INSIGNIA NS-65F301NA23 65 inch TV: In-Depth Review and Customer Opinions

The Insignia NS-65F301NA23 is a 65-inch 4K Ultra HD LED TV that was released by Insignia in 2022. This mid-sized television features a sleek, minimalist design and provides good picture quality thanks to its 4K resolution and HDR support. With its large 65-inch screen size, the NS-65F301NA23 is well-suited for most living rooms and home theater setups. It includes built-in smart TV features and streaming apps, allowing you to access popular services like Netflix directly through the TV. At its affordable price point, the Insignia 65-inch 4K TV offers solid performance and features without breaking the bank. It provides a good balance of screen real estate, image quality, and smart connectivity for budget-focused shoppers. This review will take a more in-depth look at the design, display, audio, features, performance, pros and cons of the Insignia NS-65F301NA23 to help you determine if it's the right big-screen 4K TV for your home entertainment needs.

Design and Aesthetics

The Insignia NS-65F301NA23 has an attractive, modern design that will look great in most living rooms. The TV has slim black bezels around the display to draw focus to the image.

The stand has a wide, curved metal base that provides sturdy support for the large 65” screen. The stand's feet are positioned farther apart for increased stability.

Overall dimensions with the stand are 57.1” x 35.9” x 11.3” and the TV weighs 51.8 lbs. The chassis has a glossy black finish that resists fingerprints. The back of the TV is fairly plain looking.

The bezels surrounding the screen measure 0.39” thick. This allows for an immersive viewing experience and less distraction from the frame around the display.

The minimalist design language allows the Insignia TV to blend into modern décor seamlessly. It will look elegant against a blank wall or paired with other sleek electronics and accessories.

In comparison, the SAMSUNG UN65AU8000FXZA 65-inch TV has a similar slim profile and small bezels for a streamlined aesthetic. However, the stand design is quite different with two feet positioned on the edges of the base.

This stand design is less stable than the Insignia's wide stand. But it takes up less surface area if you have limited space for the TV. The Samsung stand also has a brushed metal finish compared to the Insignia's glossy black stand.

Both TVs are great options that will suit modern living spaces. The Insignia has a more premium, weighty design that instills confidence. While the Samsung is a bit more adaptable for tight configurations but may feel slightly less robust.

Making the choice between these two TVs comes down to your priorities and room layout. Picture quality, features, and price are similar between the two models. So the design and aesthetics may be the deciding factor for some buyers.

The Insignia 65” TV is available exclusively from Best Buy. So you can see it in person to get a feel for the build quality before purchasing. This hands-on experience can help inform your decision when comparing with the Samsung model.

Being able to view retail demo units is invaluable when evaluating televisions. You can look past the specs and assess real-world characteristics like viewing angles, glare, and uniformity across the display.

Overall, the Insignia NS-65F301NA23 looks beautiful with its minimal bezel, solid stand, and glossy black exterior. The design enables it to blend in seamlessly with modern decor. It will draw compliments from guests in your living room.

Display

The Insignia 65-inch NS-65F301NA23 TV features a 4K Ultra HD display with 3840 x 2160 resolution. This high resolution provides clear details and sharp visuals on the large 65-inch screen.

The TV supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) including HDR10 and HLG formats. HDR expands the color palette and contrast range of the display, allowing for more vivid and realistic colors. Bright, colorful highlights really stand out with HDR enabled content.

In terms of brightness, this Insignia TV can reach up to 350 nits peak brightness on its LED-backlit LCD panel. This peak brightness results in solid highlights and good representation of specular effects like sunlight glinting off metal or water. While 350 nits is decent, it may be limiting for HDR performance in very bright viewing environments.

Viewing angles on this TV are typical of VA panel technology. Color and contrast shift noticeably when viewing from seating positions more than 15-20 degrees off center. The best image quality is seen when viewing the TV straight on. Overall the display quality represents a very good value for a budget-friendly 65-inch 4K TV.

If you're looking for an alternative 65-inch 4K TV around the same price point, check out the TCL 65S450F. The TCL 65S450F is a Roku TV, meaning it has the Roku smart TV platform built-in, giving you access to thousands of streaming apps. The TCL also supports HDR10 and has a 120Hz effective refresh rate for smooth motion. It reaches up to 400 nits peak brightness for better HDR performance. The TCL 65S450F provides low input lag for gaming, and has Bluetooth connectivity for wireless audio devices. While the TCL lacks some more advanced features like local dimming, it delivers very good 4K picture quality and smart TV capabilities for an affordable price.

Comparing the Insignia NS-65F301NA23 and TCL 65S450F side-by-side, they have similar display specs and performance. The Insignia is an Amazon Fire TV with Alexa voice assistant built-in, while the TCL uses the Roku platform. Picture quality is comparable between them, though the TCL may have a slight edge in brightness and motion handling. Overall they both represent good values for budget 65-inch 4K TVs. Looking at reviews and pricing, the TCL usually costs a little less, so it may be the better option if you're looking to maximize value in this size and price range.

Audio Quality That Matches The Stunning Visuals

The Insignia NS-65F301NA23 TV delivers an immersive audio experience to match its brilliant 4K Ultra HD picture quality. This 65-inch TV is equipped with DTS Studio Sound, providing realistic and dynamic audio across two 10W speakers.

DTS Studio Sound enables the NS-65F301NA23 to produce robust bass and clear treble tones. The speakers easily fill a large room with rich, well-balanced sound. Whether you're watching action movies, nature documentaries or listening to music, the audio sounds crisp and detailed.

There are multiple audio modes to choose from depending on your content and preferences. Movie mode adds dimensionality to the sound for a true cinematic experience. Music mode brings out the nuances in your favorite songs and albums. With DTS TruVolume, you can maintain consistent volume across programs and channels. Voice enhancement ensures dialogue is always clear and understandable, even at low volumes.

