Sony Multi Zone Region Free Blu Ray Player Review: simple box that finally lets you play discs from everywhere

I picked up this Sony multi-region Blu-ray player for one reason: I was tired of buying UK or Japanese discs and then getting the “wrong region” error on my old player. I’ve got a small collection of Region 2 DVDs and a couple of PAL Blu-rays sitting on a shelf doing nothing, so I wanted something cheap and simple that would actually play everything without needing a separate player for each region.

In practice, this box does what the listing says, but with a catch: it’s basically a standard Sony Blu-ray player that a third-party company has modified. So you’re not getting some official “Sony S1500RF” model – that name doesn’t actually exist. You’re getting a normal Sony deck (like the BDP-S1700 or BDP-S3700) with a region-free mod and a photocopied sheet of instructions tossed in. If you’re expecting a full Sony-branded, region-free model with a proper Sony manual explaining the region stuff, that’s not what this is.

Functionally though, once you get past that, it works. I tested it with Region 2 DVDs from the UK, a Region B Blu-ray, and some regular Region 1 discs. Everything booted up and played without drama. On one unit I tried, you just press a colored button on the remote to switch regions before you load the disc. It’s not super fancy, but it’s straightforward enough once you’ve read the little instruction sheet.

So overall, the first impression is: it’s a basic Sony Blu-ray player with an aftermarket hack, not magic. It’s not perfect, there are some things that annoyed me (especially around voltage and the way it’s marketed), but if your main goal is “I just want to watch discs from any country on my HDMI TV,” it basically gets the job done.

Price-wise, this thing usually costs noticeably more than the base Sony player it’s built on. For example, if a regular Sony BDP-S1700 sells around a certain price, this region-free version can be roughly double that once the mod company’s margin is added. So you’re basically paying a markup for the region-free capability and the PAL/NTSC conversion. If you only ever watch Region 1/A discs and US releases, it’s a bad deal – you’d be better off just buying the standard Sony player and saving the money.

But if you’ve already got a bunch of foreign discs, or you regularly import Blu-rays and DVDs from Europe or Asia, then the value starts to make sense. A lot of Region 2 box sets from the UK are cheaper than the US versions, and some shows or movies only get proper releases overseas. In that case, the extra you pay for this player can pay for itself over time through cheaper discs and more options. For me, the main value is pretty simple: it lets me actually use discs I already own instead of having them collect dust.

Compared to buying a dedicated region-free player from some unknown brand, I like that this is built on a Sony chassis. Sony’s basic players are usually stable, and disc compatibility is decent. The mod is the “iffy” part, but at least the underlying hardware is from a known brand. I still think the marketing should be clearer, and the voltage claims should match the actual adapter in the box. That’s where the value drops a bit, because you’re paying a premium and getting a slightly confusing package.

Overall, I’d call the value pretty solid if you truly need region-free playback, and just “meh” if you’re buying it on a whim. The extra cost only makes sense if you’re actively using non-US discs or planning to. If you’re just curious and don’t own any foreign media yet, I’d either wait or start with a cheaper standard player and see how deep you get into importing before spending the extra cash on this type of modded unit.

Design-wise, this is as plain as it gets. It’s a small, lightweight black box, about what you’d expect from an entry-level Sony Blu-ray player. The dimensions listed (11 x 13 x 11 inches) are a bit exaggerated; in reality it’s much slimmer and more compact than an old DVD recorder or a game console. It slides into a TV stand or on a shelf without taking up much space, and it’s light enough that you can easily move it between rooms if needed. The front has a disc tray, a power button, and not much else – nothing flashy, no display with big text, just a tiny indicator light.

On the back, it’s also very simple: HDMI output, power connector, and that’s about it. No analog component outputs, no fancy extra audio outs. This matches the description: it’s meant for HDMI TVs only. If you’re still on an old CRT or something without HDMI, this is not the right device unless you buy some extra converter box. For modern TVs though, the minimal port selection is fine. Less cable mess, you just plug in HDMI and you’re done.

