With Sony seemingly exiting the 4K Blu-ray player game, and then again, once the next-generation PlayStation presumably launches without a disc drive, there are slim pickings for the rest of us. It’s not all gloom and doom, though, because there are new players still hitting the market. The problem is that they are coming from brands you probably don’t recognize, and it’s tough to justify pulling the trigger on something unknown.
The good news is that you don’t have to do that if you’re looking for an affordable 4K Blu-ray player. If you’re willing to look into the past, which you should be because that’s where the good players are, then you can find some nice and cheap ones. Something you might not have thought of is an old game console. Many people use their Xbox and PlayStation as a 4K Blu-ray player, and a big part of that is convenience. Gaming is as big as it’s ever been, so people are more likely to have a console in their living room rather than a 4K player. Fortunately, the modern Xbox and PlayStation can handle 4K discs. What you might not know is that the older Xbox One S can also do it, and it doesn’t break the bank.
The clock’s ticking, however, and people are either catching on or they’re becoming nostalgic for the Xbox One generation. I’ll admit that this wasn’t my favorite Xbox generation, but that’s not the case for everyone. At the time of this writing, you can find an Xbox One S on eBay for under $100, and that’s a great deal on something that not only plays games, but 4K UHD discs as well. This was also my entry point into the world of 4K Blu-ray, so I have a soft spot for it.
An Xbox might be your best bet for an affordable 4K player
Easy to find still
It’s interesting to note that the PS4 and PS4 Pro aren’t capable of playing 4K Blu-ray discs, despite the latter console boasting about 4K resolution all the time over its lifespan. Meanwhile, Microsoft was a little ahead of the curve here with the Xbox One X and its budget-friendly sibling, the One S, both being able to handle a 4K Blu-ray disc. At the time, it didn’t feel like it meant much, especially since the format was still in its infancy. Fast-forward to today, and we’re officially over a decade into the 4K UHD life cycle, and having a console that can play these discs feels a lot more important.
That’s good news for people who bought a current-gen when they released, but I don’t know if you’ve checked the price of one of those consoles lately. The PS5 and Xbox Series X have only increased in price since they came out, so I wouldn’t really recommend one for strictly playing 4K discs anymore. I’m honestly not sure if I’d even recommend them for playing games, because I can think of much better ways to spend $700 these days. Nevertheless, that leaves people without an affordable and convenient 4K Blu-ray player with consoles being so expensive.
This is why picking up a used Xbox One S is a nice middle ground that’s easy to find and affordable. The only issue you’re going to run into here is you need to connect it to the internet to download the Blu-ray player app to start watching things. That’s different that your typical Blu-ray player where it’s just plug and play, so keep that in mind. It was rather annoying when I set up my Xbox One X in the basement for my new TV to play movies only to realize I had to connect it to the internet and update it.
Get a player while you can
Prices are rough out there
If you look at the landscape of 4K Blu-ray players, you’ll notice that they have been increasing for a few years now. That’s common with a lot of electronics, so it’s not just physical media that’s getting more expensive. Fortunately, TVs have largely been immune to this, and I grabbed a 75-inch Mini-LED for under $1,000. Your TV is usually going to be the most expensive part of your physical media setup, but dropping $300 on a player is a tough pill to swallow.
This is why the Xbox hits a nice price point, at least until it goes up in price along with everything else. If you do grab an Xbox or another game console as your main player, you have to be aware of some of the limitations. The big one is the fact that there’s no Dolby Vision support on any console. It’s weird because your modern Xbox and PlayStation consoles both support Dolby Vision for games, but not for movies or TV shows. It’s not the end of the world since you can still get HDR10, and that’s still a huge step-up over SDR. A standalone player is what you’ll need to target for Dolby Vision. If that’s something that doesn’t interest you, or your TV doesn’t support it, then an Xbox One S is arguably the best budget player you can get.
