Toshiba has been a household name in the world of consumer tech for a long time, but today, some of the most well-known consumer Toshiba products are TVs – specifically, budget to mid-range TVs that compete with those from the likes of Amazon, Insignia, TCL and Hisense, to name a few.
Whether you’re in the US or UK is also a big deal in the Toshiba world, as the lines of TVs the company offers vary significantly between these two regions. For folks in the US, there are three different lines of TVs to choose between, while in the UK there are dozens of different Toshiba sets.
So, should you buy a Toshiba TV, and if so, what TVs should you consider? What features do Toshiba TVs have versus other competing brands, and how do they compare in terms of pricing? We’ve reviewed some Toshiba TVs, though nowhere near all of them, but there’s a lot we can all learn from looking at specs.
Relax, grab a drink, and read on to learn everything you’ll need to know to decide whether or not a Toshiba TV is the right fit for you…
Should you buy a Toshiba TV? The short answer…
Across the US and the UK, Toshiba offers up a slew of budget TVs that will get the job done when it comes to providing modern TV features and being able to stream from whatever service without too much hassle. However, many TVs – even affordable ones – do this these days, so we’d check prices against similar-spec’d TVs from TCL or Hisense. Depending on the TV, you may well be able to find similar TVs for cheaper, especially if you find a decent sale.
In the US, especially if you’re a gamer, Toshiba’s M550 Series is definitely worth a look. With a 4K/120Hz panel equipped with full array local dimming that can go as low as just over $500 for the 75-inch model, that’s a superb deal if you’re looking for something cheap to take advantage of your new PS5 or Series X.
In the UK, the QA5D Series looks to be the most competitive offering from Toshiba, bringing a QLED display to the table for barely more than a similarly-spec’d LED Toshiba TV. While sometimes you might find another QLED cheaper on sale, the QA5D offers up strong specs, on paper, plus a competitive price point that’s hard to ignore when you’re looking for a TV.
Toshiba TVs in the US
In the US, Toshiba has three primary lines of television: a 4K smart TV line, the C350 Series; a 4K/120Hz gaming-focused smart TV line, the M550 Series; and an HD smart TV line, the V35 Series. Though, of course, there are other TVs, too.
As you might expect, these TVs scale up in terms of performance, price, and features. However, all of the US Toshiba TVs come with LED displays and support DTS Virtual:X. You’ll get familiar Fire TV smart functionality out of these TVs as well as VESA mounting support, too.
Outside of the V35 Series, the company’s TVs support a range of HDR technologies, including HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision, depending on the model. Outside of Toshiba’s M550 line that comes with 120Hz support and full array local dimming, Toshiba TVs come with direct-lit 60Hz panels, though you will get some motion smoothing tech across all of Toshiba’s lines.
All of Toshiba’s US TVs are Fire TVs, so you’ll get Alexa support and access to all your favorite streaming services from within the bounds of the Amazon ecosystem. Plus, all of Toshiba’s US TVs are priced at the budget end of the market, with even the brand’s 75-inch sets selling for $600 or less on sale.
In general, Toshiba TVs tend to offer up similar features and similar prices to other budget brands, like Hisense, Insignia, TCL, or Amazon, but Toshiba can manage to offer up surprisingly good deals on feature-rich TVs you likely won’t be able to beat for value, especially when it comes to gaming.
Should you buy a Toshiba V35 Series TV?
- Sizes: 32-inch, 43-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 720p (32-inch), 1080p (43-inch)
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: None
- Audio: DTS Virtual:X, DTS-HD, Dolby Audio
- HDMI: ARC
The V35 Series is Toshiba’s most basic line of TV, and it only comes in two sizes. The 720p 32-inch V35 goes for $200, while the 1080p 43-inch V35 goes for $290. You can, however, often find both on sale for a lot cheaper. So, what's in a V35?
Well, it’s pretty standard stuff. You get an LED panel, either HD for full HD, and a 60Hz refresh rate, while you’ll also get a few different audio technologies, including DTS Virtual:X, DTS-HD, and Dolby Audio. Plus, the V35 TVs are Fire TVs, so you’ll be getting all the familiar Fire TV functionality here as well, including Alexa support for hands-free navigation.
At retail, $200 for a 32-inch 720p TV or nearly $300 for a 1080p TV in 2022 is just not worth it. Recently, a 55-inch 4K/HDR TCL smart TV went on sale for $188 at Walmart, and that’s less money for a bigger TV with an exponentially higher resolution and better image quality. Put simply, you can do better.
