to be more expensive than standard Blu-rays so you’ll need to decide whether you'll really use these features in the long term. 

Best Blu-ray player features to look out for

Smart features

Most Blu-ray players will come with smart features. The most basic of these will be catch-up TV and streaming apps such as BBC iPlayer and Channel 4, but some brands have app stores where you can download additional apps. Most of these will be wi-fi enabled, so they will connect to your home network wirelessly, although some cheaper or older models will need to be physically attached to your internet router with a network cable.

Many players also allow you to use screen mirroring so you can show video and music from other devices on your TV.

Discover which smart models excelled among our Blu-ray player reviews.

Wi-fi connectivity

Some players come with a built-in wi-fi connection. This is useful if you want smart features but don’t want to trail network cables around your house. 

Audio outputs

Most of the cheaper players will output sound through their HDMI port. This is sufficient for most people’s home cinema needs, but if you want to connect your player to a more sophisticated setup you may want to go for one that has a digital optical or digital coaxial output.

4K upscaling

Not all Blu-ray players display discs in native 4K UHD (meaning the input resolution is already 3840x2160, also known as 4K) as a standard function, but some will allow you to upscale picture quality to 4K. This means that your Full HD content will be turned into as close as 4K as possible, giving it additional detail for even better viewing.

3D Blu-ray films

3D-ready Blu-ray players are fairly common and many of those we test can play 3D discs. With this capability, you’ll be able to bring action to life with 3D effects. It’s worth considering that to view 3D content, you will need a 3D-capable TV. 

Good for DVDs

It's easy to overlook DVD quality, and not all Blu-ray players handle DVDs the same way. If you have a large DVD collection then make sure you find a Blu-ray player that receives a good rating for DVD standard definition (SD) picture quality in our tests.

We test DVD quality on every single Blu-ray player we review, so even if you just want a cheap model to play DVDs we can tell you which will do any disc justice.

What makes a brilliant Blu-ray DVD player

When we test Blu-ray players we make sure that we've got all angles covered, so that when you buy one you can do so with confidence. Of course we rate the picture and sound quality, but Which?'s unique testing goes deeper than that. To find out more, see our guide on how we test Blu-ray players