Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review

If you are looking for a midsize TV for a bedroom — and you’re a fan of Amazon Fire smart TVs — the Toshiba C350 Fire TV should be near the top of your list. The 43-inch TV does all the things you want a smart TV to do: Fire TV, and all its features, is fast and responsive; it’s easy to set up and use; and, best of all, it’s very affordable.  

The C350 doesn’t come with the latest bells and whistles, such as HDMI 2.1 or Dolby Atmos support, but it does Dolby Vision and HDR10 — though not very well. Its LCD picture quality isn’t quite as good as the TCL 4-Series Roku TV or Sony Bravia X800H TVs that come in the same size. But if you like Fire TV and you want a TV you can enjoy watching some shows on — and even play games — the Toshiba C350 Fire TV is a great value. 

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Price and availability

The 43-inch Toshiba C350 Series Fire TV (model number 43C350KU) that we tested for this review was released in 2021. While its list price is $369, you can find it for much less than that, and sales on the entire C350 line are available most the year. Amazon is selling it for $269 as of this review; you can also find it at Best Buy for $349.

The Toshiba 350 Series comes in three sizes; in addition to the 43-inch model we tested, it also comes in 50 inches and 55 inches.

• 43 inch (model 43C350KU) — $269.99
• 50 inch (model 50C350KU) — $369.99
• 55 inch (model 55C350KU) — $409.99

Note that Amazon has better prices than Best Buy on these models, too. 

The C350 Series has the same specifications across the line, except for the speakers: the 50 and 55-inch models have 8 watts instead of the 7 watts on the 43-inch model. We don’t think that small change will make a difference and expect our experience with the 43C350KU to be consistent with the other models. 

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Design

The 37.9 x 22.0 x 2.9-inch 43C350KU stands out a bit from the typical black-on-black plastic TV set: It has a silver plastic strip at the bottom of the panel and silver plastic feet. It gives it a more stylish feel, although it also attracts attention to the set itself — whether that’s a pro or a con is up to personal preference. 

It is a little deeper than other TVs in this size range, thanks to the large port box that sits in the middle of the back of the TV.

The feet, besides being silver, use the typical boomerang style. If you want to mount the TV instead, it supports VESA 200 x 300, and will work with any of the best TV mounts.

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Ports

The C350 offers four HDMI ports — plenty for most people — though none support HDMI 2.1, the newest standard that’s needed to take advantage of the latest game consoles. One HDMI port does audio-return channel (ARC) if you want to hook up a soundbar. The ports aren’t ideally located: they are on the side of a section in the middle of the back of the TV. Many TVs, such as the Sony XBR-43X800H, put at least a few ports on the side of the TV so you can access them without pulling out the TV. 

You can also connect via composite video, two USB ports or an RF antenna. For sound, in addition to ARC, you can use optical digital audio, two-channel composite stereo or the headphone jack. There’s also support for Bluetooth. For network connectivity, you can use Wifi or Ethernet.

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Performance

The C350 produces a good enough picture — it’s not going to wow you, but in most situations it does well enough that you can enjoy what’s on screen without getting annoyed by quality issues. It’s bright enough to watch during the day and produced good color. 

The TV looks best when you’re watching content that doesn’t need high contrast. While watching the USA men’s Olympic basketball team play France in 4K on YouTube TV, the picture was sharp and didn’t blur during drives down the lane. And the bright, daytime surf scenes in 100 Foot Wave were colorful and realistic. But Avengers: Infinity War, which engaged Dolby Vision, looked flat, likely a result of its mediocre brightness. During a scene in Loki with He Who Remains, the walls in the background looked washed out and lacked detail that was apparent when watching the scene on Sony’s XBR-43X800H. In the Good Joe scene from Blade Runner 2049, the TV couldn’t show details in the dark.

The C350 also suffered from dimming at the corners and washed-out edges, probably due to inconsistencies in its full array backlight. It also has limited viewing angles and definitely looked best when you sit right in front of it.

When I connected an Xbox Series X, the C350 switched to game mode and displayed rich colors while playing Forza Horizon 4 and Apex Legends. The game play was smooth and detailed — thanks in part to its low lag time, as lab testing showed.

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Test results

The C350 posted a couple of impressive scores in our test results, especially for a TV of its size and cost. With a 1.7 Delta-E, it had impressive color accuracy — the best among midsized TVs we’ve tested. By comparison, the Sony Bravia XBR-43X800H, which costs about twice as much as the 43C350KU, had a Delta-E of 3.6 (lower numbers are better). 

