Toshiba 55LF711U20 55-inch Fire TV Edition

  • Alexa-enabled remote

  • Fire OS built in

  • 4K UHD and HDR picture quality

  • Powerful in-unit speaker

  • Picture settings require tweaking

  • Interface is cluttered

  • Issue with picture distortion

  • Remote feels flimsy and lags at times

The Toshiba 55LF711U20 55-inch Fire TV Edition is an affordable 4K smart TV with Alexa built in, but the picture quality sometimes reflects the price tag.

  • Design
  • Setup Process
  • Image Quality
  • Audio Quality
  • Software
  • Price
  • Competition
  • Final Verdict
  • Specs

We purchased the Toshiba 55LF711U20 55-inch Fire TV Edition so our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and assess it. Keep reading for our full product review.

Design: Best for a bigger room

The Toshiba 55-inch Fire TV is not a small device. While it only weighs 31.3 pounds with the stand (though the stand itself weighs less than a pound), it’s both tall and wide enough to make moving and installing it a two-person job. The TV’s dimensions with the stand are 27.8 inches tall, 44.6 inches wide, and 10.7 inches deep, and the screen size (on a diagonal) measures at 49.5 inches.

There’s no wall mount included in the box, but there are four standard VESA mounting holes on the back of the unit for safe and easy installation. In a smaller space, wall-mounting this television might not be a bad idea. Even in the relatively modestly-sized room where we tested the TV, it nearly completely took up the entire shelf where we placed it and a broad swath of the wall behind it. This TV is not particularly thin and actually tends to be a bit bulky in the very back of the unit, and the stand also adds width. The legs splay out and require a wide, long surface to accommodate them.

The other important component is the Alexa-enabled remote, which is small, lightweight, and contains a circular dial with directional controls and play/pause functionality. You also have the benefit of summoning Alexa with the touch of the speaker button, which is intuitively placed at the top of the remote (though we often accidentally hit it when we were trying to push the Home button, which is right below it).

An attractive option for shoppers who want a smart 4K TV under $500.

The buttons are clearly laid out on the remote, and it’s convenient to have volume and mute controls in addition to a shortcut button to antenna channels. There are also some shortcut buttons as well: Prime Video, Nextflix, HBO, and Vue. 

There are some downsides to the remote’s overall quality. Unlike other Fire TV remotes that create a completely smooth and seamless effect on the back, this remote is a lot more traditional, with a tab for pulling off the battery cover. It makes an unfortunate creaking noise almost every time you push a button, and while it never fell off the noise was distracting and contributed to the plastic and flimsy feel of the remote. 

Setup Process: Quick and easy

There is a little setup required out of the box, whether you wall mount it or attach the stand. We chose the latter and found the instructions to be straightforward. Each leg requires both a longer 35 mm screw to help create a secure attachment to the bottom of the TV and two 10 mm screws that secure the legs to the back of the unit.

Installing the legs isn’t complicated, but it can be awkward because you need to place the TV screen-side down on a soft or cushioned surface. It helps to have a bit of space to do this either on a sofa or a clean, carpeted area, and maybe a helping hand to situate the TV wherever you plan to put it. 

Once the legs were in place, we placed the TV on a table and plugged in the power cord. The TV powered on immediately and we were prompted to press the play/pause button on the remote to begin setup. 

Image Quality: Crisp but sometimes needs tweaking

While setting up the TV was very fast and took only a few minutes, we did have to spend some time adjusting the picture settings. Unfortunately, this is not something the online user manual provides much insight about. 

Accessing the HDR picture settings is not exactly intuitive. Long-pressing the Home button on the remote brings up a shortcut menu and that’s where we were able to access HDR picture settings. Picture settings can be found under Display and Sounds in the main Settings menu, but there’s only a blanket setting for all app and video content. Settings that work for regular HD content, which was the majority of the content we viewed, were inadequate for HDR content. 

For the best Ultra HD HDR picture quality, we found that changing to movie mode instead of standard smoothed out the saturation a bit. For good measure we also turned off Dynamic Backlight, HDR Tone Mapping, and MPEG Noise Reduction. This helped the Ultra HD HDR content shine in a realistic and rich way.

Ultra HD HDR content shines in a realistic and rich way.

