Choosing a new TV has never involved quite so many tempting options.
OLED, Mini LED and RGB Mini LED each have their strengths, while manufacturers are pushing brightness, colour performance and gaming features ever further.
With the 2026 What Hi-Fi? Awards just announced, it's the perfect time to take stock of the best sets on the market.
We've completely overhauled this guide, reassessing our recommendations against the latest competition.
Every TV that enters our test rooms goes through extensive side-by-side comparisons with its closest rivals. We watch films, TV shows and sports, play games and scrutinise everything from picture quality and sound to smart platforms, connectivity and ease of use. Only the models that genuinely stand out make the cut.
Whether you want a premium home cinema experience, a gaming powerhouse, a budget-friendly bargain or simply the best all-rounder for your money, you'll find our top recommendations below, each tested and wholeheartedly recommended by our expert team.
If you're looking to spend as little as possible, also check out our guide to the best cheap TVs. And if you're ready to buy right now, keep an eye on our best TV deals page to see whether one of our recommended sets is available at a discount.
16th October:
The page has been completely overhauled, with new entries from top to bottom that reflect the 2026 What Hi-Fi? Awards. The also consider section has also been redone from scratch.
I'm What Hi-Fi?'s TV and AV Editor, and I've been testing TVs and home cinema products (as well as hi-fi kit and headphones) for over 18 years. I've always been a massive TV nerd and got into reviewing so I could find the best TVs and recommend them to others. I firmly believe that great quality shouldn't cost a fortune, so I get just as excited about great-value sets as I do the flagship models. Overall, I'm looking for a picture performance that delivers movies and TV shows as intended, a great gaming experience, an app-packed and intuitive operating system, and good sound – though I also believe that any great TV should be combined with a great, dedicated sound system.
Best TV overall
The Sony Bravia 8 II has been our favourite TV since it won a What Hi-Fi? Award last year, and it has taken a lot to knock it off its perch. In fact, the Samsung S99H is the only TV we've tested this year that has managed to do so.
Samsung's latest flagship OLED is a real step forward for the brand, combining a striking new design with picture quality that's a cut above anything we've seen from the company before. Its QD-OLED panel delivers spectacular brightness, rich colours and superb contrast, while Samsung's increasingly refined picture processing brings a welcome degree of subtlety to all that visual excitement.
Watching Blade Runner 2049, the S99H produces a wonderfully three-dimensional image, with dazzling highlights standing out against deep blacks. Colours are vibrant without becoming cartoonish, and fine details are rendered with impressive precision. Its handling of HDR highlights is particularly spectacular, with bright scenes delivering an intensity that makes blockbuster films a real treat.
The S99H is no slouch when it comes to features, either. All four HDMI sockets support 4K/165Hz, VRR and ALLM, making it a superb choice for gamers, while Samsung's Tizen platform offers a slick interface and an extensive selection of apps. An optional Wireless One Connect box can even add four more HDMI sockets for a cleaner installation.
The unusual FloatLayer design looks particularly striking when wall-mounted, although the supplied plastic feet feel rather less premium. Sound is also improved over last year's Samsung flagship, with clear dialogue and convincing spatial effects, but it lacks the volume and bass weight of a dedicated sound system. And, as ever with Samsung, there's no Dolby Vision support.
Those are relatively minor compromises for a TV that delivers such a spectacular all-round performance. The S99H combines the brightness, colour and contrast that make OLED so compelling with excellent gaming credentials and a refined smart platform. It's a truly outstanding TV, and a worthy new champion.
Read the full Samsung S99H review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
A spectacularly bright, colourful and contrast-rich OLED picture, with refined processing and superb three-dimensional depth |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Clear, spacious and improved over its predecessor, but the built-in system lacks the volume and bass weight for true cinematic impact |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
An outstanding gaming specification, slick Tizen platform and extensive connectivity, although Dolby Vision remains conspicuous by its absence |
★★★★☆ |
Best mid-range TV
If you want a premium OLED TV but can't quite stretch to the Samsung S99H, the LG C6 is a brilliant alternative. It builds on the already excellent C5 with meaningful improvements to picture and sound quality, making it one of the most compelling all-round TVs we've tested this year.
