I've reviewed some of 2024's top TVs and I have one take away – Mini LED needs to stop fighting OLED

Sony Bravia 9 Mini LED TV
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix, Our Planet II)

2024 was pitched by numerous big name TV makers as the year Mini LED would dethrone OLED as the top performer in the premium market.

This initially started with Hisense and TCL, two companies with a strong pedigree in the mid-range and affordable TV market that have long espoused Mini LED as the future

But, the reason we took it particularly seriously this year is that two other companies, both with a very strong track record in the premium TV space, then joined the chorus.

First Samsung came out swinging making some bold performance claims about its QN95D and Q90D sets, which are all but identical to the firm’s S95D and S90D OLED sets, outside of the use of a Mini LED panel. Then Sony followed suit, surprising everyone, the What Hi-Fi? team included, when it revealed its 2024 flagship, the Bravia 9 uses a Mini LED panel.

Sure Samsung’s done this before, mainly when it didn’t make OLED TVs and was instead focussed on selling Neo QLED (it’s version of Mini LED) and its Quantum Dot technology as the best TV tech. But it was interesting to see it make the claim again after quietly seeming to concede that OLED is worth it when it launched the S95B in 2022.

Sony was a bigger shock as the firm had great success with OLED in 2023. The Sony A80L is so good we gave it a product of the year award, with our comparative checks showing it to be the best option for most people from a performance and value perspective. 

The more expensive Sony A95L also proved to be one of the best TVs we’ve ever seen from a raw performance perspective, which is why we not only gave it a perfect five star rating, but also continue to use it as a benchmark during our review process.

Which brings me on to the crux of the question, has the gambit pivoting to push Mini LED in the premium space paid off? With us now half way through the year and having reviewed many of the big name sets, including the Hisense U8N, Sony Bravia 9 and Samsung QNS95D, the answer for now is a firm “no”.

If you look at the Hisense, Sony and Samsung reviews you’ll see a common theme – they all earned good, not great, four star ratings.

There are nuances between each sets' performance, but the common reason shared among all of them is, though they can go incredibly bright, Mini LED simply can’t match OLED’s perfect blacks. This is because OLEDs generate images by charging individual pixels, while Mini LED charges zones. 

In isolation the issue isn’t too bad, as every one of the flagship Mini LED sets we've tested delivers a solid picture, with a black level that’s a cut above what you can get on a basic LCD. But in our viewing room, when we ran them against competing OLEDs, including the Award-winning Sony A80L, LG C4, LG G4 and Philips OLED809, in every instance their blacks looked distinctly grey by comparison. 

LG C4 (OLED48C4) 48-inch TV

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix / Drive To Survive)

Side-by-side this meant our testers agreed the OLEDs, next to their equivalent priced Mini LED rivals, all delivered a more immersive, three-dimensional image, especially during darker, or high contrast scenes.

We said as much in our Hisense U8N review:

“All-in-all if you are coming from a basic LCD, then the U8N will feel like a night and day upgrade. But if you’re used to OLED, you’ll notice the less deep blacks and paler, cooler colour temperature right away.”

And, from our Sony Bravia 9 review: “So, has Sony’s big Bravia 9 gamble paid off? Perhaps not yet.”

And our Samsung QN95D review:

“The S95D, which lurks uncomfortably close on price and with its glorious QD-OLED panel produces a deeper, richer and more cinematic picture overall. While it may not go quite as bright, the S95D's sensational handling of contrast means that it will be the better buy for most people.”

So does that mean Mini LED is generally not worth it, or as good? No. Mini LED still has a very definite place in the TV market. Mini LED is easier to produce than OLED, which is why you’ll find it on mid-range and cheap sets. Done right, these can beat OLED in a key metric; value for money.

The Award-winning TCL C845K we tested last year is a great example. Though it can’t beat OLEDs on pure picture quality, it offers the best performance you'll find at its price – the high cost of OLED means there’s no direct rival for it.

Which is why I think companies should be focusing on growing and improving Mini LED there, using it to fix the ongoing lack of “good” cheap TVs, which I’ve chronicled many times before, rather than pushing it as a replacement for OLED.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we’ve tested

We rate the best 55-inch TVs

Check out our picks of the best 65-inch TVs

TOPICS
Alastair Stevenson
Editor in Chief

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. 

Read more
Hisense U8N (65U8N) 75-inch TV
2024's Mini LED TV experiment failed – all hail OLED
TCL QM6K QD-Mini LED TV
I'm a TV expert and this is the TV technology I'm most excited about at CES 2025
Hisense U7N (65U7N) mini LED TV
I’ve tested some of the best and the big problem with Mini LED TVs is they try too hard
Samsung RGB Micro LED TV concept image
Two huge Micro LED TVs launched at CES 2025 – could OLED finally get a proper rival?
The LG G5 TV wall-mounted in a high-end living room
LG and Samsung want to make 2025’s OLED TVs radically brighter – but I hope that's not all they do
LG C4 OLED TV 65 inch
I’d hoped mid-range OLED TVs would get a key upgrade in 2025 – but it’s looking unlikely
Latest in Televisions
Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED 65-inch TV
Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED (ML65F700)
Samsung QE65S95D QD-OLED TV
This five-star Samsung S95D OLED TV has hit its lowest price ever
Apple HomePod 2 with Apple TV 4K
The new iPhone SE 4 could be cool – but I want a proper OLED Apple TV
TCL 32SF540K 32-inch TV
My favourite 32-inch TV is cheaper than ever right now
Hisense U7N (65U7N) mini LED TV
I’ve tested some of the best and the big problem with Mini LED TVs is they try too hard
The Sky Glass TV pictured on a white stand at a launch event
Sky Glass Gen 2
Latest in Features
A blue iPhone 16 pictured next to a white iPhone 16e
The iPhone 16e's downgrades are in all the right places if, like me, movies on the move are your priority
iPhone 16e on white background screen
The iPhone 16e could be a fantastic music player – but we have some big questions
Apple HomePod 2 vs Apple HomePod
The affordable iPhone 16e is all well and good, but where's my new HomePod, Apple?
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Pro Edition wireless speaker
The B&W Zeppelin Pro Edition makes a glaring omission – but it doesn't detract from its five-star performance
a woman holds a phone to her ear, looking intensely to the right of the screen
Now Showing: 7 discs we’ve been using to test out the latest TV and AV kit
3 audio Temptations to look out for at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025
  • mad823
    OLEDs are for bedrooms, miniLEDs for living rooms, that's all.
    Reply
  • GSV Ethics Gradient
    OLED works everywhere.
    Reply
  • xxdavidxcx87
    I wish tech sites would stop gushing over oled, it's a good technology but it isn't ready for the mainstream, I had an oled monitor last year, developed burn in on the windows bar and could just make out a bit in the left corner, I've got a Sony lcd with local dimming and I wouldn't look back to oled, it's just not suitable for long term, everyday viewing, maybe as a bedroom tv it would be fine only being on a couple of hours a day.
    Reply
  • GSV Ethics Gradient
    Ours gets used considerably more than that without issue over the three or four years we've had it. But I wouldn't use it to show anything with static images or logos - such as using it as a PC monitor. Cost is too high to risk it.
    Reply