Toshiba 43UF3D53DB Review
Toshiba’s first Fire TV has landed – but is it worth it?
Verdict
The Toshiba 43UF3D marks the first time that the electronics brand has shipped a screen with the widespread Fire TV platform, with an Alexa Voice Remote that offers a sharp improvement over Toshiba’s past attempts at voice control peripherals. And if you can get past the clunky TV stand and basic audio, you may find this a smart buy.
Pros
- Alexa Voice Remote
- Premium HDR support
- Micro dimming
Cons
- Basic audio system
- Fire TV pushes Amazon content
- Contrast could be better
- Design isn’t convenient for adding a soundbar
Key Features
- ControlComes with the Alexa Voice Remote for voice control
- HDRSupports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision HDR
- Dolby AtmosCompatible with eARC standard to support Dolby Atmos soundbars
Introduction
The Toshiba 43UF3D offers a tempting marriage of hardware and software, with a low-cost Toshiba display that runs Amazon’s widespread Fire TV platform.
This is the first time Toshiba has shipped screens with the Fire TV OS in the UK, offering an upgrade from the Toshiba Smart Portal.
The UF3D launched at £349 for a 43-inch size, though it’s as cheap as £279 at Amazon – and the remaining 50-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch sizes retailing for £329, £369 and £449 respectively at the time of review.
For anyone who’s used a Fire TV or Fire TV streaming stick before, you’ll be right at home – though even this budget television has a few smart features up its sleeve you might not expect at this price range.
I’ve seen some contradictory specifications for this TV out there at different retailers, but be assured that we’ve got the correct details, direct from Toshiba, all in this review.
Design
- Unnecessary TV stand
- Bright LED indicator
- Basic, functional build
The Toshiba 43UF3D sports a relatively simple design, with a thick black bezel and plastic casing that will be familiar to anyone who’s gone shopping for a sub-£500 TV before.
The TV stand is what makes this look like a Toshiba TV. The size and weight of this 43-inch screen really doesn’t require a central stand, yet Toshiba has opted for a rectangular grey stand to keep things stable. It takes up a little more counter space than a regular pair of feet, then – 24.9cm deep, rather than the screen’s tighter 8.1cm depth – and nor does it lift the screen high above the ground for those looking to attach a soundbar to this screen.
The rear of the TV is set up for wall-mounting with a 100 x 100mm VESA wall mount, though, if you’d rather sidestep the counter and hang it up closer to your eye level.
Toshiba’s trademark LED indicator is also on full show here – with a bright ring that’s a little more prominent, if not obtrusive, than you’d expect. It can be a bit of an eyesore, whether the TV is turned off (red) or on (green).
Features
- Measures 56.7 x 97.3 x 24.9cm
- Headphone socket and Bluetooth
- Amazon’s Fire TV platform
Ports include a pair of USB inputs, and three HDMI inputs for connecting games consoles or Blu-ray players. However, one of those HDMI inputs is the latest HDMI 2.1 standard, supporting eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) for passing through lossless audio to a compatible soundbar, which is a nice perk at this price. There’s no support for 4K/120Hz variable refresh rates though, in case you were wondering.
Other features include Bluetooth connectivity, and a headphone socket for hooking up a pair of wired headphones – something you may be more likely to do for a compact 43-inch size.
The standout feature here is Amazon’s Fire TV platform, though, this being the first time Toshiba has shipped a Fire TV display in the UK. It’ll be familiar to anyone who’s used a Fire TV streaming stick, with a simple enough layout, great Alexa integration, and a whole load of ads for Amazon Prime or affiliated content.
The Amazon Freevee service is featured quite prominently here, offering free ad-supported programming as well as a sample of the Amazon Prime Video library, for those who haven’t yet committed to a Prime subscription.
