Optical storage has come a long way from the past and nowadays you cannot expect most companies to invest in R&D in order to present new models with improved performance. Pioneer on the other hand keeps releasing optical storage devices that have improvements for each year and still supports optical storage users with new drives, firmware updates that support the currently sold media.

The BDR-S13U-X (or S13J-X Japanese Version) is their top of the line optical storage Blu-Ray recorder that has all packaged all their knowledge, history and technology. The drive supports up to 16X DVD/BD-R recording and with improved reading speeds for Dual Layer discs either from DVD or BD format.

The drive's design and appearance gives users the feeling of a premium model and that not only represents Pioneers approach for high end devices, this also is being reflected to several features that are exclusive only to this top model, compared with the other X13 internal BD Recorders. For example this model includes (via the Pioneer BD Utility) the ability to scan Audio CDs for errors and giving you an quick idea about the discs general health and if will introduce errors during playback or not.

Pioneer also improved their PureRead technology and this time all internal and external BD recorders have the latest PureRead 4+ technology. We tested this and we can say that will help most users who wish just to use a software that isn't powerful enough like EAC, dBpoweramp CD Ripper or CUERipper, which essentially re-read "damaged" sectors and try to produce accurate rips from your Audio CDs. Of course PureRead 4+ can work in addition, as an extra layer, with the above software, even with very and badly scratched discs, it will take ages to complete the process...most Audiophiles will appreciate this function, even we feel most amateur users will not even understand its importance, however it will be there by default even you don't download the Pioneer BD Utility and "tweak" this unique function at your taste.

The Pioneer BDR-S13U-X (and the S13J-X) have a long list of supported media for all CD/DVD and Blu-Ray formats and in most cases will produce burns that have no real problems and will be safely used either for storage or giving them to other users. The DVD-Video ripping speeds are excellent and also the BD format ripping speeds with the appropriate software will give you full reading speed in order to backup your precious DVD-Video and Blu-Ray format discs.

Something that we really liked is the fact that reading speeds are very high, even for rewritable media (BD-RE), compared with previous generations. The Pioneer BDR-X13U-X (and BDR-X13J-X) have also several differences in manufacturing process compared with the rest internal BD Pioneer BD recorders, which Pioneers explains:

• The dignified all-black exterior and interior of the body, which gives it the presence of a premium model, further enhances the drive’s performance with a special coating to reduce vibration, improve heat dissipation, and help suppress the laser’s diffuse reflection.
• Utilizes new low-noise electrolytic capacitors. Paired with the same low-resistance flat cable as in previous models, the result is further improvement in conduction performance and reduction of noise in recording and playback signals.
• Anti-vibration cushions and rubber reduce vibration when the disc rotates.
• Using copper-plated screws improves conduction performance and reduces noise during recording and playback.
• Noise reduction finish on disc tray reduces the sound produced when the tray opens and closes while also reducing vibration of the tray itself.

The noise levels of the drive are really low, compared with other recorders we had in our labs and many users will appreciate this when they are trying to build a low noise overall PC system.

The premium BDR-S13U-Χ also packs a ton of software for you to download and start using, like

• PowerDVD 14：Ultra HD Blu-ray™ compatible, BDXL compatible, BD/DVD playback software
• PowerDirector 19：Video editing and BD/DVD authoring software
• Power2Go 11：BDXL compatible disc writing software
• LabelPrint™2.5：Label design and printing software
• PhotoDirector 10 LE：Photo editing software
• AudioDirector 7 LE：Audio editing software for video
• ColorDirector 5 LE：Color editing software for video
• MediaShow 6 LE：Image and video management software
• Screen Recorder™4：Live streaming and screen recording software

Concluding this big review, we found the latest Pioneer BDR-S13U-X (and BDR-S13J-X) series to be a premium product with many features/great design and lot of value bulked with tons of software.

Of course all those do reflect at the retail price, which reaches $260 to $290 from what we saw at the retail market.

If you can live without the above bundled software, the premium housing and the absence of the AudioCD quality check function of the Pioneer BD Utility, the advanced model BDR-S13UBK ($175) will serve you as well and save you some funds,

Lastly if non of the above "extra" features interests you, the base model BDR-2213 ($119) will be your best friend with all the recording/reading performance of its two biggers brothers.

We like the fact that Pioneer offers different price categories and options for all category users and we congrat Pioneer for keep releasing optical storage recorders for user who wish to keep their achieved data away from dangers that the traditional HDD/SSDs introduce.