Insignia NS-65F501NA24 Review

If you’re looking for a really low price on a new smart TV, the Insignia NS-65F501NA24 is an appealing choice. Insignia’s Fire TV Editions televisions are ever cheap, especially compared to models from Sony, Samsung, or LG, and the 65-inch model we’re reviewing costs almost half as much as the cost of other similar-sized TVs.

However, with the low price, you sometimes end up with mediocre picture quality, and you don’t get extras such as local dimming and gaming features. If your budget can stretch a little, spending just a bit more will get you better picture quality and contrast on superior models from Hisense and TCL. But if you’re on a tight budget and need a TV for movies and nothing more, the Insignia NS-65F501NA24 is one of the most affordable 65-inch 4K LEDs you can get out there.

Insignia F50 Specs

Design & Features

The Insignia Fire TV isn’t designed to compete with the LG OLEDs on looks – just simple styling on a screen framed by a half-inch black bezel on the sides and top, widening to about an inch on the bottom. It stands on a pair of plain, flat black feet, and can be mounted on the wall. It’s a minimalist design through and through, with a plain design distinguished only by a gray Insignia logo in the middle of the bottom bezel, and a small trapezoidal bump on the lower left corner to indicate the location of the infrared remote receiver.

Port options are standard, with the Insignia F50 Fire TV getting three HDMI ports, including one that supports an audio return channel (ARC) for seamless connection to a soundbar. That’s about the number of HDMI ports you’re getting on TVs at this price point. Other ports include a composite video connection, a coaxial RF antennae connection, and a USB port, but it skips a component video input.

All HDMI inputs are set on the left side, while the optical digital audio, RCA analog audio, antenna, and composite video inputs are on the back of the TV. None of these inputs are easy to access, but that will only be an issue if you have to change what’s connected to the TV frequently.

To use the smarts for this Fire TV, you can connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet.

Picture Quality

The Insignia NS-65F501NA24 is an LED-backlit 4K UHD television. It supports high dynamic range (HDR) content with HDR10 and also supports Dolby Vision. It produces a sharp picture, overall, and is very close to a great viewing experience with great contrast out of the box. It gets excellent contrast, meaning blacks look black and not gray if you’re watching in a dark room. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include local dimming that could improve the contrast further.

With a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels (2160p), the Insignia F50 manages to deliver good visuals for both SDR and HDR content, although it doesn’t match high-end models like the LG OLED or the Hisense U8N.

The modest color and contrast performance is manifested 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 TCL 55S551F (2024 model) and the Hisense 65U6N, though you’ll spend a little money to attain that 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 Fire TV’s performance. Not only is the screen 60Hz without a variable refresh rate (VRR), but 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 advanced spatial audio processing and Dolby Atmos 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.

Amazon Fire TV Features

As the name indicates, the Insignia NS-65F501NA24 uses the same smart interface as Amazon’s Fire TV media devices. As such, once you sign in with your Amazon account, you can access a wide array of apps and services, ranging from Amazon Prime Video (obviously), Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV, Twitch, and YouTube. Also, you can mirror a compatible Windows PC or mobile device screen through WiDi/Miracast, but unlike current Android and Roku TVs, it’s neither Apple AirPlay nor Google Cast compatible.

You can also use Amazon Alexa voice control by pressing and holding the voice assistant button on the remote and speaking into the microphone. Talking of the remote, the included remote takes its cues from Amazon’s Fire TV streamers, sharing a similarly narrow, rectangular black wand shape with a circular navigation pad near the top. The mentioned voice and power assistant buttons sit above the navigation pad, along with a pinhole microphone.

Insignia NS-65F501NA24 Review: Verdict

The Insignia NS-65F501NA24 is as inexpensive as a new TV line gets, but it lacks extras that make pricier models more appealing. Its picture quality is fine, you can binge on your favorite TV shows and watch your thriller movies on the 65-inch 2160p screen.

Beyond that, it loses its appeal to most users, especially gamers looking for gamer-centric features like HDMI 2.1, ALLM, and a higher refresh rate, maybe 120Hz and above, to use with modern consoles and the latest PC graphics cards.

Overall, if you’re on a tight budget, the Insignia NS-50F301NA24 is the best you can buy, at least for now. Having Alexa inside the Insignia F30 Fire TV brings a lot of value, from voice control of TV functions to access to your smart home devices. And that makes the Insignia NS-65F501NA24 a whole worth it at this price point. The Hisense 65U6HF remains our Editor’s Choice for midrange TVs, offering Smart TV features, local dimming, 600-nits peak brightness, and a 240HZ refresh rate with VRR among other gaming features.