Sections
- Page 1 Toshiba 40L3453DB Review
- Page 2 Picture Quality Review
- Page 3 Sound and Verdict Review
Toshiba 40L3453DB: Sound Quality
While the 40L3453DB’s pictures might exceed the expectations raised by its budget price, its audio does not. A fundamental lack of bass response all too readily leaves the speakers sounding shrill and harsh, and even during relatively untaxing scenes voices tend to sound rather constrained and ‘electronic’.
Needless to say, action scenes sound thin and unconvincing, though the 40L3453DB does have one strange audio strength: an ability to reproduce subtle background effects that tend to go AWOL through other TV speakers.
Overall, though, the 40L3453DB’s audio is merely par for the budget TV course.
Other things to consider
Lest you didn’t pick up on it earlier, the 40L3453DB’s operating system really can be painfully sluggish to use, especially if you’re doing anything with Cloud TV.
If, though, you’re a gamer after a cheap screen to fulfil your COD/BF4/TitanFall/Guitair Hero/whatever skills, the 40L3453DB isn’t a bad option. For as well as producing decently clean and contrasty pictures, it suffers only 33ms of input lag, meaning the time it takes the TV to render its images will have minimal negative impact on your gaming abilities.
Should I buy a Toshiba 40L3453DB?
The answer to this depends very much on your financial situation. If you really are tapped out at £400, then unless you’re lucky enough to track down a 2013 Samsung or Sony LCD being sold off cheap the 40L3453DB’s picture quality makes it a strong proposition versus the competition.
If you can find another £75-£100, though, you could get into the territory occupied by the outstanding Sony 40W605B…
Verdict
Despite its sluggish operating system, bland looks and average audio, the 40L3453DB’s pictures are strong enough to make it worth considering if your budget is locked at £400.
READ MORE: Best Budget TVs
How we test televisions
We test every TV we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Features 7
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Value 8
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Smart TV 6
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Image Quality 7
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Design 6
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Sound Quality 6
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
