So much has changed since we reviewed our first high-def disc player years ago, but one thing that hasn't changed is that each generation manufactures add more features and charge less. The latest Blu-ray player from Sony continues that trend featuring things like WiFi and 3D output, and at a super low price. This of course piques our interest, because we wanted to find out if there's a catch. So although the firmware update that enables 3D and DLNA hasn't been release yet, we put the BDP-S570 to task as our Blu-ray player for a few weeks to see how it fared.
Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player review
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The Good
- Very fast, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs only takes 42 seconds before the first video shows up after you insert a disc. Ratatouille only takes 35 seconds.
- Takes less than 3 second to eject the tray when its off.
- Quick Start saves about 10 second to power on -- but does draw 6 watts of power.
- Player only draws 13 watts playing a Blu-ray.
- Played most of our MKV samples off a USB drive, as well as M2TS rips, VOB and mp4.
- Built in 1GB of storage for BD Live
- iPhone remote is cool as are the Youtube links, but Wikipedia or IMDB.com would be more useful. We do like how we can see the data from the inserted disc on the screen as well as actors etc.
- Lots of internet streaming like Netflix, Youtube, Amazon VOD,Qriocity and many more.
- Pandora, Slacker and NPR radio streaming
- Video and audio playback quality is flawless.
- Really appreciate the audio sync settings (image below) as well as brightness and other tweaks.
- Info screen is useful as ever -- wish all players had it -- it's available when playing all media.
- USB port on front for easy media playback.
- Discrete IR is always appreciated.
- Configurable screen saver.
- Gracenote is nice to have, especially with the iPhone app, and the recent list.
- Lots and lots of configuration options.
- $250 price.
- When playing Netflix the display doesn't show the current time, just "Video."
- Won't play mov, avi or wtv files off the USB drive.
- Still not fans of the x-bar interface and all its blank space.
- Waiting on firmware for 3D and DLNA.
- Remote isn't back-lit.
- No Vudu.
- Fan is audible at times, but only if you are really close. And sometime there is a quiet whine.
Conclusion
We can't say we had very high expectation when we received the cheapest Blu-ray player we've ever reviewed, but we have to say we had a hard time finding anything to complain about. Instead we found a $250 player packed full of features that worked as advertised that didn't sacrifice quality for features. Some of the features are pretty unique too, at any price; like a free iPhone app that actually works pretty good but not great -- we usually don't like iPhone remotes. And the fact that this player includes 802.11N really makes us wonder why some manufactures think they can charge $90 for a WiFi dongle. Add in the coolness that is Gracenote and the fact that it is the fastest Blu-ray player we've ever tested, and Sony really has set themselves apart. It isn't all good of course as we're still not fans of the x-bar interface since so much of the screen real estate goes to waste, when it could go to cover art etc. Then there was the fact that we had to close it in its hole a few times since we could hear it making noises. So while the BDP-S570 isn't perfect, it is priced right and if your budget is $250 we can't think of a better player.
