The Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021 is a basic entry-level TV that replaces the Toshiba Fire TV 2020. It uses the Amazon Fire TV smart platform, which is user-friendly, and has a great selection of apps available to download. It supports Apple AirPlay if you want to cast content from your phone, but not Google Chromecast. It's available in a wide range of sizes from 43 to 75 inches; we tested the 55 inch model with an IPS-like panel, and the 50 inch model should have a VA panel, but we don't know for sure which panels the other sizes have. Our unit has wide viewing angles, but a low contrast, so blacks look gray, and there's no local dimming to improve the contrast. It's not feature-rich either, as it lacks motion interpolation, judder-removal, and variable refresh rate features.
The Toshiba C350 is okay overall. The 55 inch unit we tested has an IPS-like panel, so it has wide viewing angles, making it decent for watching shows or sports in a wide seating area. However, that means it has a low contrast, and it's disappointing for watching movies, but other sizes may have a higher contrast. It's poor for watching HDR movies as it can't display a wide color gamut and has low HDR peak brightness. It isn't bad for gaming, but it doesn't have any extra gaming features.
The Toshiba C350 is disappointing for watching movies in the dark. The 55 inch model we tested has an IPS-like panel, so it has a low contrast that doesn't display deep blacks. The black uniformity is poor, and there's no local dimming feature to improve it. However, some of the other sizes like the 50 inch model may have a VA panel, allowing them to display deeper blacks, but we don't know for sure.
The Toshiba C350 is decent for watching TV shows in well-lit rooms. The built-in Fire TV platform has a ton of apps available to download, so you can easily stream your favorite content. However, it doesn't upscale lower-resolution content well. It has decent reflection handling, but it's not ideal for well-lit rooms because it doesn't get very bright. The 55 inch model we tested has wide viewing angles, but some of the other sizes can have a different panel type with worse viewing angles.
The Toshiba C350 is okay for watching sports in bright environments. Fast-moving content looks decent due to the fairly quick response time, and there's no backlight flicker that would cause image duplication. Our unit has wide viewing angles, making it a great choice for watching the game with a group of friends, but some of the other sizes may have another panel with narrow viewing angles. Also, it doesn't get bright enough to fight glare, but it has decent reflection handling.
The Toshiba C350 isn't bad for playing video games. It has a decent response time and low input lag for a responsive gaming experience. However, it doesn't have any extra gaming perks like variable refresh rate support. Also, the 55 inch model has an IPS-like panel with a low contrast ratio, so blacks look gray in the dark, but some of the other sizes may have different panels with better contrast.
The Toshiba C350 TV is poor for watching HDR movies. It can't display the wide color gamut needed for HDR content, and it doesn't get bright enough to make highlights pop. Our unit has a low contrast ratio, and even though some other sizes may have VA panels with a higher contrast, this TV doesn't have a local dimming feature to provide a satisfying HDR experience.
The Toshiba C350 is okay for HDR gaming. You'll get a responsive gaming experience thanks to the low input lag, and motion handling is decent too. However, HDR content doesn't look good because it has low HDR peak brightness and can't display a wide color gamut. Our unit also has a low contrast ratio and there's no local dimming feature to improve it.
The Toshiba C350 is decent overall to use as a PC monitor, but it's worse than most TVs. It can't display proper chroma 4:4:4 at any resolution, so you may have to increase the scaling to have legible text. Our unit has wide viewing angles so the image should remain accurate no matter where you sit, but other sizes may have worse viewing angles.
We tested the 55 inch Toshiba C350 (55C350KU). There are 43, 50, 65, and 75 inch models also available. We don't know exactly which panels the 43, 65, and 75 inch models use, so we don't know exactly how they perform. If you have those screen sizes let us know if it performs similarly to ours. The 50 inch model should have a VA panel, meaning it performs differently than the 55 inch variant.
Size | Model Code | Panel Type | Retailers |
---|---|---|---|
43" | 43C350KU | Unknown | Amazon, Best Buy |
50" | 50C350KU | VA | Amazon, Best Buy |
55" | 55C350KU | IPS | Amazon, Best Buy |
65" | 65C350KU | Unknown | Best Buy |
75" | 75C350KU | Unknown | Best Buy |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Toshiba C350 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between units.
