The Best TVs for 2025

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Shopping for a new TV can be daunting. There are LED, OLED, QLED, multiple HDR formats, and pixel counts between 1080p, 4K, and 8K. Fortunately, PCMag is here to help. I'm a certified TV calibrator and have tested more than 170 televisions from brands like Hisense, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, TCL, Vizio, and others over the past 10 years. Using specialized equipment, I measure contrast, color range and accuracy, and even input lag, which is important for gaming. And yes, I watch shows and movies, too. Several models on this list have earned an outstanding 4.5-star rating and PCMag's Editors' Choice award, but the Hisense U8N is the best TV overall in terms of bang for your buck, while the LG Evo G4 OLED is our favorite high-end TV. Read on for more details of all the best TVs we've tested.

What to Look for in a New TV

Resolution has long been a top consideration in buying a new TV, but the current TV landscape has seen a flattening of this trend. The TV resolution question used to be a choice between 720p (1,280 by 720 pixels) and 1080p (1,920 by 1,080 pixels). Then, it moved on to 1080p versus Ultra HD, or 4K (3,840 by 2,160 pixels, or over eight million pixels). Now, it's no longer a question: 4K is the standard for medium-sized and larger televisions from every major manufacturer. Realistically, you'd be hard-pressed to find a TV from a major brand larger than 40 inches that isn't 4K.

The higher resolution no longer commands a price premium, and you can find an excellent 65-inch 4K TV for under $1,000. You can even dig lower and build an entire home theater for $1,000 if you're willing to make some compromises.

Almost all TVs now offer web apps and built-in Wi-Fi via a . Some manufacturers like LG, Samsung, and Vizio develop first-party platforms, while others like Hisense, Sony, and TCL use third-party platforms like Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, and Roku TV to give their TVs apps and online services. These platforms generally offer access to most major streaming services, such as Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, and YouTube, along with features like voice assistants, local media streaming, and downloadable apps and games. If you can't find the apps or services you want on your TV, you can connect a separate media streamer to an HDMI 2.0 port to fill that gap.

Apple AirPlay 2 is now available on new TVs from Hisense, LG, Roku, Samsung, Sony, TCL, and Vizio, along with all Roku media streamers. This feature lets you use your iPhone or iPad to stream content from iTunes to the TV. Apple also has the Apple TV app with its Apple TV+ service on all major smart TV platforms, so you can watch Apple video content on nearly any TV without an Apple TV 4K box, which was previously necessary.

4K content is now freely available on many streaming services and Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, even if it hasn't been widely adopted by broadcast or cable TV services yet (read more about the ATSC 3.0 standard for more details). If you have a fast internet connection, you can watch some excellent shows on Amazon and Netflix in 4K (and most new original programming on the services is produced at that resolution). New films are also coming out digitally in 4K through various on-demand streaming services.

Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are a physical media format that can store 4K HDR content and are readily available. Don't expect to play them on your current Blu-ray player, though; it's a separate format from Blu-ray, so you need a dedicated Ultra HD Blu-ray player, a Microsoft Xbox Series X (or Xbox One S/X if you can find one), or a Sony PlayStation 5 to handle the format. The good news is that Ultra UD Blu-ray stores 4K video with HDR (explained below), and it can even handle advanced surround sound audio if your speaker system supports it. It has a long-term edge over streaming since it's a piece of media you can physically own, and it doesn't require an internet connection or a service subscription. Ultra HD Blu-ray releases are relatively paltry outside of major new movies, though, so if you want to watch your favorite obscure film, you might have to downgrade to 1080p or even 480p with a Blu-ray or DVD.

In terms of audio, built-in TV speakers function well enough for hearing dialogue, but beyond that, they're typically pretty underwhelming. With few exceptions, you can greatly improve your movie and gaming experience by adding a speaker system, such as a soundbar or a dedicated multi-channel home theater system.

Should You Wait for 8K?

That one's easy: No.

Don't worry about 8K for now, despite what you might have heard about it and that the HDMI 2.1 standard supports it. 8K is 7,680 by 4,320 pixels, or four times the number of pixels of 4K. 8K TVs are currently available as premium models for significantly more money than their 4K equivalents (including OLED TVs, which are already pricey), but they aren't going to be meaningful for consumers for a few more years, and there's little reason to consider buying one yet unless you have lots of cash to burn.

