Skip to main content

Toshiba brings 120Hz to Fire TVs with new flagship M550-Series

Toshiba has announced the first smart TV based on Amazon’s Fire TV software that has a native 120Hz LCD panel. The M550KU-Series LED 4K UHD Smart TV with Fire TV starts at $800 for the 55-inch model. Other sizes include the $1,000 65-inch and $1,200 75-inch models. All three sizes will be available in December on Amazon.com, as well as Best Buy (online and in stores), starting with the 55-inch model on December 6.

The M-Series is the latest model to bring a set of upscale specifications to Fire TV-enabled smart TVs. It joins the recently announced Fire TV Omni, which was designed by Amazon itself, as well as the Insignia F50, a Fire TV with a quantum dot display.

Related Videos
Toshiba M-Series 4K Fire TV.
Toshiba

Like the Fire TV Omni, the M-Series is equipped with far-field voice microphones so you can issue hands-free voice commands from across the room, without having to reach for a remote. It also supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10 for a more vivid and colorful picture when viewing HDR content from Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services. But perhaps the most notable M-Series feature is its native 120Hz LCD panel.

Most other Fire TV models use 60Hz panels. And while that’s more than adequate for movies and TV shows, it’s not as good as 120Hz when it comes to gaming. That makes the M-Series the first smart TV with the Fire TV software to offer this gamer-friendly feature. Unfortunately, the M-Series falls short of being a gamer’s best friend. While it offers auto low-latency mode (ALLM) which helps greatly with input lag, it doesn’t support any flavor of variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, which is becoming increasingly desirable for both console and PC gamers alike.

Moreover, it’s not yet clear how gamers will be able to take advantage of the M-Series’ 120Hz capabilities — the TV has four HDMI 2.1 ports, but these only support 4K @ 60Hz. With that limitation, only gaming apps that can be added to the TV via the Fire TV app store will be able to avail themselves of the TV’s 120Hz panel.

Toshiba M-Series 4K Fire TV.
Toshiba

The LED backlight offers up to 48 local dimming zones, which should give the TV decent contrast and black levels, and Toshiba’s Regza Engine 4K will power any upscaling of non-4K content to near-4K quality. But it’s worth noting that, unlike the Insignia F50, this is not a quantum dot panel, so colors and brightness may not be as vivid.

On the audio side of things, the M-Series supports Dolby Atmos, which is key for folks who are looking to get the best possible surround sound from content that uses Dolby’s 3D format. But there’s also support for DTS Virtual:X, which can make all kinds of two-channel stereo content sound a lot more like surround sound — though this will all depend on how good the M-Series internal speakers are.

Toshiba M-Series 4K Fire TV.
Toshiba

Toshiba has given the M-Series 16GB of flash memory, which should help with speedy performance in terms of the Fire TV user interface, and an included picture-in-picture feature will let you watch Alexa-compatible security camera feeds while you’re bingeing the latest shows.

In terms of design, the M-Series looks a lot like Toshiba’s C-Series Fire TVs, which it released earlier in 2021. The nearly invisible bezels give it an all-picture look that minimizes the appearance of the TV itself. We haven’t had an opportunity to test the C-Series, but rtings.com didn’t exactly issue a glowing report, saying, “The Toshiba C350 is oOK overall.” Hopefully the M-Series delivers a better experience.

Editors' Recommendations

Nvidia kills off GameStream on Shield, points users to Steam
Nvidia Shield 16gb Android TV

Nvidia is discontinuing its GameStream service on its Shield and Shield TV streaming boxes (among the best streaming devices on the market). In an email sent to GameStream users, the company announced it would start rolling out an update in mid-February that removes GameStream from the Nvidia Games app.

GameStream has allowed Shield owners to stream games to their TV from their PC at up to 60 frames per second in 4K. Specifically, the app was designed with Steam's Big Picture interface in mind, allowing you to play Steam games with ease (dubbed "GameStream Ready"). Nvidia is pointing users to the Steam Link app available on the Shield TV, which functions in a similar way.

Read more
Apple TV: Price, hardware, software, and more
Apple TV 4K hardware with remote and retail box.

Apple TV is the umbrella term for Apple's living room strategy. It encompasses hardware, software, and a streaming service, all of which share in the "Apple TV" name. Or maybe you're talking about the Apple TV app, which is available most just on Apple TV, but also on other Apple products.

It gets a little confusing, perhaps. But that's where we come in.

Read more
Amazon Echo Show 15 is getting the full Fire TV update today
Amazon Fire TV on Echo Show 15.

The line between the Amazon Echo Show 15 and a Fire TV is blurring, with the former getting the experience of the latter starting today with a software update.

It won't quite turn your Echo Show 15 into a Fire TV 15, per se. But it'll give it full access to the Amazon Appstore, and that means you should have all the apps available to essentially turn it into a wall-mounted streaming powerhouse (provided that everything's square when it comes to APIs and app updates, but we have a feeling Amazon and the developers will have that figured out in short order, if things aren't already working as expected).

Read more