Our unit of the C350 was manufactured in March 2021; you can see the label here.
The Toshiba C350 is a basic entry-level TV that's disappointing even for a low-cost option. It doesn't improve at all from the Toshiba Fire TV 2020 and gets worse in a few areas like brightness and upscaling. Even if you're looking for a cheap TV, there are better options available with a few more features, like the Hisense A6G.
Also see our recommendations for the best budget TVs, best smart TVs, and best small TVs.
The TCL 4 Series/S446 2021 is a better entry-level TV than the Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021. Both models we tested have IPS-type panels, but they're each available with VA panels, depending on the size. The TCL has a few more features the Toshiba doesn't have, like backlight strobing and motion interpolation features, and it can remove judder from 24p sources. It also displays chroma 4:4:4 with 1080p and 4k signals, and the Toshiba doesn't display it with any signal. Lastly, the TCL doesn't have any issues displaying 720p and 480p content, but the Toshiba has problems with them.
The Hisense A6G and the Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021 are both okay entry-level TVs. The units we tested of each have the same panel type, but they both have variants with different panel types too. Although picture quality isn't good on either, the Hisense does a better job at upscaling low-resolution content like from DVDs and cable boxes, and it gets a bit brighter. The Hisense has a few more features like the ability to remove judder from 24p sources and display chroma 4:4:4, which the Toshiba can't do. The Fire TV platform on the Toshiba is easier to use than Android TV, but the Android TV is more customizable.
The Insignia F50 QLED is much better than the Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021. The Insignia has much better contrast, higher peak brightness, and better uniformity, meaning it's a much better choice for a dark room. On the other hand, the Toshiba has a much wider viewing angle, so it's a better choice for a wide seating arrangement.
The Amazon Fire TV 4-Series and the Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021 use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The Amazon TV has much better contrast, so it's a better choice for a dark room. The Toshiba TV has wide viewing angles, but it's not a good choice for a bright room, as it can't overcome glare.
The Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021 replaces the Toshiba Fire TV 2020 and the units we tested have different panel types. The 55 inch version of the 2021 model has an IPS-like panel with wider viewing angles than the 2020 model, which has a better contrast. However, it's possible some of the sizes of the 2021 model also have VA panels. Other than that, the 2021 model is worse in a few ways because it doesn't get as bright and it has issues upscaling lower-resolution content, but it does a better job at displaying native 4k content.
The Samsung TU8000 is better overall than the Toshiba C350 Fire TV 2021, but they use different panel types. The Samsung has a VA panel with much deeper blacks and better uniformity. The Samsung also gets brighter in SDR, upscales lower-resolution content better, and has motion features like motion interpolation. The 55 inch model of the Toshiba has better viewing angles because it has an IPS-like panel, but some of the other sizes may have a VA panel too. It also has much better gradient handling, so you won't see as much banding in scenes with shades of the same color, like in a sunset.
The Toshiba C350 has a redesigned style compared to the Toshiba Fire TV 2020, as it looks sleeker. The bezels aren't as intrusive, and the bottom bezel is now silver. Even the feet are metallic instead of plastic. It doesn't seem like a cheap TV and should look nice in any setup.
The back of the Toshiba C350 actually looks a lot like a Hisense TV, like the Hisense H6570G. The top part holding the panel is textured metal, and the parts at the bottom and on the inputs are both plastic. Sadly, there's nothing for cable management. There are hook-like objects on the back of the legs, but they don't do anything for the cables; we don't know for sure what they're meant for, so if you know, let us know.
The bezels aren't as obvious as on the Toshiba Fire TV 2020 and are slightly thinner.
The FireTV 2021 has decent build quality. It's designed differently than the Toshiba Fire TV 2020, but the materials used seem to be the same as it's made of both plastic and metal. It improves in a few areas like the metal feet and the thinner borders. It feels solid throughout and doesn't wobble side-to-side, but it tilts easily back to front.
The Toshiba 55C350 has a mediocre contrast ratio, which is expected from IPS-like panels. Blacks look gray in the dark, and even though contrast can vary a bit between individual units, this is in line with other IPS-like TVs.
