Forget streaming services — here's why I'm still buying 4K Blu-rays in 2025

Tom's Guide

8 hours ago

I love 4K Blu-rays. There's something about cracking open a new DVD, popping it into a player and sitting back for a night of pure 4K entertainment.
It harkens back to the days of old, when you didn't have to scroll through endless menus looking for your next bite of content; back when everything wasn't divvied up and sandwiched between multiple ads. Long before the days of streaming services, which have now become the de facto base for all content consumption.
Despite easy access to catalogues of movies and shows, I'm still buying Blu-ray DVDs in 2025. There's something about seeing my collection grow in real-time that's hard to replicate, not to mention the fact that even the best streaming services simply can't match the raw performance offered by a 4K Blu-ray and DVD player combo. (Bonus points when paired with one of the best OLED TVs.)
Here's why 4K Blu-rays are still the best ways to experience all of your favorite entertainment.
What's the one thing streaming services don't have in comparison to 4K Blu-ray DVDs? Higher bitrates.
A 4K movie streamed on Netflix will average around 15 to 25Mbps, though this can fluctuate depending on your own internet speeds and the content being displayed on-screen. This means if you have shoddy internet, you'll often get poor and pixelated visuals in most streamed content, diminishing the quality and immersion.
The average bitrate for a 4K Blu-ray DVD can range between 48Mbps to 75Mbps. Some discs can also carry around 100Mbps or even 128Mbps.
Meanwhile, the average bitrate for a 4K Blu-ray DVD can range between 48Mbps to 75Mbps. Some discs can also carry around 100Mbps or even 128Mbps, but these are more rare. Clearly, Blu-rays are far more efficient in their data speed, offering richer details and less compression, primarily because they don't rely on the internet.
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Compressed images can lead to severe artefacting. While this does depend on your internet speeds, you'll still notice flaws when watching on streaming services, like pixelated images, especially in fast-moving objects, plus diminished quality of some content in HDR formats. Again, it largely depends on the particular scene being represented and other factors, including active HDR and internet speeds, but it's clear streaming services simply don't hold a candle to physical media.
Issues with compressed data not only extends to the actual visual fidelity of a show or movie but also the audio quality: Lossless audio, like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio, is a major boon for Blu-rays as they offer enhanced clarity and cleaner dialogue.
Finally, remember that most streaming services utilize a dynamic bitrate, which makes the quality of a movie or show vary wildly every time you watch it. Network congestion and several other factors already mentioned can largely affect how the content is presented. This is where Blu-rays come out on top, because they don't have to rely on stable internet speeds for perfect playback.
Although niche, one of my personal favorite functions on DVDs are the special features — from director interviews to deleted scenes — that come packed within like stocking stuffers. I've garnered whole new perspectives on some of my favorite content thanks to these special features.
One in particular is "The Godfather: Coppola Restoration," which comes resplendent with whole documentaries detailing the making of this fantastic classic. While you might be able to find some of this content elsewhere, like YouTube or Vimeo, having it all neatly collated and organized in a special volume is too good to pass up.
Another DVD with insightful featurette content is the collector's edition of "Everything Everywhere All at Once." It's loaded with tons of deleted scenes, a mini documentary, plus director's commentary, which explains how the team used practical effects to make the movie really pop on the big screen.
Not every 4K Blu-ray is made equal, after all, but it's still nice having hours of extra content to dive into beyond simply the movie or show you're buying.
Unfortunately, not every DVD comes with special features to enjoy, especially 4K Blu-rays. A huge letdown was "The Lord of the Rings" 4K DVD set, which skimped out on all the cool extra content available in its Extended Editions. Not every 4K Blu-ray is made equal, after all, but it's still nice having hours of extra content to dive into beyond simply the movie or show you're buying.
If you're a big David Lynch fan, I highly recommend scooping up the Blu-ray release of "Twin Peaks: From Z to A," which comes packed with tons of extra content to experience, like the "Fire Walk With Me" film and several of its deleted scenes, aka "The Missing Pieces."
Another great DVD recommendation is the 4K Blu-ray release of "Ghost in the Shell," which adds two fascinating featurettes into the mix. One is called "Accessing Section 9: 25 Years into the Future," which divulges the film's wider themes and includes several interviews with the English cast and crew, while "Landscapes & Dreamscapes" offers a beautiful deep dive into the inspiration behind the film's setting.
You won't find these on Netflix or Prime Video.
Despite the financial ruin it certainly heralds, I still love collecting 4K Blu-ray DVDs and consistently adding to my collection. Beyond simply watching my favorite content in the best possible way, it's all about seeing my collection expand with each new DVD or series collection thrown into the mix.
Content on streaming services is a far more transitory and fleeting. You're not only missing out on the luxury of experiencing movies and shows in an amplified quality, but those same movies and shows won't always remain on the same service all the time.
One of the worst offenders is HBO Max, which pulled all episodes of "Westworld" following the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery. As one of my favorite shows, this was a stake to the heart, but buying the full "Westworld" series collection on 4K Blu-ray means I never have to worry about it leaving a particular streaming service ever again.
It's one of the best reasons why you should buy Blu-rays in the first place. Server capacity is limited and not every streaming service can hold the rights to various shows and movies for a prolonged period of time, unless they already own that IP.
And it's not just the availability of content. A variety of other concerns can arise, infrequent as they might be, including the streaming site being down for unknown reasons, or your home Wi-Fi being out. You never have to worry about these concerns when relying on Blu-rays, as all you need is a display, the disc, a player, and power.
Sony's UPB-X700 Blu-ray player just got a major update that gives it some pretty significant upgrades at nearly the same price of its predecessor. With networking capabilities, Dolby Vision support and 4K upscaling, Sony's newest system remains one of the best you can buy if you're looking to keep costs down.
That's not to say that streaming services don't have their bright spots, though. If you're not regularly going to the movie theater, most of the early movies releases tend to hit streaming sites before any official DVD release. Plus, almost all TV shows launch on the streaming services well in advance of any physical offering.
You'll also find that DVDs can be pretty expensive, especially 4K Blu-rays. While some streaming services are raising prices on a yearly basis and adding cheaper ad-laden tiers, the monthly subscription still pales in comparison to the prices you'll have to pay for a growing collection of DVDs.
A standalone Prime Video subscription costs $9 a month, or you can pay $15 for Amazon Prime (and an additional $3 for ad-free streaming). In total, that's just under $20, while "Fallout: Season One" on 4K Blu-ray DVD costs $29 on Amazon. That's just one series (and its pilot season, to boot), while Prime Video alone has access to tons of content for around $10 less.
You'll also need a 4K Blu-ray player, which don't often come cheap. I've included my personal pick above as it's one of the best models you can buy for the price, but even at around $250, that's a lot to invest in a device when a year-long subscription of Amazon Prime is just $139.
Still, the extra costs are worth it: Nothing tops the quality of 4K Blu-rays. I'd be willing to trade in all my streaming service subscriptions in favor of going full Blu-ray, even at the cost of missing content at its earliest release. That's just the price you pay for fidelity.