At first glance, the C6 looks much like its predecessor, retaining the same slim, understated design that's starting to look just a little too familiar. The big changes are under the bonnet, with LG's new Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor squeezing more performance from the familiar OLED panel.
The results are impressive. The C6 delivers a brighter, richer and more refined picture than the C5, with greater intensity to HDR highlights and more depth to colours.
Watching Pan, sunlight glinting off splashing water looks wonderfully vivid, while sunsets benefit from richer tones and more clearly defined colour gradations.
Crucially, this extra punch doesn't come at the expense of naturalism. Skin tones remain convincing, motion is smooth and controlled, and the overall presentation retains the cinematic balance that makes LG's OLEDs so appealing.
The C6 also sounds better than previous C-series models. Dialogue is clearer and more expressive, bass is better controlled, and Dolby Atmos effects create a more spacious presentation.
Volume remains limited, though, and, as ever, even an entry-level soundbar will be a big audio upgrade, so we heartily recommend budgeting for a dedicated sound system of some kind.
Gamers are exceptionally well catered for, with all four HDMI sockets supporting 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming. PC gamers can push the refresh rate up to 165Hz, while LG's webOS 26 platform provides a slick interface and excellent app support.
In short, the C6 gets an awful lot right. Its picture is brighter, richer and more immersive than its predecessor's, its sound is improved, and its gaming and smart features are first-rate.
If the Samsung S99H stretches your budget too far, this is an outstanding TV to buy instead.
Read the full LG C6 review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Brighter, richer and more refined than the already excellent C5 |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Cleaner and more expressive than previous C-series TVs |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Class-leading gaming support and superb smart platform |
★★★★★ |
Best budget TV
While it's always tempting to focus on the latest flagship TVs, there's something particularly satisfying about finding an affordable model that punches well above its weight. The TCL P8L does exactly that, delivering a surprisingly accomplished picture and an impressive feature set for a very reasonable price.
The secret is its combination of TCL's HVA panel tech, Quantum Dot colour, and Mini LED backlighting, with 72 independent dimming zones helping it deliver a more convincing sense of contrast than many similarly priced rivals.
Blooming around bright objects on dark backgrounds isn't eliminated entirely, but it's subtle enough not to distract, while black levels have impressive depth for the money.
More importantly, the P8L gets the balance right. Colours are punchy and vibrant without becoming unnatural, skin tones look convincing, and highlights have plenty of sparkle.
Its Filmmaker Mode is particularly well judged, delivering a cinematic, authentic picture without looking dull or lifeless. It also does a fine job of upscaling HD content, making it a versatile choice for everyday viewing as well as 4K films.
There are compromises, of course. The P8L isn't especially bright by modern TV standards, so HDR loses some impact in very bright rooms, and its glossy screen coating can be rather reflective. There's also a little black crush, with some fine shadow detail lost in darker scenes. These are relatively minor shortcomings given the price, though.
Gamers are well catered for, with two HDMI inputs supporting 4K/144Hz and 4K/120Hz, alongside VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming. Google TV provides a huge selection of streaming apps, and the P8L supports every HDR format, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
Its Onkyo-tuned 2.1-channel speaker system is also pretty good by TV standards, delivering clear dialogue and a surprisingly spacious Dolby Atmos presentation. We still recommend budgeting for a dedicated soundbar, however, as this will substantially improve your movie experience.
The P8L isn't the brightest or most refined TV around, but its balanced picture, extensive features and impressive value make it a standout budget buy, and the new benchmark at this level.
Read the full TCL P8L review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
A beautifully balanced, authentic picture with punchy highlights, natural colours and good contrast for the money |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Clear dialogue and surprisingly spacious Dolby Atmos effects make this good by TV standards, but a dedicated sound system is still recommended |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Excellent HDR format support, Google TV and responsive 4K/144Hz gaming, although only two HDMI inputs support higher refresh rates |
★★★★☆ |
Best 42-inch TV
Finding a genuinely cinematic TV for a smaller room isn't easy, but the LG OLED42C6 makes a compelling case for downsizing.
This 42-inch OLED delivers the sort of rich, detailed picture quality that makes films feel special, without demanding the space or budget of a larger screen.