Note: The 50 inch TV (50C350) should have a VA panel, so it would have a much higher contrast. We don't know what panel types the 43, 65, and 75 inch TVs have. If you prefer something similar available in a 55 inch size with a VA panel, check out the Amazon Fire TV Omni Series.
The SDR brightness is bad. It's much worse than the Toshiba Fire TV 2020 and it doesn't get bright enough to fight glare in well-lit rooms. Luckily, the brightness doesn't vary at all between different scenes.
We tested the SDR brightness after calibration in the 'Movie' Picture Mode with the Backlight set to its max, Contrast at '75', Mid Luminance Gamma set to '-1', and Color Temperature set to 'Warm'. If you want the brightest image possible set the Picture Mode and Color Temperature both to 'Standard'. We reached 302 nits in the 2% window using these settings, but that comes at the cost of image accuracy.
There's no local dimming feature. The videos are for reference only, so you can see how backlight on this display performs and compare it to a similar product with local dimming. Although it's advertised to have direct LED backlighting, we confirmed it's edge-lit.
Once again, there's no local dimming, and the videos above are provided so you can see how the backlight performs in Game Mode versus a TV with local dimming.
The Toshiba C350 has bad HDR brightness. It gets brighter than in SDR, but it's not enough to make highlights pop in HDR. Once again, there's no variation in brightness between scenes. The EOTF doesn't follow the target very well as darker scenes are over-brightened and bright scenes are too dark, causing a loss in details.
We tested it in the 'Movie' HDR Picture Mode with the Backlight at its max and the Color Temperature set to 'Warm 2' and all other image processing disabled. We couldn't achieve a brighter EOTF but we reached 301 nits in the 2% window in the 'Standard' HDR Picture Mode with Backlight and Contrast at their max and the Color Temperature set to 'Standard'.
The HDR brightness in Game Mode looks a bit brighter than outside of Game Mode, but the results are about the same. It's not enough to make highlights stand out. We tested it using the same settings as outside of Game Mode, but with the HDR Picture Mode set to 'Game'.
The Toshiba C350 has okay gray uniformity. The edges are noticeably darker, and there's dirty screen effect in the center, which could get distracting during sports. Uniformity is better in near-dark scenes, but there's still some backlight bleed along the edges. Keep in mind that the gray uniformity can vary between units.
The Toshiba C350 has disappointing black uniformity, but this can vary between units. The entire screen looks blue because of the low contrast, and the edges are a bit darker. Luckily, there's not much blooming around the center cross.
Note: The 50 inch model should have a VA panel, which may result in better uniformity. We don't know which panel types the 43, 65, and 75 inch models use.
The Toshiba C350 has good viewing angles, which is normal for an IPS-like panel. The image remains accurate as you move off to the side, but it appears darker at really wide angles.
Note: The 50 inch variant should have a VA panel, which would result in narrow viewing angles. We don't know which panel types the 43, 65, and 75 inch sizes have, so we don't know what their viewing angles will be like.
The reflection handling is decent. It handles a small amount of light well, like from a lamp or overhead lightbulbs, but it's not so good with strong light sources on it. It's a bit worse than the Toshiba Fire TV 2020 because it reflects more light straight back.
The out-of-the-box accuracy is very good. Most colors are only slightly inaccurate, and most people won't be able to tell. However, white balance is a bit more off, and the gamma doesn't follow the target well, so most scenes are too dark. Also, the color temperature is colder than the 6500K target, giving the image a blue tint. Note that accuracy may vary between units.
The accuracy after calibration is excellent, but the calibration settings are limited, and you can't adjust the white balance. Still, the colors and white balance improved, and the color temperature is close to the target. Gamma is also better overall, but most scenes are still too dark.
You can see our recommended settings here.
Sadly, the Toshiba C350 doesn't upscale 480p content properly, so it's not suggested for watching DVDs. The image looks blurry, and it doesn't display a proper 16:9 aspect ratio either. The photo above is cropped for the proper ratio and you can see the original here. Don't compare the photo size with the 480p photo from the Toshiba Fire TV 2020 because that image is stretched horizontally.
Unlike the Toshiba Fire TV 2020, the Toshiba C350 TV isn't good at displaying 720p content like from cable boxes. The image is less sharp and looks choppy.
