The LG C2 is our choice for the best TV for most people, because it delivers excellent quality for movie lovers, plus all the best gaming features, at a good price. You just can't go wrong with it. The Hisense U8H's price drops mean that it's kind of unbeatable in the mid-range – you get the brightness and impressive contrast of mini-LED for a very affordable budget.
Al Griffin, Senior Editor – Home Entertainment
The best TVs in this guide are all excellent, representing the pinnacle of what's possible in smart TV tech. Each of our choices below are packed with detailed 4K (or 8K) screens, impressive HDR color and contrast, and robust features – including HDMI 2.1 connections with support for 120Hz input and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) for next-gen game consoles and PCs.
As the latest smart TVs from the best brands in the business, including LG, Samsung, Sony and TCL, are released in 2023, we'll review them to keep this guide updated. You don't necessarily have to buy the very latest TV, though – televisions that were absolutely cutting edge a year or so ago are still around but with massively reduced prices, making them really smart buys. If money's tight they deliver a serious amount of bang for not very many bucks.
If you're willing to consider a slightly older model than the very latest 2023 sets, your possibilities expand quite considerably. It means you might be able to pick up one of the best OLED TVs, or that you can afford to get one of the best 75-inch TVs instead of one of the best 65-inch TVs. If there's one thing we like more than getting a new TV, it's knowing we got a good deal on it.
The TVs we've recommended here cover all kinds of display technologies and include the best 4K TVs and best 8K TVs. Our experienced reviewers have put all of these TVs through their paces to discover the best of each kind, so whether you're looking for the very latest tech or the very best value you'll find the perfect TV right here.
The best TV 2023
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THE BEST TV under $1,000: OUR TOP PICKS
After dropping a few spots in 2021, LG's C2 OLED is right at the top spot on our list of the best TVs. That's due to a number of improvements LG has made to the current model compared to the LG C1 OLED.
Improvements in 2022 included the new Alpha a9 Gen 5 processor, which is designed to offer better object enhancement and dynamic tone mapping than its predecessor. As well as that, you’re getting ‘virtual surround sound’, with the TV upscaling stereo content into 7.1.2-channel sound. While we weren’t convinced by the claims of virtual surround sound, the audio performance is good for a flatscreen TV, and a number of different sound modes means you should be able to find an audio profile that suits your needs.
In addition to those improvements, the C2 OLED carries forward the four separate HDMI 2.1 ports that it inherited from the C1 OLED, meaning it's the perfect companion for the PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
The LG C2 isn’t flawless, however. Off-axis color saturation does diminish a bit when you move to the left or right of the screen when compared to the new QD-OLED models and LG doesn't support either the IMAX Enhanced or HDR10+ format.
There are, of course, higher resolution flatscreen TVs out there right now like the Samsung QN900B, which offers 8K resolution, and the new upgraded LG G2 OLED that has a slightly higher peak brightness, but for the price, this is the absolute best TV you're able to buy right now.
Read the full LG C2 OLED review
The U8H series’ chief claim to fame is its mini-LED backlight, a feature first implemented in LCD TVs by rival TCL that was quickly adopted by Samsung, LG, and Sony in their own sets. A major benefit to mini-LED is high brightness – something the U8H series readily delivers.
But high brightness isn’t the only thing about the U8H that impresses. It uses a Quantum Dot filter for enhanced color, and the 504 local dimming zones on the 65-inch model deliver deep and detailed blacks. Some backlight blooming – a typical artifact with LED-backlit TVs that feature local dimming – can be seen with challenging material, but that’s the exception rather than the norm.
With support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG, the U8H series is ready for any HDR format you stream or feed to it, and it also has a Filmmaker mode that provides mostly accurate out-of-box color. Another impressive aspect of the U8H is its extensive support for next-gen gaming consoles: along with 120 Hz display, it offers Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and FreeSync Premium Pro.
There’s a lot to say about U8H series, but the key takeaway is that Hisense provides great value here.
