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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2023
I've got a 32 inch Sony Bravia that I bought back when flatscreen TV's first appeared on the market. Literally, you had to go to a specialized home furnishings or entertainment store. If you went to a big-box store, you'd only see CRT TVs for sale.
Well, my old Bravia's power cord has continuity issues after decades of mechanical strain. Not a big deal, I could repair it easily, but I decided it was finally time for an update and cruised Amazon's Spring Prime Day event here in 2023.
That ties into my review title: For the variety of equipment I use, this TV was the best compromise I could find. I really hesitated buying this TV. I'm not familiar with Insignia, and I'm certain this TV isn't going to last a quarter as long as my venerable Bravia has.
Before I dive into the particulars, here's a summary for readers who just want the points:
This TV has been good so far, having been used nearly daily for about six months. I have a couple of gripes, most of which can be adjusted, and some which are my fault due to the dated equipment I persist in using. I mostly play video games, but occasionally watch something on Prime TV. For both those functions, this TV works great, and it's processing speed is noticeably faster compared to my old Bravia, which is nice for gaming (I doubt this TV could stand toe-to-toe against the latest, cutting edge TVs in that regard though).
Onto the details.
Out of the box, I was REALLY grateful that this TV is feather-light compared to my Bravia. Had my lower back been acting up, I would have needed to enlist some help moving the Bravia. But sore back or no, I can easily handle this Insignia. The included stand legs are cheap and flimsy. They can hold the TV up, but this TV sat way too low in my entertainment center; I had to hunch way forward just to see the screen. I immediately had to get a height-adjustable stand. With the adjustable stand, I've got the TV at a good viewing height and angle.
Plugging in my devices, it was clear I was going to need splitters. One of the main reasons I got this TV is because it has an optical audio port, which is what I needed to run my old Yamaha audio receiver. I have an extensive collection of Nintendo and Sony video game consoles, and while I don't intend to try and connect all of them, the three HDMI ports and single series of A/V ports are wholly insufficient.
That situation is still being worked. But for the time being, I have my PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii U connected to the HDMI ports of this TV, and can connect one of my older consoles to the A/V ports. This TV handles it all in stride, and of course makes older game consoles video output look odd since it's too crisp and fast for the console. But, that's where yet more adapters will be needed, and why this situation is ongoing.
Again, this TV runs itself and the connected equipment I've listed just fine. Picture quality is improved over my old Bravia, and audio is just as good. Since this is a smart TV, it has some extra functions, which I like, dislike, and nearly hate.
With this TV not being locked to exclusive hardware like Roku does, I was able to program this TV's remote to power on my old Yamaha receiver along with this TV. I like this! On occasion, I'll join some friends online in voice chat, and thus don't need my receiver to power on. I can just hold the remote very close to the TV, so the remote's signal doesn't hit the receiver, and I only power the TV on.
This TV will send power-on commands to devices via the HDMI ports. I like, dislike, and hate this.
Sometimes, when I come home from work, I just want to fire up the PS5 and game. Since the PS5 is connected to HDMI 1 (ARC port), firing up the TV also fires up the PS5 and receiver. One button gets me ready for gaming and I love it.
Sometimes, I want to play games on my Switch or just watch some TV. If I don't frantically mash the remote's Home button after pressing the power button, the TV will stubbornly fire up my PS5 and keep reverting the input to HDMI 1. This annoys me, as sometimes I don't mash the Home button enough or in time, and I have to wait for the PS5 to finish booting up, wake it's controller up, and put the PS5 back to sleep mode and quickly change this TV's input mode to either HDMI 2 (the Switch) or Home, which is the Prime TV main menu.
Seriously, the TV is stubborn. There've been times where I've had to turn off my PS5 multiple times because this TV keeps sending power-on signals and forcing the input picture to HDMI 1. I hate that.
But, the TV is just doing what it's programmed to do. I either need to take the time and set my PS5 to not react to power on signals through HDMI, or just deal with it. I've messed with settings on the TV as much as I could, so all that's left is to mess with settings on the PS5. But again, when I come home from work, burnt out and needing to just chill and relax, pressing one button to send me into a relaxing gaming session of No Man's Sky is just wonderful. Again, like, dislike AND hate.
Overall though, I'm satisfied with this TV. It's not perfect obviously, but for what I need it to do, it does it well enough and still has connectivity for older equipment that I have that simply isn't found on the new, cutting edge TVs that most people go for. The fact that this was on sale during Prime Day makes me even more willing to overlook it's shortcomings.