While the C6 looks much like its predecessors, LG has made some meaningful improvements under the bonnet. Its Alpha 11 AI processor helps deliver a picture with greater contrast, sharper detail and more convincing depth, while the OLED panel's individually illuminated pixels produce the deep blacks and precise light control that make this technology so appealing.
Watching films such as Blade Runner 2049, the C6 produces a wonderfully immersive image for such a compact screen. Colours are vivid and engaging, highlights have real sparkle and fine details are rendered with impressive clarity.
Motion is another strength, with the TV keeping fast-moving action smooth and controlled without making films look unnaturally processed. Filmmaker Mode is particularly effective, delivering a natural, cinematic presentation that makes the most of the panel's capabilities.
The C6 is also an excellent choice for gaming. All four HDMI sockets support HDMI 2.1, with 4K/120Hz for consoles and refresh rates up to 165Hz for compatible gaming PCs. VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming are all included, while LG's webOS 26 platform offers a slick interface and a comprehensive selection of streaming apps.
There are compromises, naturally. A 42-inch screen won't deliver the same sense of scale as a larger TV, and the C6 is relatively expensive compared with some rivals of this size.
Its built-in speakers, meanwhile, produce clear dialogue, but lack the bass weight and dynamic range for a convincing cinematic soundtrack. Even a compact soundbar will make a worthwhile difference, so we'd recommend budgeting for a dedicated sound system.
Still, if space is at a premium, the OLED42C6 is a superb option. It combines excellent picture quality and first-rate gaming features in a compact package, proving that a smaller TV doesn't have to mean compromising on the viewing experience.
Read the full LG OLED42C6 review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Superb contrast, vibrant HDR highlights and fluid motion deliver a wonderfully cinematic picture from a compact OLED |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Reasonable by TV standards, but limited weight and dynamics mean we strongly recommend pairing it with a dedicated sound system |
★★★☆☆ |
Features |
Four HDMI 2.1 inputs, 4K/165Hz gaming, Dolby Vision and webOS 26 make this a superbly equipped small TV |
★★★★★ |
Best 48-inch TV
TV screens seem to be getting bigger by the year, but the 48-inch LG C6 proves that you don't need to dedicate half your living room to a TV to enjoy a properly cinematic experience.
This compact OLED delivers a remarkably accomplished picture, with the brightness, contrast and colour performance to make films feel wonderfully immersive.
The C6 carries forward LG's familiar C-series design, with a slim profile and central pedestal stand. Under the bonnet, it features the Alpha 11 AI Processor 4K Gen3, alongside a comprehensive selection of AI-powered picture and sound processing tools.
We find that Filmmaker Mode delivers the best results, though, rather than the more heavily processed AI picture options.
Picture quality is where the C6 really shines. Watching Civil War, rockets and flares burst into life against a deep black sky, with excellent contrast control giving buildings and fine details an impressive sense of realism.
The TV also delivers rich, punchy colours without sacrificing natural skin tones, while bright highlights have a real intensity that makes HDR content pop.
Motion handling is another highlight. From the tricky camera movements in Blade Runner 2049 to the high-speed racing action of F1: The Movie, the C6 keeps everything smooth and controlled without introducing distracting artefacts or making films look unnaturally processed. It's a wonderfully balanced performance for a TV of this size.
Gaming and smart features are equally impressive. All four HDMI 2.1 sockets support signals up to 4K/165Hz, alongside VRR and ALLM, while Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are supported.
LG's webOS 26 platform offers comprehensive app support and a slick interface, although its advertising-heavy home screen can be irritating.
Sound is a step forward from the previous generation, with clearer dialogue, more weight and a more spacious presentation than most TVs manage.
It's still limited by built-in speaker standards, however, and even a basic soundbar will deliver a substantial improvement. We recommend budgeting for one, while avoiding the rather synthetic-sounding AI Sound mode.
The C6 isn't cheap for a 48-inch TV, but its combination of superb picture quality, excellent motion handling and first-rate gaming features makes it a genuinely excellent compact OLED.
If you want a smaller screen without sacrificing cinematic quality, this is an outstanding choice.
