A bargain-priced set, the Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition may be a prime example of what you’ll get for a touch money—as well as what you’ll miss—in a cheap 4K set. Find details in Toshiba 50LF621U21 50-Inch Smart 4K UHD Review. .
Specifications
Price: $329.99
Model number: 50LF621U21
Screen Size: 50 inches
Resolution: 3840 x 2160
HDR: HDR10 and Dolby Vision
Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
Ports: 3 HDMI, 1 USB
Audio: 10 watts per channel/2 channels; w/ Dolby Audio and DTS Virtual X
Smart TV Software: Amazon Fire TV
Size: 26 x 44.3 x 3.5 inches (without stand); 28.2 x 44.3 x 11.5 inches (with stand)
Weight: 22.5 pounds (without stand); 23.1 pounds (with stand)
Pros & Cons
FOR
Rock bottom price
Amazon Fire TV with Alexa smarts
AGAINST
Less than accurate colors
Lack of brightness
A conventional 4K LCD TV, the 50-inch Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition (50LF621U21) is not just another bargain-priced 4K TV. it is also a sensible TV for people that want the convenience of Alexa and streaming services during a single package.
For casual TV viewing, the Toshiba Fire TV holds up tolerably , and therefore the refore the voice search afforded by Alexa and the remote control’s built-in mic make it a beautiful package.
However, its picture performance is a smaller amount than perfect. Color accuracy was found wanting in our tests and therefore the panel’s 60 Hz (versus 120 Hz) refresh rate limits its ability to deliver a solid, realistic image.
Price and availability
Available in three sizes, from 43 to 55 inches, this 50-inch model is that the middle child of what the corporate calls its LF621 series. The 43-inch version is $100 less and therefore the 55-inch is simply $50 more. the larger screen model has an equivalent feature set and similar specification to the 50-inch model we tested. therefore the relatively small price jump is worthwhile for the larger set, especially if all you are looking for may be a second set to place within the recreation room .
Toshiba 50LF621U21 50-Inch Smart 4K UHD Review
Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition review: Design
With bargain prices you get average looks and a functional approach to style . for instance , the Toshiba set doesn’t have a razor-thin bezel like leading sets; the black frame or border round the screen is over half an in. wide. Whether you discover that noticeable or not depends on your aesthetic.
Light at just over 23 pounds including its stand, the 50-inch Toshiba is sort of maneuverable. It can easily be lifted onto a tabletop, resting on a pair of V-shaped feet that attach at either end of the set.
The design proved stable and solid on a credenza that would accommodate its 45-inch width and 11.5-inch deep feet. If you want to place it abreast of a wall, the Toshiba 50LF621U21 conforms to the VESA 200 mm x 300 mm standard mount brackets.
Ports
The Toshiba set makes connections easy. On the rear left side there is a panel of ports that has an optical digital audio output and a 3 mm jack for analog audio output to headphones or an external speaker (making that connection automatically mutes the set’s own speakers).
There is also a USB port and three HDMI ports. costlier sets usually accompany more connections, like two or three USB slots and 4 HDMI connections. Toshiba doesn’t specify if the HDMI ports are version 2.1.
On a downward facing rear panel, you’ll also find an Ethernet port, composite video and audio outputs (for older equipment) and a coax port for an antenna. there’s also wireless Bluetooth and 802.11ac Wi-Fi support.
Toshiba 50LF621U21 50-Inch Smart 4K UHD Performance review
The Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition may be a relatively unadorned LCD set. So it doesn’t make use of quantum dot films to spice up its color pallet or miniLED backlighting to enhance contrast. it’s a basic 60 Hz display (versus 120 Hz) with a typical LED backlight, instead of more advanced full-array local dimming. and people hardware facts are reflected in its picture performance.
Some of our favourite 4K YouTube videos of nature scenes and foreign language tutor looked satisfactory within the Toshiba set’s default standard picture mode. We also found that the quality mode didn’t completely oversaturate colors, which is surprising since most sets use it to drive colors to blindingly bright levels, particularly for in-store displays.
However, we found the simplest preset picture mode for the Toshiba Fire TV Edition was the movie mode, where flesh tones looked more realistic and brightness and contrasts levels were set to more reasonable levels. Still, some lack of subtlety was apparent. The 4K HDR version of Knives Out, for instance , looked bolder in terms of contrast and color compared to other 4K sets, eliminating shadows within the corners of some scenes.
