Finally, Blu-ray Fans Get Some Rare Good News With Sony’s Latest Announcement

After more than five years, Sony is getting back in the game.

Published March 14, 2025

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For fans of Blu-rays, the physical media format, there hasn’t been much good news lately.

In the past several months, Sony announced that after an 18-year run, it would stop producing recordable Blu-ray discs. And LG revealed it would stop production of its own Blu-ray players, joining the likes of Samsung and Oppo to do the same.

And even though sales have ebbed and flowed in recent years, typically coinciding with the release of a popular film, like Dune 2 or Oppenheimer, Blu-rays’ popularity has mostly declined. In 2024, DVD and Blu-ray sales dropped 26 percent from the previous year, according to reports.

But alas, a beacon of light. As reported by What Hi-Fi?, Sony is releasing its first new 4K Blu-ray player in over five years … however, there’s a bit of a catch.

Blu-Rays — Sony is releasing its first Blu-ray player in over five years.

Sony extends a lifeline

The upcoming Sony UBP-X700/K is a new version of the company’s UBP-X700, which has existed since 2019. It costs $260, but it is deeply discounted right now.

The Sony UBP-X700/K looks identical to its predecessor and functions largely the same. It can play UHD and standard Blu-ray discs, as well as DVDs. It supports the latest audio (such a DTS:X and Dolby Atmos) and visual (such as HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR) technologies, too. It even comes with the same remote.

But as pointed out by FlatpanelsHD, the Sony UBP-X700/K lacks some features that its predecessor. Most notably, it lacks built-in Wi-Fi and therefore doesn’t support video or music streaming services.

This probably isn’t that big of a deal, however, because since the Sony UBP-X700 was released, most people now have smart TVs and separate media streamers that give them the same functionality.

The other tradeoff has to do with price.

Price and availability

Sony hasn’t announced the official pricing of its newest Blu-ray player, but according to reports, it will likely cost 25 percent more than its predecessor. This would put the Sony UBP-X700/K at over $300.

Losing features but increasing the price? Feels like a bit of a bummer.

As far as availability, the Sony UBP-X700/K is expected to hit shelves sometime in April or May.