Read the full LG OLED48C6 review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
A bright, colourful and beautifully controlled picture, with deep blacks, excellent contrast and impressively smooth motion |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Crisper, weightier and more spacious than its predecessor, but a dedicated soundbar will deliver a substantial upgrade |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs, 4K/165Hz gaming and comprehensive streaming support make this a superbly equipped compact OLED |
★★★★★ |
Best RGB Mini LED TV
The Sony Bravia 9 II is the most impressive RGB Mini LED TV we’ve tested, delivering the kind of brightness and colour reproduction that makes this emerging display technology so exciting.
It’s not quite an OLED-beater, but if you want a premium TV that can produce a spectacularly bright, colourful picture, even in a sunlit room, Sony’s flagship deserves your attention.
Its secret is its RGB backlighting, which uses independently controlled red, green and blue Mini LEDs rather than shining a conventional white backlight through colour filters.
Combined with Sony’s sophisticated Backlight Master Drive system and 1530 local dimming zones, this produces a picture with extraordinary colour volume and brightness.
In fact, the Bravia 9 II delivers the finest colours we’ve seen from any TV, with richly saturated hues that remain remarkably natural and balanced.
Brightness is just as impressive. The Bravia 9 II can maintain its tremendous light output across the entire screen, rather than reserving its brightest performance for small highlights. That makes HDR films look spectacular, while its exceptionally effective local dimming delivers deep blacks and keeps blooming to a minimum.
Sony’s processing also produces natural skin tones, excellent detail and controlled motion, making for a wonderfully cinematic picture.
There are limitations, though. Even this advanced backlight can’t match OLED’s pixel-level precision, leaving images looking a little less solid and three-dimensional. Motion can also appear slightly smeary in games, and we encountered a Dolby Vision picture issue during testing.
It’s worth remembering, too, that this is a seriously expensive TV, although its availability in sizes up to 115 inches makes it an intriguing alternative to a projector for those with particularly ambitious home cinema plans.
Elsewhere, the Bravia 9 II features Google TV, with its excellent streaming app support, and a clever My Cinema interface that makes choosing suitable picture settings straightforward. Its built-in sound is spacious and immersive by TV standards, too, though a dedicated sound system remains a worthwhile upgrade.
For anyone who regularly watches in a very bright room, wants a genuinely huge screen or simply prefers to avoid OLED, the Bravia 9 II is the RGB Mini LED TV to beat. OLED remains the more complete choice for most people, but Sony’s flagship shows just how impressive backlit TV technology can become.
Read the full Sony Bravia 9 II review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Exceptional brightness, class-leading colour reproduction and superb local dimming deliver spectacular HDR, though OLED remains the class-leading panel technology |
★★★★☆ |
Sound |
Spacious, immersive and clear by TV standards, but it lacks the refinement of Sony’s OLED sets, and a dedicated sound system remains essential |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
True RGB backlighting, Google TV, comprehensive streaming apps and good gaming support make this a feature-packed flagship, but there are just two HDMI 2.1 sockets |
★★★★☆ |
Also consider
Sony Bravia 8 II
Sony's 2025 flagship OLED is still in its range and still an excellent TV. In fact, the only TV we rate higher is the Samsung S99H. If the Samsung doesn't take your fancy for whatever reason – perhaps its design or lack of Dolby Vision – the Bravia 8 II remains a superb choice.
TCL C8L
The best performance-per-pound backlit TV we've tested this year, the TCL C8L is an excellent option if it's a mid-range TV you're after and OLED doesn't appeal. With excellent brightness and colours, plus impressive blacks and contrast by Mini LED standards, it's an easy TV to recommend.
Sony Bravia 7 II
The step-down model in Sony's 'True RGB' range is still a very expensive TV, and we feel most people will be better served by an LG C6 OLED. However, if you don't want an OLED and you do want a slice of trademark Sony picture authenticity, the Bravia 7 II is well worth considering.
LG G6
After a rocky start with some poor launch software, the LG G6 is now an excellent flagship-grade OLED TV. It can't quite match the Samsung S99H or Sony Bravia 8 II for overall picture quality, but its broad talents, picture frame-style design and combination of four HDMI 2.1 sockets and Dolby Vision will make it very appealing to some.
How to choose a TV
There’s no single TV that’s perfect for everyone, but your ideal TV is almost certainly on this page. You just need to figure out your budget, how big you want to go, and what technologies are important to you.
