At Tom's Guide, we're always hunting for the best TV. As new models come out, we put them through a rigorous testing regiment, all to help you make the best decision you can possibly make when shopping for a new OLED or QLED TV. We test all the top TVs each year — close to four dozen of them — and these are the 4K TVs that we recommend.
What are we looking for when we review the best TVs? We want everything that you want: great picture quality, rich sound, easy setup, and all of the smart features available today. We take all those metrics and weigh them against the price of the TV to help you decide what's worth your money.
So what are the best TVs available now? The top spot now belongs to the Hisense U8N, the successor to last year's award-winning Hisense U8K. It faces some stiff competition from Samsung and LG (the LG C4 OLED also has a spectacular screen), but the U8N offers the best price-to-performance ratio.
That said, the year's not done yet and we're scheduled to get the Hisense UX (2024), TCL QM8 (2024), Samsung S95D and Samsung QN90D in for review soon. With that said, expect this list to evolve in the coming weeks, so keep stopping back to see all the best TVs 2024 has to offer.
To evaluate each TV, we test them in our labs and in the real world, measuring everything from color reproduction and color accuracy to lag time for gaming performance. Plus, we gauge picture and sound quality by watching some of the most popular shows and movies.
The quick list
Picture ★★★★★
Features ★★★★★
Value ★★★★★
The Hisense U8N's strong specs sheet translates to beautiful real-world results. It produces some of the brightest HDR scenes we've ever seen, and its color reproduction is second-to-none.
Picture ★★★★★
Features ★★★★★
Value ★★★★☆
Despite some tough competition from the Sony A95L and LG G3, the Samsung S95C is currently the best OLED TV thanks to its above-average brightness and wonderful color reproduction.
Picture ★★★★☆
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★★★★
The award-winning TCL 6-Series is no longer around in 2023, but the new QM8 model hits all the same notes — and, thanks to some recent discounts, can be found for under $1,000.
Picture ★★★★★
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★★★☆
The Samsung QN90C Neo QLED TV is the best TV for brightness. With strong HDR brightness, ample viewing options and top-notch picture performance, we highly recommend it.
Picture ★★★☆☆
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★★★★
If you don't want to spend thousands on a new TV, the Hisense U6K is a great budget pick. Its Mini-LED backlighting offers spectacular contrast while its quantum dot filter ensures well-saturated colors.
Picture ★★★★★
Features ★★★★★
Value ★★☆☆☆
It's the most expensive TV on our list, but the Sony Bravia XR A95L is the best looking TV in 2023. It's the most advanced set the company produces and comes fully loaded with the best features.
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Picture ★★★★★
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★★☆☆
The Samsung S90C OLED offers HDMI 2.1 allowing for VRR, ALLM, and up to 144Hz rates giving you just about everything you would ever possibly need from a gaming TV.
Picture ★★★★☆
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★☆☆☆☆
It's not cheap, but the LG C4 OLED delivers an incredible picture performance. We're anxiously awaiting a price drop, but if you're after a luxury OLED TV with perfect black levels and 1,000 nits of brightness, look no further.
Picture ★★★★★
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★☆☆☆
The Samsung QN900D is the top 8K TV of 2024. It offers stunning AI-enhanced picture quality and an improved Tizen smart platform. It's pricey, but absolutely jaw-dropping.
About the author
My name's Nick and I look after our guides to the best TVs, best OLED TVs and best 4K TVs. Most of my day is spent watching and evaluating new screens from LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense, TCL and Vizio. I have 10 years of experience in AV, and before I joined Tom's Guide I was formerly the Senior Editor, TV and AV at TechRadar. I love helping people find the perfect TV, so please feel free to reach out over email or tag me on Twitter and I can help you out.
Recent updates
What we're currently testing: The Sony Bravia 9 is a mini-LED set that looks to give OLED TVs a real run for their money; we were impressed when we first saw it. The LG G4 OLED crushed our lab tests, so we can't wait to see how it performs during everyday use. Is the Roku Pro Series a better, cheaper version of Samsung's The Frame? We'll find out soon.
