Don't be tricked, now is a terrible time to buy a new flagship OLED TV

(Image credit: Future)

Since Prime Day 2023 came and went I, and the broader team of product experts at What Hi-Fi?, have been inundated with questions about what TV to buy this year.

This isn’t anything new, it's our job, and you automatically become tech support for your friends and family the moment you become a professional shiny things chaser/tester.

But, it is slightly awkward because now is one of the worst times of year to invest in a new TV, especially if you’re looking at the top end of the market.

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The reason for this is pretty simple. During this phase of the year, while the first set of discounts on new models start to appear, they’re not the best you’ll find based on our past experience.

People who regularly check What Hi-Fi?’s homepage will know this isn’t the first time I’ve pointed this out. After Prime Day 2023 concluded, I penned a separate opinion piece explaining why it takes us quite a while to recommend new TVs over their predecessors, using the LG C2 and LG C3 as an example. The short version is that it is all down to the price-to-performance ratio.

Here the same logic is true, but I’m repeating my advice as the market has slightly shifted and to layman's eyes you may think there are actually “good” deals on the newer models starting to appear.

I’m going to once again use LG’s 2022 and 2023 TVs as examples, as these were among the first to market and have both been reviewed by our team of experts.

Let’s look at the price history of the LG OLED55C2 since it launched last year. If you look at the Keepa graph below you’ll see that the C2 started to see its price drop gradually, and it wasn’t until November and December that we saw the best discounts appear last year.

LG C2 Keepa graph — (Image credit: Future)

Moving on to the flagship LG OLED55G2, we can see the same pattern. The best G2 deals in 2022 only appeared in November and December.

LG G2 Keepa graph — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Let’s compare this to the price history of the LG OLED55C3 in the graph below.

LG C3 Keepa graph — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

And then, just to round things off, the LG OLED55G3.

LG G3 Keepa graph — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Hands in the air – we’re not psychic and can’t tell what will happen in the coming months, especially with the global tech market still suffering from supply chain issues, but the same pattern looks to be repeating with the LG C3 and LG G3.

Though we’re starting to see discounts, the price cuts aren’t as deep as what we saw for the C2 and G2 in November and December. The reason for the discounts is also pretty obvious: Black Friday.

For those out of the know, Black Friday is a yearly sales event that originated in the US, before growing to become an international phenomenon in recent years. It happens on the last Friday of November, right after Thanksgiving in the US. It sees numerous stores radically slash the price of everything from top-end OLED TVs to affordable wireless earbuds.

Having covered the event for the past few years, we can personally confirm there are plenty of terrible deals coming from the event. But if you know what to look for, TVs in particular see some hefty price drops and are usually a primary focus for many big-name stores, including Amazon. Check out our picks of the best Black Friday 2022 deals and you'll see plenty of prime examples of this (see what I did there?).

This is why, at the moment, we’d still recommend buyers who can afford to hold off on pulling the trigger on one of the newer models, as all evidence suggests the best discounts on them are yet to come.

MORE:

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Check out our picks of the best TVs we've reviewed

Want an OLED? These are the best OLED TVs we've tested

Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time he’s covered everything from the launch of the first Amazon Echo to government cyber security policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi? he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Outside of tech, he has a Masters from King’s College London in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, is an enthusiastic, but untalented, guitar player and runs a webcomic in his spare time.