This year I'm buying Blu-rays again like it's 2016 – here's why you should too

This year I'm buying Blu-rays again like it's 2016 - here's why you should too News Movies on Blu-ray are there forever. You can't be so sure with streaming.(Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Netflix) Apple may be in the streaming business, but it still made a Blu-ray of its F1 movie.(Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Warner Bros) Blu-ray's particularly good when there's lots of darkness on screen; dark areas are often patchy when I'm streaming(Image credit: Disney / Future) (Image credit: Shutterstock) Blu-ray releases of movies such as This Is Spinal Tap typically come with extra features such as deleted scenes and commentary.(Image credit: Embassy) (Image credit: Shpetim Ujkani, Unsplash) Carrie Marshall published The appeal of discs is getting stronger Here's something I didn't expect to read about in 2025: the launch of not one but two brand new high-end Blu-ray players , as well as a new model from Sony . Launching new Blu-ray players may seem weird when everybody's supposedly streaming, and plenty of firms have exited the market for Blu-ray hardware. But as with vinyl and CDs, I think there's a growing awareness that Blu-ray discs deliver a lot of benefits that are well worth having. I think that's particularly true for people who really care about movies and music: when you've invested in one of the best TVs and a sound system to go with it you're going to want the best possible source. I don't think Blu-ray's days are numbered just yet. In fact, I'm planning to spend much less on streaming in the coming year so I can build up my Blu-ray library instead. Here's why. 1. Blu-rays are yours forever I went to stream a movie for the kids the other day only to discover that it's gone from the streamers I subscribe to. Rights expire and streamers often prune their catalogues, some of them very aggressively. And that means you can never be sure that what you want to see is going to be available on the service(s) you subscribe to. 2. Nobody's going to insert annoying ads What worries me isn't so much the existence of ad-supported streaming tiers - I subscribe to some of them - but the addition of ads to previously ad-free ones, or even worse: the end of ad-free streaming altogether. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. That's not me being paranoid; streaming is a saturated market now, streaming feels more like the cable TV it was supposed to do away with, and platforms are looking for ever more ways to sell ad space including ads when you pause playback . My Blu-ray player doesn't do that. 3. They won't ask for more money when you want to play them You can add another item to Ben Franklin's famous "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes": streaming services hiking their prices . A Blu-ray is a one-off purchase and then it's yours forever and...

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