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Overall, the K8500 can be considered a solid first-gen 4K player. However, factor in the journeyman built quality and you're paying a high price for 4K functionality.
One last point on price: Bizarrely, the player sells for $399 in the US, but commands an inflated sterling ticket of £430, which suggests a rather major markup is occurring – even when you consider the fact that the player comes with a free copy of The Martian bundled.
We liked
The K8500 is currently the cheapest route into 4K Blu-ray and probably offers pound-for-pound the best looking images you'll see on your 4K HDR TV. It's also a useful hub for 4K OTT services from Netflix and Amazon. While the design is a bit Marmite, I'm consistently impressed by its loading speed and colourful UI.
We disliked
Early adopters might well be disappointed at its overall lack of finesse this Samsung offers – it's simply not up to par with other Samsung products. And while the compact remote control looks cool, Samsung's design decision to use a coin battery instead of standard AAAs seems almost wilfully annoying.
Final verdict
If you want your 4K HDR TV to look its best, then you can't beat 4K Blu-ray. And when it comes to sheer image fidelity, the UBD-K8500 certainly impresses.
Having 4K Netflix and Amazon Video on board further heightens its appeal, and though it may lack the audiophile credentials of Panasonic's DMP-UB900, that's no reason to complain.
Having a choice of high and low price points for a new format like 4K Blu-ray will serve the industry better than two identical models.
That said, I might even go so far as to recommend the K8500 if its UK price wasn't so out of whack with the US.
