At the time of this review I have the latest firmware (version BD7.341.00).The BP620 is LG's 2012 blu-ray player model that replaces the LG BD670 from the 2011 lineup. The new 2012 BP620 model comes in at the same physical size as last years. I personally like the build quality of the player compared to the 2012 Sony BDP-S390 model, which while smaller feels very cheap.
The user interface is virtually identical to last year's model. At times last year's BD670 model suffered from delay reaction to the remote control. This is not the case with this year's model. The exception to this is during the first 20 seconds of the player booting up (turning on).
In terms of blu-ray playback quality, it is up to par compared to all sub-$180 players on the market today. The disc load times have improved on the model compared to last year's LG BD670. DVD up-scaling to 1080p is well done on the BP620 too. One feature missing across all video playback formats is the zoom feature. While I never really took advantage of zooming in on my video, I know of some people who will miss it.
The included remote control is almost exactly the same as the model included with last year's BD670. The big difference is the lack of the "marker," "search" and "zoom" buttons neat the bottom. These three buttons have been replaced with a "music id" button to have the player access GraceNote for disc info and a dedicated "Audio" button to switch audio tracks. This was a button last year's model did not have. Before you had to hit the "Info" button and scroll down to audio and then toggle to the desired track. A dedicated "subtitle" button has also been added to the remote.
Compared to the 2012 Sony blu-ray players, this LG streams a lot of video file formats from my local network: AVI, DIVX, XVID, MKV, MP4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 & more. The Sony BDP-390 would not see or play any of my video files. This LG sees and plays them all. The one thing I miss is the "search" function that the LG LD670 had. It made fast forwarding though a long video much quicker to skip ahead. The BP620 would not see my home Seagate NAS as the BD670 did unless I turned on the DLNA Media Server function of my NAS. Not really an issue. Just worth mentioning. When fast forwarding or rewinding video was much smoother than when doing so on the BD670. Also, if you stop playing a video file then go back to playing the same file again it starts all over instead of picking up where it left off like on the BD670.
The BP620 features only a 2.4Ghz wireless radio card. This year's model lacks the 5Ghz wireless radio which I liked on the BD670.
In terms of steaming services, at this time there are a few less available than the 2011 BD670 model. Some people have written in reviews of Netflix issues. I have not experienced any to date. As of 3/14/12, the BP620 has: Netflix, vudu, hulu PLUS, Pandora, CinemaNow, AccuWeather, AP, vTuner, YouTube, Picasa Web Albums & viewstar.
Lastly I will say that the unit runs fairly warm. There is no fan in the rear or ventilation in the rear. I opened the unit up to find a very low end heat sink on the main board.
** UPDATE **
Sony has released firmware version M11.R.0211 for the BDP-S390 and while it is not listed in the updated items in the release notes from Sony, this firmware seems to have corrected the issue mentioned eariler in my review about the Sony 2012 units not seeing video files (MKV, AVI, XVID, etc) from my DLNA Certified NAS.
In the past 4-5 months I've tried several Blue Ray DVD players; several models by Samsung, a Sony and as of late, this LG. I've had different issues with each of the previous units which is why I kept trying other ones. My Conclusion is that the LG is the best (from my stand point). It is the only one that played anything and everything I throw at it. It played all MKV files (even the one that a Sony unit complained was corrupted), it was able to recognize and display both subtitles embedded in the MKV as well as added subtitle files within the folder. It did so both from a disk and from a connected USB device. It even played DVDs that were encoded in PAL (!!!), something none of the others could.
So, I'm sticking with the LG BP620C.
