Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Samsung BD-H6500 3D Smart Blu-ray Disc Player (2014 Model)

Great upscale player for 4k TV with caveats

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2014

I've had this player for almost a week now with a dumb 50" seiki UHD TV and have tested most of the available features as of mid 2014 (no 4k blu rays are available yet). This does not mean there is not content available or that this player lacks purpose. On the contrary, the up scaling features on this player are the best I've seen over the past 4 years of owning and setting up a plethora of players. Even 720p content takes on amazing additional life and 1080p content is amazing again.

Since I converted most of my blu ray collection loaded into a plex server I wasn't sure how well the plex app would up convert if at all (the samsung plex app is much better than competitors, second only to roku). Amazingly everything but my windows media center recorded shows are up converted to 4k and Modern Family has never looked so good. Considering my 4k TV is the cheapest on the market this is astounding and gives me hope the 4k transition will occur a lot quicker than 1080p. Blu rays that I own are also incredible with the hobbit looking like it really is 4k with only background details missing from the upconversion.

For actual 4k content available, the only source is the internet and select streaming services Amazon and Netflix.
1.) YouTube 4k videos are great and are much easier than playing all available than from my desktop. These nature and travel videos blew me away making me glad to be an early adopter.
2.) Amazon only has one show in 4k (extant) and I couldn't tell if it was 4k source although there were moments where the images dazzled even if I had little interest in the story.
3.) Netflix was the real let down as their short list of 4k streaming devices (they heavily control this) does not include this device but I am hoping that will change soon. It wax a real pain since I have Verizon and the only time I could really test this despite my more than adequate connection was early in the morning since prime time can't even buy you 480p no matter what tier package you pay them (I used open DNS but it doesn't make a difference)

I'm sure this device will only get better as more content becomes available. I did not bother to test samsung videos for 4k dazzle as I didn't have time for a full length movie this week worth paying through the nose for it. I can recommend this hands down if you have a cheap 4k TV like me and want access to 4k content at the touch of a button beyond your desktop (it's really nice to have both now).
The interface is really easy to use, remote is sharp and responsive, quick boot and load times. all the apps are very snappy except for minor glitches with loading plex and libraries occasionally but no fault of samsung. If you are in the market for a blu ray player you might want to spend the extra coin to future proof your purchase as the 4k wave will probably be doubling its efforts in the coming year....

23 people found this helpful

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VanHouten

Upgrading from an older Samsung Blu-ray player

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

I purchased this Blu-ray player to replace a 2011 model (D6500). Samsung and Amazon never delivered on the promise of supporting video streaming on D series of Samsung TVs and Blu-Ray devices (while older C series are supported, go figure), and the recent discontinuation of Amazon video on Google TV prompted me to look for alternatives. This Blu-ray player turned out to be the most cost effective way to regain access to Amazon video streaming without adding yet another device.

While this player carries the same index as my old one (6500) - which should mean roughly the same feature set and quality - it is quite different in few respects. My older player was a slot-loading model with beautiful slick design, front-panel back-lit touch sensor controls, and a full set of outputs (including component video). This newer model feels cheaper, and while it is slightly larger in size than lower-end Blu-ray players from the H series, it only supports the same connectivity as H5xxx series - a single HDMI and optical, plus a USB plug hidden under a small cover in the front. Controls mimic those on the H5xxx - there is a round arrangement on the top panel with four buttons, which are not lit in any way - although the symbols on the buttons are somewhat raised, so they are a bit easier to find than on cheaper models from this line. Front display is very basic and not particularly useful. The remote is also the same as H5xxx - smaller, cheaper - but it functions OK.

On the other hand - the image quality is excellent, load time for Blu-ray disk is quite fast, and, most importantly, the SmartHub software loads quickly and functions as intended. I use primarily Amazon Instant Video, Flixster, Pandora and YouTube, and all of these loaded quickly, connected without a hitch, and are yet to show any hiccups. This is quite different from my old BD-D6500, where apps took forever to load, and had a tendency to either hang or show some other weird display issues.

Built-in WiFi performance is quite poor - it would probably work in a less crowded environment, but in our building, the 2.4 band is completely saturated with traffic on all bands. My primary connection is wired, and the player performs flawlessly with online content. 3D playback works exactly as intended with my Samsung TV - so there wasn't any downgrade as compared to my earlier D6500.

All in all, with this upgrade I gained a player with well performing SmartHub and online applications (including Amazon Instant Video), without loosing much - mostly aesthetics and conveniences around the controls on the player itself.

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DE-Austin

Excellent player, excellent price.

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

As noted in other reviews, this player is very lightweight. I do not think that constitutes "poor" build quality, however. It's just light because electronics don't weigh much and there's no reason to increase the cost of the device by using a metal housing when plastic works fine.