The best TVs you can buy today
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Best TV
✅ You want a Mini-LED TV for its performance: Its peak brightness exceeds any TV around that price, and its color reproduction is as good as some of this year’s best TVs.
✅ You use Google devices and services: Google TV is smart and well-rounded, especially for those in Google’s ecosystem, and who already use services like Google Assistant.
✅ You want a TV with good sound: Audio performance is a lot like the HDR performance — it’s great. The U8N's 2.1.2 speaker system is plenty powerful for most medium-sized living rooms.
❌ You care about color accuracy: Unfortunately, you'll need to do some calibrating to get the most accurate color as its out-of-the-box settings are slightly oversaturated.
❌ You want the best AI upscaling tech: Hisense really nails the hardware side of things, but its upscaling and motion processing algorithms aren't as good as Sony's, LG's or Samsung's.
❌ You're a console gamer and want a future-proof TV: Currently, the U8N offers enough HDMI 2.1 ports for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. But down the road, as more consoles, PCs and media players need HDMI 2.1 ports, you're going to have to make some decisions which systems connect to which HDMI ports.
📺 The Hisense U8N ULED is the TV that I'd recommend to friends and family. It's not only one of the most colorful TVs we’ve tested, but with a peak brightness clearing over 3,000 nits, it's one of the brightest, too. There are better TVs out there, but they cost two to three times as much. ★★★★
What you need to know
It's not shocking to us to see the Hisense U8 series at the top of our list — its predecessor, the Hisense U8K, held this spot for most of last year. But what makes the Hisense U8N even better than its predecessor is the uptick in brightness. This TV can output over 3,000 nits in HDR, which means you're more than covered if you feel like TVs often look too dim and are hard to see. Its color vibrancy is also off the charts, second only to a Sony TV that costs three times as much money.
In short, the U8N offers performance we'd expect from a $2,000 TV for under $1,000.
So why doesn't it get a perfect 5 out of 5 score from us? Well, two reasons. For one, Hisense just can't compete with Sony, Samsung and LG in post-image processing. Motion processing and upscaling aren't awful, and most of the time look really good everything considered, but other companies' processing techniques are on a whole different level. You're also stuck with just two HDMI 2.1 ports here.
Despite these flaws, most folks are going to be blown away by this TV.
Design: For our tests, we used a 65-inch model. At 56.2 pounds, it's not the lightest TV nor the thinnest, but that's to be expected from any non-OLED TV. To mount, make sure you grab a standard 600 x 400, M6 VESA mount. If you want to simply place it on top of an entertainment center, you can do that using the two included legs that come in the box.
Performance: You can't watch the Hisense U8N and not be impressed. Not only does it nail the perfect brightness in every setting thanks to the incorporation of a light sensor, but its color vibrancy is next level. In our lab tests, conducted by Tom's Guide's Head of Testing Matthew Murray, the Hisense U8N was able to go toe-to-toe with the much more expensive LG C4 OLED and even surpasses it in some key metrics like SDR brightness and color saturation. It cannot be understated how impressive this is.
The only reason we can't give it full marks are because of its upscaling and motion processing prowess. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but actors' faces on the Hisense U8N might look a bit softer with hidden pores and clouds have soft edges rather than any real definition. Its lackluster motion processing can also create motion blur around the moving objects that's extremely noticeable, even to the untrained eye. Finally, serious gamers might also notice the smallest bit of latency. Anything under 20 milliseconds is nearly imperceptible to the human eye, but there are other TVs that have a hair less input lag for a slightly more responsive feel.
Smart TV: We genuinely like Google TV as a smart platform and we think you will, too. It does a phenomenal job at surfacing new and recommended content for you to watch and it has access to all the main streaming services. Even better, it doesn't really push you to use one service over another the same way an Amazon Fire TV might. The only potential issue is that you might notice a bit of a slowdown when you switch from one streaming app to the next.
