Insignia NS-75F501NA25 Review

The Insignia NS-75F501NA25 is the company’s flagship 4K LED TV, sitting above the midrange Insignia NS-50F301NA24 and the newer 85-inch NS-85F501NA25 in the company’s 2024 LED lineup. Perhaps one big change in Insignia’s TVs this year is that the company has released big-screen models, whereas it often focused on mid-size (32-to-65-inch models) in previous years. The new models integrate the Fire TV smart system like previous models, and that’s a good thing.

The 2024 Insignia F501 line arrives exclusively in 75-inch and 85-inch screen sizes, but the Insignia F301 line has more models in smaller sizes. The latest Insignia LED 4K is priced well below competing TVs from Samsung, Sony, or LG – in fact, it’s much cheaper than alternatives from even Hisense and TCL. It offers better quality than its LCD siblings, but it doesn’t match the kind of clarity you get from top-tier models like the LG OLED65C1PUB or the Hisense 100U76N QLED TV.

Insignia F50 LED TV Specs

Design & Features

The Insignia NS-75F501NA25’s design is solid and dependable, and I can dare say, a little safe in a few places. While the top and side frames are trim enough, the bottom bezel is slightly bulkier to accommodate the logo; we’ve seen some other models like Hisense add a built-in subwoofer on the bottom frame. Still, its screen lacks the bezel-less design of premium OLEDs, but it’s still uniformly trimmed.

The TV feels sturdy when installed with its stand and is very light for easy movement, weighing only 49.5 pounds. You can also wall-mount it, if you’re so interested, it’s VESA 100×100 standard. You’ll be surprised by the quality of plastics used on the TV’s chassis; it looks and feels nice, I was expecting it to feel a lot cheaper.

The included remote is also quite simple, featuring clean white lettering and a straightforward, smooth layout. There’s a decent array of buttons, including a dedicated microphone button (for Alexa), volume/channel rockers, and dedicated buttons for Prime Video and Netflix.

The Insignia F501 Fire TV has three HDMI ports, including one that supports an audio return channel (eARC/ARC) for easy connection to a soundbar. That number is pretty typical for TVs in this price range. Other inputs include a composite video connection, a coaxial RF antenna connection, and a USB port. With eARC you can send high-quality audio, like Dolby Atmos via TrueHD to a compatible receiver.

Picture Quality

The Insignia NS-75F501NA25 uses a standard direct-lit LED backlight to produce a good level of contrast and color, but it falls behind what you get from competing TVs that use Mini LED backlighting. Still, for a TV that costs well under $500, the 4K Ultra HD (2160p) resolution is decent enough to enjoy movies and TV shows in your living room. The inclusion of High Dynamic Range (HDR10) technology further enriches picture quality by offering a broader spectrum of colors and improved contrast ratios.

When watching BBC’s Planet Earth II, the sprawling greens of plants look natural, but not as vibrant as they do on TVs with wider color ranges, including the Hisense U8N and the flagship LG OLED55C1PUB, though you’ll spend a premium for the crisp picture. Fine details like fur and bark are visible when it’s well-lit, but they tend to become muddy in shadows.

Gamers will likely be disappointed by the Insignia F50’s lack of gaming features like ALLM and dedicated gaming ports to support newer consoles, and the screen’s 60Hz refresh is too narrow to match today’s gaming cards and consoles that shoot well beyond 120Hz. Also, the screen doesn’t have a variable refresh rate (VRR), and the input lag is rather high, even in the Game picture mode.

In movie mode, the input lag is an unbearable 109.6 milliseconds. In Game mode, the lag drops to a much more reasonable 41ms, but that’s still over twice the lag of the 20ms threshold we consider ideal for the best gaming TV.

The Insignia F50 produces pretty impressive audio for a TV, regardless of price. It supports DTS Studio Sound which delivers a much wider sound than a typical TV with a 2-channel sound. It helps make the viewing experience more immersive, but still, a soundbar would be a worthy addition to your home theater setup.

Fire TV OS and Alexa

For you to get the most out of Fire TV features, you’ll need to sign in with your Amazon account, which is very typical of Fire TV streamers, which are built around using your account for transactions like purchasing the app and renting media. However, on the Insignia Fire TV Edition, you don’t need an Amazon account to use the TV. There is an optional Basic mode that lets you use the TV as a TV, without access to most streaming features in the interface but provides access to the TV’s varied inputs.

Still, most of us would want to use our Amazon account to access the full features of the Insignia Fire TV Edition, bearing in mind how robust it is as a smart TV platform. For instance, it lets you access most streaming services, including Amazon Video and Music, Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV, Spotify, and Twitch. Curiously, Google Play Movies & TV, as well as Google Play Music, are absent, and YouTube loads only via the Firefox or Silk web browsers.

Not surprising at all, while the Fire TV OS is ideally based on Android, rarely do you see Amazon and Google get along much on content. The Fire TV includes access to the Alexa voice assistant, which you can easily use on the Insignia Fire TV Edition by pressing the microphone button on the remote and speaking into it. Sure, it may not be as hands-free as the Echo or Echo Spot, but it’s still functional out of the box with the press of a button.

Audio Performance

Audio output is managed by DTS Studio Sound, a premium audio enhancement suite that creates realistic and immersive sound through two-speaker playback. This technology expands the sense of space and ambiance, contributing to a more engaging auditory experience.

While the built-in speakers are adequate for general use, some users may prefer to connect external sound systems or soundbars for more robust audio performance, especially in larger rooms or for a theater-like experience.

Insignia NS-75F501NA25 Review: Verdict

The Insignia NS-75F501NA25 is an alright TV overall. It is affordable for a 75-inch 4K LED screen, it’s good for watching movies in a dark room as it has excellent contrast and good black uniformity. However, it lacks a local dimming feature that would significantly improve contrast, and it lacks extra gaming features that are available in premium models like the LG C3 OLED and Hisense U8G.

Beyond that, it has an excellent SDR color gamut, with nearly complete coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used by most current HDR content, so HDR content looks flawless.  Whether for immersive movie nights, binging on TV shows, or everyday viewing, the Insignia NS-75F501NA25 offers a versatile and satisfying experience without breaking the bank.