Budget and space
Only you will know how much budget and space you have to use, although you will find a handy guide to choosing the right size of TV further down this page.
Panel technology
The next thing to consider is the panel technology. OLED now rules the roost at the premium end of things and is hugely popular thanks to its perfect blacks and pixel-level contrast control. LCD is still a huge deal too, though, particularly at the budget end of the market that OLED currently can’t touch. There are plenty of premium LCD-based TVs that are great, too, most notably Samsung’s top QLEDs, which combine Quantum Dots with Mini LED backlights to deliver the brightest, most vibrant pictures possible. There's also Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology, which uses a layer of microscopic lenses on top of the OLED pixels to achieve even more dazzling levels of brightness.
Streaming apps
Also, consider whether the TV you’re looking at has all of the streaming apps you want. While some apps, such as Netflix and Prime Video, are now commonplace, there may be an app that you love that’s less common. The Crunchyroll anime app is a good example. It’s also sadly the case that some streaming apps don’t work as they should on certain TVs. For example, many Google/Android TVs support Disney+, but not with Dolby Atmos. That’s why we manually check not only that every major app is present, but that it’s working at its best.
Gaming features
Serious gamers also need to check that their prospective new TV supports all of the latest gaming features. The most technically advanced and therefore rarest of these is 4K/120Hz, which is supported by the PS5, Xbox Series X and advanced gaming PCs, and results in a more responsive gaming experience. Bit also look out for VRR (which reduces stutter in games) and ALLM (which automatically switches the TV to its game mode when you load one up), both of which are very much worth having. There are a number of TVs on this list that support all of these features, but we have a dedicated best gaming TVs guide for those to whom gaming is the primary concern.
Sound
Finally, you need to consider sound, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss a TV just because it doesn’t sound good. The disappointing truth is that even the best-sounding TV is far behind a decent soundbar for audio quality, so we always recommend focusing on picture quality when buying a TV and budgeting for a dedicated sound system to go with it. We know that’s not an option for everyone, though, so we do of course test a TV’s speakers as thoroughly as its screen. If the audio quality matters a lot to you, you’ll find all the necessary info below. There’s also a TV in this list that’s serious about Dolby Atmos sound.
How we test TVs
A modern TV is a complex, all-singing, all-dancing bit of kit, so we take days to thoroughly test each model.
The bulk of our testing involves feeding various movies and TV shows into the TV on test and its closest rivals (we have a stockroom full of reference models) simultaneously, using a 4K Blu-ray player such as the Oppo UDP-203 and an HDMI splitter. Here, we're testing all aspects of picture quality using DVDs, 1080p Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays, in both HDR and SDR.
We don't simply accept a TV's out-of-the-box settings, of course. We don't go down the route of professionally calibrating the TVs we test (you shouldn't have to have your TV professionally calibrated to experience its full potential), but we do spend hours testing and adjusting the picture settings and processing modes – using a mix of test patterns and real-world content – until we're confident that we're getting the best performance possible.
We test streaming as well – both in terms of how the TV handles streamed content, which is lower in bit-rate than content from discs, and the streaming apps that the TV natively supports. We manually check that every major app – from Netflix to All 4, Prime Video to Spotify – is not only present but also output in the video and sound formats that it should. Just because a specific app is present doesn't mean it's delivering in all the formats (Dolby Vision and/or Atmos, for example) that it advertises. Experience tells us that it often isn't.
For gaming, we connect both a PS5 and Xbox Series X so we can see how the TV's qualities translate to games and check which advanced gaming features it supports and on which HDMI inputs. Is 4K/120Hz supported? How about VRR? Is there a Dolby Vision game mode? Is there an HGiG preset for more accurate HDR tone mapping? We check all these things and measure input lag using a Leo Bodnar device.
We almost always recommend combining any new TV with a dedicated sound system – at least a soundbar but preferably an AV amplifier and speaker package – but we appreciate that for many people that simply won't do, so we do of course test and rate the built-in sound system for clarity, tonal balance, spaciousness, detail, dynamics and plenty more besides.
All of this testing is conducted by our expert reviewers, who have decades of combined TV reviewing experience, in our state-of-the-art testing facilities in London. This gives us complete control over the testing process, and because all reviews are conducted by a team rather than an individual reviewer, we ensure consistency and fairness.