Read the full review: Hisense U8N Mini-LED TV
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Strong performance for the price. | ★★★★★ |
| Design | A great-looking TV but not OLED-levels of thin. | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Shows and movies give off a serious ‘wow’ factor. | ★★★★★ |
| Smart TV | The best smart TV operating system on the market. | ★★★★★ |
Best OLED TV
✅ Outstanding brightness: The S95C’s peak brightness of 1,370 nits puts it solidly in LED territory.
✅ Great for gamers and sports fans: 120Hz native refresh rate with four HDMI 2.1 ports makes this great for both gamers and sports fans alike. This set pairs well with the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
✅ Neural Quantum Processor 4K: Samsung's top processor provides excellent upscaling of HD content to Ultra HD, along with great motion processing.
❌ You care about Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision is, by far, the best HDR format. It's tuned to match the brightness and black levels of each individual scene, so not having it on a TV this nice is a bummer.
❌Sound quality is lackluster: With a picture so phenomenal, it's a bit disappointing that the sound isn't as jaw-dropping. It's not bad, certainly, but it lacks refinement.
📺 The Samsung S95C OLED is a jaw-dropping TV. If you have the money to buy one of the best TVs out there, the Samsung S95C deserves a look as it takes QD-OLED to new heights. ★★★★★
1. The best 4K TVs
2. The best OLED TVs
3. Best LG TVs
What you need to know
Samsung's return to the world of OLED TVs has been a wild ride. It was one of the first manufacturers to make an OLED TV before dejecting the technology in place of QLED. Now, with the S95C OLED, Samsung proves it can do both perfectly.
Not only is its picture performance simply stunning, but when you’re not watching or using the TV, Ambient mode takes over and provides a carousel of aesthetically-pleasing animations and images. Samsung made Ambient mode mainstream, and though other TV brands have since introduced their own spin on it, we still like Samsung’s version the best.
We wish Samsung would implement Dolby Vision and maybe pump up the sound quality a bit more on the S95C, but overall, it's still an incredible QD-OLED TV.
Design: The Samsung S95C is a premium model, through and through. It uses metal materials, a bezel-less screen and has an impressively thin panel. It’s even thinner than the S95B, measuring a mere 10mm thick. If you like your TVs slim and sleek, but still able to fit on a home entertainment center with ease, the S95C's design is top notch. In terms of ports, the S95C has four HDMI 2.1 ports plus an ATSC 3.0 tuner.
Performance: Our reviewers loved the picture of the Samsung S95C OLED, citing its nuanced HDR performance, out-of-the-box color accuracy and wonderful black levels. In our tests, the S95C was able to reproduce about 141.5% of the Rec 709 color space in standard mode and a Delta-E accuracy score of 1.4 (with closer to 0 being best) in Filmmaker mode. For gamers, the S95C measured an excellent 9.2ms lag time, the lowest input latency of any TV we tested, and the set’s off-angle viewing is better than most, with the colors holding up well past the ideal 45 degrees.
Smart TV: Samsung's Tizen OS is a bit of a mixed bag this year. It can be difficult to navigate (especially if you wan to make tweaks to your picture settings), but you can still find all the major streaming apps, plus plenty of free content from Samsung TV Plus. On the plus side, the S95C can act as a SmartThings hub. If you’re growing your smart home or embracing the Matter smart home protocol, this TV control all of your devices, even if your home uses gadgets from all different manufacturers.
Read the full review: Samsung S95C OLED
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | A little pricey, but well-worth the cost of entry. | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | A familiar, yet stunning piece of hardware. | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Better and brighter picture than previous OLEDs. | ★★★★★ |
| Smart TV | Tizen can be a bit finnicky. | ★★★☆☆ |
The best value TV
✅ You want a cheap TV that still looks good: For the best smart TV experience in a TV under $1,000, it's hard to deny that the TCL QM8 is the best option around.
