Today’s 5 Best HDTVs (Not Surprisingly, LG and Samsung Made List)
Who should you give your money to? Here are a few ideas.
It may not be the weighty investment of a new car or a new house, but buying that perfect TV for your unique situation can still be a daunting task, especially for the inexperienced.
With so many seemingly wonderful products out there, TV shopping has indeed become more complicated than ever. To support you along the way, here’s a nice shortlist of five TVs that you can refer to as you settle on your big decision.
If you have a couple of grand to part with and have your sights set on a high-end panel, look no further than the LG OLED B9 Series. With this particular product, you will be getting all that OLED TVs have to offer: fantastic picture quality, accurate and wide color gamut, deepest blacks and inimitable uniformity and contrast ratio. Wide-angle viewing is also second to none. Sure, not everyone can spend thousands on an electronic device, but if you can, you will definitely be getting a high-quality product.
Next up is the TCL 6-Series, which offers incredible value at only around $700. The panel doesn’t match up with LG’s OLEDs, but you’ll still be getting plenty of picture quality for the amount of money you’ll be spending.
The 6-Series features 4K UHD picture with QLED color technology, full-array local dimming and Dolby Vision HDR. QLED’s advanced tech produces the best and brightest colors you can achieve with an LED-backlit LCD display. If that’s not enough, it comes with the highly recommended Roku TV operating system.
Speaking of QLED technology, don’t sleep on the Samsung Q70/70R Series. With a price tag of around a grand, the Q70 is much cheaper than its OLED TV rivals. Although most tests show that OLED panels probably boast better overall picture quality, Samsung’s QLED technology isn’t that far behind.
This offering provides excellent overall image quality with plenty-deep black levels. The high light output and full-array local dimming work wonderfully well with HDR and you’ll surely enjoy the accurate colors and robust video processing, which will be a boon for diehard gamers out there.
If you’re looking to cut what you would pay for a high-end LG OLED in half, the Vizio P-Series Quantum X could be your answer. This particular offering boasts superb light output and outstanding contrast ratio and local dimming. It can give Samsung’s QLED a run for its money in terms of picture quality, but you’ll likely be a bit poorer if you go with the Korean product.
Lastly, if you’re on a tight budget, one of the best options out there is the sub-$300 TCL 4-Series. The picture quality doesn't come close to the 6-Series, but for many people, this TV does the job valiantly for the bargain-bin price you’re paying. Best of all, Roku TV is baked right into the 4-Series. Roku, along with Android TV and LG’s webOS, is considered one of the top smart TV platforms out on the market right now. It features an incredibly intuitive interface that makes it a breeze to find what you want to watch for family movie nights.
Ethen Kim Lieser is a Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek and Arirang TV. He currently resides in Minneapolis.