Customer Ratings & Reviews

Works perfect with everything I've thrown at it. Biggest reason I bought this instead of using my PS5 was Dolby Vision support. DV works great with my LG C2. Never had any issues with movies skipping or refusing to play, which I've heard complaints on with other players (and I've experienced before on my Series X). Works with every format I've thrown at it, DV and HDR10 4K discs, standard HD Blu-Rays, and I'm pretty sure I've played a regular DVD on it. Also supports all the audio formats like Dolby TrueHD/Atmos, DTS: X and MA HD, etc. If you have an older AV Reciever that doesn't support 4K or HDR, the second HDMI output that you can use for just the audio could save you from needing to upgrade your AVR (though my AVR is newer and I don't need that). Also you don't have to go in the settings to change between Dolby Vision and HDR10, it automatically chooses the correct one based on the movie. I've heard the Sony players have that issue for some reason. If you want a player that "just works", buy this one. Yes it's more expensive than other ones, but I'm expecting it to last me a long time so I can't complain.

Was in the market for a UHD disc player, and it came down to this one or one of the Sonys (if Oppo still made their player, that would've been the obvious choice, but such is life...). Advantage of the Sony was it plays SACD (which this does not), which I don't do a *lot* but do have some and listen to them on occasion. Decision came down to (1) reading a lot of reviews of problems/returns/breakdowns of the Sony line, and (2) extremely positive reviews of the tone mapping capabilities of this unit. Has performed exactly as advertised, no complaints. It is a little pricy relative to some of the competition, and I'm ultimately not sure whether its proprietary tone mapping is worth the difference, since I haven't owned other UHD players to compare to it. However I can say its onboard mapping performed better than letting my TV (LG OLED) do the mapping entirely itself, and the player has worked seamlessly since purchase. So perfectly satisfied with the product, just not sure about the value. That said, give the fairly small universe of players in the market still seems like a decent value to get something that performs well and is reliable - and I still have a functional old Pioneer SACD player for those occasions I need it! UHD HDR discs look AMAZING, and even my HD blurays look better than they did being upscaled by the TV instead of processed in here first. I will say the menus and setup are not the most straightforward, especially since the labelings are confusing, and I found certain settings seem to only be available in certain scenarios (like some things you need to set with no disc in, some only with a UHD disc in, some with a non-UHD disc, etc.). Would highly recommend downloading a copy of the manual to refer to during setup just to explain what some of the menu options mean. (once everything's set up it works fine. Remote seems okay; used it during setup then have just relied on a universal remote since.) (I have *not* used any of the streaming features so cannot comment on those, this is a review strictly based on its disc-playing capabilities).

The clarity on dolby vision disc is amazing which is an understatement. The sound coming from soundbar system sounds much weightier than my former sony player, giving new life to the movies previously watched numerous times. It is the player’s processor that allows these features. Very impressed.

I've owned the Panasonic UB820-k for almost two years now and still haven't been able to use it to its fullest potential as I haven't upgraded to a 4K TV, but it has been my go-to player not just for the 4K discs I have, which can be played for the 1080p TV I do own, but Blu-rays as well. I love the number of options it has, how it can show you the bitrate for the audio and picture second-by-second, and I can't wait to properly use it when I set up a new TV. My main gripes would be with the remote. It is good in that it has a lot of buttons, is sturdy, etc. but the button placement can be annoying with them so close together on a small remote--I have a similarly designed Panasonic remote from my old VHS-DVD recorder that is 30% bigger with maybe 10% more buttons. In the case here, it is easy to hit the wrong button and have had the Netflix app open several times when I was trying to hit the top arrow or it opens the Internet section when I was trying to bring up the playback info. A backlight would easily help with that, and, given the amount of this player, would be a nice little detail they could add. Still, I'd recommend it as the base level 4K player to invest in if you really care about the picture, the access to Dolby Vision and HDR10+, as a 4K disc collector. I haven't needed to use the warranty at all but totally recommend you pay for that added insurance. I bought this unit from Best Buy because they had a couple more years coverage that I could buy with the player than other retailers.

This is the one. Really though. I'm not going to try to spit out fancy cinefile jargon or technical data...Plenty of others have already done that. Moving from a faulty Sony UBP-X800 to this has been eye opening. Literally. It feels like putting glasses on for the first time. The sound is a major improvement too. Don't hesitate if you are thinking of buying this. And certainly don't buy the Sony- Its riddled with problems.

I've had this 4k bluray player for over a year now and I could not help but still gush over its performance..upscaling, compatibility with all major formats, especially Dolby Vision and HDR10+..what else could you want? And for the price below 500.00 it's the player to beat in its price range and dare, I say it...more. If you're a film aficionado, there's no better player that could play your DVD, Blurays and 4kBlurays with aplomb. Dolby Vision? Superb. Non DV HDR10+ discs only? Why settle for a player that could only default to bland HDR10 when you can have HDR10+? None, I reapeat, NONE in market can equal this player in price and performance.