✅ You demand good image quality: This TV offers better color, brightness, and shorter lag times than the previous Roku model. Color reproduction was an impressive 99.97% of the Rec 709 color space.
✅ You want a TV that comes with Google TV: It's also snappy, offering noticeably quicker and smoother operations than other platforms, including the sometimes slow Roku TV software that many TCL smart TVs use.
❌ You sit off-axis to the TV: You want to be sitting head-on with this TV. Sit too far off to one side, and you're going to lose a significant amount of color saturation.
❌ You want great-sounding audio: The TV is only outfitted with a pair of 8-watt speakers that merely offer passable stereo sound and decent volume. You might want a good soundbar.
❌ You need more than two HDMI 2.1 ports: Although it has a refresh rate of 120Hz, only two of its HDMI ports offer full-spec 2.1 compliance for 4K/120fps gameplay.
📺 The TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV is a solid upgrade on the beloved 6-Series, and it deserves its spot on our list for offering incredible performance for a very reasonable price. ★★★★
What you need to know
It was a really close call between the Hisense U8K and the TCL QM8. Both TVs are extraordinary values for the money, and while we do think the Hisense U8K is the overall better pick, the TCL QM8 deserved a spot on our list as well. Like the Hisense U8K, the QM8 uses Mini-LEDs for better backlight control and quantum dots to enhance contrast and color. With up to 2,300 local dimming zones and TCL's High Brightness Ultra Direct LED backlight, you're going to get unbelievable contrast for an LED-LCD TV. We also really like the AIPQ Engine Gen 3 that helps upscale HD/SDR content for the QM8's 4K screen as well as the TV's numerous gaming features.
The only major drawbacks here are the TV's 8W speakers that can feel a bit underwhelming and the lack of an ATSC 3.0 tuner that can be found in the Hisense U8K. The latter isn't a deal-breaker, especially if you don't plan on using a digital antenna, but it's absence is still felt here.
Design: The QM8 may not have the beautiful slim design of the LG G3 OLED, but it's certainly not a bad design, either. Its minimal bezel that measures in a less than an eighth-inch on all sides maximizes screen real estate. Beneath the bottom of the screen are physical controls as well as a switch for turning on or off the far-field microphone. The TCL QM8 offers four HDMI ports, however only two of them are HDMI 2.1-compliant, meaning you'll have to choose which devices can pass 4K/120Hz signal and which ones can't.
Performance: The QM8, like the U8K, is a good pick if you need higher-than-average brightness to combat ambient light. In our testing, the TCL QM8 was able to hit 1,348 nits in Movie mode with SDR content, a significant increase over other 4K HDR TVs that we've measured. With HDR content, the QM8 was able to hit above 2,000 nits in a 5%, 10% and even 25% window sizes. This brightness paired with the Mini-LED backlight offers great contrast that approaches OLED levels. Colors are vivid as well, with our tests showing that the QM8 can cover 80% of the BT2020 color spectrum. Just like the U8K, however, its out-the-box color accuracy leaves a lot to be desired with a Delta E score of 4.4614. With some tweaking, this number can drop significantly, but it's worth noting that some colors might appear a bit oversaturated when you first start it up.
Smart TV: Like a lot of other manufacturers, TCL has shifted to using Google TV in its 2023 models, including the QM8. Google TV is clean and runs smooth on this model, and thanks to the remote's built-in microphone and the TV's integrated microphone, you can search for shows and movies using only your voice. If you want some privacy, you can turn off the voice assistant via a physical switch on the TV itself.
Read the full review: TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Great value for your dollar. | ★★★★★ |
| Design | Its basic plastic construction does the job. | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Improved performance and a strong 4K HDR TV. | ★★★★★ |
| Smart TV | The best smart TV system on the market. | ★★★★★ |
The best QLED TV
✅ You want better brightness than OLED: OLED is the king of contrast, but any ambient light can wash out the picture. Samsung's QLED TVs can handle more ambient light than almost any other TV because of its high peak brightness.
