Toshiba 32LF2F53DB review: an ultra-cheap 32-inch TV that falls short of greatness
The Toshiba 32LF2F53DB is an ultra-cheap little TV with a flawed but functional Full HD display. Although the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB has an RRP of £199.99 (not available outside the UK), it often sells for less than £150 – meaning it’s an attractive budget option.
But just how good is it? Well, let’s start where it matters most – image quality. I’ll clarify something from the offset – given that the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB has a 32-inch LED display, I wasn’t expecting anything incredible from it. But even so, out of the box, I found the photo a bit disappointing, though high dynamic range support. For example, I call in Top Gun Maverick On Netflix and in outdoor scenes at night, Jennifer Connelly’s hair color looks a little inaccurate, and her and Tom Cruise’s features (such as the lines on their hands and faces) lack definition and clarity Spend. Having said that, the overall image quality is still adequate – I didn’t notice the display being blurry, and even though the hair color wasn’t perfectly replicated, The texture isn’t too blocky or anything.
Probably the most annoying part of the viewing experience for me, though, is how dark the picture is often. For example, I call in boy and heron After watching it on Netflix, much of the film seemed almost depressing – which is a shame considering it has a lot of bright, colorful scenes. The film begins with a woman named Natsuko wearing orange and yellow clothes that are vibrant and eye-catching. But instead, it has a dull feel – as does the whole picture. Background elements like Natsuko’s rich, dark green eyes, the real person’s clothes, and trees look pretty confusing in both movie and standard picture modes, and with the dynamic backlight on or off.
Nonetheless, when measuring peak brightness on the 10% window test mode, the results were 228 nits in Standard mode and 207 nits in Movie mode (HDR). It’s not terrible, to be honest, and is very similar to other 32-inch TVs we’ve tested, such as TCL 32S5400. While I’m at it, it’s also worth mentioning the results of the color gamut test. For DCI-P3 (color space used for master 4K film and digital movie releases), with an accuracy of 79.9%, compared to 61.1% for BT.2020 – which is actually a pretty big improvement for TCL, although these results aren’t exactly game-changing on their own.
Even so, there are some noticeable issues with color accuracy from time to time. For example, when I watch a 4K Blu-ray disc Godzilla vs. Kong Skin tones, while having a relatively natural, realistic look in Movie mode, have an almost artificial, discolored appearance in Standard mode. I found that using Standard generally resulted in a brighter overall display, especially in the jungle sections at the beginning, although aspects like the rough grass can look oversaturated and rather artificial. Unfortunately, with the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB, this is something you don’t have to put up with (at least to the same extent) The best 32-inch TV. So even though the pictures sometimes look a little underexposed, I’d still stick with movie mode for better accuracy.
One final note about the picture – the action won’t blow you away. While watching the bike chase scene at the beginning, I noticed a slight tremor John Wick 2 (4K Blu-ray Disc). There’s nothing too objectionable about this in my opinion, and if you want a TV that can replicate high-octane scenes with near-perfect action, the alternatives in our guide will definitely serve you better. best tv instead. I will also say that this action isn’t too bad when gaming. After connecting the Xbox Series X and starting it Battlefield VI find exercise is totally fine. Of course, you don’t get next-gen features like a 144Hz refresh rate or 4K graphics, but performance is solid considering the TV’s limitations.
But while watching this TV, I realized the difference was that the audio quality was…well, not great. Again, you can’t expect any miracles from a 32-inch TV, but even so, Toshiba’s TV struggled, often delivering tinny-sounding audio. When I picked up Netflix, I immediately noticed that its signature startup sound was very unnatural. It lacked the bass roar I was looking for, but instead had a harsh tone that sounded overly compressed. even while watching Godzilla vs. KongThe narrow soundstage makes the film’s soundtrack sound limited and thin, with bland bass and distorted highs. Even when switching between the various Dolby Audio sound modes (or a handful of other sound modes), there’s no real remedy for poor sound performance. If you do choose to buy this Toshiba TV, it might be worth snapping up one of these cheapest soundbar.
That being said, there is one aspect of the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB that impressed me deeply – its smart TV interface. Yes, this TV uses the Fire TV user interface—one that many people are very familiar with. Even though I may not have gotten off the car yet best Starting with it – and considering I had to wait over a minute to turn on the TV the first time – it’s incredibly easy to use and navigate. For a cheap TV, I found the menus to be very flexible to filter through, the number pad to be responsive, and the Alexa voice assistant to be convenient. my only real A usability complaint is that holding down Home to change image and audio settings feels a bit clunky—otherwise the remote is of decent quality and complements the Fire TV experience well.