Never could I have realized just how much effort and sophistication can go into a Blu-Ray Player until I bought this beauty. Before this player, I had always used whatever was convenient to play my physical media. My first 4K UHD player was a Sony which got the job done, but lacked Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and would just flat out not play certain movies/shows I have. Then I began using my PS5 to play movies once the Sony player would begin to freeze up and require being unplugged just to turn itself off. The PS5 ultimately proved better quality, but still lacked Dolby Vision capabilities, the user interface was more complicated than it needed to be, and the overall sound quality seemed to lack the fidelity of the Sony player. After researching this Panasonic and wanting a “flagship” player so I could fully enjoy my LG G1 TV, I decided to splurge on this and it was absolutely worth it. The picture and sound is unmistakably maxed out, the movies I owned that would either freeze up with no signs of scratches or any damage play without skipping a beat, and the amount of customization this unassuming players is pretty mind blowing. It can set change the picture settings based on the type of screen you have for optimal viewing experience, upplay or downplay audio mixes to either match the amount of speakers you have or listen to something as it was originally intended, and most of these settings can be tweaked while watching your content without going to the main menu. Highly, highly, highly recommend this player for anyone who wants an authentic home theater.

This 4k UHD Blu-ray player is fine except for the layout of the remote control. It absolutely defies one-handed operation. The layout places the most common keys back over the middle of your hand and the thumb can not bend in that direction. The solution is to hold the remote so close to the butt end that it is uncomfortable and easy to drop. Or use two hands. To heck with that! This seems like a petty complaint, but this is flat out the most uncomfortable remote I can remember ever using. It's bad enough that I am focusing my review on it. I imagine I will get used to holding this remote but, right now, it makes me upset.

Took advantage of the purchasing it when it was on sale to replace my Sony X800M2, which recently stopped working after only a few years of very light use (of course outside of warranty). Did a lot of research before buying the Sony and it seemed like the right balance of cost and performance, but I was actually somewhat annoyed and disappointed with several aspects of it, even before it bricked for no apparent reason. The menu was bare bones and ugly, the whole user experience felt cheap, and the lack of automatic Dolby Vision detection was super annoying (having to check to see if the disc you’re playing has dolby vision, then going through the menu on the player to manually turn it on or off for every movie you want to watch). The UB820 is a far better experience on all fronts. When first hooking it up and powering on, it runs an initial easy setup that detects your TV and properly optimizes everything (something the Sony doesn’t do). The menu is clean and looks a lot nicer. And hallelujah - automatic HDR modes. It’s just painless and works like you would expect a blu ray player at this price point to work. Of course the picture and sound quality are fantastic. Time will tell how it holds up, but based upon initial impressions I would highly recommend this anyday!

The Panasonic UB820 is a fantastic upgrade to the Sony UBPX700 (which I also own). It is single handedly the best blu ray upconverter on the market and the best 4K picture for Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+. 4K UHDs look ridiculously impressive and sound louder than the Sony player. I paired this player with my Sony STR-DN1080 receiver and WOW! A copy of Days of Thunder felt and sound like you were really in the Daytona 500....this is the experience youre looking for with home theater. I do have a couple of minor complaints though. This player is HUGE. Think the size of one of those Motorola digital cable/DVR boxes from the late 2000's. If you have a rack or decent sized entertainment console, I'll fit fine but it's a boat. My second complaint is that this player does not have a resume blu ray function. Most blu ray players (or even standard DVD players) have a function that when you turn off a movie at a certain stop point that when you turn the player back on, it resumes where you left off. This does not have this standard function. It does not have built-in memory to store your your stopping point. However, if you plug in a USB flash drive into the back of it (a 1GB will do fine), the resume function works. A $500 blu ray player (thats as big as a cable box) should have memory built in but it doesn't which is incredibly stupid.

I love what this player is capable of putting on my TV screen. When I first bought my Sony a80j two years ago, I didn't have any way to view 4k content other than streaming. Coming from a 2014 model Samsung that was only 1080p and no HDR, the new Sony looked downright incredible. Then I started becoming more interested in physical media again, and decided to add on to my existing bluray collection with some 4k uhd blurays. I decided on this player instead of using my ps5 because I can't fit my ps5 into my media console, so the lights on it are distracting while watching films. Also for dolby vision and a better processor for upscaling old blurays and dvds. What a good decision I feel like that was. While streaming looks okay, watching 4k uhd blurays is like putting a fresh coat of wax on a clean car. It adds that extra layer of depth and clarity, and details are precise and don't skip a beat. Not to mention how much better the audio quality is, which is truly a game changer. If you have the display and audio gear to really maximize what this player is capable of, it is totally worth the cost. If dolby vision isn't necessary, the up420 model would be just fine for you. Unfortunately, didn't hear too many good things about the comparable sony models (freezing, etc) so IMHO the panasonic is the way to go in 2024, even though it's a several year old model.