And while some colors, like green vegetables within the house’s kitchen, looked faithfully reproduced, others attended look preternaturally orange, like in wood furniture and faces. This made the poor makeup on Chris Evans look almost clownish with bright red lips and exaggerated eyeliner. Such visual impressions underscore the very fact that you simply won’t get all the image potential out of the HDR and Dolby Vision support thanks to the shortage of full-array backlight dimming.
Nevertheless, details within the Toshiba Fire TV’s 4K picture were good. Wrinkled faces were natural and Daniel Craig’s houndstooth jacket was crisp and freed from any picture noise.
While some viewers will notice the but solid picture thanks to the lower refresh rate, we also found that the 60 Hz frequency gave movies like 4K Star Wars: the increase of Skywalker a more cinematic or movies look. the image wasn’t as punchy as, say, that of a way costlier OLED set, and therefore the colorful alien market scene with its bright red and green costumes lacked some vibrancy. There was also some shading round the edges of the screen on some scenes, little question due partially to the shortage of full-array dynamic local dimming.
On the opposite hand, there weren’t any egregious picture flaws. The was minimal banding, for instance , in color transitions in sky and desert scenes. And black levels were ok to stop letterbox bars from becoming distracting.
Upscaled material looked a touch flat, again lacking some contrast. However, In spite of its lower 60Hz refresh rate, we didn’t detect any obvious stutter or picture artifacts when handling lower HD material that was bumped up to 4K. and that is a positive note as long as even today a majority of content isn’t yet available in 4K.
Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition review: Test results
Our test results confirmed that while the Toshiba 50LF621U21 is ok for casual viewing of streaming and broadcast programming, it’ll probably disappoint serious cinephiles. Most notably, it lacked the colour fidelity movie buffs cherish.
As with the bulk of sets we test, the Toshiba was ready to reproduce most of the Rec. 709 color gamut, delivering 98.6 percent of the complete spectrum. However, accurately rendering those colors was another matter. therein regard, using our X-Rite colorimeter and CalMan calibration software it turned during a Delta E measurement of three .3; lower numbers are better with most sets expected to show during a Delta E of around 2 or better. The Vizio V-Series V505-G9, for instance , had a Delta E of two .3 in our tests and it’s $50 less costly than the Toshiba. If you would like a more advanced and bigger set, the $650 Hisense 55H9G turned in an impressively color accurate Delta E of 0.9.
While brightness issues tend to be less of a problem with big screens lately , we did notice that it had been a small weakness of the Toshiba Fire TV Edition. Under typical conditions, the image is bright enough, but sun-soaked rooms will present a challenge. In our tests, maximum brightness with a ten percent pattern size came bent 423.7 nits. That’s not terrible but certainly but quantum dot LCDs we’ve tested recently, like the Hisense 55H9G (668) and therefore the Vizio M-Series (647.2).
Toshiba 50LF621U21 50-Inch Smart 4K UHD Gaming review
In gaming, milliseconds count. Unfortunately, we found the Toshiba was a laggard when it came to fighting monsters and shooting bad guys. It turned during a relatively slow lag time of 30.1 ms in gaming mode using our Leo Bodnar signal lag tester.
While anecdotally we found it had been ok for an off-the-cuff game or two, we’re not within the championship class of e-atheletes. generally , lag times of greater than 17 ms tend to be noticed by serious gamers, so those trying to find a second set dedicated to Call of Duty competition should look elsewhere. We’ve found quicker reflexes within the Hisense 55H9G (16.1 ms), a bigger set costing $650, for instance , and even the $300 Vizio V-Series V505-G9 did better at 27.4 ms.
Audio
The built-in audio of the Toshiba uses a group of downward firing speakers on the rear of the set. like most TVs, the Toshiba offers several pre-set audio modes (Music, Movie, Clear Voice, and Enhanced Bass). The default setting is Standard mode, which we found a touch sonically cramped but capable enough to handle most content without drawing attention to itself.
Movie mode tries to expand the sound stage using DTS synthesized surround sound software. It manages to try to to an adequate job delivering a more cinematic sound, especially from a budget-priced set, without obscuring the dialogue. However, blasting a 4K video of Aha’s combat Me revealed that an equivalent mode attended be very bass heavy to the detriment of the famous high flying vocals. Switching to Music mode brought the vocals back to life, boosting the high end and tightened up the bass (which sounded slushy in movie mode).