Overall, the Insignia NS-65F301NA23 punches above its weight class for audio. The thoughtful speaker configuration and DTS sound technologies provide an immersive listening experience that complements the lifelike 4K picture. For an affordable 65-inch TV, it produces premium, dynamic sound.

Smart TV Features

The Insignia NS-65F301NA23 runs on the Fire TV operating system. This gives you access to a wide range of streaming apps and Alexa voice controls.

The Fire TV OS provides easy access to popular services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, and more. It has an app store where you can download additional apps if the pre-loaded selection is not enough.

A big benefit of Fire TV is out-of-the-box Alexa compatibility. The television has a built-in microphone that allows you to control playback and navigate using your voice. You can ask Alexa to launch apps, search for content, control smart home devices, and more. Voice commands make it simple and intuitive to use the TV.

Overall, the Fire TV operating system and Alexa integration really boosts the smart functionality of this TV. You get a robust platform to stream content from with the flexibility of voice controls.

Ports & Connectivity

The Insignia NS-65F301NA23 comes equipped with multiple ports and connectivity options. For HDMI, it has 3 HDMI ports which is decent but some competitors offer 4 HDMI ports. The HDMI ports support HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) as well as HDMI CEC (Consumer Electronics Control).

For USB, there are 2 USB ports which is fairly standard. These USB ports allow you to connect flash drives or external hard drives to play media files.

In terms of ethernet, the Insignia NS-65F301NA23 has an RJ45 ethernet port for wired internet connectivity. This allows for faster and more reliable internet speeds compared to wi-fi if you have your TV connected to your router via ethernet cable.

For wireless connectivity, the TV has built-in wi-fi support (802.11ac) so you can connect it to your wi-fi network and access smart TV features and streaming capabilities wirelessly. The wifi reception is decent but not the strongest we've seen. If your router is in another room, you may experience some connectivity issues.

Overall the port selection provides adequate options for connectivity, but it lacks more advanced ports like optical audio out. The HDMI and USB options are sufficient for most users though.

Remote

The INSIGNIA NS-65F301NA23 comes with a basic remote control that has all the necessary buttons for controlling the TV's functions. You get the standard directional buttons, number buttons, volume/channel rockers, mute, input selector, menu access, and media playback controls. The remote is functional but lacks any advanced capabilities.

Voice control is absent on the remote, which is disappointing for a modern smart TV. You'll have to use the Google Assistant voice commands through your phone or a separate smart speaker device. The remote also doesn't have any shortcut buttons for popular streaming apps. While the buttons are responsive, the all-plastic build feels a bit cheap.

Overall, the remote included with the 65-inch INSIGNIA TV gets the job done for basic control but lacks any special features for convenience or voice interaction. Those looking for advanced universal remotes or hands-free voice control will need to purchase a separate accessory.

Performance

The INSIGNIA NS-65F301NA23 delivers good overall performance for its price range.

Picture Quality

The 4K UHD resolution and High Dynamic Range (HDR) produce a vibrant and detailed picture. Colors appear rich and accurate, and contrast is strong with deep blacks. The image remains relatively crisp and clear even in fast motion scenes. It can't match the picture quality of more expensive models, but provides good visuals for everyday TV viewing and movies.

Response Time

The response time is adequate but not the fastest. Some mild blurring and trailing can occur in fast moving sports and action scenes. It's not significant enough to be a major issue for most content. Gamers looking for a TV focused on fast response times may want to look at other options.

Upscaling

The NS-65F301NA23 does a decent job upscaling lower resolution content like HD broadcasts and DVDs to 4K resolution. Upscaled content looks noticeably sharper and clearer on the 4K panel compared to watching lower resolution sources on a 1080p TV. While upscaled content doesn't appear as crisp and detailed as native 4K, the boost in clarity is a nice bonus for non-4K content.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Excellent picture quality with 4K UHD resolution and HDR support
• Good motion handling with native 120Hz refresh rate
• Low input lag is great for gaming
• Roku TV platform is easy to use with thousands of apps
• Voice control compatibility with Alexa & Google Assistant
• Decent built-in audio with Dolby Audio processing

Cons

• Mediocre black uniformity
• Narrow viewing angles with poor side angle viewing
• Only 2 HDMI ports
• Lacks advanced gaming features like VRR
• Smart remote lacks number buttons

The Insignia 65-inch 4K TV offers stellar picture quality for the price along with smart features through the user-friendly Roku TV interface. Gamers will appreciate the low input lag. Downsides are the lack of HDMI ports, narrow viewing angles, and missing advanced gaming capabilities. But overall this is an excellent value 4K TV option.

Conclusion

The Insignia NS-65F301NA23 is a budget-friendly 65-inch 4K TV that delivers decent picture quality and smart features considering its affordable price point.

The TV has a simple, no-frills design that gets the job done. The display produces good color accuracy and contrast for most everyday viewing, though it lacks more advanced features like local dimming. The 60Hz refresh rate is also limiting for fast-action content.

Audio from the built-in speakers is only mediocre, so connecting an external soundbar is recommended for an immersive experience. The TV runs on Amazon's Fire TV platform, giving access to popular streaming apps and Alexa voice controls. Connectivity options like HDMI ARC and USB are sufficient for most needs.

Overall, the Insignia NS-65F301NA23 is a solid choice for shoppers looking for a budget 65-inch 4K TV with smart capabilities. While it doesn't deliver the best image quality or audio, it provides good bang for your buck. The TV is easy to set up and use for casual viewing and streaming. Just don't expect it to impress during action movies or gaming. For these uses, stepping up to a more advanced 4K TV would be worthwhile.