You’re standing in the electronics aisle at Walmart. It smells like plastic and ozone. Behind the glass cases, between the $800 OLED TVs and the discounted soundbars, sits a small stack of boxes. They aren't flashy. Honestly, most people walk right past them. But if you’re looking for Walmart Blu ray players, you’re likely trying to solve a specific problem: streaming services are getting too expensive, and the bitrates are kind of terrible.
Physical media isn't dead. It’s just became a niche for people who actually care about how Dune looks on a Friday night.
Walmart has basically become the last standing fortress for the casual physical media buyer. While Best Buy famously yanked discs off their shelves in early 2024, Walmart doubled down. They even took over some of the distribution logistics. But here’s the thing—buying a player there is a bit of a minefield if you don’t know what you’re looking at. You might see a $70 Sony box next to an $180 LG 4K unit. They look the same. They aren't.
The Budget Trap and the Sony "Workhorse"
Let's talk about the Sony BDP-S1700. It’s usually the cheapest thing on the shelf. It’s tiny. It feels like a toy. Most people grab it because it says "Blu-ray" and it costs less than a week of groceries.
Here is the reality: that player is a 1080p machine. If you plug that into your shiny 4K TV, the TV has to do all the heavy lifting to upscale the image. Sometimes it looks okay. Often, it looks muddy. The BDP-S1700 is great for a kid’s playroom or a guest bedroom where nobody cares about HDR10+ or Dolby Vision. It’s a tool. It works. But it’s not "home cinema."
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I’ve seen people complain that their discs look "worse than Netflix." Well, yeah. If you’re using a budget 1080p player on a 65-inch 4K panel, you're starving the pixels.
Then you have the LG BP175. It’s the other "budget king" you’ll find in the Walmart aisles. It’s functional. It plays DVDs, it plays Blu-rays, and it has some archaic streaming apps built-in that you should absolutely never use. Seriously, the processors in these budget players are slower than a 2012 smartphone. Use a Roku or an Apple TV for your streaming; use the player for the disc.
Why 4K Ultra HD Players Are the Real Play
If you actually want to see why people still buy discs, you have to look at the 4K Ultra HD models. Specifically, look for the Sony UBP-X700. Walmart usually keeps this one locked up or on a higher shelf.
Why does it matter? Bitrate.
When you stream a movie on Disney+ or Netflix, the data is compressed so it can travel through your Wi-Fi. A 4K stream might top out at 15 to 25 Mbps. A 4K disc from a Walmart Blu ray player can push 100 Mbps. It’s a massive difference. You see it in the shadows. You see it in the way grain looks like film instead of digital noise.
The UBP-X700 is a bit of a legend in home theater circles, but it has a quirk that drives people crazy. It doesn’t auto-switch Dolby Vision. You have to go into the settings and toggle it on or off depending on the disc. It's annoying. It’s clunky. But for the price Walmart usually asks—often under $200—it’s the most affordable way to get high-end video into your living room.
The Onn Brand Mystery
You’ll see the "Onn" logo everywhere in Walmart. It’s their house brand. They make tablets, TVs, and yes, sometimes very cheap Blu-ray players.
Honestly? Be careful.
Onn products are manufactured by various OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Durabrand or Funai. They are designed to be the absolute floor of the price point. If you just need something to play The Lion King for a toddler, an Onn player is fine. But if you’re building a collection, the laser assemblies in these ultra-cheap units tend to be less reliable over time. They struggle with "triple-layer" 100GB discs—the big ones that hold movies like Oppenheimer.
Nothing ruins a movie night faster than the player freezing at the two-hour mark because the laser can't find the third layer of the disc.
Audio: The Forgotten Variable
Most people buy Walmart Blu ray players for the picture. They forget the sound.
Even the basic Sony and LG players at Walmart support lossless audio formats like DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. Your TV speakers can't play these properly. If you're buying a player, you really should consider a soundbar or a receiver that can handle those formats.
There is a specific "weight" to the sound on a physical disc that streaming just can't replicate. When a dragon roars or a car explodes, the uncompressed audio hits your subwoofer with a physical force. Streaming audio feels thin by comparison. It’s like the difference between a live concert and a radio broadcast.
