
The best TVs are more than just a pretty screen. They’re feature rich and fairly priced. They cater to your personal needs and viewing preferences, and they fit comfortably within the confines of your home viewing area. In other words, the best TVs aren’t necessarily defined by a certain spec or feature; they’re defined by you, the viewer.
To help you find the best TV for your viewing setup, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite screens and separated them by popular use case and category.
– Best TV Overall: Samsung S90D QD-OLED
– Best OLED TV: Sony A95L OLED
– Best TV for Watching Sports: Sony Bravia 9
– Best TV for Gaming: LG C4 OLED
– Best 8K TV: Samsung QN900D QLED
Best TV Overall: Samsung S90D OLED
The best TV for most people
The best TV for most people is the Samsung S90D QD-OLED. It's a feature-rich 4K television with outstanding picture quality, widespread application, and excellent value. The S90D model comes in four sizes: 55, 65, 77, and 83", so you should be able to find a screen size that best fits your viewing area.
Please note that only the 55, 65, and 77” models use the superior QD-OLED panel. The other models use a good-but-not-great WOLED panel (which is fine, just not on the same level as the QD-OLED screen).
The S90D looks fantastic in virtually any viewing setting. Its near-infinite contrast and perfect black uniformity help render superior image quality in darker viewing areas. It also looks great in bright rooms, thanks to its peak brightness and reflection handling, which are both very good.
One of the reasons we chose the S90D as our top TV overall is because of its widespread application. Not only is it an outstanding screen for run-of-the-mill TV viewing, it’s also great for watching live sports, streaming media, and viewing HDR content. It’s also a top choice for gamers, thanks to its incredibly low input lag, exceptionally fast refresh time, and support for 4K gaming at 144 Hz.
We also love the S90C’s overall value. It’s definitely not cheap, but considering its superb picture quality, versatility, and widespread appeal, we think the S90D is a worthwhile investment.
Read More: How to Choose the Best TV
Best OLED TV: Sony A95L OLED
The best TV money can buy
The reason we didn’t select the Sony A95L OLED TV as the “best TV overall” is because it’s significantly more expensive than the Samsung S90D. However, in terms of picture quality and image processing, the A95L stands apart, which is why it’s the best OLED TV you can buy today (assuming your pockets are deep enough).
Cost notwithstanding, the Sony A95L OLED is a near-perfect television. It features a gorgeous 4K QD-OLED panel that’s available in 55, 65, and 77". Regardless of screen size or use case, the A95L looks incredible, thanks to the unrivaled power of Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, which enhances every aspect of your viewing experience, including overall picture quality, HDR performance, image upscaling, reflection handling, and more.
The A95L’s superb screen is further enhanced with gamer-friendly features such as an incredibly low input lag, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and VRR support. It comes with Google TV, which gives you instant access to hundreds of thousands of movies, shows, apps, and games, and supports voice-activated operation.
We could go on for a while about the Sony A95L’s many bona fides, but it’s probably quicker just to tell you what it can’t do rather than what it can—which is save you money. Because even at its smallest, the A95L will set you back close to three grand. That’s a little too rich for our bourgeois blood, but if you can afford it, the A95L is worth every penny.
Read More: Sitting Too Close to Your TV?
Best TV for Watching Sports: Sony Bravia 9
The best TV for your next big watch party
A contender for “best LED TV,” the Sony Bravia 9 is also an incredible TV for watching sports. Not only does its 4K QLED mini-LED panel produce absolutely gorgeous images in bright and dark environments, but its viewing angle is superb—which is especially important if you’re hosting a watch party, since it ensures all your guests will see the same great picture quality no matter where they’re sitting.
When watching sports, quick response time is key, because it prevents blurring. The BRAVIA 9 features a near-instantaneous response time, so you won't experience any motion blurring, no matter how fast-paced the action is. You also won't see any color variations or smudges in the on-screen image, thanks to the BRAVIA 9’s exceptional color uniformity and vibrancy.
Read More: The Best TVs for Watching the Big Game
Best TV for Gaming: LG C4 OLED
The best TV for gitting gud
Not only is the LG C4 OLED an excellent home theater television, it also delivers an exciting gaming experience, thanks in part to its best-in-class “Game Mode,” which boosts key gaming features without hindering the overall image quality or slowing down its speedy 120 Hz refresh rate. In other words, games look as incredible as they feel.
One of the reasons the C4 is so good for gaming is its exceptionally fast 0.1 ms response time, which eliminates virtually any delay between controller input and screen (no more blaming “lag” for losing your 1v1). Similarly, the C4’s response time is also incredibly low, so you won’t see any motion blurring or ghosting.
The C4’s other gamer-friendly features include support for a full spectrum of variable refresh rate display technologies, including FreeSync Premium and G-Sync, and four HDMI 2.1 ports. HDMI 2.1 is especially important if you’re a PlayStation 5 owner, because it’s required to unlock gaming at 120 Hz.
Best 8K TV: Samsung QN900D QLED
The best TV of tomorrow, today
Although it’s still a relatively new and underutilized category, the best 8K TV you can buy today is the Samsung QN900D QLED. The QN900D features an 8K UHD mini-LED panel and is exclusively available in big-boy sizes: 65, 75, and 85".
The QN900D utilizes Samsung’s Quantum Matrix technology, which facilitates more precise control of the QN900D’s local dimming zones. This proprietary display technology helps optimize image quality based on what you’re watching and is especially useful in brighter viewing environments, since it helps maintain the QN900D’s outstanding image quality, even in sunlit rooms.
One thing to keep in mind about 8K TVs is that there really isn’t any 8K content available, which makes the justification for buying one blurry at best. That doesn’t mean you absolutely shouldn’t buy one, you just might be ahead of the curve if you do (possibly, way ahead).
Questions about our top TVs or how we made our picks? Feel free to drop us a comment, below, or you can check out our guide, How to Choose the Best TV, for a detailed explanation on what to look for when shopping for your next set.
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