The remote is typical Sony budget remote: lots of small buttons, a bit cramped, but functional. The mod company doesn’t change the physical remote, they just use it for the region switching trick. So you’ll see the usual colored buttons (red, green, yellow, blue) and those become your region selectors according to the instruction sheet. It’s not the most comfortable remote I’ve used, but once you memorize which color is which region, you don’t really think about it anymore.

Overall, the design is nothing special but effective. It’s not going to impress anyone, but it also doesn’t draw attention. It’s the kind of device you set up once and basically forget it’s there. If you want something that looks premium or has a front display and lots of physical controls, this isn’t it. If you just want a small black box that plays discs and stays out of the way, it does that job fine.

The packaging itself is pretty standard for a Sony player: a branded Sony box (for the base model like BDP-S1700 or S3700), some protective cardboard, and plastic wrapping. Nothing fancy, but it arrives reasonably protected. Where it feels a bit off is when you notice the extra stickers and loose papers from the mod company. On my unit, there was a sticker over the original model number saying something like “Region Free 110–240 Dual Voltage,” and inside there was a black-and-white photocopied sheet with instructions and a separate support phone number that clearly wasn’t Sony’s.

This is where you really see that you’re not buying a true Sony “multi-region” product, but a modified one. The official Sony documentation in the box doesn’t mention region-free stuff at all. It just treats the player like a normal Region A/1 unit. All the info about how to switch regions, what the mod does, and the specific warranty for the mod comes from that extra sheet. It works, but it feels a bit DIY: like someone in a workshop took a standard Sony unit, added a mod board, printed their own instructions, and slid everything back into the original box.

If you’re okay with that, then fine, but it’s good to know before you buy. The Amazon listing makes it sound like Sony themselves are selling a dedicated multi-region model (S1500RF), which is not accurate. So when you open the box and see a normal Sony model number plus a sticker, it can feel slightly misleading. I get why some reviewers were annoyed – they expected a clean, official world edition, and instead got a modified retail unit.

From a pure protection standpoint, the packaging does its job: the player arrived without damage and all the parts were there. From a transparency standpoint, I’d say it’s a bit shaky. If the listing clearly said “modded Sony BDP-S1700 by [mod company name], region-free,” then the packaging would make total sense. As it is, you open it and immediately notice the gap between the marketing and reality.

In terms of build, this is clearly a budget-level Sony deck with a mod, not some high-end tank. The chassis is lightweight, mostly thin plastic and light metal. When you pick it up, it doesn’t feel fragile exactly, but it also doesn’t give you that solid, heavy vibe. The disc tray feels standard for this price range: not super smooth, but not flimsy either. If you’re gentle with it and don’t slam the tray, it should be fine. I wouldn’t stack heavy gear on top of it though, just to avoid flexing the case.

The bigger durability question is the modification and the power setup. Because this isn’t an official Sony region-free model, the mod company is basically piggybacking on Sony’s hardware and adding its own chip/firmware tweaks. They usually give a shorter warranty on the mod (like 90 days), which tells you they’re not guaranteeing years of abuse. And as some reviews mention, there have been cases where the unit worked fine for a few uses and then just died, especially in 220–240V situations where the adapter label didn’t match the advertised “world-wide voltage”. So if you’re planning to move around countries and plug into different voltages, I’d be extra careful and maybe use a proper step-down transformer instead of trusting the sticker.

After a few weeks of casual use on 110V, mine hasn’t shown any worrying signs: no weird noises, no random shutdowns, and no issues with disc reading. Load times are average, not super fast but acceptable. The fan noise (if there is one) is basically inaudible from normal viewing distance. For a living room setup, I’d call it quiet enough. Still, I wouldn’t be shocked if this player doesn’t last as long as a more expensive, non-modded deck, just because you’re adding extra complexity and depending on a third-party board or firmware.

