Toshiba BDX2400 Full Review

The Toshiba BDX2400
is a tiny Blu-ray player,
measuring just 290 x
180 x 36mm (11.4 x
7.1 x 1.4 inches) and
weighing a mere 800g
(1.76lbs). It has BBC
iPlayer and HD Blu-ray
features. All for an
asking price of £69/US
$129.99 (around AU
$115). And yet
Toshiba's entry-level
Blu-ray player for 2013
isn't much fun to use.
Smart in both looks and
features, this matt
black plastic-adorned box looks like a Freeview
box or a portable DVD player - it's impressively
slim and small.
On its side is a USB slot capable of playing video,
while the rear of the machine is home to just
three more ports for HDMI, coaxial digital audio
(a change from the usual digital optical) and a
wired Ethernet LAN slot. The latter enables DLNA
networking from nearby PCs, but flags up the
absence of a Wi-Fi module inside.
Those after Wi-Fi ought to spend the extra
money on the step-up Toshiba BDX3400, which
also adds Miracast (streaming from an Android
phone). Miracast is flagged up on the Toshiba
BDX2400's on-screen menus, but it's listed as
'not available yet', even though it never will be.
All the major surround sound formats are here on
the Toshiba BDX2400, including Dolby Digital
True HD and DTS Master Audio, while the deck
can output in PCM or bitstream.
Performance
If you think the always-on green circular light
around the standby switch could get annoying,
you've seen nothing yet. The Toshiba BDX2400 is
blessed with one of the dreariest user interfaces
around, and its simple carousel of low resolution
icons on the left-hand side of the screen aren't
much helped by the lightweight remote control.
In practice it's fairly unresponsive, and we had to
hit a few buttons a number of times before
anything happened. Everything on the Toshiba
BDX2400 happens a second after it should.
If that's not a great start, the Toshiba Cloud
Portal screen is a pleasant surprise, even if it
does take a while to load, doesn't have its own
button on the remote control, and is rendered in
a rather low resolution.
It boasts a basic readout for the current weather
and temperature below a grid for app icons
ranged around a couple of pretty pictures of an
iceberg and the Louvre museum in Paris. Eh?
At least the choice of apps is good. Top billing
goes to BBC iPlayer, of course, but it's also got
Acetrax movie streaming and Netflix, the BBC
News app, Picasa and YouTube. YouTube is
supplied in its all-new Lean Back flavour, though
in our test the category icons were constantly
bunched up so as to be almost unreadable, while
some of the virtual navigation controls appeared
in the middle of the screen during video playback.
No such problems bug the BBC iPlayer, which
loaded quickly and played Top of the Lake in HD
smoothly and stably. It was also quick to zip
around, and navigating proved easier than using
the Toshiba BDX2400's other functions.
Some will miss a Lovefilm app - and any
semblance of an 'app store' for downloading new
apps - though the Toshiba BDX2400 puts some
flexibility back into the mix with its functional
USB slot.
Choosing My Video, My Music or My Photos for
some reason ceases the Portal screen in favour
of a rudimentary interface, though we did manage
to get all the major formats to play, including
MKV, AVI, AVC HD (albeit with the odd fuzzy
diagonal edge) and MP4.
JPEG slideshows were speedy, while the Toshiba
BDX2400 also deals in the lossless WAV and
OGG (though not FLAC) music formats, as well
as MP3 and M4A. Rely solely on DLNA
networking and you'll have to forgo MKV
playback. That USB slot also powers basic BD
Live features if fitted with a USB flash drive
that's then formatted by the Toshiba BDX2400.
However, put a CD in the Toshiba BDX2400 and
it's immediately obvious that there's no display
on the front, and unfortunately the disc doesn't
start automatically. Add an unresponsive remote
and a relatively slow deck, and we weren't sure
whether we were trying to play or pause a CD. It
took us multiple minutes to get anything from
the Toshiba BDX2400 - it's a poor choice for
those wanting to listen to CD collections.
Incidentally, Blu-ray discs load and play in
around 15 seconds.
Picture quality
It's hardly fun to use, but the Toshiba BDX2400
does spit out some decent HD video.
Both DVD and streamed video - in this case from
the The West Wing and the BBC News app -
were upscaled to some extent, largely cleaning
them up, though both looked soft on our 40-inch
TV, and displayed some stepped edges. Still, both
looked better than most standard-definition
digital TV channels.
During our 2D Blu-ray test with both a 46-inch
TV and a projector, edges on our test disc
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon held together and
motion was impressively smooth in 24p mode.
Colours are on the muted side, though well
saturated, and while close-ups retain a lot of
detail, we have seen more precise performances.
Night-time scenes lacked a little shadow detail
and can look a little empty, but overall it's hard
to argue with for this kind of money.
Verdict
The Toshiba BDX2400 is a budget Blu-ray player
with BBC iPlayer, Netflix and YouTube. It's
otherwise as basic as it gets, and can be a pain
to use, but if you're after as low cost an option
as possible, this unobtrusive deck is just about
capable of dragging your living room into the
smart era.
We liked
The low price is nice,
as is the choice of core
apps, while USB
playback is flexible and
impressive. However,
it's the BBC iPlayer app
that's the highlight,
since it's speedy and
an all-round delight to
use.
There's a clean look to lower quality sources,
while images from Blu-ray are full of detail. We
also like the Toshiba BDX2400's tiny size - two
could easily fit side-by-side on an AV rack.
We disliked
Any so-called smart machine needs Wi-Fi, in our
opinion, but the Toshiba BDX2400 has other
problems. A slightly repetitive, hugely basic and
slow to navigate user interface is the biggest
problem. We're just not sure why it needs both a
Portal screen for apps and a separate carousel of
settings, since almost everything is just
replicated. It's here the R&D costs have been
slashed.
But the biggest issue is with the remote control,
which is unresponsive and generally irritating to
use. Even the relatively pleasant Portal page
takes too long to load. There's also a bug in the
YouTube app, which is a shame considering that
there are only six apps available.
Final verdict
It looks so much like a
set-top box and puts
such an emphasis on
its apps that its Blu-ray
disc tray is something
of an afterthought, but
it's nevertheless with
HD discs that the
Toshiba BDX2400
excels.
However, given that
most people are after a Blu-ray player primarily
to give their TV a smart dimension without
having to upgrade, we're not sure the Toshiba
BDX2400's BBC iPlayer and Netflix apps are
quite enough. Even for those who are happy with
that double act, the poor remote control will add
a layer of frustration that's not worth saving a
few quid for.
Also consider
If you're on a limited budget but can stretch up
to £100 or so, consider Toshiba's flagship
BDX5400 deck. For the extra spend you'll get 3D
playback and a glosser design that uses
aluminium, though it's got the same tiny
dimensions.
However, if you can spend that kind of money it
would be silly not to at least test-drive the
Samsung BD-F6500 , which has an altogether
smarter interface and an unrivalled selection of
apps that includes Lovefilm, BBC Sport, BlinkBox
and 4OD.