I don't know if this TV is even available any more at the time of writing this, but if it's available when you read this review, I'd recommend this TV if like myself, you don't NEED a smart TV but don't mind having one, and have older and newer equipment you'd like to connect to one TV.
Well, my old Bravia's power cord has continuity issues after decades of mechanical strain. Not a big deal, I could repair it easily, but I decided it was finally time for an update and cruised Amazon's Spring Prime Day event here in 2023.
That ties into my review title: For the variety of equipment I use, this TV was the best compromise I could find. I really hesitated buying this TV. I'm not familiar with Insignia, and I'm certain this TV isn't going to last a quarter as long as my venerable Bravia has.
Before I dive into the particulars, here's a summary for readers who just want the points:
This TV has been good so far, having been used nearly daily for about six months. I have a couple of gripes, most of which can be adjusted, and some which are my fault due to the dated equipment I persist in using. I mostly play video games, but occasionally watch something on Prime TV. For both those functions, this TV works great, and it's processing speed is noticeably faster compared to my old Bravia, which is nice for gaming (I doubt this TV could stand toe-to-toe against the latest, cutting edge TVs in that regard though).
Onto the details.
Out of the box, I was REALLY grateful that this TV is feather-light compared to my Bravia. Had my lower back been acting up, I would have needed to enlist some help moving the Bravia. But sore back or no, I can easily handle this Insignia. The included stand legs are cheap and flimsy. They can hold the TV up, but this TV sat way too low in my entertainment center; I had to hunch way forward just to see the screen. I immediately had to get a height-adjustable stand. With the adjustable stand, I've got the TV at a good viewing height and angle.
Plugging in my devices, it was clear I was going to need splitters. One of the main reasons I got this TV is because it has an optical audio port, which is what I needed to run my old Yamaha audio receiver. I have an extensive collection of Nintendo and Sony video game consoles, and while I don't intend to try and connect all of them, the three HDMI ports and single series of A/V ports are wholly insufficient.
That situation is still being worked. But for the time being, I have my PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii U connected to the HDMI ports of this TV, and can connect one of my older consoles to the A/V ports. This TV handles it all in stride, and of course makes older game consoles video output look odd since it's too crisp and fast for the console. But, that's where yet more adapters will be needed, and why this situation is ongoing.
Again, this TV runs itself and the connected equipment I've listed just fine. Picture quality is improved over my old Bravia, and audio is just as good. Since this is a smart TV, it has some extra functions, which I like, dislike, and nearly hate.
With this TV not being locked to exclusive hardware like Roku does, I was able to program this TV's remote to power on my old Yamaha receiver along with this TV. I like this! On occasion, I'll join some friends online in voice chat, and thus don't need my receiver to power on. I can just hold the remote very close to the TV, so the remote's signal doesn't hit the receiver, and I only power the TV on.
This TV will send power-on commands to devices via the HDMI ports. I like, dislike, and hate this.
Sometimes, when I come home from work, I just want to fire up the PS5 and game. Since the PS5 is connected to HDMI 1 (ARC port), firing up the TV also fires up the PS5 and receiver. One button gets me ready for gaming and I love it.
Sometimes, I want to play games on my Switch or just watch some TV. If I don't frantically mash the remote's Home button after pressing the power button, the TV will stubbornly fire up my PS5 and keep reverting the input to HDMI 1. This annoys me, as sometimes I don't mash the Home button enough or in time, and I have to wait for the PS5 to finish booting up, wake it's controller up, and put the PS5 back to sleep mode and quickly change this TV's input mode to either HDMI 2 (the Switch) or Home, which is the Prime TV main menu.
Seriously, the TV is stubborn. There've been times where I've had to turn off my PS5 multiple times because this TV keeps sending power-on signals and forcing the input picture to HDMI 1. I hate that.
But, the TV is just doing what it's programmed to do. I either need to take the time and set my PS5 to not react to power on signals through HDMI, or just deal with it. I've messed with settings on the TV as much as I could, so all that's left is to mess with settings on the PS5. But again, when I come home from work, burnt out and needing to just chill and relax, pressing one button to send me into a relaxing gaming session of No Man's Sky is just wonderful. Again, like, dislike AND hate.
Overall though, I'm satisfied with this TV. It's not perfect obviously, but for what I need it to do, it does it well enough and still has connectivity for older equipment that I have that simply isn't found on the new, cutting edge TVs that most people go for. The fact that this was on sale during Prime Day makes me even more willing to overlook it's shortcomings.
I don't know if this TV is even available any more at the time of writing this, but if it's available when you read this review, I'd recommend this TV if like myself, you don't NEED a smart TV but don't mind having one, and have older and newer equipment you'd like to connect to one TV.
