Saving up for a new screen? To help you navigate the dozens of seemingly identical TV models from Samsung, LG, Vizio, TCL, and other manufacturers, we’ve picked a few of our favorites—including the absolute best TV you can buy, our favorite budget TV, and a few excellent choices in between. All of these models have 4K Ultra HD resolution, because there aren’t a lot of good reasons to buy a standard HDTV anymore (nor many for sale).
After you get a new TV, invest in a good soundbar and TV streaming stick. You won’t regret it.
Updated November 2019: We’ve changed out some models to reflect the best TVs we’ve tried since our last update in February. Unless labeled otherwise, every TV we link to is now 55 inches. There are often larger and smaller sizes available on the retailer’s site, but this is a very good size for most living rooms.
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Photograph: TCL
The Best Overall
TCL 6-Series (2019)
Most of us don’t have gargantuan budgets for a new TV, but we do want to buy one that will last. For that, our favorite TV this year is the TCL 6-Series, a beautiful 4K model that marries advanced technology like quantum dots (great for bright colors) and local dimming (for deeper blacks) with a built-in Roku interface.
TCL is known for competitive pricing, and the 6-Series is no exception, providing the image quality we’d expect from LG and Samsung models that cost nearly double the price. It even has Dolby Vision support, our favorite high dynamic range format, which provides exceptionally vivid colors.
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Photograph: LG
Best Picture
LG C9 OLED (2019)
If you want to own the best picture possible, you should seek out an OLED TV, and LG is the only TV maker that manufactures them (Sony even buys its OLED displays from LG).
LG OLED TVs are better for a simple reason: They are the only TVs that light up pixel by pixel. They don’t have a backlight. So when you see black areas of the screen, they’re as black as possible. LG’s WebOS interface and remote control aren’t our favorites, but the picture quality trumps any issues we have.
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Photograph: Vizio
Another Affordable Option
Vizio M-Series Quantum (2019)
Vizio is another of our favorite affordable TV makers. We prefer the Roku interface on TCL models, but we’re huge fans of the cost-to-performance ratio of Vizio’s M-Series Quantum. Like the TCL 6-Series, the M-Series Quantum features quantum dots, which help improve color performance. Since Chromecast and Apple AirPlay support is built in, it’s also very easy to stream to it from a phone, tablet, or laptop. It even supports Alexa and Google Home speakers, should you want to talk to your TV.
It has a lot of functionality for such an affordable model, and the screen also looks great, thanks to full-array local dimming, where rows of LED lights brighten or darken the screen in small chunks for more accurate black levels.
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