American home cinema brand Kaleidescape has announced its latest 4K player in the form of the Strato V, and it looks like a revolutionary step over the Strato C we recently reviewed. This new player crams in new features aplenty while also being a cheaper way of getting into the Kaleidescape ecosystem, as this player doesn't require an additional server to play movies.
That's right, while the Strato C required an additional server component to store movies on, the Strato V includes a built-in SSD drive. It's not quite as large as the 8TB SSD we tested in the Terra Prime server, however, Kaleidescape says it can store roughly ten 4K Blu-ray quality movies on its internal drive. It also retains the high-speed downloading feature, with the capability to download a 4K reference movie in just 10 minutes over Gigabit Ethernet. Kaleidoscope has also added a feature which allows you to automatically delete movies 48 hours after you've watched them to ensure there is always storage available on the internal SSD.
While the Strato V can be considered an independent playback zone, it can also be incorporated into a wider Kaleidescape system with other Strato C or V players. You can also expand the storage by linking the Strato V to a Terra Prime server, making for a more traditional Kaleidescape set-up.
Despite being crammed with new features, the Strato V costs £5394 / $3995, which is an almost identical price to the Strato C, which we reviewed at £5382 / $3995. Kaleidescape is positioning the V for new customers taking their first steps into the high-quality streaming platform, as well as those who plan on using their device primarily with a TV. The Kaleidescape Strato V is available to order from major retailers in the US and specialist AV retailers in the UK now, with no word on Australian availability yet.
MORE:
Read our full Kaleidescape Strato C and Terra Prime SSD review
Check out our picks for the best media streamers
And our picks for the best OLED TVs