If you treat it as a tool to unlock your foreign disc collection for a few years rather than a lifetime investment, it makes more sense. I’d avoid moving it around constantly or plugging/unplugging it all the time. Set it up in one spot with stable power and leave it there. So durability is decent for what it is, but between the lightweight build and the region-free mod, I wouldn’t call it bulletproof. It’s good enough if you’re realistic about it.

On the performance side, the good news is that the region-free part actually works. I tried Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, plus Region A and Region B Blu-rays, including some PAL-encoded discs, and they all played. The built-in PAL/NTSC conversion seems solid: I hooked it up to a basic 1080p HDMI TV in the US, and PAL discs output just like any other disc. No weird colors, no flicker, nothing obviously broken. So if your main concern is “Will my foreign discs actually play on my regular TV?”, the answer is yes, in my experience it does the job reliably.

Switching regions is manual but easy enough once you know how. On the unit I used, you power it on with no disc inserted, press a specific colored button on the remote to pick the Blu-ray region (A/B/C) or DVD region, then insert the disc. The instructions from the mod company list exactly which button does what. It’s not automatic, so if you bounce between regions often, it’s one extra step, but after a few days it becomes muscle memory. It’s also nice that it handles DVD-R and various burned discs – I tested a couple of home-burned DVD-Rs and they played without issues.

As a regular Blu-ray player, it’s pretty standard 1080p. No 4K, no HDR, nothing fancy. Picture quality is clean and sharp enough for a 1080p setup. Audio output is fine over HDMI; I ran it through a basic soundbar and also straight into a TV, and both were perfectly acceptable. It supports streaming apps in theory (Netflix, etc.), but on these older Sony models the app selection is dated and pretty slow. I’d honestly just use a separate streaming stick if you care about streaming. The player’s real value here is disc playback, not apps.

One thing to watch out for is reliability over time, especially if you’re using it in a 220–240V country with a sketchy adapter. Some users have had their unit die after a few months, and I suspect that’s partly due to the power setup and maybe the added mod. In my case, running it on 110V at home, it’s been stable so far: boots quickly, loads discs in a reasonable time, and doesn’t get too hot. But I wouldn’t treat this as a heavy-duty, 10-year workhorse. It feels more like a practical solution to a specific problem (region locking) rather than a tank-built reference player.

Out of the box, you’re looking at a pretty standard Blu-ray player setup: the unit itself, a remote, a power adapter, and a thin printout with the region-free instructions. There’s no HDMI cable included, at least in my case, so if you don’t already have one, factor that in. The instructions are not an official Sony manual explaining multi-region stuff – they’re from the mod company (often 220-Electronics or similar). It’s literally a one-page photocopy that tells you which buttons to press on the remote to change regions and mentions the 90-day warranty on the modification.

The Amazon listing talks like this is some dedicated Sony “S1500RF” model with world-wide voltage and region-free playback. In reality, it’s a regular Sony model (BDP-S1500, S1700, or S3700 depending on what they ship) with a chip or firmware mod added. That’s why the box and the unit itself usually don’t say “region free” anywhere official. Sometimes there’s just a sticker slapped over the original model number saying something like “Region Free 110–240V”. It works, but it feels a bit like a workaround rather than a fully integrated product.

One thing to be aware of: the power situation can be confusing. The listing says 100–240V world-wide voltage, but some people (and I’ve seen this myself) get an adapter that clearly only states 110V on the label. So if you’re planning to take this abroad and plug it directly into 220–240V, you really need to double-check what’s actually printed on your power brick. The marketing text and the physical adapter don’t always match, and that’s where some of the angry reviews are coming from.

In short, the presentation is pretty bare-bones and a bit misleading compared to the Amazon description. You get a functioning region-free player, but you’re basically buying a modded Sony, not a special Sony-branded world edition. If you’re fine with that and don’t care about fancy packaging, cool. If you’re picky about official support and clear labeling, this will probably annoy you.