The All-New Toshiba 32LF221U21 is a reasonable 32-inch Smart TV that rocks Amazon’s Fire TV features and may be had at a really reasonable price, without sacrificing on picture quality and audio output. Get more in Toshiba 32LF221U21 32-Inch Smart HD 720p Review.
Pros & Cons
PROS
Very Inexpensive
Built-in Amazon Fire TV
Alexa integration
CONS
Modest color range
The Toshiba 32LF221U21 (2020 model) confirms that Amazon Fire TV platform are often put directly on any TV, without the necessity for a separate media streamer. Amazon continued its Fire TV push with a replacement partner in 2018. If you would like the most recent model with Fire TV built-in, Toshiba is now you go-to model, with the Toshiba Fire TV Edition. The panels are available in several in several sizes – Toshiba 32LF221U19 (32-inch – HD) and therefore the Toshiba 43LF621U21 (43-inch – 1080p).
All TVs during this series are even less costly than the Element/Westinghouse Fire TV Edition, and therefore the 55-inch model now supports high dynamic range (HDR). The Toshiba 32-inch TV we’re reviewing is that the most affordable during this series, it’s functional, but the 720p resolution keeps it from being nearly as strong a recommendation as our Editors’ Choice for budget TVs, the 32-inch 1080p TCL 32S327 Roku Smart TV.
Toshiba 32LF221U21 32-Inch Smart HD 720p Review
Design
The Toshiba 32-inch TV looks plain, unlike the pricey competitors, so do its larger siblings, with a minimalist glossy plastic bezel round the screen measuring 0.7 inches wide on the edges and top, and 1.3 inches on rock bottom edge. There’s an infrared receiver for the remote on the lower right corner, with a Toshiba logo within the center of rock bottom bezel. It stands on two feet that are equally nondescript, just glossy plastic feet extending from rock bottom of the panel at an oblique angle .
Still, for a budget TV, the planning is sort of functional, and like most value TVs, it won’t wow on style. round the back, there are three HDMI inputs, a USB port, and an optical audio output that sit almost a foot from the left edge, facing left.
PORTS
Others include an Ethernet port, antenna/cable connector, and an RCA composite video input that face downward, but within the same location. That’s about an equivalent I/O options you discover on pricey panels just like the Samsung UN40NU7100FXZA. A combo of power/input button rests on the lower right corner at the rear of the TV, which wraps everything for physical controls.
Fire TV Remote
Also included within the package may be a Fire TV remote, designed specifically for TVs, and rather big and more complex than the voice remote included with Amazon Fire TV media streamers. Nevertheless, it still is, a slim black plastic wand with a clear black circular navigation pad. Above the pad, there are three menu buttons and three playback buttons below it, while the facility and microphone buttons are assail the highest of the remote near a pinhole mic.
In fact, that’s the quality layout for Fire TV streamer remotes, only that Toshiba adds a volume rocker, mute and live TV buttons right below the playback controls. Also, they need introduced dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Netflix, and PlayStation Vue. additionally to Bluetooth, you’ve got infrared on the remote, so you’ll use it to regulate the TV if the Bluetooth connection drop, without having to re-pair the remote first.
Fire TV OS And Alexa – Toshiba 32LF221U21 32-Inch Smart HD 720p Review
The Amazon Fire TV platform is made in such how you’ll use your existing Amazon account to transact on app downloads, renting or buying media, and with an Amazon Prime membership you’ll access a good selection of movie streams, TV shows, and music stream also . So, you’ll got to check in together with your Amazon account to access most of the hearth TV features. However, unlike the standard Fire TV media streamer, you readily don’t need an Amazon account to use the hearth TV Edition.
Still, most users with a lively internet connection will want to use their Amazon account to access the complete features on the Toshiba 32LF221U21, supported just how enhanced it’s as a sensible TV platform. With Fire TV, you’ll access most major streaming services, including Amazon’s very own Video and music, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV, Spotify, and Twitch. Missing from the TV Ecosystem are Google Play Movies & TV also as Google Play Music. Surprisingly, YouTube loads only via the FireFox or Silk web browsers, rather than its own dedicated app.
Alexa voice assistant access is included within the Fire TV, which you’ll launch and use by simply pressing the microphone button on the remote and speaking into it. It’s hands-free, a bit like ab Echo or Echo Spot, but fully functional out of the box with a button press. Again, you’ll pair the TV with an Echo to access Alexa through the TV hands-free and use your voice to regulate it.
Toshiba 32LF221U21 32-Inch Smart HD 720p Performance review
The Toshiba 32LF221U21 uses a 720p resolution panel, which is that the lowest any TV can go lately, but that doesn’t necessarily spoil the party here. Its feature offering and specs are very solid for an entry-level, budget TV that competes with monitors in pricing. This Toshiba 32-inch TV doesn’t support high dynamic range (HDR), a feature that’s only available within the 55-inch Toshiba 55LF711U20, that boasts a crisp 4K resolution.
With that limitation, you aren’t getting particularly wide color gamut on the 32-inch model, and it doesn’t exceed broadcast standards with fairly undersaturated reds. the remainder of the colours are well balanced, not tinted, though, not the very vivid, something you expect from a 720p panel. For comparison, the similarly priced TCL 32S327 offers brighter colors, better peak brightness and wide color gamut, because of a 1080p resolution panel.
Despite the hum-hum contrast and limited color range on the Toshiba 32-inch TV, BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet on HD looks quite nice thereon . you’ll pick fine details like feathers and leaves, but they’re n’t as vivid as they are on the Toshiba 55-inch 4K TV. Sunny scenes are bright for our liking, but the panel’s low contrast means shadows tend to seem a touch blown out against the sunshine . Sure, this isn’t the simplest picture you’ll find even on a budget TV, but it manages to seem quite good considering the prevailing limitations.
Input Lag And Power Consumption
Input lag is that the time a display takes to update after receiving a sign . The Toshiba 32-inch TV shows varying capabilities in several modes. In Movie mode, the 32LF221U21 shows a poor 70.7ms input lag, but switching to Game mode cuts right down to a suitable 40.1ms, but still too high for us to think about it good for TV gaming. On the opposite hand, the TCL 32S327 and therefore the 39-inch Insignia NS-39DF510NA19 both offer far better performance, respectively lagging only 17.6 and 15.9ms in their Game modes.
Power consumption on the Toshiba 32-inch TV is quite pedestrian, with none specific power-saving features or modes available, though you’ll save a touch of electricity by dimming the backlight. Under normal viewing conditions, it consumes 97 watts of power, while its 4K version consumes 137 watts, which we attribute to the high-res display.
Bottom line
The Toshiba 32-inch Fire TV Edition (2020 model) may be a more economical smart TV than even the Element Fire TV Editions from last year, and therefore the addition of Alexa integration may be a nice benefit on paper. It does make significant compromises in picture to hit the sweet low price, however, leading to downright poor black level and color range, but that’s to be expected once you find a 32-inch TV for fewer $200. Still, the Amazon Fire TV platform is strong with useful features which will blend well for home users trying to find alittle kitchen/bedroom smart TV.
That said, if all you would like may be a nice, little TV with Amazon Fire TV features while spending as little as possible, the Toshiba 32LF221U21 is great buy. Otherwise, the 32-inch TCL 32S327 remains our Editors’ Choice, albeit it uses Roku TV Smart Features, rather than Amazon Fire TV Edition within the Toshiba 32-inch TV.