✅ Eye-popping colors and clarity: Yes brightness is important to counter glare, but it's also important in color reproduction and clarity. Better brightness, brighter colors.
✅ Great for gamers: Most TVs on this list are great for gamers, but the Samsung QN90C might be one of the best for PS5 and Xbox Series X due to its low input lag.
❌ You care about Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision is, by far, the best HDR format. It's tuned to match the brightness and black levels of each individual scene, so not having it on a TV this nice is a bummer.
❌ You're afraid of your TV tipping over: The central stand doesn’t offer as much stability as we typically expect. Samsung transitioned to a hexagonal base design that uses less space, but that seems to have come at a cost.
📺 The Samsung QN90C Neo QLED TV has all the hallmarks of a premium TV: best-in-class HDR brightness, ample viewing options and strong picture performance. ★★★★★
What you need to know
The Samsung QN90C is the swiss army knife of TVs. It's good at basically everything, from upscaling content to boosting brightness, and it's available in pretty much every screen size fathomable. Whether you want a 43-inch telly for your office or guest bedroom, or you need an 85-inch behemoth for your living room, you can find a QN90C model to match. Like our top picks, the Samsung QN90C uses Mini-LED for better contrast and a higher peak brightness. Unlike our other top picks it has a slightly faster input latency and four full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports that can pass 4K/120Hz signal that make it a better pick for gamers.
The downside here is that you're paying a lot more for this slight improvement on performance and its lackluster Tizen smart platform. It's still worth considering for all those extras, but it doesn't exactly provide the best value compared to our top picks.
Design: Visually, the Samsung QN90C won't blow you away — its pillar stand is a bit ugly compared to other screens that use two wide feet, and its minimalistic design doesn't do much to separate itself from the pack. The major difference between the QN90C and the slightly pricier QN95C model is Samsung’s One Connect Box that helps hide the wires running into the back of the TV. For a cleaner look, the QN95C really nails it, but you can achieve a similar effect on the QN90C with some carefully placed zip ties. The good news is that the QN90C has four HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which can be used as the eARC port for soundbars. For gamers, HDMI 2.1 ports enable 4K/120Hz pass-through as well as Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate. Have we mentioned that this is a great gaming TV?
Performance: While other models from Hisense and TCL have finally caught up to Samsung in terms of peak brightness, the QN90C is a strong performer when it comes to light output. In the relatively balanced Filmmaker mode, the QN90C was able to reached 1987.34 nits in a 10% window. That's roughly a 5% increase over last year's excellent QN90B QLED and over twice the peak brightness of the LG C3 OLED that you'll find a little lower on our list. As mentioned above, the Hisense U8K came close to the Samsung QN90C's light output and the Samsung was able to best the U8K in terms of color accuracy right out of the box. The QN90C is slightly more expensive, but it doesn't require nearly as much fiddling in the settings to get the color dialed in correctly.
Smart TV: There's nothing outright wrong with Samsung's proprietary Tizen smart TV platform. It's fully functional with all the mainstream streaming services as well as a nifty smart home hub for any SmartThings devices you might own. If you don't own any SmartThings devices, however, then Tizen really doesn't present many advantages and its relatively complex settings menu can be confusing to navigate. Having some free content in the way of the Samsung TV Plus streaming service makes up for that slightly, but by and large we think Google TV is the better option to go for if we had the choice between the two platforms.
Read the full review: Samsung QN90C Neo QLED TV
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | A bit more affordable than Samsung's 2023 flagship TV. | ★★★★★ |
| Design | Flush bezels and 1-inch wide body. | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Best-in-class brightness and impressive performance | ★★★★★ |
| Smart TV | Not the best, not the worst. | ★★★★☆ |