This week, I had the pleasure of helping our senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, review the LG C5 – which is undeniably one of this year’s hot-ticket items for home cinema fans.
If you have looked at any of our best TV, best OLED TV, best 65-inch TV or best gaming TV guides in recent years, you’ll know the C-series has been on something of a hot streak.
Since the LG C2, a TV I still use at home, the C-series has carved out a strong record for delivering excellent value for money.
This was showcased last year by the 65-inch LG C4, 48-inch LG C4 and 42-inch LG C4, which all earned perfect five-star ratings from our reviewers when we put them head to head with rivals in our dedicated viewing rooms.
Common positives include flawless gaming specifications, competitive motion-handling and nicely punchy, but authentic picture quality. Which is why I stick by my verdict of the 42-inch LG C4 – and this sums up my experience with most screen-sizes in the range:
“Though its audio isn't the best, it delivers a wonderfully punchy, immersive viewing experience despite its small form factor, with noticeably higher peak brightness than its older rivals.”
And having tested the 55-inch LG C5 with Lewis, I can confirm the new model continues this trend in many ways. We can’t give it a final star rating as we still await final pricing details, but from a performance perspective it lives up to the C-series legacy in two key ways.
First, because it is a small, but clear improvement on the outgoing model. As with the C4 when compared with the LG C3, the C5 is brighter than its predecessor, has slightly improved motion-handling and better colour volume / accuracy.
Throughout testing this let it offer a more immersive, entertaining and warm picture, regardless of what content we threw at it.
Second? Because, like many C-series TVs, its audio performance is distinctly average. Featuring a basic 2.2 in-built speaker arrangement with no subwoofer, the TV’s audio lacks any low-end heft.
Forget our low-end Blade Runner 2049 scene-two stress test; the C5's speakers struggle even with the engine noise of Maverick's motorcycle in Top Gun: Maverick.
There is also no real sense of directionality here, either. It's simply a fact that you will need a proper sound system or soundbar to get a truly great movie-watching experience.
Being fair to LG, this is true of pretty much every TV right now. Go through any of our recent TV reviews and you will almost certainly find some reference, in the audio section, to the need to budget for a sound system.
But the experience of going through the same old pattern on such an otherwise accomplished TV makes me return to a common thought. It's an argument I have made many times before: wouldn’t it be better if the TV didn’t have any speakers?
This is a common practice, of course, with computer monitors. Because you will in all probability invest in separate speakers, or a headset, there is no need to include built-in speakers. So it’s better not to have any, and to charge slightly less.
I’d like to see the same on TVs, with companies making a cheaper, speaker-free version of their sets. This would be an undeniable boon for people who already have decent sound systems, or a cost benefit that could go towards allowing the buyer to reinvest the savings in a soundbar.
Even if the model was only £100 / $100 cheaper, that would still get you a long way towards a Sonos Ray which, trust me, sounds miles better than most built-in speaker systems, including the C5’s.
For me, the move just makes sense, and I wish TV manufacturers would start doing it.
MORE:
These are the best soundbars we have tested
We rate the best surround sound systems
Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars
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