TV FAQ
What size TV should you buy?
While it might be tempting to think that bigger is better, the size of set that’s right for you is dependent on how close to the screen you’ll be sitting, and the resolution of the source material you’re watching.
Luckily, an organisation called the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has published detailed guidelines on exactly how far you should sit in order to optimise the performance of your TV.
If you’re sitting the correct distance from your TV, you’ll see lots of detail, good edge definition and smooth, clean motion, but if you’re sitting too close to the screen, then you’re going to see more picture noise and artefacts.
On the other hand, sit too far away from the TV and you’ll struggle to pick up all the picture detail your TV has to offer.
The following distances are a good place to start:
42-inch TV – 1.28m (4.2ft)
43-inch TV – 1.32m (4.3ft)
48-inch TV – 1.46m (4.8ft)
50-inch TV – 1.52m (5ft)
55-inch TV – 1.68m (5.5ft)
65-inch TV – 1.98m (6.5ft)
75-inch TV – 2.29m (7.5ft)
85-inch TV – 2.59m (8.5ft)
Here's a full guide on how to calculate the right viewing distance for your TV.
Should you buy a 4K or Full HD TV?
This question is pretty much moot now, as the vast majority of TVs are now 4K. It's actually rather hard to find Full HD (1080p) models, even at relatively small sizes.
If you're buying a TV below 32 inches and can save a lot of money on a Full HD model, by all means go for it (4K won't be a huge benefit at that sort of size anyway), but otherwise 4K is both worthwhile and, in all likelihood, your only option. Here's how 4K vs 1080p resolutions differ.
Should you buy an 8K TV?
You can now buy 8K TVs from a number of brands, including Samsung and LG. It's important to note, though, that almost no native 8K content is available. If you buy one of the best 8K TVs now and want to show off its ridiculously high resolution, you'll have to do so using nature, scenery and space footage from YouTube. At this stage, no streaming services have even hinted at launching 8K content, and it seems unlikely that an 8K disc format will ever materialise.
For those reasons, it's hard to recommend that most people pay the extra for an 8K TV at this stage. That said, if you've got deep pockets and want to be as ready as possible for the potential 8K content of the future, there's no real harm in going for an 8K TV now, particularly as models such as the Samsung QN900B make current 4K content look better than ever.
Should you buy an HDR TV?
High Dynamic Range is without a doubt a much bigger deal than 8K, and certainly something you should consider before buying your next TV.
Essentially, the higher the dynamic range (brightness and colours), the more lifelike the picture. HDR offers greater subtlety and depth of gradations of colours, plus stronger contrast.
There are various types of HDR out there, and with different TV brands backing different variants, it can be a minefield trying to find the best option. Allow us to explain.
First up is HDR10, which is essentially the core HDR format that every HDR TV should support.
HDR10 is a static HDR format that applies the HDR values on a scene-by-scene basis (i.e. whenever the camera cuts to a new scene). Dolby Vision, on the other hand, applies this image information (called metadata) on a frame-by-frame basis. This dynamic form of HDR, when implemented properly, has the potential to improve upon the standard HDR10 presentation.
HDR10+ is a rival format to Dolby Vision. Created by Samsung, it also uses dynamic metadata but, whereas Dolby Vision is licensed, HDR10+ is a free, open format that any company can deploy as it sees fit.
Of these two 'dynamic' HDR formats, Dolby Vision is by far the most prevalent, both in terms of TVs and content, and if you have to choose between one and the other, that's the one we'd recommend. That said, you can now buy TVs from the likes of Philips and Panasonic that support both Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
Finally in our rundown of HDR formats is HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), which was developed specifically for broadcasting by the BBC and Japan's NHK. It's used to deliver all of the HDR content offered by the BBC and Sky, so can be considered very important. Luckily, it's now almost as common as standard HDR10 in TV spec lists, so you should have little problem finding a model that supports it.
What inputs and outputs does your TV need?
These days, it's all about HDMI, which is used to connect everything from set-top boxes to video streamers, Blu-ray players to games consoles. Thanks to ARC/eARC (Audio Return Channel / Enhanced Audio Return Channel), a single HDMI connection can even be used to output sound to an AV receiver or soundbar at the same time as it receives a video signal.
