Samsung Electronics UBD-M9700/ZA 4K UHD Blu-Ray Player

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This flagship Samsung UHD blu ray player plays disks very well. It does everything else just o.k., which is disappointing for a device that costs hundreds of dollars and is marketed as a complete entertainment solution. Pros: - Cosmetically, its a good looking electronic device. The case is quite similar to the dark grey/black line-textured surface on the back of 2017 and 2018 Samsung TVs. - It has a small cooling fan that vents to the rear. - The initial setup menu walks through all functions nicely and even has accompanying music. - The Smart Hub interface is colorful and snappy. - The YouTube interface (casting) from a WiFi-connected device is really snappy and stable. - Blu ray content looks terrific and it sure seems like theres some level of upconverting taking place in that 1080p content seems clearer than might be expected on my 75" 4K TV. - When I play 1080i interleaved disks, I see no interlaced artifacts like combing (jaggies) until I hit pause. Then its pretty obvious that the video is interleaved. Same goes with video files streamed from my NAS. Interlaced/interleaved video files look fantastic, as if the unit is de-interlacing content. Only when I hit pause do I see jaggies in still frames. - Bluetooth connectivity. - It seems to play any .mkv, .mp4, and .avi file I can throw at it, including full quality blu ray rips. - Plays H.265 (HEVC) videos. - It respects cover.jpg attachments in .mkv files and displays them as thumbnails in the DLNA view. - It will also use as a thumbnail a .jpg file in the same folder with the same name as the video file. - If the video does not have a corresponding .jpg with the same filename to use as a thumbnail, the player will also use any picture with the name Folder.jpg in the same folder as the video. - 5G wireless is stable. Im connecting to a Netgear R8000 router through one wall and I have no problem streaming full size blu ray rips. - Ethernet is also stable. When I switched over to a wired connection, I experienced no problems with bandwidth on any function. - Has the Big 6 apps: YouTube, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and Vudu. - Has dual HDMI outputs to get around receivers or soundbars that do not support HDCP 2.2. - HDMI CEC works very nicely with my Yamaha RX V867 receiver and Samsung QN75Q8F 75" QLED 4K TV . Cons: - Theres no way to change the view when browsing content on a NAS or PC using the DLNA function. I get large folders, large icons, and truncated filenames only. I cant switch to a list view, smaller icons/folders, etc., so it significantly limits the amount of content displayed on one screen. The folders and icons are presented in two rows left to right. Thats it...two rows take up the entire screen area. Additionally, the files arent listed in order across the rows. Instead, they alternate back and forth between the top and bottom rows. In other words, Episode 1 is in the top row, Episode 2 is in the bottom row, Episode 3 is in the top row, Episode 4 is in the bottom row. These drawbacks are all very disappointing when scanning a large network video library. - No .iso support. - Will not recognize PGS subtitles inside of .mkv files. - Does not read audio sync delay settings inside of .mkv files. If you create an .mkv file with and enter something in the Audio Delay field while muxing (say, to fix an out-of-sync issue), the player will ignore that field and continue to play your audio out of sync. - Does not recognize or display as thumbnails the cover art inside of .mp4 files. - No SAMBA or CIFS support for accessing a NAS or a PC. While SMB and CIFS are much more stable ways of connecting to servers, interfacing through DLNA is the only option with this player. - DLNA connection is buggy. I have 4 DLNA devices: 1 NAS, 2 Win7 computers, and 1 Win10 computer. Sometimes the blu ray player will see them and sometimes not. If I turn off one of the devices and try to access it from the player, the connection will fail (obviously). If I turn the device back on, the player still wont refresh and see the DLNA device. If I save one of the DLNA servers as a shortcut on the main screen and it subsequently fails to connect, that shortcut will always fail to connect. I have to delete the shortcut and make a new one. - DLNA will not read an ampersand (&) properly in a folder or filename. Instead it says "&@mp;". For example, a "Simon & Simon" folder will show up as "Simon &@mp; Simon" (substitute an "a" for the "@". Amazon is converting the code to a real ampersand). - Im finding odd bugs for a product that is more than a year old: A DLNA server with an apostrophe in the server name, such as "Bobs Media" will cause the "Select Source" function to crash. Also, if I push content from YouTube on my laptop to the blu ray player without first starting the YouTube app on the blu ray player, itll start playing the audio but not video. I have to enter the app and then the video will display on the screen. - The disk resume function is hit or miss. It appears to be saved so long as the player is left on. If the player turns off--even if the disk is not removed--the disk resume function is zeroed out. The player will remember the last played location on some disks even if the disk is removed and reinserted. - When playing videos via DLNA, the player does not respect any subtitle flags within .mkv files. Regardless of the Default, Forced, and Track Enabled flag settings, the subtitles will always default to on and must be manually turned off for each video. - When playing videos via DLNA, the player automatically starts playing the next video in the folder. I see no way to turn off this autoplay function. - When playing a disk: If I press pause and then press play, the information overlay remains on the screen for about 7 seconds. Thats excessive. A workaround: Press play and then press the back/return arrow on the remote to remove the information overlay. - Theres no bluetooth volume output control on the player. Volume can only be controlled by the volume switch on connected headphones or earbuds. - Firmware version 1111 is the last update Samsung has bothered to create, and that was published about a year ago. Samsung doesnt seem to be putting a lot of effort into ongoing support for this product. I expected a more refined interface and more customization from Samsungs 2017 flagship player.

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Too bad Samsung isnt going to make anymore Blu-Ray DVDs. Great 4K picture. Remote is a little flimsy. I wish it had more features to control the DVD player. The Smart features are like its TVs, you have to go through too many steps and go back and forth and know what you are doing.

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Audio set-up was difficult, probably because I am using an older (but still very functional) Yamaha receiver. After some tweaking, however, the unit produces clear and crisp sound. The picture is also clear. The remote is a bit tricky. Earlier units may have had too many buttons. This one, about half the size, has too few.

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I selected this Samsung to ensure that it pairs easily with my Samsung Smart TV. It is very easy to use, for playing movie DVDs and music CDs. Excellent quality output, and the unit is very attractive. I took a chance and purchased a "used" unit, at a substantial discount. so I purchased Samsungs top model. It didnt look like it was even taken out of the box.

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Love this player. The user interface is great and 4k blurays play superfast.

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I bought this player refurbished, everything worked except there was no audio. The new one is excellent, but I didnt get it here.

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This works well with Samsung Smart TV. Bought a Sony - it quit after the warranty ran out. I like the menu and picture on Samsung better.

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Have not had a good player like this and am just wowed.

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Great Unit, Great Price!

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Best Blu-ray player I’ve owned. In addition to spectacular 4K presentation regular Blu-ray is also heightened to a greater viewing sensation. Qualified set ups will love 4K disc audio as many are Dolby Atmos or 7.1 dts surround. Conducive to many remotes there was a slight learning curve but it works. Highly recommend.

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