It used to be that if you saw Toshiba, you thought cheap. Not in a bad way necessarily. Just… budget. Entry-level. The stuff you got for the spare bedroom.
But the 2026 lineup? It’s different.
Specifically, the 65-inch Z670 Mini LED is tearing up the pricing model right now. As of July 8 it sits at $697.99 on Amazon. That number is wild because the original list tag was $1,4999. We’re talking about more than half the sticker price vanishing overnight. This is, by every metric I’ve tracked, its best price ever recorded.
Does Toshiba deserve this halo moment? Probably not yesterday. But the Z670 brings something new to the table.
It uses Mini LED with full-array local dimming. For the uninitiated this means thousands of tiny lights instead of a handful of big ones. The result? Clusters. Precise control. When the scene gets dark it actually goes black rather than looking like a murky gray window. Contrast jumps out at you regardless of how many lamps you have burning in the living room.
Then there is the REGZA Engine ZRi Gen 3 AI. It adjusts the picture and sound based on your room conditions. Sounds gimmicky. Works surprisingly well.
Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+ Adaptive — the code words for “looks great” in any content source — are all included here.
The specs do the heavy lifting where it counts. Native 144Hz refresh rate. You need that for smooth motion. It pairs with HDMI 2.1, eARC, AMD FreeSync Premium, VRR, and ALLM. Gamers usually complain about inputs lagging behind visuals but Toshiba plugged most of those holes in this chassis.
Is $1,500 too much for it? Yes. The list price felt like a reach even before the sale started. Amazon had been undercutting that number for weeks. But $697? That’s not an undercut. That’s a disruption.
You can pick up the Z670 today while the discount holds. No one promises the price won’t bounce back once August rolls around or when the next generation leaks. But for right now a 65-inch panel with these dimming zones costs less than many entry-level 55-inches sold two years ago.
Whether Toshiba stays premium is still up in the air. Brands change trajectories faster than they admit.
All that matters is that if you walk into the checkout cart before July 9 ends you aren’t just saving money.
You’re testing the water to see if the underdog actually bit.