In addition to the remote control, the design of this TV is also very good. It’s not stunning, but it’s a fairly slim, lightweight TV that slots seamlessly into a spare room or bedroom. The layout of the ports is really weird, though. There’s a section on the back of the TV that has a lot of the usual suspects – like headphones, USB-A, a digital optical port, but only room for an HDMI cable. However, I later discovered that there is another section on the back of the TV that houses the LAN, antenna and, thankfully, a second HDMI port that can be used for ARC (convenience soundbar). This is a bit strange, so if you’re wondering where that pesky HDMI 2 went, keep an eye out for this.
So, overall, what do I think of the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB? In fact, it’s a mixed bag – you get a perfectly adequate, albeit flawed, display that has some color accuracy issues. Unfortunately, the sound quality isn’t great despite Dolby Audio and DTS:Virtual X processing, but there are some redeeming features, such as a clean smart TV user interface. The real draw, however, is the ultra-low price – which masks many of the issues I had with image and audio quality. Ultimately, this is an imperfect but capable little TV that’s worth considering if you’re on a budget. However, I think there are better budget options out there – namely LG 32LQ6300 – More on this below.
Toshiba 32LF2F53DB review: price and release date
- RRP £199.99
- Although prices are usually under £150
- Launch in 2024
The Toshiba 32LF2F53DB is launching in 2024 with an RRP of £199.99, but readers, I have good news. In most cases, you won’t have to pay that much. I’ve found this 32in TV on sale for as little as £148 – so what you’re looking at here is a very cheap TV. However, there are plenty of small TV options in this price range, ranging from Amazon Fire TV 2 Series to the TCL 32S5400 (more on that later). This particular model is only sold in the UK, but you can buy similar models in the US (such as the Toshiba V35).
Toshiba 32LF2F53DB Review: Specs
| Screen type | lead |
| refresh rate | 60 Hz |
| high dynamic range | HDR10, HLG |
| vocal | Dolby Sound, DTS Virtual:X |
| Smart TV | fire tv |
| HDMI port | 2 HDMI 2.1 |
Should I buy the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB?
| property | notes | grade |
|---|---|---|
| feature | HDR, Alexa voice control, solid picture mode selection. | 4/5 |
| Image quality | The display is adequate, but colors may be inaccurate and movement isn’t perfect. | 3/5 |
| sound quality | Sound functions normally but is often tinny, especially at high volumes. | 2/5 |
| design | A basic, unremarkable looking TV. | 3/5 |
| Smart TV and menu | Relatively smooth menus, easy-to-use user interface. | 4/5 |
| gamble | No shiny next-gen options, but base-level performance works well. | 3/5 |
| value | Despite its issues, this is still a super-cheap, capable 32-inch TV. | 4/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Toshiba 32LF2F53DB review: You can also consider it
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Toshiba 32LF2F53DB | LG 32LQ6300 | TCL S5400 |
| price | £199.99 | $249/£249 | £179 |
| Screen type | lead | lead | lead |
| refresh rate | 60 Hz | 50/60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| high dynamic range | HDR10, HLG | HDR10, HLG | HDR10, HLG |
| Smart TV | fire tv | Network operating system 22 | Android TV |
| HDMI port | 2 HDMI 2.1 | 2 HDMI 1.4 | 2 HDMI 1.4 |
Toshiba 32LF2F53DB review: How I tested it
- Tested using a range of lighting conditions in our TV test room
- Measurements using Calman software from Portrait Displays
- Tested on multiple sources (SDR and HDR)
I tested the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB’s image quality by watching HDR and SDR videos. I viewed content from a range of platforms, including Disney Plus and Youtube and when using sony UBP-X800M2 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. I’ve also played Battlefield V Covering gaming performance on Xbox Series X.
When watching the Toshiba 32LF2F53DB, I chose video content that exposed the TV’s specific strengths and weaknesses. For example, I watched Godzilla vs. Kong and Star Wars: The Last Jedi Evaluate elements such as color fidelity, contrast, and black levels. But I also watched Top Gun: Maverick and sky news Judge the abilities of the sound department.
Most importantly, I use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. I measured the peak brightness at 10% window and 100% window in SDR and HDR. I also recorded the Delta-E values ​​for color accuracy, grayscale, and gamma (which shows the margin of error between the test pattern and the display). Finally, I measured the color space based on DCI-P3 and BT.2020 coverage. For all tests I use Murideo Six 8K Test pattern generator. If you want to know more about the review process, you can read about How we test TVs on TechRadar.
- First review: November 2024
- Read more about How we test