The device supports all the options I was looking for right out of the box. I have an older receiver so the optical (TOSlink) audio output was a must and it works beautifully. Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix playback is excellent. The remote is well designed and the interface is much snappier and faster than I expected for a Blu Ray player. It also supports DLNA certified network storage and works wonderfully when streaming MP4, MOV, and AVI files from a WD My Cloud drive on the same network.

Great device for a great price. The one complaint I have is that it does not have any feet, meaning it sits flat on whatever surface it is placed upon and makes it unsuitable for "stacking" on top of other devices that need airflow in your entertainment center. Four sticky rubber bumpers solved that problem for me, however.

Highly recommended.

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PeteEd

Excellent player with super Prime Video interface; Netflix issues though

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

So easy to set up right out of the box; hooked up to an LG TV without any problems. I *love* the smart hub! So much of an improvement over the TV's hub. As many have noted here, I could not get Netflix to work, getting that nw-4-8 error code. In the comments to the posts the solution was given, and it worked! I held the STOP button on the device (not on the remote) for a few seconds until the system reset. Then I had to re-enter my network information and go through setup again. I did NOT update the device, as I had done that when I first set it up and I read this is the cause of the Netflix problem. So thank you all for your advice!!

Interestingly, once I got Netflix to work, I found that it did not include my list of saved videos or my recently watched videos; the LG Smart TV Netflix interface was much easier to work with (although the LG remote is horrible). However, Amazon Prime works beautifully and MUCH better with this player than it does with the LG TV. Frustrating how these companies design such different interfaces!

I will update this in six months after I've explored more features.

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Nana

Good but some larger cons

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

I like the DVD player, it plays movies fine, good picture, sold in the DVD categories, although I have not tried Blu-ray or 3D yet, just regular DVD. My reason for the three stars is because yes it does it's job as a DVD player, so it earned a few stars and the remote works well, can be slow to moving the cursor but not slow enough to really complain, other times its fine.

but the cons:

I have had it for only two days, and it is already covered in scratches. I don't put anything on it except for the DVD cases, not sure how SO many appeared so quickly. I don't really want to say it's cheaply made, but maybe it has a cheap finishing coat. Definitely not something you want to take the plastic off of if you are into cosmetics and like things always looking new or anywhere close to new. Being that after two days it looks like I have had it for atleast a few months.

My other complaint so far after such a short time is logging into YouTube. Not sure if it is a malfunction in the DVD player (which I'm pretty sure it is, but don't want to talk bad about it before I know exactly why it is doing this, because I don't know all that much about electronics but I do have common sense), will be contacting seller and will be updating later on.

To watch an 18+ anything on YouTube you must log in, simple. You go to YouTube.com/activate and Ender a code given to you by YouTube. I have tried multiple times, with multiple codes, both days. I put the correct code in, ex: RGFG-DFDF. And when I press "done" and try to log in, you get to see a quick glimpse of what code was actually entered, rather then the code that pops up in the typing screen (you cannot see it being typed directly into the code enter box due to the keyboard) and instead of RGFG-DFDF, it will only expect the first half of the code and enter it twice, so I will see RGFG-RGFG. This happens no matter how carefully I type, lower case, upper case, with and without the - inbetween the two groups, or with or without spaces. I am at a loss.

But Netflix works fine, so atleast you have that while u figure this problem out if this happens to you. However the search button on the remove does not work as a search on Netflix, you have to manually go to the top to search. If you find another way, I would love to know.

I think I would recommend this to someone who wants to go on the cheaper side. But if you are looking for an amazing high quality one, that will stay looking great; this is not the one you should get.

I attached a photo of what it looks like after only 2 days. As smart as my phone is, it cannot accurately show all of the scratches like his eyes can see them, but you can see that it has marks with minimal DVD cases being placed on it for a short time. Shouldn't be this many this quick in my opinion.

Also attached a picture of the remote so u can see it.

7 people found this helpful

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Lee Brown

Absolutely a great DVD player

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

Has all the bells and whistles (once you figure out all of the settings (and set them)). Not a player for the non-tech savvy or those that give up too easily (the learning curve was slightly longer and less intuitive than on my Sony player). The remote is awkward to use and the "Return" key is immediately below the Left-Arrow key causing constant selection errors when trying to enter your email address and passwords for apps like Netflix and Amazon, and "reverts" to previous screens when making other selections that require the Left or Down arrows. Selection keys and arrows are located on the bottom 1/3rd of the remote instead of in the center (like most all other remotes) making it even more awkward to use with just one hand. Manual controls on the player itself are on the TOP and very awkward to see and use when the player is placed on the lower shelf of a TV Stand or Media Center cabinet. Otherwise, the unit plays spectacularly! The picture quality when using this player and watching on our new 70" 4K TV is so intense and realistic that sometimes you would think that the characters on the screen were in the room with you. The images on the screen seem to be in 3D even though they come from a standard HD Blu-Ray DVD. Just spectacular!

