Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this in replacement of my Sony BDP-S1100 Blu-ray player, which was getting old and started freezing up and having other issues. I have not had any problems with this Blu-ray player so far. Sony has released four Blu-ray players this year: The BDP-S1500 (this Blu-ray player), the BDP-S3500, the BDP-S5500, and the BDP-S6500. The S1500 is the cheapest and has the fewest features. The S3500 adds Wi-Fi and Miracast, as well as some other small features. The S5500 adds 3D capability and 2D to 3D upscaling. And the S6500 adds 4k upscaling. If you don't need Wi-Fi, Miracast, 3D or 4k upscaling, then this player is for you. If you need any of those things, you will have to pay more to buy a higher model. What's new in this 2015 Blu-ray player? A couple things. First of all, there's a new interface. From the Home screen you can easily launch your favorite apps, play the disc, or browse the pictures, music, and videos on your USB. If you go to All Apps, you can see all the apps available. The interface is easy to use and navigate, and it looks nice, too. Also, there is the PlayStation Now feature, which I'll mention later. PICTURE/AUDIO QUALITY _____________________20/20 ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Picture quality is pretty awesome. Blu-ray discs look incredible on an HDTV. DVDs obviously aren't as nice, but still look great with the 1080p upscaling. The audio quality is awesome. I have tested the audio from the coaxial port and the HDMI, and they both sound great (I have 5.1 surround sound and it's working perfectly). FEATURES _____________________17/20 ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ No Wi-Fi, 3D, or 4k upscaling, but at this price, it will be very hard to get these things. It does, however play Blu-rays, DVDs and Audio CDs, as well as the pictures, videos, and music on your USB flash drive, and has a decent selection of apps (including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Crackle, YouTube, Pandora, Facebook, and more, plus others in the Opera TV Store app), and has the PlayStation Now feature. With PlayStation Now, you can stream PlayStation games (you can rent games or buy a supscription). I haven't tried it out yet, but I don't think it will run as fast or be as good as a PlayStation, and you will still have to buy a game controller. Still, it's a cool feature not found on other Blu-ray player brands. DESIGN _____________________15/20 ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The overall design is nice. It has a clean, simple design that's pleasing to the eye. It is very compact (1½ in. tall, 9 in. from left to right, and 7¼ in. from back to front), which is nice, but also means that there is not enough room for a display that tells you the run time of the disc. To see the run time, you instead have to press the DISPLAY button on the remote. REMOTE _____________________14/20 ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The remote is very small, but there are three things I like about it. First, it feels very sturdy and fits comfortably in the hand. Second, the range is huge; you don't have to point it straight at the Blu-ray player. Finally, the layout of the buttons makes it pretty easy to find the buttons by feel, which is useful in a dark room. SPEED _____________________19/20 ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The Blu-ray player boots fast, and loads DVDs and Blu-ray Discs quickly. There is a slight bit of lag when navigating the menus, but apps open relatively fast (faster than any other Sony Blu-ray player I've tried). VALUE _____________________20/20 ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ All in all, this Blu-ray player is a tremendous value. This is, in my opinion, the most feature-rich Blu-ray player you can get at this price. Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment or rate my review helpful or unhelpful.