Read the full Hisense 65U8H review
The Sony Bravia A95K QD-OLED TV is a stunner of a flagship 4K TV. Beautifully designed and offering high-brightness HDR with extreme color depth, it makes full use of its innovative QD-OLED panel.
The Sony A95K is bright for an OLED, and enjoys huge color vibrancy. It can deliver sensationally deep, vivid reds, and glorious greens, and it's very bright too: where most OLEDs aren't ideal for watching in brightly lit rooms, this Sony is up there with the best LED models.
The way Sony’s latest picture processing engine gets so much quality out of its new Quantum Dot OLED panel at the first time of asking is mesmerizing, giving AV fans the closest thing yet to a professional mastering monitor in your living room.
In so many ways, Sony’s QD-OLED A95K is ahead of the game. When it comes to picture quality, we found that during our testing this TV has the headroom to lift performance above and beyond the mastering norm, and provides a level of visual future-proofing we’ve not seen before. Unleashed, it is astonishingly good. However, right now it's also rather expensive, and if you're watching streaming services rather than Blu-Rays you might not get the benefit of its impressive QD-OLED panel.
Read our full Sony A95K review
8K might feel a bit like overkill to some, but there's no doubt in our mind that the Samsung QN900B Neo QLED 8K TV is on another level of performance. Samsung's Mini LED-sporting QN900B Neo QLED 8K TV offers stunning picture quality, exceptional color and brightness, terrific sound and outstanding blacks – all in a package that's unmatched in terms of design.
For the uninitiated, Samsung's 'Quantum' Mini LEDs are 1/40th the thickness of a regular LED, meaning thousands of smaller LEDs can be packed together in a much tighter fashion, allowing for far more accurate dimming zones and black levels that are practically indistinguishable from an OLED.
As the LEDs are far smaller, they're able to achieve far more precision and less blooming, so the act of seeing bright areas of the screen unnaturally bleed over into darker spots should be greatly reduced or not evident at all. And because it takes advantage of Samsung's Multi-Intelligence AI upscaling, the QN900A is consistently able to produce images that looked better than their source.
So why is it all the way in a number three position? Samsung's 2022 TV range sees the introduction of its new Smart Hub UI across its top models. It's a totally revamped interface that's anchored by a Google TV-inspired home screen populated by content recommendations from your various streaming subscriptions and apps.
Unfortunately, the change to a full-screen, content-packed home menu brings about some frustration. No longer can you easily adjust settings and change viewing modes on the fly – you now have to completely leave what you're watching or playing when bringing up said home screen, navigate to a sidebar menu, and then scroll down to a separate settings menu to perform actions that were just a few button presses away before.
It's a minor issue, sure, but having a good smart TV platform is absolutely essential if you want to win the top spot on our list of the best TVs.
Read the full Samsung QN900B Neo QLED 8K TV review
If price isn't a concern for you and you simply want the best TV you can buy at any price point – well, then you want the LG G2 OLED. The OLED65G2 uses its extra brightness to make pretty much every frame of any source you care to mention look even more sublime than it has on any LG OLED before.
Although the G2 OLED shares the same ‘Gallery’ design name as its GX and G1 predecessors, it actually looks completely different: gone is the dark frame and chamfered edges, in is a nifty two-layer effect where a thin black rear ‘slab’ sits proud of and slightly narrower than a chunkier front tier housing the screen that’s encased in a very fetching and opulent-looking silver metal coat.
The quality of the G2 OLED’s connections is beyond reproach. In particular, all four of its HDMI ports are capable of handling the maximum 48Gbps of data supported by the HDMI 2.1 standard. This means that hardcore video gamers could simultaneously attach an Xbox Series X, PS5 and cutting-edge PC graphics rig to enjoy full-fat 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates and automatic low latency mode switching from all of them. That, plus you'll still have one HDMI left for adding a 4K Blu-ray player or streaming box.
To anyone familiar with LG’s OLED TVs over the years, the impact made by the extra brightness the heat sink unlocks is instantly obvious: the extra brightness gives colors more volume and punch, regardless of whether you’re talking about a very vibrant, rich tone, or a subtle, mild one.
