The 6 Best Portable Blu-ray Players
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Our top portable Blu-ray player is the Fangor F-BR114. Six players compared by screen size, disc regions, battery life, HDMI and warranty. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
A portable Blu-ray player is a clamshell with a disc drive, a swiveling screen and a battery, made for back seats, RVs, hotel rooms and power outages. It plays DVDs and CDs too. Models differ in screen size, which disc regions they accept, battery life, HDMI inputs and outputs, and how much weight you'll carry.
Editor's Notes
October 16, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Admin:
Portable Blu-ray players are a small niche, and it's shrinking. Every product from the last version of this list is gone. The Sylvania SDVD1336, Sylvania SDVD1079 and NaviskAuto PB1421B are no longer available new, and the LG WP50NB40 and Pioneer BDR-XD07B laptop drives, along with their newer replacements, aren't available either, so all five are out.
What's left is mostly a handful of direct-sale brands. The Fangor F-BR114 is our pick for its sensible 12-inch size, built-in handle and support for DVDs from any region. The Wonnie W-BR156 and Wonnie W-BR146 are there for anyone who wants a bigger screen, and the Gonavidio NP0511B-A08 is the one to get if you want to plug in a game console. The Krovatar KBP-190 has no battery, but it makes a good bedroom player that doubles as a monitor. The Proscan PDVD1187 is the closest living relative of the old Sylvania models.
We left out Fangor's smaller 12.5-inch model, because owners keep saying its screen is too dim, and it costs nearly as much as the F-BR114.
A word of warning: none of these play 4K Ultra HD discs, and no independent lab has tested any of them. We leaned on makers' specs, owner feedback and recall checks, and we say so where the evidence is thin.
December 31, 2020:
Blu-ray isn't dead yet, but if you want to watch discs when you're not at home, the options for doing so are actually dwindling. In terms of standalone players, the Sylvania SDVD1079 and Sylvania SDVD1336 are two of the few to come from well-known brands, and the NaviskAuto PB1421B is one of the rare ones to offer native 1080p playback.
Alternatively, if you have a laptop with a USB slot, the LG WP50NB40 or Pioneer BDR-XD07B can both turn it into a mobile video player. Just remember that you might have to install some additional Windows instructions to make it work, but it really shouldn't be too difficult.
July 06, 2019:
If you want to watch movies while on the move, there are two ways to go about it. If you have a laptop, you can pick up a portable Blu-ray drive like the LG or Pioneer. The advantages here are that a drive is more versatile than a standard player, as both of these can also write to discs very quickly. Additionally, high-quality laptops often have bigger and higher-resolution displays than dedicated portable players.
On the other hand, a standalone device is far less expensive than a laptop+drive combo. The Sony is one of the few produced by a big-name electronics manufacturer, and it should live up to the company's good reputation. The Maxmade 1061 is just about the most affordable, while the Sylvania is pretty pricey but may be the most reliable. It's hard to argue with the 13-inch Maxmade, though, as it sports a full HD resolution that results in a crisp and clear image and helps make movies look great. And on top of support for high-end Blu-ray discs, these portable players are compatible with CDs and DVDs as well as any custom libraries, as most of them have SD card and USB thumb drive capabilities built in.
Screen Size, Weight And Where You'll Watch
Most players have HDMI out, which sends the movie to a TV or projector and usually switches the built-in screen off.
Start with where the player will live. A 10- to 12-inch screen fits a child's lap, a tray table or a seat back, while a 14- to 15-inch screen suits an RV, a hotel room or a bedroom shelf, where two or three people watch together. Bigger models also get heavy: a 15.4-inch clamshell can weigh about 4 pounds.
Read the size carefully. Many listings name the player by the size of its lid or case, not its screen, so a "17.6-inch" player may have a 15.4-inch panel and a "13.3-inch" one a 12-inch panel. The screen size is usually in the fine print.
Every player here has a 1080p screen, which matches the resolution of a standard Blu-ray disc, and that looks sharp at this size. None of them play 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. Those need a UHD player, and the discs hold up to 100 GB with a 3840 by 2160 picture (Wikipedia). If you want a 4K picture from discs, buy a full-size UHD player or a game console that plays them.
Most players have HDMI out, which sends the movie to a TV or projector and usually switches the built-in screen off. Only a few take an HDMI input, which lets the screen show a game console, a phone or a streaming stick. Check for the word "in" if that matters to you.
Region Codes, Disc Types And Video Files
Blu-ray discs carry a region code. Players sold in the U.S. play Region A discs, the code used in North and South America, Japan, Korea and much of Southeast Asia. Region B covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australia, and Region C covers Russia, India and China, so those discs won't play unless they're region-free (Sony). Many Blu-ray releases are region-free, and 4K Ultra HD discs have no region code at all (Wikipedia).
DVDs use a different set of codes, and here the players differ. Some play DVDs from any region, which helps if you buy discs abroad. Others are locked to Region 1, the U.S. and Canada code. The listing usually says which.
A plain portable DVD player can't play Blu-ray discs. Blu-ray uses a different laser and decoder, so only a player that names Blu-ray will read them. Every Blu-ray player here also plays DVDs and CDs, plus recordable discs.
Most also read USB flash drives and SD cards, usually up to 32 GB and formatted FAT32, and play common video files such as MP4, AVI and MOV at up to 1080p. They don't stream from Netflix or other apps, so download what you want to a drive before a trip.
Batteries, Car Use And The Laptop Option
Battery claims run high. A spinning Blu-ray disc draws more power than a DVD, and owners of several players here report less run time than the listing promises. Plan on two and a half to four hours per charge, and use the included car charger on long drives. Lithium batteries in portable players have been recalled before for overheating and fire risks, in older models from Coby and Polaroid among others (CPSC), so use the supplied charger, don't leave a player in a hot parked car, and stop using one whose battery swells or gets hot. We found no recalls for any brand on this list.
In a car, keep the screen out of the driver's sight. Federal driver-distraction guidelines say video unrelated to driving shouldn't be visible to the driver while the car is moving (NHTSA), and many states limit front-seat screens. Rear seats are the place for these players.
If you already travel with a laptop, a slim USB Blu-ray drive plus player software can be lighter and gives you a better screen. Standard Blu-ray movies play this way on Windows and Mac. 4K Ultra HD discs are a trap: Intel removed the SGX feature that UHD playback relied on from its 11th-generation and newer processors (Intel), and CyberLink's PowerDVD dropped UHD disc playback on new PCs (gHacks). A 4K-ready drive won't play 4K movies on most current laptops.
