Best Buy releases their Insignia 4K Fire TV Edition televisions

Best Buy has released their Insignia 4K Fire TV Edition televisions. The TVs come in three sizes, which include a 43-inch model for $329.99, a 50-inch model for $379.99, and a 55-inch model for $449.99. If those sizes and prices sound familiar, that’s because they’re identical to the Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition televisions released earlier this year. These new Insignia TVs are nearly identical to the Toshiba TVs, with only a few minor differences.

When Amazon and Best Buy announced their partnership to release new 2nd-generation Fire TV Edition televisions this year from Toshiba and Insignia, they said that “more than 10” models will be released. Toshiba kicked things off with the release of three 4K TVs and then recently followed up with the release of three 1080p/720p TVs. Now Insignia has released their three 4K TVs and we know they have three more models coming that will likely be identical to Toshiba’s non-4K TVs.

These new Insignia 4K Fire TV Edition televisions are nearly identical to the Toshiba 4K Fire TV Edition televisions. They come in three screen sizes that are all 4K UHD LCDs with LED backlights and a 3840 x 2160 resolution. They have 3 HDMI inputs, one of which is an ARC port for return audio, composite video ports, and an RF antenna connection for the built-in TV tuner.

The TVs feature DTS “TruSurround” speakers. They have optical audio out, as well as a headphone jack to analog audio out. Connectivity includes a 10/100 Ethernet port and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi. There’s also a USB 2.0 port that can be used to extend how long the TV can pause live television by connecting external storage.

These Insignia TVs are powered by the same quad-core 1.4 GHzMStar T12 processor as Toshiba’s TVs and have the same Mali-T820-MP2 GPU. They feature 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage for apps, which can be expanded through the aforementioned USB port. Like all of Amazon’s newer Fire TV devices, these TVs are running Fire OS 6, which is based on Android 7.1.

The remote that comes with Insignia’s TVs is identical to the one that comes with Toshiba’s TVs. It features a microphone for Alexa voice searches and requests, as well as the usual Fire TV media and navigation buttons. There are power and volume buttons, as well as dedicated buttons to mute and bring up the channel program guide. Along the bottom, in a 2-by-2 grid, are four app shortcut buttons to launch Prime Video, Netflix, HBO, and PlayStation Vue.

Both Insignia’s TVs and Toshiba’s TVs say they come “with HDR,” but don’t be fooled. These are NOT true HDR televisions. They are capable of decoding and playing back an HDR signal, but their screens are not HDR screens, so you won’t see any advantage to playing HDR content. It’s frankly very misleading for Best Buy and Amazon to put “HDR” in the title of these TVs.

The only real difference between Insignia’s TVs and Toshiba’s TVs is the overall dimensions. Insignia’s Fire TV Edition televisions are slightly thinner, smaller, and lighter. With Insignia’s TVs being 0.4 inches thinner and 3.4 pounds lighter for the 55-inch models, it’s not much of a difference, but could be enough to mater for some.

Ultimately, the main factor you should consider if you’re deciding between these new Insignia TVs or Toshiba’s TVs is price, since they’re nearly identical. The other factor would be which company you think will provide the better customer service and support. Insignia’s new Fire TV Edition televisions are available now to order through Amazon’s or Best Buy’s website and should be available to see in person in Best Buy Stores soon.

9 comments
  1. clocks says:

    Regarding the HDR thing, how the heck is that not false advertising?!?!?

    • JFC says:

      It certainly sounds like false advertising to me!!!

      If I bought one of those TV’s expecting that I’d be able to benefit from HDR quality video when played on the TV screen, and then found out the screen wasn’t capable of that, I’d be pissed!

      It seems like a very un-Amazon-like thing to do, since they’re generally pretty good about correctly describing the products they sell, especially when it’s their own items.

    • AFTVnews says:

      I think it’s all about the wording that keeps it legal. It’s “with HDR” and “HDR-compatible.” Nowhere does it say its an “HDR TV” or “HDR screen.”

      In Amazon’s defense, when the first Toshiba Fire TV Edition televisions were released, “HDR” did not appear anywhere on Amazon’s product page, but it was in Best Buy’s title and listed in their specs. Amazon later added HDR to their product page as well, probably to stay competitive with Best Buy.

  2. Dennis says:

    No HDR? No up-scaling? No way!

    • clocks says:

      I’m sure it up-scales. I think every tv up-scales to it’s native resolution right? But I agree, I would not buy a new TV without HDR at this point.

  3. Charlie says:

    I bought the 50 inch Toshiba on Prime Day and wouldn’t know HDR if it bit me in the butt, but I do like the picture. It’s a nice upgrade to my 7 year old 1080P Insignia, which I still have and like.

    The Toshiba has very thin bezels but is not actually particularly thin, which I think may account for the some pretty decent sound for TV speakers. That remote is hard to get used to because the placement of buttons is different from standard fireTV remote and the Alexa function doesn’t always work the first time you press the button on the remote. I wonder if the Insigna line have the same issues. Other than the remote my only real complaint is that the home screen shuts off the TV after a very short while. You can pause a show walk away to fix a snack and the TV is off. Waiting for fix for that.

    I would buy it again and hope the fireTV hardware doesn’t get outdated too soon.

  4. Djsjjsjejs says:

    Best Buy is stupid for inviting Amazon into the Den

  5. Mark B says:

    What scu* They literally say “Smart LED TV with HDR” That mean it comes with HDR. That’s like say it comes “with a Million dollars” compatible. If you supply the million dollars. Everyone should leave 1 star reviews mentioning the HDR until they remove it from the product description. Totally false advertising and just unethical. Bad enough they sell “HDR” tvs that can’t do full HDR brightness. This is just wrong.

  6. LUCINDA says:

    I bought a 43″ tv and most of the time when I change channels. The volume changes. Very annoying

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