Buy LG BP620 3D Blu-Ray Player with Built-In Wi-Fi - Black Now
Hard to believe, but it was just a few years2006, actuallyago that Blu-Ray players cost $500 or more for even the most basic units. Now you can get a fully-functioned unit with WiFi, Internet connectivity, and players for Netflix and other services that didn't even exist in 2006 for a fraction of the cost. So how good a player do you get for under $150?Pretty good, actually. I've never used a really high end player (you can spend well over a thousand dollars for a high end unit) but I can't image the images they produce are significantly better than those I get from this box. I started my evaluation by putting the manual aside and plugging the player into the wall and my LG TV. I turned it on with the remote, and the on-screen instructions led me painlessly through the setup procedure and software update. I tried a few discs, which played with no problem, and then turned my attention to configuring Netflix. This went even more smoothly than the Netflix setup on my LG TV, although there was one odd glitch. When I entered my Netflix id and password, I got an "ID or password not recognized" message, and then the player connected to Netflix without further problems. Curiously, I had exactly the same error message with my LG TV. Other than that I had no problems with that function. The user interface once you launch Netflix is very goodbetter than that in my LG TV, I think. It scrolls more smoothly and more quickly than the TV set based player.
The up-scaling feature that reprocesses ordinary DVDs to full 1080p doesn't appear to deliver significantly more resolution with the ordinary DVDs I've tried, compared to my old Philips player. I tried both older movies originally shot on film as well as brand-new videos of current TV series, but neither showed that much improvement on my 1080p set. The various Internet streaming functions, like YouTube and Hulu worked without a glitch. One curious omission from both this unit and my TV is a player for Amazon Prime videos. Amazon has a full writeup on their site on how to input code numbers from LG equipment to enable Amazon Prime video playing, but it doesn't appear to be supported on those units I've looked at. Some reviews say that previous models of this player did have Prime support. I checked an FAQ at LG's web site and read that Prime support "may possibly be made available on a future update" but there is no timetable to do so. Pity.
Other than those few quirks, I didn't have any problems with this player. The BP620 may not have all the functions I'd like, but it's still a very good deal in a basic Blu-Ray player, and includes a lot more functionality than even top line DVD players of just a few years ago. I'd say it's a good choice for anyone looking for a not-too-expensive entry into Blu-Ray technology, or a good all-around DVD player with Netflix streaming.
Read Best Reviews of LG BP620 3D Blu-Ray Player with Built-In Wi-Fi - Black Here
Let me start off by saying that many of these reviewers are correct in their assumptions about this blu-ray player, even the negative reviewers. I did not care much for this blu-ray player from the start but with my experience with electronics I decided to be patient and wait for all the proper updates. After about two weeks of the blu-ray player locking up and having to unplug it I gave LG a call and they told me they were aware of it and they were working on fixing it. Now, I'm no nuby to electronics and I try to stay realistic and patient. In this instance it paid off. I also have a LG 7600 tv that had some issues, but like with blu-ray player, the updates fixed everything.A lot of times these companies get a wee-antsy when trying to push their yearly products out, and this blu-ray player was no exception. On the other hand, now that it's fixed it's the best blu-ray player I've ever owned (and I've owned a few). Not only does it play blu-rays and DVDs great, but it also streams at extremely great levels. I can't tell the difference between the streaming quality and blu-ray quality sometimes. It's crystal clear and runs 1080p very smoothly.
The Blu-ray player itself is very quiet in comparison to earlier blu-ray players. Some of you are familiar with loud blu-ray players and it can be very annoying. This blu-ray is as quiet as a church mouse.
One negative mark that is pretty minimal is that the blu-ray player is a bit slow. It is slow in loading and it is slow with the remote when you are trying to type out a title for a show you might be looking for on Vudu or Netflix. It's nothing major, but it is evident.
Overall this blu-ray player has been very good to me (minus the first couple weeks). I got this back in April, so I have had it for a little over 9 months. It's running great and I am 100% satisfied. Hope this helps. Take care
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I gought this as a companion to my LG55LM7600 3d tv. It's my second 3d blu-ray player, and it compares well to my first, a Samsung product. I hooked it up to my newly-mounted tv just 12 days ago. Haven't used the wi-fi yet...need to get a router. I've watched a 3d movie, several 2d blu-ray movies and some dvds. The 3d is fine, no ghosting, no trails, smooth motion. 2d movies are extremely sharp, but I don't know whether to credit the player or the tv for that. One thing that startled me was the picture I got when playing non-blu-ray dvds. Almost indistinguishable from blu-ray.The player hooked up easily they all do and looks great, all slim and shiny black. One other thing: it operates much faster much than either of my two SONY blu-ray players. I'd recommend this unit.
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