This TV displays a perfect 4k image and there aren't any dithering issues like with the Toshiba Fire TV 2020.
The Toshiba C350 has an RGB sub-pixel layout, which helps with text clarity when using it as a PC because computer programs render RGB better than the BGR sub-pixel layout on other TVs. The 55 inch model has an IPS-like panel, but we don't know for sure which panel types the other sizes have. The 50 inch model should have a VA panel because there aren't many IPS panels available in this size. If you have the 43, 65, or 75 inch model, let us know which type they are.
The Toshiba C350 has an okay color gamut, but it's not considered a wide color gamut for HDR content. It has trouble displaying the primaries in either the DCI P3 or Rec. 2020 color spaces, and tone mapping is off in both. The Insignia F50 QLED, with its quantum dot panel, delivers a much wider range of colors.
Surprisingly, the gradient handling is excellent. It's a big improvement over the Toshiba Fire TV 2020, and it's more in line with the Toshiba Fire TV 2019. There's the most banding in the grays and greens, but other than that, you shouldn't notice it much. The Debanding Filter doesn't improve the test pattern, but it improves gradients in real content when set to 'High' or 'Medium', but this comes at the cost of losing fine details.
Although some IPS panels can suffer from temporary image retention, this doesn't appear to be permanent as the IPS panel in our long-term test is immune.
The Toshiba C350 has a decent response time. Although it's slower than the Toshiba Fire TV 2020, there's a lot less overshoot with darker transitions, so you won't notice any black smearing that's typical of VA panels. However, we don't expect the 50 inch model, which should have a VA panel, to perform the same.
Unfortunately, there's no optional black frame insertion feature to help improve the appearance of motion.
The Toshiba C350 doesn't have a motion interpolation feature.
Due to the somewhat slower response time, there's not much stutter with lower-frame rate content.
Sadly, the Toshiba C350 TV doesn't remove judder from any source. This is disappointing considering most entry-level TVs like the LG UP7000 can at least remove judder from native 24p sources.
The Toshiba C350 has a basic 60Hz panel and doesn't support any variable refresh rate technologies.
The Toshiba 55C350KU has very low input lag as long as you're in Game Mode. Its 4k @ 60Hz input lag is actually one of the lowest we've seen on any 60Hz TV, so you shouldn't notice any delays when gaming.
The Toshiba C350 only displays basic signals at 60Hz, and it can't display proper chroma 4:4:4. This is disappointing if you want to use it as a PC monitor and want clear text.
As the TV doesn't support high-frame rate content, you're limited to 4k gaming at 60Hz from either the Xbox Series X or PS5. It has an Auto Low Latency Mode setting that automatically switches the TV into Game Mode when you play a game from a compatible device, but it's not clear that it's in Game Mode. A HDR symbol appears in the top right, as you can see in this photo.
The Toshiba C350 TV is one of the few TVs we've tested in 2021 that still has Composite inputs, which is great if you have old entertainment devices, like DVD players or a PS2.
The Toshiba C350 has eARC support, allowing you to pass high-quality, uncompressed audio like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X formats to a compatible receiver through an HDMI connection.
The Toshiba C350 has a poor frequency response. It doesn't produce any bass, and it's even worse than most TVs in that regard, so if you want the best sound experience, go for a soundbar. It doesn't get very loud, and the sound profile isn't the most balanced either, but it's fine enough to listen to dialogue.
The Toshiba C350 comes with the Amazon Fire TV platform built-in. It's user-friendly, and the menu navigation feels smooth with no obvious bugs. It's not as advanced as some other platforms, but it's still good for most people.
The app store has a great selection of apps available to download. You can cast content from your phone, but it's not as easy as other TVs. It doesn't support Google Chromecast, so you have to screen mirror your Android phone, but it does have Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, so it's more user-friendly for iOS users.
The Toshiba C350 comes with the same remote as the Toshiba Fire TV 2020. It's simple with the necessary navigation buttons and shortcut buttons to popular streaming services. The built-in mic allows you to ask to change HDMI inputs, open apps, and search for content, but you can't ask it to change certain settings. It also works with compatible Amazon Alexa devices.