Toshiba 50QF5D53DB QLED 4K Smart Fire TV, TRU Picture Engine, Ultra HD, HDR10, Freeview, Disney+, Prime, Netflix, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, Sound by Onkyo, Alexa, HDMI 2.1, Bluetooth, Airplay

Product Information

There are numerous mid-range and even lower-mid LCD models out there that can go brighter still, too. The 55QA5D63DB’s speakers, which have been designed in conjunction with Onkyo, are seriously powerful, making it one of the flat-out loudest budget TVs we’ve ever heard.

This means that there’s no repeat of the missing Disney+ and Apple TV+ apps situation found with the otherwise impressive Toshiba 50UK4D63B.However, for those who want an even more immersive audio experience, the television has a digital optical output that can connect to a soundbar or other external speaker system. In fact, it also covers all three of the other key HDR formats found in today’s content world: HDR10, HLG and HDR10+.

The 50UK4D63DB even enjoys a bit of promoted video processing courtesy of Toshiba’s TRU Picture Engine.

Users can also adjust the picture mode to suit the type of content being viewed with methods such as Dynamic, Standard, and Cinema. Additionally, the television has a built-in calibration tool that can be accessed through the settings menu. The screen’s lack of brightness inevitably limits the TV’s colour volume range versus more premium LCD TVs, but aside from some occasional clipping (loss of shadow detail) in the very brightest, peak luminance parts of HDR images, the degree of colour saturation always feels in harmony with the available light. The television also has built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, which makes it easy to access streaming services and other online content. This includes Tru Micro dimming for essentially breaking the image down into small zones for improved processing; Tru Flow for enhanced motion playback; Tru Contour for reducing the appearance of colour banding; and Tru Blue, which appears to make the image look a bit cooler in tone and makes blues look a little more richly saturated.

But if you just can’t cope with the idea of using motion processing, the 55QA5D63DB is still pretty easy to watch without it. Happily, the 50UK4D63DB does indeed pick right up where its predecessor left off when it comes to serving up much better picture quality than you would reasonably expect of such a cheap 50-inch TV. The TV’s key feature is its Voice Remote with built-in Alexa voice assistant, allowing users to to easily find, launch, and control content, while the UF3D also supports Apple’s Airplay streaming tech.There does seem to be some support for the ALLM switching feature that can switch TVs into their fast-response Game mode whenever a game source is detected, but this doesn’t work as consistently during our tests as it should.