Samsung UBD-M8500/ZA 4K UHD Blu-Ray Player

*Update* After trying to use the player without the remote and trying to fix the remote, I have come to the conclusion the remote is not only problem. Every command issued from the remote is picked up as ok/play. Home, tools, arrow keys, nothing else registers as anything but play/ok. The player itself randomly powers on if I even pick the remote up without pressing any buttons. Initially the player seemed to work without the remote, but that means most of the options arent available. As of today, I cannot even play movies without the remote, in essence the player no longer works at all. *my initial review is posted below* The player itself seems to work well and the quality is pretty good. The the significant downside to the player itself is that it is slow and unresponsive, trying to change menu options often ends up skipping right over what you wanted to select unless you are super patient. The larger problem is the remote, not only does it not work well it seems to actually break the player. About an hour into my first movie I started having random/weird problems. When I went to check the menu settings, the remote wasnt working right and when I turned the player off it immediately turned backed on and had a blinking red/green light. After brief troubleshooting, I realized there is something wrong with the remote, it is constantly sending some sort of command to the player even when no buttons are pushed. When I took the batteries out of the remote, my problems seemed to go away. If they come back, I will update the review to reflect the fact the player doesnt work.

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I bought one of these units a couple of weeks ago. From the beginning, 4K DVDs would skip or black out; sometimes for one or two seconds, sometimes ten or fifteen. The unit was connected directly to a Samsung TV via an HDMI cable, so there should have been no incompatibility between the units. To say the least, it was very frustrating to try to watch a movie. Based on what people were suggesting on line, I did all kinds of resets but none helped. I spent a considerable amount of time chatting with Samsung techs, but to no avail. I downloaded a "special" firmware upgrade not available to the public. It had to be installed via a flash drive. Result: player didnt recognize the file as an upgrade. Finally Samsung said it needed internal repairs. I went to their web site and found that repair service was a very intricate process. Bottom line: they dont want to service their products. Was my problem a one-off? Dont know, but I see other people on line looking for a similar fix. Unless Samsung makes some upgrades, this model deserves to be passed over. The packing was nicely done.

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For a top of the line blu ray player from Samsung, my go-to brand, this unit has been a major disappointment. After maybe 3 and a half to 4 months, I started noticing that its wifi adapter was struggling with one of my home routers channels, specifically, the 5G band. I would be streaming video, then suddenly, "buffering, buffering, buffering..." Switching to my routers 2.4G channel allowed internet connectivity again. And for what its worth, I recently did what is referred to as the "hard reset" on the unit, which seemed to aleviate the problem. About 4 months after receipt of this brand new unit, my video feed would just cut for 2 to 3 seconds, as often as once every 2 minutes, or sometimes once every 5 to 10 minutes. I noticed it first only on streaming apps (YouTube, Netflix, etc.), but recently also when watching 4K blu ray disks... and I mean often once every minute to once every 30 seconds. This completely ruins the experience of watching anything. Samsung support were very kind and professional, but could offer little more than soft and hard resets as attempts. Next step is sending in for repair, which fortunately warranty will cover as I understand. I did a little research on the video issue, and lo and behold, it appears the precursor "K model" 8500 had the same problem. Im not giving up on Samsung, as this is the first bad experience of all of the other good ones Ive had with them. If I have any more issues after attempted repair, I will certainly update this review accordingly.

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I bought a new Samsung 4k TV and needed a 4k Blu ray to go with it. Just after the Amazon return window closed, it stopped responding to the remote; the remote only stops or starts the movie and the LED on the front of the player just flashes. When I cover the remote emitter or remove the batteries, the LED stops flashing, so it sounds like the remote, but there’s no way for me to know for sure. I replaced the batteries, checked the firmware, and reset the bluray player, but the problem didn’t go away. It’s very upsetting to spend money and have new tech fail so soon and now I don’t have a player I can use and have to spend time (I’m sure a fair amount of it) with Samsung to try and resolve the problem. I do not recommend. Addition: I have been chatting with Samsung for more than a an hour and they just stopped responding. Ugh! I did contact Samsung by phone the next day, and they did agree to replace the remote--but itll take 14 days to get here. Meanwhile, since the front panel controls are very limited, I cant really use it until it comes in.

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Arrived DOA. Had to send to Samsung warranty repair an hour out of the box. Update 11/3/17 Samsung "repaired" it and it came back with a loose part loudly rattling around inside. And it still doesnt work. Sent it back again, they didnt notice the part, despite being specifically alerted to it. Returning and getting a Sony.

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The picture quality is great but unit will need to be returned for the following reasons. When changing disks the player will go into the initial setup mode including requiring internet information to log onto Samsung site. Very time consuming and unable to bypass. Seems to only have one fast forward speed and after fast forward will play about 10 seconds of movie and than freeze requiring starting movie over from start menu. Unit is very slow responding to remote. Pause button simply stops movie and when resumed starts back at disk menu.

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