Currently, three HDMI connections is standard on budget TVs, while four is the norm for mid-range and premium models.
The specification of the HDMI connections tends to differ depending on the price of the TV, too, with premium models now commonly getting at least one or two HDMI 2.1 sockets. These have greater bandwidth than their HDMI 2.0 counterparts and can support advanced formats such as 4K@120Hz and 8K@60Hz. Fancy gaming features such as Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate are often supported via HDMI 2.1 (and some HDMI 2.0) sockets, too, though not always. It's sensible to check the specs thoroughly if there are particular features you're after.
After HDMIs, USB ports are the most abundant on modern TVs. You can use these to keep devices charged (often particularly useful for stick- or dongle-style streamers), and some TVs allow the connection of flash drives and hard drives for the recording of live TV content.
On the subject of live TV, you can expect practically every TV to have an aerial socket via which it can receive Freeview broadcasts, but many also have a satellite connection. Be warned, though; the presence of a satellite connection doesn't guarantee that there's a Freesat tuner on board. Without one, you'll receive only a patchy and disorganised selection of satellite TV channels.
Other useful connections include optical and stereo outputs, which can be used in lieu of HDMI ARC to connect legacy audio equipment. Headphone outputs are still fairly common, too, though Bluetooth is also supported by most TVs now and some models now feature the latter but not the former.
Lastly, while some TVs feature composite inputs (often via an adapter), most – even at the budget end – have phased out legacy connections such as SCART. So those clinging on to old video cassette recorders, for example, should be aware of that.
Which TV smart features and streaming apps do you need?
As with 4K, it's now hard to buy a TV that doesn't have a smart platform packed with streaming apps. Almost every TV will have Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ on board, and Apple TV is fast approaching a similar level of ubiquity.
You'd have thought that BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4 and My5 would be present on every TV available in the UK, but there always seems to be one brand that's lacking, so do check before you buy if any of those are important to you.
Other apps that are less common but potentially worth looking out for include Paramount+, HBO Max, Now and Discovery+, as well as more niche apps such as Crunchyroll and Shudder.
What is the best smart TV platform?
There are numerous TV operating systems out there, and which one your TV uses has a massive bearing on what it will be like to use and live with, so which is best?
While there's not necessarily a simple answer to this and each platform has its pros and cons, on balance, LG's webOS is probably the best TV operating system right now. Its selection of streaming services is more or less flawless, and every app has been optimised to work at its best. It's quick and intuitive, too.
Samsung's Tizen platform used to be the best but it's become increasingly convoluted and unintuitive in recent years. Hisense's VIDAA operating system, on the other hand, is getting better all the time and should now be seen as a positive feature.
Unlike the above, Google TV (and the older Android TV) is built into TVs from various brands, including Sony, Philips and TCL. It's broadly good and always getting better, but some recent Google TVs have lacked UK catch-up apps, and there's often a slightly disjointed overall user experience, with the Google TV OS feeling as if it's been slapped rather unceremoniously on top of the TV's own menu system.
Amazon's Fire OS platform, which many will have experienced via a Fire Stick streamer, is also now on various TVs, mostly at the cheaper end but also Panasonic's flagship OLED model. It pushes Amazon's own content a bit, but every third-party app you could want is there and the whole platform is very user-friendly.
Should you buy an OLED, QLED or LCD TV?
LCD TVs, which require a backlight usually made up of white LEDs to show a picture on the LCD panel, are available in a wide variety of screen sizes and, thanks in part to the technology's low cost of production, at affordable prices.
OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) is a panel technology that uses self-emissive particles – so there's no need for a backlight. This allows OLED TVs to be unbelievably slim, while also offering convincing pitch-dark blacks, strong contrast and superb viewing angles. LG, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and now Samsung are the big brands with OLED TVs in their line-ups and, broadly speaking, they're excellent.
QLED (Quantum-dot Light-Emitting Diode), meanwhile, is Samsung’s rival technology to OLED. A QLED TV is an LCD TV but with a quantum dot coating over the backlight. However, the quantum dots (tiny semiconductor particles) in current QLEDs do not emit their own light. So QLED TVs, like conventional LCDs, rely on a backlight. The advantages of a QLED TV? You tend to get brilliantly vibrant colours, plus bright, sharp and crisply detailed images.