We did switch the picture mode to Game when playing an HD game, but didn’t notice a significant difference in quality. The picture was already quite vibrant and clear without making this switch, and the only discernible difference was that Game mode made color tones a bit more saturated. Presumably the panel is deactivating some post-processing to improve input lag, but we didn’t notice a significant difference in either quality or latency. 

Audio Quality: Well-rounded and clear

The Toshiba 55LF711U20 is outfitted with two 10-watt speakers enhanced with DTS Studio Sound. According to DTS, this technology smooths transitions, volume, and bass levels while changing channels or sources. 

Audio quality isn’t spectacular but is generally consistent and clear across media. The volume can get quite loud and fill the room, which is good if you don’t plan to add additional home-entertainment speakers. There are also bass, treble, and balancing settings that help cater to your individual EQ preferences. 

Like the suite of picture settings, there are sound modes to achieve the most appropriate audio experience based on what media you’re consuming. These modes include Standard, Movie, Music, Clear Voice, and a user-defined Custom mode. Movie mode seemed to work out best for our preferences, yielding neither an extremely tinny nor bassy sound. 

There are also the DTS TruSurround and TruVolume controls—TruSurround is on by default and functions to create a richer and more amplified sound, but TruVolume is off. Flipping it on helped control and even out fluctuations in sound, which was a problem we encountered streaming some content on Netflix and Hulu. 

Software: Easy to use but cluttered

The Fire OS Home menu is the spot that features recent apps, downloaded apps, as well as suggested content based on viewing activity. This arrangement is clear enough, but wading through options becomes more confusing based on the other menu pages, which include Movies, Live, TV Shows, Apps, and Your Videos. Much of the content you’ll see across these pages is duplicated, so overlap is a part of the user experience, which means clutter and confusion. Once you get a handle on this arrangement it’s easy enough to wade through, but a more streamlined layout would be welcome. 

One way to avoid what can feel like a labored navigation experience is to use Alexa. But that doesn’t always make the process any easier. When testing commands like “Tune to ABC” in Hulu Live, we encountered a bunch of error messages. Searching the whole system for content through Alexa can make your life easier. Doing so brings up a menu of choices, displaying content availability on various streaming platforms as well as whether content is free or available for rent or purchase. Once you make a decision, Alexa takes you directly to the content.

Price: Affordable way to enjoy 4K and upgrade your streaming experience

At around $450, the Toshiba Fire TV Edition is an attractive option for shoppers who want a smart 4K TV under $500. It’s considerably lighter than other smart TVs that skew more toward the $1,000 price range and offers solid sound and picture quality, plus instant access to myriad streaming apps and services. 

Toshiba 55LF711U20 55-inch Fire TV Edition vs. TCL 55S405 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Roku Smart LED TV

If you’re looking for a happy medium between features/functionality, saving space, and affordability, the TCL 50S425 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Roku TV may be a worthy option. This smart 4K television retails for under $400 and blends 4K Ultra HD quality with HDR, resulting in vivid and exceptional picture quality for the price. The Roku TV is not only cheaper than the Toshiba Fire TV Edition, but it’s also 1 pound lighter despite being both slightly taller, wider, and deeper than the Toshiba 55LF711U20. 

Consider some of our other picks for the best cheap TVs or the best TVs under $500.

Similar Products We’ve Reviewed:

  • TCL 50S425 50-inch Roku TV (2019)
  • Insignia NS-43DF710NA19 Fire TV Edition
  • Sony XBR49X900F 49-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV

Specs

  • Product Name
  • 55LF711U20 55-inch Fire TV Edition
  • Product Brand
  • Toshiba
  • MPN
  • 55LF711U20
  • Price
  • $449.99
  • Weight
  • 31.3 lbs.
  • Product Dimensions
  • 27.8 x 44.6 x 10.7 in.
  • Platform
  • Fire OS
  • Screen Size
  • 49.5 inches
  • Screen Resolution
  • 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K)
  • Ports:
  • HDMI x 3, USB, Ethernet, A/C power, Headphone, Analog Audio, Digital Audio
  • Formats Supported
  • HD, 4K UHD, HDR
  • Speakers
  • Two 10-watt DTS Studio
  • Warranty
  • 1 year