I had always used my X Box( one, series X, etc.) as a 4k player. This elevated my movie viewing experience. Color popped in HDR and Dolby vision. Sharpened the image. Satisfied with my purchase.

I love this 4k player and all its features with Dolby atmost it just elevates my tv viewing experience and the sound its better then the movie theaters

If, like me, you still watch films via physical disc, then this player is one of the best you can get at this price point. One of the best things about this player that most cheaper players lack is the ability to auto detect when a Blu-ray has Dolby Vision. In most other cheaper players you have to manually switch to Dolby Vision. But this one detects the disc's form of HDR automatically. As long as you are not expecting this player to be your all-in-one entertainment option (it technically has Netflix and Amazon Prime apps, but the interface looks like it's straight out of the '90s with an embarrassingly low refresh rate to boot). But if you have a great OLED display/TV and don't want to spend your entire life savings, this is pretty much the best option out there. Color reproduction is first rate, and the ports in the back allow you to directly connect a 7.1 surround system to the player. I imagine most people running this thing are going to run it through a receiver via HDMI, but it is nice to know the option is there. The player is also silent during playback. I never noticed the whine of the disc spin or the internal fan. Trust me, these types of machines are not made very much anymore, and this one is just about as future proof as it gets at this price point. In my opinion you will not be disappointed.

bought this unit because i heard that its up scaling and UHD picture was amazing. i found that my older blue ray dvd look awesome on my sony tv. upsaclce to 4k. the 4k ultra disc look pristine.I had a nice uhd dvd player before but this one cost a little more but can definitely see and hear the difference! the unit automatically adjust to your TV hdmi setting (lcd or oled). the only thing it doesn't have very many streaming app on it. netflix and amazon, no hulu. Overall it's a great UHD bluray ! i would recommend it.

This is a great Blu-Ray. I have made multi video backup discs as well as backup copies of my home videos and my purchased discs as well. It plays all of them without problems. It has a great picture that is very vivid and clear. It seems to upscale the picture from DVD to a hybrid 4K picture. The sound is top notch. I haven't used it for audio cd yet as I don't have it hooked up to speakers but I've heard those that have used it as such praise the sound. This is a great Blu-Ray player. It is well built but the only complaint I have is that the housing is made of a smooth plastic that can get scratched easily if moved or anything laid on it. But if you are buying it to place somewhere and not move it then you will be perfectly fine. I highly recommend this player.

I’ve always only bought Sony players; I bought a Sony 4K OLED TV and was looking for a comparable Blu-ray player; Sony’s lack/awkward implementation of Dolby Vision had me look elsewhere and this player fit the bill. Image quality and sound are awesome; great upscaling also. As they say: you get what you pay for. And this Panasonic plays week with my Sony TV. Recommend (even though the remote takes some getting used to ;)

This is an excellent choice for a 4K blu-ray player. It puts out a great picture and really nice sound. The upscaling of 1080p blu-rays is really impressive - better than I've seen on other players. Dolby Vision is handled automatically (unlike Sony) and looks great. A minor downside is the remote - not particularly elegant considering the quality of the player. In particular, I dislike accidentally hitting the Netflix button, which is right next to the 'up' navigation button, causing it to leave the disc I'm watching and go to the streaming app. If it's within your budget, I think it's a very good choice for a 4K player.

Was able to buy on open box and got a really good deal on it. If you spot on open box go for it, mine was practically new except a hole on the box that wasn’t too deep. It works well doe Dolby Vision and HDR10 video 4K feed. Used it some Blu Ray movies and it decodes it really well almost 4k quality. The movies were HP 1 and 2, and Captain America Civil War. If I’m able to I’d probably buy a second one.

This Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player outperforms every other device I’ve used for disc playback, including my PS5 and Xbox Series X. The picture quality is stunning with deep color, crisp detail, and incredible sharpness that really enhances my home theater setup. It handles special edition Blu-rays and 4K HDR discs flawlessly, with no hiccups or slowdowns. I’ve noticed that movies with complex visuals look noticeably better and more cinematic on this player. The HCX processing delivers excellent depth and natural textures that make each film feel more immersive. Audio quality is just as impressive, especially when connected to my sound system using the twin HDMI outputs. Streaming apps work well too, but the real standout is how beautifully it plays physical media. If you care about movie quality, this player is absolutely worth the investment.