Philips 4k Uhd Blu-ray Dvd Player Bdp5502/f7 Review
Our Verdict
The Philips BDP7501 is a no-frills, no-fuss 4K Blu-ray player. It has some relatively crippling negatives that come in the grade of ho-hum functioning and a ultra-barebones Bone, merely it will live up to moderately set expectations.
For
- Unique, functional design
- 4K YouTube and Netflix
- HDMI sound/video separation
Against
- Barebones Os
- 4K playback is ho-hum
- Express capabilities
TechRadar Verdict
The Philips BDP7501 is a no-frills, no-fuss 4K Blu-ray player. It has some relatively crippling negatives that come in the class of ho-hum functioning and a ultra-barebones Os, simply it will live up to moderately set up expectations.
Pros
- +
Unique, functional blueprint
- +
4K YouTube and Netflix
- +
HDMI audio/video separation
Cons
- -
Barebones OS
- -
4K playback is ho-hum
- -
Limited capabilities
With 4K Blu-rays finally hitting store shelves in pregnant numbers, electronics makers are rushing to develop players for the new discs. Panasonic, for example, has two of these ultra-high definition players – the fantastic, but expensive DMP-UB900, and the accommodating excellent DMP-UB700. Problematically, though, the latter is only available in the UK.
And so what does the US get?
The answer is the $229 Philips BDP7501, a no-frills 4K Blu-ray role player that does exactly what it says information technology does. Not interested in a smart Bone to continue with your new Blu-ray player? Practiced, considering the BDP7501 doesn't accept 1. Don't intendance almost Amazon, Hulu or streaming services like HBO, STARZ and Start et al? No problem. You lot won't observe them hither.
That's the beauty and the shame of the BDP7501 – it works exactly every bit advertised.
Blueprint
At that place's something distinct about the BDP7501's blueprint. It's not a rectangular player that nosotros're used to seeing from traditional manufacturers, only a square with rounded corners.
That separates information technology from all the similar-looking Blu-ray players on the market place and the rounded corners helps it blend in with most home entertainment centers with all their circular puck-shaped Rokus while withal giving it a functional design.
Each face of the BDP7501 is covered with a brushed aluminum cease with the eye tray, which folds forrad to insert discs, sporting the Philips logo.
On top you'll detect two buttons – eject and power – which means you'll need to find the remote if you desire to play your film.
Also on elevation is a rubbery roofing that, we assume, keeps other devices you identify on top of the player from slipping effectually during playback.
Spin the thespian around and y'all'll find a few sparse (but relatively important) ports. In that location'due south two HDMI out ports (1 for audio and video, and 1 for but audio), plus an ethernet port and USB port in case you lot desire to insert a wink bulldoze for photo or video playback.
There are a few things we'd like to see hither – including an SD card slot to display photos straight from your camera and a few more audio-out options – simply what you go here is more enough for the basic functionality.
What content is on-board?
One of the big disappointments for us with Philips get-go 4K player is the general lack of content on the role player itself. Certain, most people will go out and invest in a 4K Blu-ray collection soon after purchasing this role player, but at that place are some that will be slower to adopt the new technology. Those people might be disappointed to find just two services on-board: Netflix and YouTube.
Both services come in 4K iterations and can be accessed via the 2 shortcut buttons on the remote, merely it would've been nice to see other streaming services here. Panasonic'south player has Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, BBC News and Sport, Netflix and My Space – along with several more lesser-known apps. The deviation here is nighttime and mean solar day.
Moving past that, the interface the BDP7501 uses is uncomplicated and straightforward.
You'll find sections for videos, music, photos, dwelling network (a.thou.a. Your DLNA server), video apps and setup in one row on the home screen.
The dwelling house screen sits on a blue gradient groundwork that, to our knowledge, can't be modified in any manner. That said, as mentioned higher up, you can insert a flash drive for photos and music, or simply insert a CD or DVD should you want to apply your player for more just watching films.
Performance
As far every bit pure specs are concerned, the BDP7501 looks skillful. It supports the BT.2020 color space, a dynamic range up to 10,000 nits (despite the fact that the brightest TVs simply hit about 2,000 nits), x or 12-fleck depth and H.265 video files. And while that all sounds impressive, the final result is only dull.
Scenes from Star Trek or Creed in UHD don't have a particular shimmer or sheen that yous'd find using another player. Yes, some scenes do really do good from the expanded range – we noticed peculiarly infinite scenes that typically have a bright white next to a dark, inky black – only most 4K video footage await more or less like a 1080p Blu-ray.
Office of that is because when you use a 1080p Blu-ray, the thespian volition still upscale for 4K when connected to a 4K panel. Yous'll lose some of the fidelity from HDR, simply more or less the picture comes out the same: lackluster. Some scenes expect washed out, others have a heavy grain to them and some merely wait no better than they do on a 1080p Boob tube.
And while that sounds bad, there are 2 positives that are worth focusing on hither. The first is that the thespian offers an HDMI out for sound-just that you can use if your receiver isn't up on the latest HDMI standards and can pass 4K betoken to your Tv. The second is that the player itself, while a scrap irksome to go going (booting upwardly and starting playback), doesn't innovate any latency into the organisation. Another absolutely much smaller benefit is that the player is whisper serenity and stays supremely cool under a heavy workload.
Those facts don't make upward for the fact that movies don't look as sharp every bit they possibly tin or for the relatively few options for streaming services, but they're appreciated nonetheless.
The last pocket-size bonus is that the player actually tells you what blazon of content you have playing on your screen as before long equally playback starts. Not sure if you're getting your full HDR 4K video? All you need to practise is printing pause to find out.
Nosotros liked
Philips' 4K Blu-ray player hits some of the right notes and the fact that this 4K Blu-ray player costs just every bit much as some regular Blu-ray players is a great start. Follow that up with 4K versions of Netflix and YouTube and you take a competent – if not exactly impressive – first foray into ultra-high definition.
We disliked
Video playback is a double-edged sword here. No, it's not actually that bad, just it'south non really that good either. It simply works as you'd wait without any negative or positive connotations to it. But where the player runs into existent trouble is when you'd like to watch anything outside of a 4K Blu-ray disc. The player supports 4K versions of YouTube and Netflix, but in that location's no way to stream Amazon, HBO, Hulu or even Crackle while using this player.
Terminal verdict
For ameliorate and worse, the Philips BDP7501 works exactly equally you'd expect. It'd be great to say that it plays 4K Blu-rays how they're meant to be seen, just that isn't exactly the case.
Similarly, while it certainly has the ability to brandish the highest resolution content, you won't actually feel a sense of grandeur while using information technology. And across the mediocre playback, the BDP7501 failed to provide content outside of the one provided UHD Blu-ray and two apps.
Philips' first 4K actor makes the most sense for someone looking for a depression-cost way to play their burgeoning 4K Blu-ray collection while they wait for the prices to come down. Everyone else willing to pay a scrap more coin (or movement to the UK) should be looking elsewhere.
Source: https://www.techradar.com/reviews/philips-bdp7501-uhd-blu-ray-player
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