On sale, though, you can grab a 32-inch V35 for around $100, and that’s not a terrible value if you just need a screen in your kitchen, for example, to throw up recipes on or use to play some video in the background while you’re cooking. Outside of those kinds of relatively fringe usecases, though, your money can go a lot further than the V35 with a little doing.
Should you buy a Toshiba C350 Series TV?
- Sizes: 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
- Audio: DTS Virtual:X, DTS-HD, Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
- HDMI: ARC
The C350 Series is Toshiba’s mid-range budget 4K Fire TV, offering up a bunch of different sizes, the full-fat 4K experience, HDR, and a ton of different audio technologies. The C350 Series starts off at $330 for the 43-inch and goes up to $900 for the 75-inch, though you can often find these sets with big discounts.
This is a modern set with competitive features for the budget side of the TV market in 2022, more so than the V35 Series at any rate, so if you’re looking for a set you can use to stream all the 4K/HDR content you can imagine without spending an arm and a leg, the C350 Series from Toshiba can get you there.
Generally, pricing on the C350 Series is reasonably competitive, falling in line with other brands like Insignia, but your money is best spent on the C350 Series when on sale. Spending $330 on a 43-inch TV in 2022, even a 4K/HDR set, is usually not too hard to beat, so we’d recommend waiting for a sale.
Plus, if you’re willing to just spend a little more cash, you can often nab a set with more premium display tech, gaming-focused features like VRR or 120Hz, or more robust support like HDR10+. So, before you buy a C350 TV at retail, make sure you do your due diligence and check out some other sets first, depending on what you’re looking for out of a TV.
Should you buy a Toshiba M550 Series TV?
- Sizes: 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 120Hz (on 65-inch and 75-inch models)
- HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+
- Audio: DTS Virtual:X, DTS-HD, Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
- HDMI: ARC
The M550 Series is Toshiba’s gaming-focused line of Fire TV, but it’s also the brand’s most interesting line of TV, packing in a slew of unique features at what are often surprisingly low prices across three different sizes.
Like the C350, the M550 brings a 4K LED display to the table, a ton of different audio technologies, and Dolby Vision + HDR10 support, but the M550 Series also packs in native 120Hz support, ALLM, HDR10+, and full array local dimming, too.
What’s more is that the M550 Series normally retails at $470 for the 55-inch, $600 for the 65-inch, and $850 for the 75-inch, but you can very regularly find these sets on sale. For example, at the time of writing, you can get a 55-inch for $350, a 65-inch for $430, and a 75-inch for $553.
In comparison, a 43-inch C350 without 120Hz, HDR10+, or full array local dimming normally retails for $330, while a 55-inch M550 with all of the above can be found on sale for just $20 more, giving you a massive upgrade in a ton of different areas for just a couple bucks. In general, the M550 Series offers up specs above and beyond what you’d normally expect from TVs aimed at folks on a budget, especially if you’re a gamer.
Normally, 4K/120Hz TVs often cost over a thousand dollars, and if you want a 75-inch 4K/120Hz TV to really get the most out of your PS5, that’ll often run you thousands of dollars. To be able to pick up a 75-inch 4K/120Hz for less than a thousand normally and for as little as $550 on sale is a strong value.
Toshiba TVs in the UK
Across the pond, Toshiba brings a totally separate catalogue of televisions to market. In fact, in the UK, Toshiba makes exponentially more TVs than it does in the US. Whether it’s an Android TV you want, a borderless TV, a QLED set or anything else, Toshiba UK probably has what you’re after.
In 2022, Toshiba UK is divided up into three major lines: the QA5D Series, the UF3D Series, and the LK3C Series. There are other 2022 Toshiba TVs, but the main difference here comes down to the smart TV OS you prefer.
As you might expect, these TVs scale up in terms of features and price. However, outside of the QA5D Series, you’ll be getting LED panels, and across all of Toshiba’s UK TVs you’ll get smart functionality. You’ll also Dolby Audio and DTS on all these TVs as well as VESA mounting, while the QA5D Series and UF3D Series also come with Onkyo speakers and Dolby Atmos.
All of Toshiba UK’s 2022 TVs are 60Hz TVs, while each line also supports HDR10, and the QA5D Series and UF3D Series support Dolby Vision, too, as well as the TRU Picture Engine that offers up motion smoothing, upscaling, and more.
