Samsung Electronics UBD-K8500 3D Wi-Fi 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player (2016 Model)

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I bought this in March of 2017 and had it sitting until October of 2018 until I got a 4k TV. Once I hooked it up (you need to have or get a high-speed HDMI cable because it does not come with one), it needed to update the firmware (which took probably 5 minutes), then worked fine. It is a native 4k player, does not just upscale regular blu-rays, but will play the 4k UHD blu-rays. I have not had any problems with it freezing as some others have complained of. If I do, I will update this review. My only complaint about it is the lack of HDMI cable included and the remote is a bit small. But it has worked well, loads the discs quickly, and I have had no issues with playback at all. Definitely worth the upgrade so far.

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I purchased this device in 2016 as 4K was starting to take off mainstream, the first unit died after the first month and I was sent a replacement that was initially a great device, however within the first 6 months I started experiencing issues with 4K disks saying “unable to read” slowly this started expanding into standard Blu-ray disks. Now essentially instead of the expensive 4K player I paid for, I have a paperweight. I can’t warn you enough to stay away from this unit.

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This player is inexcusably slow. It takes about a second for a button press on the remote to register and take effect. This makes navigating disc menus very difficult and annoying. Also, the remote does not have a fast foward button. Instead, you have to hold the next scene button, which puts it into fast forward mode. But, if you dont hold the button long enough, then it registers a next scene press taking you to an entirely new section of the movie. Once the disc actually starts playing, the player is fine. But the UI on this thing is just terrible and for that reason, it should be avoided.

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While i do like samsung products and have had very good luck with their products . this 4k player is not the case. this is the second brand new player that failed to play a blue ray disc. so out of 2 brand new players in a row. not one of them would play dvd/blue ray disc without locking up. the screen would freeze and your only recourse at this time was to unplug the ac power and upon startup. you could then remove your disc. returned both brand new units and gave up on this model all together. must of been a bad production run.

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This is a solid 4k blu-ray player. I have had it for over a year and it has never had any problems playing any disks or anything along those lines. My big issue with it though is that it has an absolutely atrocious remote. It is too small and it does not have a dedicated fast forward or rewind button. To rewind or fast forward with this players remote you have to hold down the skip buttons for a short period of time and because of this I often find myself accidentally skipping instead of rewinding. It can be insanely frustrating at times and I honestly am considering buying a new player solely because of this poorly designed remote.

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This was to replace a perfectly working Panasonic smart player to get better start up speed, etc. This box does that. Its reliable and solid. I have to call out the remote as a piece of trash. So much so it eats two stars. Samsung, why such a pos remote? At least spend some time to make a phone app as an alternative? Really ruins the experience of the decent box fidgeting with the tiny remote with keys on top of each other in the dark.

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Player is fully functional and does what its supposed to. However, the user interface is unbeliveably bad. Any time you touch a key on the remote, it puts an overlay on the screen, obscuring part of the picture. Plus, apparently for no reason, they decided you dont need a fast forward or fast reverse button. Theyve combined the function with the chapter forward and backward buttons. To make the various functions work, youre supposed to hold down the buttons for just the right amount of time. Its not that the player is incapable of handling these functions. I was able to set a universal remote to send the proper signal for fast forward and reverse in response to its appropriately labeled buttons.

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The remote - Seriously? Its bad enough its child-sized, but a remote NEEDS to be back lit! Most times I go to reach for it, I cant tell if its right-side up or not. The buttons are too close together and super sensitive, Ive often pressed the home button. Terrible. I previously had the Sony UHD player, which had weight, which was great. When I go to plug a USB drive into this unit, I always have to hold the unit in place otherwise it slides into the back of my shelving. That all said... Picture so far is awesome. Audio seems also awesome (my main receiver is still out for repair). The App selection is as robust as I need it to be, but cant figure out how to change the favorites. I never use Netflix, but I cant figure out how to swap out for Amazon Prime. Seems to play back every codec flavor I throw at it via the USB option, and I was even able to plug in a SSD external which is a huge plus! I really just wish it were even slightly heavier. Also, a non-optical digital output would be nice.

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This thing only plays regular dvds. Doesnt read my ultra HD or reg blu ray on my oled E6. I also hv new HDMI 2.0 cables. Waiting on the seller to reply. I will be updating

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Plays perfectly....very clear and pictures are outstanding. 4k quality is great. Plays 4k blu rays easily. My only little peeve. It seems to be delayed when the menus come out. Meaning, when the player loads and actually starts to show the menus...it seems to have missed a split second. I dont know if its the avr whose delayed but it only happens to the Samsung.

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