The Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday sales are already rolling in, which means it’s the best time of year to stock up on technology you need for your home. Although you can find reductions on various devices, Black Friday is a particularly good time to buy one of the best TVs.
Unlike some devices that only get a small discount, many of the best TVs get serious reductions during the sales season. If you know what you’re looking for and act fast, you can come away with a major bargain on a TV you’ve had your eye on that suits your preferences.
The challenge is that many retailers are reducing TVs for Black Friday. How do you know which TV is right for you? We’ve selected the five top TVs you should look for this Black Friday in the sales. We’ve included a mixture of brands, TV types and prices that should keep everyone happy.
Take a look at our Black Friday TV deals page for more options. But if you’re already overwhelmed by which discounted TV to choose, we’ve got you. Here are TechRadar’s top recommendations for TVs to watch out for this Black Friday. There’s something for every taste here.
Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED
The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is already one of the best cheap 4K TVs you can buy today. The 65-inch model originally sold for $799/£999 when it was released in April 2023, but a few months later, it had already been reduced to $589 in the US, with every other size getting a similar reduction. The price of the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is often changing and this Black Friday is no different with our best budget TV for 2023 being discounted to its lowest-ever price.
The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED stands out in Amazon’s 2023 Fire TV lineup because it uses QLED technology. As we wrote in our Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED review, this adds brightness and detail to the picture compared with the more basic LED-lit 4-series and 2-series. The result is a picture that may not rival the best OLED TVs but does deliver a decent contrast, vivid colours and a detailed, natural image for watching movies and TV shows. Although there are some backlight blooming issues, this TV’s picture exceeds its budget price.
We recommend you find one of the best soundbars to pair with this TV in the Black Friday sales, but bass levels are decently powerful, and the speech is clear. The design is simple but nice, with a silver frame and slim bezel. However, we didn’t like the feet of the TV during our testing and felt you’d have to position it in a specific way on specific furniture. So bear that in mind if you’re buying with limited options about where to put it.
We were pleasantly surprised by the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED’s gaming performance, with 4K Dolby Vision gaming, VRR and ALLM on its one HDMI 2.1 port. 120Hz support is all it’s missing, but we wouldn’t have expected it at this price. Generally, we were delighted with the range of features on offer here. Similar TVs from top rivals, like LG and Samsung, don’t deliver the same specs compared to this TV from Amazon, so it’s our top recommended TV to look out for. It was already amazing value but with it discounted, we’d consider it a fantastic bargain.
Hisense U6K
The Hisense U6K is part of the TV maker’s least expensive U6 Series, with mini-LED backlighting. It’s already received some decent discounts this year, especially considering it’s a mini-LED TV that boasts not just a bright mini-LED backlight but a QLED display, full-array local dimming, and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ high dynamic range.
We’re yet to test a Hisense U6K TV, but in our 65-inch Hisense U8K TV review, you’ll see we were impressed with the brightness on offer and the detailed shadows. We said this made the U8K TV a solid sports and movie viewing option. The TV’s Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive support help every other type of content look good in most lighting conditions, too.
We’d expect less screen brightness from the entry-level U6K series. But specs are otherwise very similar, with the only exception being no 4K 120Hz support on the U6K series for gaming. Both TVs also use the Google TV smart interface for streaming, and they feature a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner to receive next-gen digital TV broadcasts.
Hisense put a lot of effort into its mini-LED TVs for 2023. Features included advanced backlighting, a QLED display and full-array local dimming combined with the TV’s mini-LED backlight to deliver bright pictures with rich contrast and color. If you can find it discounted this Black Friday, we highly recommend you jump on the deal before it sells out.
LG A2
LG’s A2 series may be the TV maker’s entry-level OLED sets, but that doesn’t mean you’re missing out on much. In our LG A2 review, we wrote that the overall picture quality here is excellent, especially considering the price, and will give OLED enthusiasts exactly what they want. So, if you’re looking for an already affordable TV that might get even more heavily discounted in the sales, this is a solid choice.
Although the A2’s picture looks like a much more expensive OLED TV, the feature set is more sparse compared to what you get with pricier models further up the LG line. There’s also limited peak brightness, so we recommend it as a better choice if you’re viewing in light-controlled environments. However, movie fans will be happy.
Some gaming features are on offer from the LG A2, like a Game Optimizer mode and a Game Dashboard menu. GeForce Now and Stadia cloud gaming are also here, and the set’s measured input lag in Game Optimizer mode is very low for a TV. But other gamer-friendly features like a 120 Hz display aren’t here.
The A2 has a simple and sleek design. With LG’s Magic Remote you can navigate the smart TV interface. The included feet should keep it firm on most surfaces, but during testing, we did find that they’re quite spindly, and there’s not much space for a soundbar, which you’ll need as audio performance is only okay.
If you’re looking for a reliable, affordable TV for movies, the A2 is a solid option, and deals for this TV are already rolling in thick and fast. In fact, earlier this month it hit its lowest ever price for Black Friday.
LG C3
The LG C2 series was our top TV of 2022, so the newer C3 always had a tough act to follow. Luckily, it arrives with further HDR-improving picture processing, a pleasing design and many features to appeal to gamers and movie fans. We’re delighted it’s already had some decent discounts in the run-up to Black Friday, and although we can expect these deals to continue, it might be wise to act fast.
In our LG C3 review, we wrote about many of the things that appeal to us about this impressive TV, including the range of screen sizes on offer from 42-inches all the way to 83-inches. It’s clearly designed to fit a range of living spaces and preferences. Its feature set makes it a great choice for gamers and movie fans, with four HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for 4K 120Hz, VRR, ALLM, FreeSync Premium Pro, and Nvidia G-Sync. Cloud gaming options include Nvidia GeForce Now and Utomik.
LG’s Alpha9 Gen6 chip is built-in, bringing new HDR-improving features, including OLED Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro and Expression Enhancer, which improve image quality. While the C3 delivers roughly the same picture brightness as the C2, during our testing, we noted that the level of contrast, clarity, and definition it provides is really impressive. With deep, detailed blacks and rich color, it’s great for watching movies.
If you want a top-performing TV but don’t want to spend too much, the C3’s combination of performance, features, and value makes it an excellent mid-range option. With early deals rolling in – we had spotted some including $900 slashed off its price as early as October – it might be our top choice this Black Friday.
Samsung S90C
The Samsung S90C TV is Samsung's best effort to make its QD-OLED tech affordable. The result is that some brightness is lost – at least compared to the likes of the Samsung S95C – but it doesn't feel like a poor relation. Instead, this TV delivers high-end pictures, great processing, top gaming tech, and a sharp design. If you're looking for a stunning OLED this Black Friday, this one is already excellent value.
In our Samsung S90C review, we wrote that the design of this TV is stunning. It has an incredibly thin panel, especially at the edges. The picture quality is impressive, and although it's not as bright as Samsung's S95C, it's still brighter than almost all the other best OLED TVs currently on the market, even including big hitters like the LG C3.
Features-wise, there's a lot on offer here. The support for 4K 120Hz imagery over all four HDMIs, variable refresh rates, auto low latency mode switching, sub-10ms latency and an impressive roster of helpful gaming-specific features combine with gorgeous gaming picture quality to make this one of the best gaming TVs.
The Samsung S90C is a solid choice if you want the benefits of Samsung's QD-OLED tech on the cheap (or relatively cheap). It's not the best Samsung TV out there, but it offers better brightness and color depth than other OLEDs at the same price. With discounts on this TV appearing on some retailer websites – it hit a record-low Black Friday price – we think it's a top choice, especially if you're seriously into gaming and movies.