UK Toshiba TVs target the budget TV market, so you can expect low prices comparatively across all of UK Toshiba TVs, starting out at just £229 for the brand’s cheapest line of TVs, the LK3C Series of TVs.
Should you buy a Toshiba LK3C Series TV?
- Sizes: 32-inch, 43-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 1080p
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: HDR10
- Audio: Dolby Audio
The LK3C Series is Toshiba UK’s most basic line of 2022 TV. It comes in two sizes, 32-inch and 43-inch, and is a 1080p HD line, not a 4K one. It does come with smarts courtesy of Toshiba itself with its own OS that’ll let you stream whatever content you’d like across a plethora of different services. Plus, you can even watch TikToks on your LK3C TV.
You’re also getting Dolby Audio and HDR10 support, which is not always a given when it comes to budget 1080p TVs, so that’s a welcome addition. The LK3C starts off at £229 for the 32-inch, so you won’t be breaking the bank, but as far as value goes, these TVs could be better.
If you don’t watch any content in resolutions higher than 1080p HD, the LK3C can definitely get the job done, and it’ll have no trouble letting you stream whatever content you’d like, but for the price, you can usually find better kit.
4K Samsung TVs, for example, regularly drop to the £300 to £350 range, and UK TCL 4K TVs can regularly be found in the £250 to £300 range, so for just a few more bucks, you can oftentimes get yourself a better display and a massive increase in resolution. So, unless you’re really married to 1080p content or get a LK3C at a very good deal price, we’d suggest looking elsewhere first.
Should you buy a Toshiba UF3D Series TV?
- Sizes: 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch
- Display type: LED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
- Audio: Dolby Audio, Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual:X
Toshiba’s UK UF3D line of TVs is the brand’s standard flagship 4K 2022 TV. This line of TV comes with smarts courtesy of Amazon’s Fire OS, 4K support, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and a slew of audio technologies and Onkyo speakers.
Across these TVs, you’ll get fairly robust HDR support, spatial audio by way of Dolby Atmos, and the Fire TV OS for all the 4K streaming you could want. Onkyo speakers are a nice addition, but of course, for a premium sound, you’ll want to invest in an external sound solution, like a budget-focused soundbar. All told, with modern features and specs, these TVs can get the job done.
The UF3D line starts off at £369 for the 43-inch set, and scales up the bigger the size you’re interested in. This pricing is generally in line with what you’ll find at the budget end of the 4K market, but you can fine better values.
As mentioned above, 4K Samsung sets can often be found on sale for around £350, and other budget brands like TCL can offer up 4K sets for less than £300. So, unless you’re a big fan of the Toshiba brand or can’t find a better deal, outside of a sale, you’ll generally have the option of spending less.
Should you buy a Toshiba QA5D Series TV?
- Sizes: 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch
- Display type: QLED
- Resolution: 4K
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
- HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
- Audio: Dolby Audio, Dolby Atmos
Toshiba’s UK QA5D Series is its most interesting, most premium line of TV that brings QLED technology to the table for the first time for Toshiba UK TVs. These TVs come in a variety of sizes, support 4K, smarts courtesy of Toshiba’s own OS, and a range of HDR and audio technologies. And for Toshiba’s most expensive 2022 UK TV, it’s not much more expensive than the UF3D.
How much are they, exactly? Well, the QA5Ds start off at just £399 for the 43-inch model, which comes in at just £30 more than the 43-inch UF3D. So, that’s just £30 more for an upgrade from an LED panel to a full-fat QLED panel. Of course, we’d have to review the QA5D to give you details on its picture performance, but QLED is certainly a superior display technology.
In terms of value, the QA5D Series is priced competitively with other budget QLEDs. In general, you’ll see other budget QLEDs for around the same money, like TCL’s CF630K QLED TV that goes for £379 for the 50-inch model. If you find a QA5D on sale, you may well be getting some of the best value you can get with a budget QLED, but even at retail, it’s generally competitive compared to what you’ll see from other brands.
If you want a modern 4K TV with some fairly premium display tech on top of easy access to streaming all your favorite shows and movies, you could do a lot worse than the Toshiba QA5D Series. If you’re a gamer, you might want to spend your money on a set with 120Hz or VRR support over going for a QLED TV, but if you’re looking for a good way to watch content, the QA5D is worth a look.
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