Blue-Cloner 2 is a member of the Blu-ray burning software family, and it is the most minimalistic of all the applications we reviewed. It performs only one function – Blu-ray Disc copying. Blue-Cloner excels more in burning speed and learnability than it does in flexibility or features.
We did not experience any serious problems during our performance test, though we recommend that you conduct your own burn test with a BD-RE rewritable disc before burning to a regular Blu-ray Disc. If the burn fails, you can clear off the rewritable disc and try again. When you burn successfully on the rewritable disc, you are ready to commit to a regular write-once Blu-ray Disc.
The only decryptive capabilities available with Blue-Cloner are region code removals. This surprised us, given how well their previous software packages have supported decryption, but it's still effective for copying Blu-ray movies if you have a third-party application that can remove encryption.
Blue-Cloner only packs the features necessary for Blu-ray ripping, copying and burning. To do the job well, powerful decryption tools are essential, but you will have to download extra plugins to decrypt some movies. With such a narrow focus on Blu-ray copying, we really hoped to see a more flexible decryptor. Having said that, we are impressed with the other features associated with Blu-ray movie backup. For example, Blue-Cloner can split large videos into multiple discs (which might come in handy if you are working with 25GB Blu-ray Discs, as some movies may exceed this limit.) It can also read scratched discs and still burn a perfect duplicate.
With such a limited application, what makes this Blu-ray burning software worthy of purchase? It's all in the burning speed. Compared with competing Blu-ray burning software packages, Blue-Cloner is like greased lighting. We did a quick burn test and extrapolated the following results:
- Time required to burn a 25GB Blu-ray Disc: 55 minutes
- Time required to burn 1GB: 2.2 minutes
- Amount of data burned per second: 8MB
Blue-Cloner rips and copies movies to play-ready Blu-ray Discs. However, if you are looking for a multipurpose burner, be aware that this application provides very little flexibility. It cannot burn home videos, data discs, DVDs or CDs.
The small size and narrow functionality make this software extremely easy to use. There are only three options available when you launch the application: You can select a Blu-ray Disc to rip, indicate the location to send the ripped files (either to another Blu-ray Disc if you have two Blu-ray drives in your computer, or to your own hard drive), or initiate a burn. It would take an artist to get lost in this application.
Blue-Cloner's download file is less than 10MB, requires no more than 15 seconds to install and is ready to go after a mere eight clicks of the mouse. The entire user interface fits within 580 x 340 pixels, roughly the size of a YouTube movie.
We tried to contact tech support via live chat, only to find that it was offline. If you live somewhere compatible with the available hours, it can be a great way to obtain technical help. Online tutorials, an email address and FAQs are also available.
Blue-Cloner 2 is quick and effective for duplicating Blu-ray movies. The only drawbacks are the lack of high-powered decryption and limited features beyond simple Blu-ray copying. This application won't create data discs or author original Blu-ray movies from your HD camcorder, but it does a nice job performing its one focus: copying Blu-ray Discs.
