Physical media nostalgia sees fundraisers flock to Blu-Ray Kickstarter — drive with 9-in-1 dock achieves 160x funding goal halfway through campaign
Early birds can put down $59 for this, with a warning it will cost $129 at retail.
A Blu-ray drive has got tech fans excited over on Kickstarter. This project has hit 160x the initial (but low) funding goal just halfway through the campaign. The device that has caught plenty of eyeballs and pledges is the BluHub: 9-in-1 Blu-ray Hub for Memories, Ports & Storage, to give it its full, overly long title. We’ll just call it the BluHub from now. Why is it so popular? We think the combination of a USB-attached Blu-ray read/write drive (also DVD and CD compatible, of course) plus extensive docking abilities looks quite attractive. Its ‘super early bird’ price of $59 is not frightening either. But the cherry on top here may be the BluHub’s unique ‘grand piano styling.’
As a 9-in-1 device, there are a lot of specs to work through. So we’ve made a table to set out the capabilities of the BluHub as clearly and succinctly as possible.
Optical Drive |
Blu‑ray / DVD / CD read & write, 6x Blu‑ray burning speed |
Disc Handling |
Standard disc tray plus ‘piano‑lid’ spare disc holder |
USB Ports |
4× USB‑A (USB 3.0) |
Card Readers |
SD and microSD slots, read speeds 160 MB/s+ |
Host Connectivity |
Dual connectors: USB‑A and USB‑C |
Data Rate (Host Link) |
USB 3.2 Gen 2, up to 10 Gbps |
Power |
USB bus‑powered (no external PSU required) |
Compatibility |
Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS, and mobile OTG |
Chassis Material |
Aluminum |
Dimensions |
165 x 160 x 34mm (6.5 x 6.3 x 1.34-inches) |
Weight |
409g (14.4oz) |
When I first saw this device, I naturally thought the optic disc exposed when the 'piano lid' was propped open was the one accessed by the computer. That rekindled my memories of owning an original PlayStation back in the day. However, that top tray is just a spare disc holder. The actual disc you will be reading / writing is inserted via a tray that pops out of the side, like from a slimline laptop drive of old. The device maker describes this as a “one in use, one on display dual-disc experience.” Might we suggest you keep a high-brow movie classic in the top display holder, like Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), while in the drive you can secret away your guilty pleasure of the day, something like Con Air (1997).
From the look of it and the specs, the BluHub seems like a reasonable choice for a flexible hub that can handle most of the optical discs you have in your collection. Of course, we’d recommend waiting for a review to make sure capability and quality promises live up to expectations. However, the crunch is that this drive is being offered to Kickstarter backers from $59. Very sensible folks who wait for retail availability and expert reviews are warned that it will subsequently cost from $129. The first batches of drives are expected to ship to backers starting November 2026, if all goes to plan. U.S. shipping for one drive is $6 or $7 to ROW.
Our customary crowdfunder disclaimer applies. Remember that crowdfunding a project is not a guarantee of receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.
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Some reckon it is a good time to grab a Blu-ray drive such as this, with industry big hitters like Sony and LG showing signs of pulling back from this market. Media makers are also thinning out. There are plenty of alternatives to this BluHub already on the market though. For lesser-known Chinese Blu-ray read/write drives, a price of around $70 seems to be the going rate on Amazon.com. A drive from a well-known brand like Asus or LG will cost much more. The cheapest portable Asus Blu-ray rewriter we saw today is being sold for $159.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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chaos215bar2 So, basically a low cost, no-name Blu-ray drive with a card reader and USB hub built in, from a company with zero track record and all the uncertainty of a Kickstarter. In other words, even more to go wrong due to selection of subpar components and zero guarantee of delivery.Reply
Why take the risk when there are plenty of drives we already know work from existing companies? -
erazog Yeah this is jumping on a bandwagon, the PR photos make it look like its some kind of standalone unit which it isn't, its not a CD, DVD or Blu-ray player its just a regular PC optical drive which very few people use a PC for these days.Reply
Those lamenting the decline of physical media players are talking about fully self contained players not PC's. -
eichwana As much as I love the idea of this, there are some major red flags:Reply
- The funding goal is incredibly low: this means the goal will always be met and all the backers will be charged whether it actually goes ahead or not. And as these are pledges, there's no guarantee anything will be shipped
- They're planning to get all kickstarter shipments fulfilled in Nov 2026 after it closes in Sept 2026. And yet they can't confirm the specifics of the drive they use in these -
mattcintosh My bet is its a standard laptop drive purchased from a popular manufacturer built into a portable case. I have a Dell laptop bluray burner in an external esata case, but can just as easily pop it into a usb3.0 case.Reply
This new device can solve the issue of playing cds/dvds/blurays on newer laptops/desktops without an optical drive or even directly on phones/tablets. Or even backing stuff up to a disc. But there is plenty of used devices that can really do this already -
Dementoss Plenty of BluRay drives on Amazon at a wide variety of prices and, some including similar additional features.Reply -
Sluggotg Why would it be illegal to make a Blu-ray player? There are companies all over the world who make them. They pay a license fee like you have to do with many other items.Reply -
SethHoyt Watching that video made me cringe when they tried to put the disc in and had no idea how to do it. They clearly then cut to the disc already in. Doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence...Reply -
Randi Poling If it could one button or one click back up cds, dvds, blurays, and uhd blurays, I'd be sold.Reply -
ekolis Reply
I didn't think a Kickstarter campaign would be able to acquire a license, though - that sounds like something only a large, established corporation could do.Sluggotg said:Why would it be illegal to make a Blu-ray player? There are companies all over the world who make them. They pay a license fee like you have to do with many other items.