Should you buy a cheap TV deal at Asda? Anyone in the UK after a budget screen – especially during Black Friday – may well be thinking it's best to head to the cheapest retailers to find a truly bargain-bucket deal.
While the very cheapest screens may well lie at Asda, though, we'd probably recommend thinking carefully about that strategy.
You see, notable discounts tend to be around 10-20% off the recommended retail price (RRP). For a higher-end set, that's quite a big saving – possibly £100-200 off a £1,000 screen. But if a television only costs £200 to start with, you're only saving around £20-40.
That may be what brings a screen within your budget, of course. But given the scale of discounts often available during the Black Friday TV deals, there may be better things out there. We'll often see £500 Samsung TVs or Philips TV knocking a good £100-150 off, and the scaling discounts mean you're not paying too much more for a far superior television at a larger saving.
What's wrong with buying at Asda?
The thing about Asda is that it's not a specialist technology retailer, like Currys – and doesn't cater to the range of budgets found at partially gadget-minded retailers like John Lewis or Argos.
The only TVs found at Asda are budget to start, meaning any discounts are destined to be pretty small, and the quality doomed to be pretty limited.
You'll also need to find one in-store rather than buying online, which is where most of the big savings are listed, found, and covered by tech specialist outlets like TechRadar.
In effect that means you're choosing between Polaroid TVs, with a 24-inch Polaroid Series 1 set available as low as £139, and 49-inch 4K sets for as little as £229. These are very low-spec screens designed to fit into a shopping cart, and not look too outlandish on a grocery bill – it'll cost more than a few vegetables, but not much more than a weekly shopping trip for a large family.
And that means that, even if these screens boast 4K resolution, or HDR, you won't get the benefit of these technologies; the processor simply won't be powerful enough, nor the panel capable enough to display crisp 4K or the rich color depths of HDR. At these prices, sticking to one of the best small TVs is probably the smartest option.
Best cheap TV deals to consider
- Grab these Samsung QLED TV and soundbar deals from Argos while you can
- Check out the best 32-inch TVs worth buying