The end result is an OLED TV so supreme that it just barely misses the mark of our number one spot – only because its price puts it a bit far out of reach for the average TV watcher. Cinephiles, however, should certainly invest.
Read the full LG G2 OLED TV review
As Sony’s next-to-flagship LCD TV, the X90K series delivers impressive performance for the price. Its full-array LED backlight features local dimming for deep blacks, and its LCD panel has quantum dots for enhanced brightness and color.
If you're looking for an extremely bright TV, this probably isn't the set for you: Sony's mini-LEDs are much brighter than the LED setup here. And if you want the exquisite blacks of an OLED display, that technology still has the edge. But there's lots of important features here including an ATSC 3.0 tuner, excellent gaming features including 4K 120Hz and a great Google TV interface.
The X90K series is a very good overall value. It’s only slightly more pricey than the company’s X85K series models, while offering a full-array local dimming backlight – a feature the X85K series lacks, and one that provides a strong performance boost. The X90K sets are also half the price of Sony’s step-up X95K models, which have the primary advantage of mini-LED backlighting for higher peak brightness and improved contrast.
This may well be the best value TV in Sony's current line-up. It might not quite match the brightness and contrast of its more expensive siblings, but it delivers very good AV performance, does a great job with movies and sports, and it's particularly good if you have a PlayStation 5.
Read our full Sony X90K review
The Samsung QN90A was one of the first 4K screens in 2021 to use the company’s hyped-up Neo QLED panels that sport a higher count of light emitting diodes per square inch than previous generations. The result is a brighter TV than before, if that’s even possible with Samsung, and one that can display a deeply satisfying array of colors.
All Neo QLED TVs sport the higher-end Neo Quantum Processor 4K that uses a neural network to analyze images for better HD upscaling and Motion Xcelerator Turbo+ for better motion handling – all of which has really paid off for Samsung’s flagship screen.
That said, there are a few looming issues this year that we can’t ignore, like the slight wobble of the pedestal stand, or the surprisingly lackluster sound quality that doesn’t befit a flagship 4K TV. There’s also no support for Dolby Vision still, which means you’re stuck with HDR10 on Netflix and HDR10+ elsewhere.
Read the full Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV review
Vizio’s M-Series QX TVs are the most advanced sets the company has released so far this year. A clear focus for this series is gaming performance, with features like 4K/120Hz support, variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and Freesync Premium Pro all onboard.
Beyond gaming, M-Series QX TVs feature an LCD panel with a Quantum Dot layer for enhanced color and a full-array LED backlight with local dimming. And while they’re not the brightest TVs in Vizio’s lineup – you’ll need to step up to its pricier P-Series models for that, brightness, contrast, and color performance are all impressive for a budget TV.
Overall, the M-Series QX strikes a nice balance between performance and price. If you’re looking for an affordable set that’s nearly the complete package, this M-Series QX model will not disappoint.
Read the full Vizio M-Series QX review
When we discovered that the TCL 6-Series 2020 QLED (R635) would use Mini LED, we were shocked. That’s because, just a year prior, that same technology came to the high-end 8-Series and cost hundreds of dollars more than the ultra-affordable 6-Series.
It's not the end-all, be-all LED-LCD we were dreaming it would be due to its limited brightness and poor motion handling, but it truly is an exceptional value and one that we'd recommend to nearly everyone.
The 6-Series is brighter than before, more colorful and doesn’t have a single hint of haloing or light bleed. It’s designed in a new way to hide your cables and it’s the first TV to come with THX Certified Game Mode for 1440p/120Hz gaming.
It's not exactly the flatscreen TV we'd recommend to next-gen-ready gamers looking for a perfect companion for the Xbox Series X or PS5 that can push 4K at 120fps, but if you're buying a TV to binge Netflix, stream Hulu or, well, basically just enjoy your viewing experience, this is the best smart TV (and certainly the best TCL TV) that we'd recommend for you.
Read our full TCL 6-Series 2020 QLED with Mini LED (R635) review
THE BEST TV under $1,000: FAQ
Which TV is the best quality?