Samsung's QLEDs have got better and better over the years, existing as a fine alternative to OLEDs TVs. Interestingly, though, Samsung has now launched its own range of OLED (QD-OLED) TVs.
RGB Mini LED is the new, fashionable kid on the block, but it's worth noting that this is still fundamentally an LCD technology. The difference is the backlight, with the standard-sized, white LEDs of old being replaced by much smaller red, green and blue LEDs. The smaller size allows for greater contrast control, while the RGB qualities allow for more accurate, expansive colours, plus (because the colour filter is no longer needed) greater brightness.
Recent updates
16th October:
The page has been completely overhauled, with new entries from top to bottom that reflect the 2026 What Hi-Fi? Awards. The also consider section has also been redone from scratch.
11th June 2026:
Added the Hisense UR9 as the best RGB Mini LED TV.
27th April 2026:
Added the Samsung U8000F to the also consider section.
12th March 2026:
Added the LG C6 as the best new TV.
2nd February 2026:
Added the impressively affordable Philips OLED760 to the Also Consider section. All other text has been checked and updated to ensure it reflects our latest buying advice.
8th January 2026:
The Sony Bravia 5 and Philips OLED910 have been added to the Also Consider section. All entries and sections have been checked and updated to reflect our latest buying advice.
18th November 2025:
Big changes! The Sony Bravia 8 II has been promoted to 'best overall', while the LG C5 has been moved to 'best for gaming'. The 42-inch version of the LG C5 is now the 'best 42-inch TV', and the TCL C7K / QM7K has been added as the 'best budget large TV'. Our 'also consider' recommendations have also been overhauled, and all other copy has been updated to reflect our latest buying advice.
30th September 2025:
We've replaced the Sony Bravia 8 with the LG C5 as 'Best overall', replaced the Amazon Omni QLED 50-inch with the TCL C6KS as 'Best cheap TV', and replaced the LG OLED48C4 with the Panasonic TV-48Z90B as 'Best 48-inch TV'. We've also removed the 'Best new' and 'Best 8K' options, and added the TCL 98C7K as a new 'Best super-sized TV' category.
29th July 2025:
We've removed the Sony A95L (Best premium TV), TCL 65P755K (Best budget TV), and Sony Bravia 9 (Best Mini LED TV) from the guide. They've been replaced by the Sony Bravia 8 II, Sharp 70GK4245K, and Sony Bravia 7, respectively. All other entries and buying advice have been reviewed and refreshed to reflect our latest lab tests and recommendations.
30th April 2025:
Added the LG C5 as the 'best new TV', and added the LG G5 and Sony Bravia 7 to the 'also consider' section. All other entries and advice sections have been checked and updated to reflect our latest buying advice.
13th March 2025:
Upgrades to the Sony Bravia 9 mean it has been promoted to our choice of Best Mini LED, while the newly reviewed LG C5 has been added to the also consider section.
27th November 2024:
Removed the LG Z3 from the also consider section and added the Panasonic Z95A and Samsung Q80D.
29th October 2024:
Replaced the LG C4 with the Sony Bravia 8 as the best TV overall after side-by-side comparisons conducted for the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024. Also replaced the discontinued TCL C845K with the TCL P755K as the best budget large TV for the UK.
12th September 2024:
Removed the Sony A80L from the list due to lack of availability and promoted the LG C4 to the top spot. The 48-inch LG C4 has also taken the place of the 48-inch LG C3 as it now costs only a little more but is a decent-sized upgrade in terms of performance. We've also added the Sony Bravia 8 and Philips OLED809 to the 'also consider' section.
15th July 2024:
Added the LG G4 to the also consider section.
23rd May 2024:
Added the LG C4 as the best 2024 TV and replaced the Samsung S95C with the S95D in the also consider section
4th April 2024:
Added the Samsung QN900D as the best 8K TV.
1st March 2024:
'Also Consider' and 'Recent Updates' sections added and 'How We Test' section rewritten with additional detail.
1st February 2024:
New author information and 'what is the best TV?' FAQ added.
12th January 2024:
Information of new models announced at CES added to intro.
3rd November 2023:
Added Sony A95L.
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