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S. Cooper

All-In-All, Good Player

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2015

Verified Purchase

I bought this Blu-ray player for my dad for Christmas. His Blu-ray player was so old that the disc drawer stopped opening and it wasn't wi-fi compatible. I did a lot of research on this player and felt I was getting the best option for my price range. I have loved the picture quality of this Blu-ray player and how wonderfully it has played both Blu-rays and DVDs! It has been an awesome Blu-ray player, in that regard. However, there are things that really bother me about this player. It has been 6 months since Dad started using it, and I have a few frustrations I would like to share.

First, the buttons on the top of the player. My parent's "entertainment center" set up has the Blu-ray player in a cabinet where it is really difficult to see the top of the Blu-ray player, and thus the buttons to open/close/play/etc. The buttons aren't even buttons, but sensors that are activated by touch. This can be difficult to navigate when you can't actually see what you are touching. Luckily you can control everything with the remote control, but as someone who likes to open the Blu-ray player as I am putting in the disc (not have to track down the remote to open it first), this is kind of annoying.

Second, the interface on this Blu-ray player leaves a lot to be desired. You can't customize your home page apps. This is annoying! Samsung has decided what you need and don't need, and this drives my insane! Especially because I have to go through multiple "clicks" to get to things that I use frequently (like Hulu or YouTube). This is just an annoyance to me, but to my technologically impaired father, this is a nightmare. We have a Roku that he is able to navigate with ease, but not everyone is going to want to have a smart Blu-ray player as well as a streaming box. Especially when they do essentially the same thing. Unfortunately, this player just isn't as user friendly and has left me frustrated. When you spend money on a gift, you don't want it to frustrated the person you gave it to.

Third, the apps that are available pale in comparison to other streaming devices like the Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, or even Apple TV. My dad LOVES his PBS app on the Roku, but unfortunately it isn't something that is offered with this Blu-ray player. This player does have a browser, which the Roku doesn't have, which has been nice, but trying to type and search through the web using a remote is a long drawn out process that takes too much time to be practical. To be fair, you CAN hook up a keyboard and a mouse (as far as I know), but I haven't felt the need to set this up when my Dad can just use his personal computer for that.

Fourth, this Blu-ray player has "screen mirroring" for your devices. Which I was SUPER EXCITED about when I realized this. But it is ONLY compatible with Samsung devices (as far as I know). It isn't compatible at all with Apple products! I understand that companies want you to buy their products. Apple is a prime example of this--their products work seamlessly with each other, but not so great with other products. I just wish companies would realize that we don't all have ONLY products from one company! But for some reason, companies seem to think that consumers should only purchase their products and that's it.

All in all this is a great Blu-ray player. It has played every disc we have tried, and the quality has been great! My complaints only have to do with this player as a streaming device. It does a good job with the apps that are included; I have no complaints with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, or any of the other apps I have used. I just wish this device was a little more user friendly, had a few more apps, and allowed for more customization of the home screen.

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Tinkerman

Finally! One that will work! Picture and Audio UHD!

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2014

Verified Purchase

If you are waiting for this to come available, keep waiting. I seriously spent $700.00 finding a Blue ray that would do what I wanted. One costing Over $400.oo that did not meet the mark. (Please search "is 4K really 4K and please note that anytime 4k is mentioned it refers to UHD. Ultra high definition) as you will only be getting 2160 (UHD) on anything 4K you buy. That said. 4K is really UHD. ... What I needed was something that would work with a 4K .Blue Ray and Up-Scale, play AMAZON and Netflix available Streaming 4K movies AND have a Separate from the HDMI OUTPUT for sending separate sound to my Home theater. BINGO! This does all that! My Vizio 4K TV for some reason will not play Streaming 4K in 4K only HD.1080 (Not even UHD 2160) Luckily my TV does display what grade is playing on the screen by pushing the info button. I also bought the leading SONY brand 4K player and it would do everything the Samsung does BUT, it had only digital separate Audio out. I needed optical audio out. So I could watch a UHD movie, with only my tv speakers. My year old Home theater does not pass through UHD HDMI. So, with this little puppy I can watch Amazon and Netflix streaming 4K AKA UHD and hear the sound through my Home Theater using the Digital Audio out! SO as of this date I am rating this one 6 stars! It's the future at a cost way below some that are stuck in the past! You really have to know what you have as far as what you are hooking it to, to be able to see and hear what you want. This unit has options that most any Home theater of late will be able to utilize. It was worth the wait, now I have to go back and watch 3 movies over, with the real deal. as of 12/14. And as a tip, you will need a Fast HDMI cable. If it says for UHD or 4 K it will be good. I bought mine cheap on Amazon and they worked fine. A 3 pack for like >$30. Don't fall into the HDMI $100+ trap. Search the net for information on cables to read up on What will really work. I am also keeping my Sony because it will do the UHD just only with digital out. The onkyo I goes back¡