Region Coding is Still a Thing
I've seen people buy a player at Walmart, go home, and try to play a "Region B" boutique disc they bought from the UK. It won't work.
Standard Walmart Blu ray players sold in the US are Region A. They play discs from North America, South America, and parts of East Asia. They are locked down. You can find "Region Free" players online, but you won't find them at a big-box retailer.
If you're a fan of Criterion Collection, Arrow Video, or Second Sight, always check the back of the box before you buy the disc. If the disc is Region B, your Walmart Sony player will just give you a polite, annoying error message.
The "Smart" Features are Mostly Garbage
Do not buy a Blu-ray player for its "Smart" features.
The apps on these machines—YouTube, Netflix, Vudu—are rarely updated. They are slow. They often crash. Manufacturers include them so they can put more icons on the box, but they are almost always inferior to the apps already built into your TV.
Focus on the drive. Focus on the HDR support. Ignore the "WiFi Built-in" stickers if you already have a smart TV or a gaming console.
What About Gaming Consoles?
You might be thinking: I have a PS5 or an Xbox Series X. Do I even need a Walmart Blu ray player?
It depends.
The PS5 is a very capable 4K Blu-ray player. It’s quiet, and the interface is fast. However, it lacks Dolby Vision support for physical discs. It only does HDR10. If you have a high-end TV like an LG C3 or a Sony A95L, you're leaving performance on the table by using a console.
The Xbox Series X does support Dolby Vision for streaming, but its disc playback has been notoriously buggy for years, often struggling with black levels and skip-tracking.
A dedicated player—even a mid-range one from Walmart—will almost always provide a more stable, higher-quality image than a gaming console.
Practical Steps for Your Purchase
If you're heading to the store today, follow this logic. It'll save you a return trip.
First, look at your TV. If it’s a 1080p TV from five years ago, just get the cheapest Sony BDP-S1700 you can find. It’s $70-80. It’s perfect for what you need.
Second, if you have a 4K TV, skip the 1080p players entirely. Plugging a standard Blu-ray player into a 4K TV is like putting regular gas in a Ferrari. It runs, but it's not what it was built for. Look for the Sony UBP-X700 or the LG UBK90. These handle 4K discs and HDR.
Third, check the "Rollback" sections. Walmart rotates their tech stock constantly. You can often find a 4K player that was $250 marked down to $160 because the box is slightly dented. The hardware inside is usually fine.
Lastly, grab a high-quality HDMI cable. You don't need the $100 gold-plated nonsense, but you do need a cable rated for 18Gbps (High Speed) or 48Gbps (Ultra High Speed) if you're going the 4K route. The old cable in your junk drawer from 2012 might not have the bandwidth to carry a 4K HDR signal, leading to those annoying black screens or "sparkles" in the image.
Physical media is about ownership. When a movie disappears from a streaming service because of a licensing dispute, the disc on your shelf stays there. It doesn't require an internet connection to work. It doesn't buffer when your neighbor starts downloading a huge game update. It just plays.
Buying a player at Walmart is the easiest entry point into that world. Just make sure you aren't buying 2015 technology for a 2026 living room. Verify the 4K logo. Verify the HDR support. And maybe pick up a copy of Mad Max: Fury Road on your way out to really test what your new hardware can do.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your TV's HDR capabilities: Before buying, look up your TV model to see if it supports Dolby Vision. If it does, prioritize the Sony UBP-X700.
- Audit your HDMI cables: Ensure you have an "Ultra High Speed" 48Gbps cable if you are purchasing a 4K player; otherwise, you may experience signal dropouts.
- Compare in-store vs. online: Walmart often has different pricing on their website than in-store. Use the Walmart app to scan the barcode and ask for a price match at the register if the online price is lower.
- Test with a Triple-Layer Disc: If you buy a budget 4K player, test it early with a long movie (2.5+ hours) like Oppenheimer or The Batman to ensure the laser can handle layer transitions without freezing.