However, it reproduced just 95.0% of the color spectrum on our standard Rec 709 color spectrum test; most TVs will come closer to 99%. It was also toward the bottom of the pack when it comes to brightness, with 227 nits; by comparison the Sony X800H produced an impressive 426 nits and the TCL 4-Series Roku TV (43S435) came in at 291, about the middle in TVs of this size that we’ve tested. The relatively low brightness is likely what caused the flat appearance of HDR images. 

The 43C350KU impressed with its low lag time of just 10.7 milliseconds, slightly better than the Sony X800H’s 11.2ms and the  TCL 43S435’s 14.1ms. Its low lag time helped the C350 handle fast action well and will please gamers, even though it has a 60Hz panel and lacks support for variable refresh rate. 

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Audio

The 43C350KU has two 7-watt speakers in it, which is plenty of power for this size TV. It doesn’t support Dolby Atmos, but it does do DTS Virtual: X. That creates a fairly wide sound, though the speakers lack any bass to speak of. As a result, you get a wide, thin sound from the unit. Voices were still fairly easy to make out, including Loki and Sylvie bickering. But when Thor brings the lightning down on Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War, there was no deep rumble to go with the sparkling visuals. Even a cheap selection from the best soundbars will be a welcome upgrade to the audio the C350 produces. 

Fire TV offers a few sound modes to help you make the sound more to your liking: Standard, Music, Movie, Clear Voice, Enhanced Bass and Custom. You can also adjust the bass, treble and balance. In the Advanced menu you can adjust dialog levels, TruVolume, which levels out high and low sounds, and Virtual: X. These are easy ways to tweak the sound, though they don’t make too much of a difference when using the speakers included in the TV.

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Smart features

The Toshiba C350 runs Fire TV, and if you’ve ever used a Fire TV stick, you’ll recognize the interface. The smart TV OS on the C350 is fairly responsive — though not quite as quick as Android TV on the Sony X800H. Apps launch in seconds, and there are plenty to choose from on the platform — pretty much every major one. 

Set up is simple. Start by connecting the TV to your network. You can then choose from the Full Fire TV experience, which requires an Amazon account, or Basic, which limits the OS to live TV and 5 apps. If you opt for Full, you log in on your phone or computer and enter a code. Then you’re ready to add apps.

It has an extensive main menu, including search, Home, Live, Your Videos, Free, Movies, TV Shows, Apps and Settings. Since this is an Amazon OS, Prime Video gets the priority — Your Videos, Movies and TV shows focus on those offerings.

On the Home screen there’s a lengthy list of things to launch that can keep you scrolling for a while (similar to Android TV). You see suggested movies, shows and apps; recently launched apps, movies and shows, another list of apps, and sponsored apps, movies and shows — and that’s just one scroll down.

You don’t have much control over the Home screen on Fire TV. You can pin apps to the home screen and rearrange the order; beyond that there’s not much you can turn off or add.

The 43C350KU includes Alexa, which you activate through a button on the remote. Alexa reacted quickly to my commands: it turned off the TV, launched Disney+ and changed the volume. It also told me the weather and turned on a Wemo plug.

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Remote control

The C350 comes with a standard Fire TV remote; it’s small and comfortable in your hand. At the top is a button to activate Alexa; below that is a scroll wheel to navigate onscreen menus. 

A bevy of small buttons for home, back, menu and more are included. A nice touch is a TV button that will launch a TV guide — unlike many other smart TV OSes, it can tell if you are using a live streaming service such as YouTube TV.

At the bottom are quick launch buttons for Prime Video (of course), Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu.

Toshiba C350 Fire TV (2021 model) review: Verdict

Fire TV fans have a few TVs to pick from in this size and price range, and the Toshiba 350 Fire TV should be among the top choices. It runs Fire TV well and has good overall color. While it doesn’t handle HDR content well, few TVs at this size do. With its color accuracy, low lag time and responsive Fire TV, it sets itself apart from the crowd. 

If you’re not wedded to Fire TV, the TCL 4-Series Roku TV (S435) has a better overall experience, at a similar price. For a premium picture — and a premium price — Sony’s Bravia XBR-43X800H, which runs the more complex Android TV, has superior brightness but costs twice as much. But if you’re looking for a Fire TV for your bedroom or small living room, the Toshiba C350 Fire TV is the one to get.