7 people found this helpful

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Lee

Loads discs and apps quickly and works beautifully with my Samsung TV

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

I had read a professional review that said this player was the fastest the reviewer had ever tested in loading apps and Blu-ray discs. I had never used a Blu-ray player that didn't frustrate me with how slowly it loaded, and I'm happy to say that the reviewer was right. My discs load in seconds and play almost perfectly with one exception; I often find that if I stop watching a DVD or Blu-ray disc and load it the next time I turn on the player, the disc starts from the beginning. While my other Blu-ray players did this with many Blu-ray discs, they always loaded DVD's at the place where I'd stopped them. I now note the timing of a disc before I stop it so that I can get to my stopping place on the next viewing; at least with this player it doesn't take all that long to do so: I can get back to my stopping point before the disc would have loaded on most players!

The player has lots of apps, probably hundreds in all, but it is somewhat confusing to navigate the menus. For example, to find a specific video streaming app, you have to press the HOME button on the remote, then SAMSUNG APPS, then VIDEO, then CATEGORY, then scroll through 154 video apps that aren't arranged in alphabetical order. Fortunately the only apps I'm likely to use are Netflix and Amazon Prime, which are on the initial home screen as "recommended" apps; this player is capable of displaying English subtitles for those Netflix movies that include a subtitles option, which is a plus for me. I've used Netflix a few times, and it loads much more quickly than on other players I've had, but every time I've watched a streaming Netflix title I eventually have gotten a message that Netflix can't load the title now... try again later. Fortunately my smart TV gets Netflix and works perfectly on those very same movies that the player kept dropping. Both my TV and the BD-H6500 use the same wired connection through a Powerline Ethernet adapter. Most of the other reviewers on Amazon indicate that they have no problem with streaming Netflix; so I'm not sure why I'm having problems; I'll continue to test this out from time to time.

I have a Samsung 60" TV that's 3 years old, and the remote for the BD-H6500 controls the TV's power, source input, and volume perfectly.

On the whole, this is the best Blu-ray player I've used.

4 people found this helpful

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Raymond Johnson

It's a great unit.

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

This thing was wonderful for the first month. Before long, the picture would flicker off then back on. Eventually it got to the point where the picture would flicker off completely, although I could still hear it playing. I would have to either turn off the TV and turn it back on or turn off the disc player and turn it back on, hoping that it'd work. Sometimes it took a few tries, getting worse and worse with each passing day of use. Sometimes changing it out on HDMI ports on my TV brought it "back to life." The problems began to happen with much more frequency, and now I can't get it to display a picture no matter how many times I turn it off and on, turn the TV off and on, or unplug and plug it back in to a different HDMI port.

EDIT: I have egg on my face. After contacting Samsung and going through various steps to fix the problem, they offered to repair it free of charge b/c it was still under warranty (although I had to pay shipping, not a big deal.) When I received the unit back I was excited and plugged it in to test it out. Within 30 seconds the same problem persisted: video would disappear intermittently while still getting audio. I was livid. I contacted Samsung again (via chat on their website) and complained. They apologized and offered to do a much more thorough check of the unit, but this time they sent a shipping label (I didn't have to pay shipping 2nd time around). About a week later they offered an exchange on the unit which I gratefully accepted. I received a completely different unit, a later model than the previous unit. I plugged it in and guess what? Yep, the same problem happened: intermittent video but still had audio. Now I KNEW it wasn't the player. Evidently the two different HDMI cables I used/tested must not have supported the blu-ray standards of this player. (One of the recommendations by the Samsung support staff was to try a different HDMI cable, which I did. I should have tried one from a different manufacturer.) Even though it said it supported "blu-ray" it clearly didn't. I went out and bought a newer HDMI cable, one that adhered to later standards, and now the blu-ray player is perfect.

The moral of the story is to make sure you use proper HDMI cables because all HDMI cables are not the same.

I am changing my review from one star to five stars. It was a brilliant unit prior to my HDMI cable problems.

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Samsung BD-H6500 3D Smart Blu-ray Disc Player (2014 Model)

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Samsung BD-H6500 3D Smart Blu-ray Disc Player (2014 Model)

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