The Alexa Voice Remote is also a joy, featuring a voice control button that you hold down in order to summon the Alexa assistant. While you don’t get ‘hands-free’ voice control, per se, it’s an intuitive and privacy-safe way to make use of voice commands – and a better solution than Toshiba Connect, a plug-in Alexa mic the company previously trialled in a few TV models.
The remote also packs in a full numerical keypad, playback/volume controls, and shortcuts for the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Freeview Play.
Picture Quality
- Decent brightness for the price
- Limited contrast
- Dolby Vision HDR support
The Toshiba 43UF3D doesn’t have too much to work with, given its price – this is a pretty basic LED panel, with a 50Hz frame rate, that does what it can with the parts given to it.
The direct backlight certainly helps matters, allowing for a reasonably consistent brightness output compared to what a cheaper edge-lit system would be capable of. I found that peak brightness is generally set around 380 nits for most picture modes but can jump up to 460 nits on Vivid – you’ll be sacrificing a little tonal accuracy, but the option is there if what you really want is a brighter screen.
Toshiba’s TRU Micro Dimming allows for a little brightness variation across the screen, and the tests I carried out showed that the UF3D has pretty good colour accuracy across the board – though no doubt a more advanced local dimming feature would have helped deepen black tones, which often show up as grey.
But to the eye, the lack of contrast stops any colours popping on their own – and tones can seem to blend a little together. When watching the latest season of Stranger Things, the pale skin of a child actor and the clinical hospital walls almost seem to merge into the same sickly colour.
I have few big complaints about the picture, other than that the processor used here generally favors foreground objects, and this means live-action scenes often look like they’re against a green screen, with actors looking a little detached from their surroundings.
One notable feature is Dolby Vision – a dynamic HDR format supported by Netflix and often found on 4K Blu-rays, which uses additional metadata to tweak your TV’s brightness and colour output. You won’t be getting a high-end HDR experience with the 43UF3D’s panel and lighting array, but Dolby Vision support will improve the tone mapping of compatible content to get a little closer to the filmmaker’s intent.
Sound Quality
- Minimal audio output
- Dolby Atmos compatibility
- Two-channel system
Toshiba continues its long-running collaboration with Onkyo, which supplies the built-in sound system here, with a pair of 8W stereo speakers that offer the minimum of what’s expected for a TV of this price. The audio is perfectly fine, if a little flat, and naturally lacking in the kind of audio detail or immersion expected in more premium screens.
Thankfully, there is a get-out clause: Dolby Atmos. The UF3D is technically compatible with the premium three-dimensional audio standard, meaning that if you link up a Dolby Atmos-capable speaker, you’ll be able to hear its full effect – just don’t expect an Atmos experience from the built-in drivers here.
Despite a maximum 16W output, the screen can reach a decent volume. Just be warned that the lack of separation in a two-channel system like this is even more apparent at higher volumes, and audio objects can get a little muddied as a result. A number of smart audio settings can help, boosting either bass response or highlighting dialogue, though their relevance will depend on the kind of content you’re playing through your TV.
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Should you buy it?
You want a cheap TV with audio potential: If you have existing audio kit that can make use of the UF3D’s Atmos compatibility, and don’t want to pay a pretty penny for the screen, this could be a good buy for you.
You want a better HDR TV: This Toshiba screen doesn’t have quite the color gamut or lighting control to push HDR images to their best, though the presence of Dolby Vision helps matters slightly.
Final Thoughts
The Toshiba 43UF3D is a decently cheap smart TV with a broadly consistent and acceptable picture for the price – ideal for casual use in a bedroom or study. HDMI eARC and Dolby Atmos support makes it a smart choice for someone who already has some capable audio equipment, too, and the Alexa Voice Remote is a far better accessory that the Toshiba Connect peripherals of old.
How we test
We test every television 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.
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Tested for several days
Tested with real world use
Benchmarked with tests
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FAQs
The Toshiba UF3D does not claim to support VRR, and thus wouldn’t be capable of refresh rates higher than 60Hz in any case.
Full specs
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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.