Interestingly, Toshiba does offer you more options, allowing you to regulate bass, treble and balance within each mode. There’s also a complicated setting where you’ll adjust dialog clarity (with middling results), the DTS Virtual X level (medium) and a volume leveling feature. In terms of volume levels, turning it up the 10-watts a side audio to 50 percent on a music video was enough to fill a modest front room with sound, also as disturb the next-door neighbor, which we learned the hard way.
Toshiba 50LF621U21 50-Inch Smart 4K UHD Review – Smart TV features
The addition of Amazon’s Fire TV smartTV software and interface is certainly a benefit. It competes against Roku and Google’s Android TV for viewers affections and manages to carry its own against those two. Roku still holds the title for easiest to use and Android for many full-featured, Amazon TV has an ace within the hole: Alexa.
Setting up the set is comparatively straightforward. Toshiba automatically first updated the remote then presented me with options across the highest of the screen: Home, Live, Your Videos, Free, Movies, TV Shows, Apps, and Settings. to line up the Wi-Fi connection, you skip back to the opening screen. If the set needs it, you’ll also update the software when fixing the TV.
The main screen ablaze TV shows 8 tiles of programming options with a mixture of shows, channels and apps. you’ll skip around or pick a category. However, we did find the categories confusing. “Live,” for instance is not just live broadcast TV but rather a mixture of local stations (assuming you’ve attached an antenna) and streaming services like Pluto.
Cord cutters will find the Toshiba set performs well. We found 46 stations after scanning our metropolitan area in ny City. Hitting the choices button on the remote when watching live TV will invoke a handy electronic program guide, and you’ll pause live TV for up to 2 minutes. That’s not up to typical DVR standards, but it’s long enough to urge a snack from the fridge without missing anything.
The competition for completeness—who has what streaming services—is a moving target. Amazon’s Fire TV is like Roku and Android, although it doesn’t have as many apps but still manages to hide all the majors like Netflix, Showtime, and biggies like CBS and ESPN. There are two notable exceptions, however: there is no HBO Max or Peacock TV. Amazon has also joined the sets offering a “Free TV” section. It’s still a touch sparse compared to Roku, and draws totally on IMDB TV, but it’s sure to grow within the future and you’ll download the likes of Tubi, Pluto, and Crackle to supplement it.
Of course, the main draw for the Toshiba Fire TV is Alexa. Just press the remote’s microphone button and you’ll use all the quality Alexa skills: ask about the weather, how far the moon is from the world , or the newest sports scores. Better still, you’ll do programming searches using Alexa and usually it works alright . Press the mic button and say, “Play Toto Africa video” and therefore the YouTube video will kick in. Not all the TV apps are Alexa enabled, but the first ones are and you’ll see which of them are covered under the Apps tab.
Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition review: remote
Often the small things, like remote controls, go unnoticed and that is an honest thing. It means they’re unobtrusive. Unfortunately, we never got that comfortable with the Toshiba Fire TV’s remote.
It is the essence of simplicity. There are not any numeric or alphabetic buttons. A four-way directional circle with a middle enter button, handles most tasks, along side a mic button, controls for pausing or rewinding/fast forwarding and dedicated buttons for invoking Prime Video, Netflix, HBO, and Hulu. Mute, home, back, menu and settings buttons complete the controls.
We had no complaints with the array of controls, and that they are typical for smart TVs that use other software, like Roku. However, we never felt reception with the remote. Its combination of smaller size and even weighting (about 50/50 front to back) made it feel awkward and aggravating . And sort of a scratchy wool sweater, it had been a sense we couldn’t shake.
Toshiba 50-Inch 4K Fire TV Edition review: Verdict
It would be too flip to mention , you get what you buy . While it’s true that the 2020 Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition (50LF621U21) isn’t a top performer, even within the category of bargain-priced sets, it’s still a beautiful option for casual viewing situations. That’s primarily thanks to its easy-to-use smartTV features and therefore the inclusion of Amazon’s Alexa.
Gamers and movie buffs will want to seem for better performers, however. We’ve found quicker gaming performance within the Hisense 55H9G (16.1 ms), a bigger set costing $650, or maybe the $300 Vizio V-Series V505-G9. Those trying to find a brighter more accurate picture are advised to spend extra money for the aforementioned Hisense model or one among the Vizio M-Series sets.