That depends how you define quality. We define it as the ultimate mix of picture, build quality and performance. Which means the TVs at the top of this best TV guide, including the LG C2, Hisense U8H and Vizio H-1 OLED TV are our top picks for quality right now.
However, if you have a more specific priority, then don't just browse the top three, but look further down the list. For example, the TCL 6-Series with Mini LED is a budget TV and can't compete with the top-performers, but it is great value for money. And the Sony X90J is an excellent TV and our most recommended if you're looking for a gaming display.
Which brand is best for TVs in 2023?
There's no one brand that does TVs better than the others, but there are definitely some TV makes that excel in certain areas more than their rivals.
Some of the best brands on our list are Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL and Vizio. They all tend to be the top-performing brands at the premium end, though all bring out a wide range of models each year.
The LG C2 is at the top of our best TV guide right now with an outstanding picture and although it's expensive, it's excellent value for money. This brand certainly makes excellent OLED TVs – in fact, LG Display makes the OLED panels for most other brands. We like that LG offers a wide range of TVs, including different budgets and sizes – the C2 goes from 42 inches all the way up to 83-inches. LG's webOS is one of our favorites, an easy to use operating system that feels intuitive.
Samsung uses quantum dot technology to bring you brightness and excellent contrast. Like LG, Samsung offers a huge variety of TV sizes and prices. Samsung's smart TV software is Tizen, which we think is good overall. The brand also offers some extras, like its One Connect box with some TVs, and styles that are a little unique – take a look at the various iterations of Samsung's The Frame TVs.
Sony is another major player in the TV space. Its screens boast stunning picture quality and build quality. Although, like other brands in this list, there's a wide range across the board. One interesting difference about Sony is its really pushed its Cognitive XR processor, a processing chip added to its TVs from 2021 that boosts vision and audio performance.
Of course you shouldn't feel hemmed in by these four brands – Panasonic offers excellent premium TVs with a focus on image quality in particular, and Hisense and TCL offer great value in the mid-range and affordable end of the market.
Which is better OLED or QLED?
This is one of the biggest and more contentious TV tech questions of the moment. Luckily we've covered all of the details in our OLED vs QLED guide.
However, if you're looking for a summary we'd say that QLED is a great option for brightness if you'll watch in bright, sunlit conditions; whereas OLED TVs offer better viewing angles and superior contrast for gorgeous movie-like images, as long as you can control the lighting.
Is 4K better than OLED?
Luckily, you don't need to decide whether to go with OLED or 4K – you can have both! 4K refers to the resolution (ie, the number of pixels on the screen), while OLED refers to the panel technology (ie, what the pixels are made from).
So you can have 4K screens that are OLED (almost all of them are, apart from some pricey 8K OLED TVs), and you can have 4K screens that are QLED, mini-LED or other tech.
Is LG better than Samsung?
Both LG and Samsung are excellent TV brands and you can't really go wrong with either. However, there are some areas where one TV maker could be a better option than the other.
An LG TV tops our best TVs guide, but Samsung is the market leader for sales overall. If you're looking for the most impressive picture quality out there, regardless of price, nothing currently beats LG's OLED panels for color and contrast.
But Samsung TV's are incredibly bright, particularly in more affordable models. We also love Samsung's lifestyle sets, like The Frame QLED 4K TV (2022), for combining performance with style. And its cheaper TVs, like the Samsung BU8500, are truly excellent value for money.
How we test TVs
The best TVs are chosen by our writers and editors based on a few main criteria: their overall picture performance including contrast, color saturation and motion handling, as well as their feature set, design and smart TV platform. We're looking for TVs that are well-built and have the technology to last for the next few years.
Obviously, there is a level of subjectivity that goes into the review process, however we strive to maintain fairness across brands by testing the same type of content on each screen (HD/SDR, 4K/HDR, games, movies and music) and reporting what we've found the experience to be like.
Like our readers, our writer's and editor's room layouts differ and may cause slight disparities in testing, however we make every attempt to question our assumptions and trouble-shoot our issues with performance in every review.