Moreover, there's no consumer-ready 8K media available, and no major studios or distributors have even talked about releasing 8K movies or shows so far. There aren't yet physical or streaming media standards that could support 8K commercial releases either. Even if you can find an 8K TV, at best, you might be able to watch upconverted 4K video on it. So, for the time being, don't worry about 8K suddenly replacing 4K. It won't happen anytime soon.

Is a 4K HDR TV Worth It?

4K is a no-brainer, but there's a next-step video technology to consider when you shop for a TV. High dynamic range (HDR) content pushes much more information to the display than a standard video signal. The resolution remains the same, but the range of color and amount of light each pixel can produce is significantly broader.

Because of improving LCD and OLED panel technology, high-end televisions can display wider color gamuts and finer gradients of light and dark than before. Standard video was built around the limitations of older cathode ray tube televisions, intentionally using a set range of color and light information in the signal. HDR breaks those limitations and uses expanded ranges with finer values between them. Basically, this means HDR displays can produce more colors and more shades of gray (or, rather, luminance values) than standard dynamic range displays.

There are three major HDR standards with commercially available content: Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+. HDR10 is an open platform that uses 10-bit color values. The UHD Alliance certifies televisions that meet the HDR10 standard, along with minimum brightness and contrast ratios, as UltraHD Premium. Dolby Vision is a closed standard from Dolby; it supports 12-bit color and determines ranges in the signal it provides to a display on the fly based on the display itself and the needs of the scene. Televisions that support Dolby Vision note so on their packaging.

Some other HDR standards and variants are also available, but they've yet to see the broad acceptance of HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) is a standard from the BBC and Japanese broadcaster NHK, which is backward compatible with standard dynamic range TVs.

Meanwhile, Samsung has HDR10+, which adds variable metadata to brightness, changing the range of bright and dark that video can display from scene to scene. It's basically Samsung's answer to Dolby Vision, which the company perplexingly refuses to put on its TVs in favor of its own standard.

HDR content is generally rarer than SDR UHD content, but it's still widely available, especially for new shows and films on major streaming services. Ultra HD Blu-rays, along with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, and other streaming apps, all support HDR in HDR10 and/or Dolby Vision. Whether one standard is better than the other is difficult to determine at this point; HDR10 uses more concrete values and is easier to technically evaluate, but Dolby Vision is designed to specifically fit the needs and limits of whatever television you use. Whether it's HDR10 or Dolby Vision, HDR-capable televisions can produce a better picture than TVs that don't support the wider color gamuts or increased range of luminance information.

Which TV Brand Is the Best?

This is a pretty common question, and the short answer is: Don't shop for a TV based on the brand. Every TV manufacturer makes a full range of models in a variety of tiers based on price and performance. Different brands of TVs in the same tier are much more comparable than the same TV brand in different tiers, and you should keep that in mind. For example, just because it's a Samsung TV doesn't mean it's a good or bad Samsung TV; there's a wide spread of performance among Samsung TVs in the first place.

When Is the Best Time to Buy a TV?

Keep an eye out for sales around big sporting events like the Super Bowl or when football season is just starting to find price cuts of a few hundred dollars or more. Also, expect huge price slashes on budget and midrange televisions during Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. Note that manufacturers typically announce new TVs in January and mark down the previous year's models around that time. Regardless of when you shop, pay attention to which models are on sale; different tiers and series of TVs can perform wildly differently, and some budget and midrange lines aren't nearly as good as higher-end models. Check the model numbers carefully against reviews for a good sense of whether the discount you see is worthwhile.

Are Cheap TVs Worth the Price?

Performance among budget TVs priced below $1,000 for 65 inches varies wildly. Some TVs in this price range offer excellent picture quality, like the Hisense U6N, but there's also a sea of cheap models that don't measure up in one way or another. Although big names like LG, Samsung, and Sony make some incredible flagship TVs, their inexpensive models generally aren't any better than baseline models from more budget-centric brands like Hisense and TCL—and they're usually a bit more expensive. Specs don't tell the whole story either; even if it says 4K HDR, it could be a steal, or it could be a disappointment. As always, our reviews (and the picture quality tests we perform) can help you find a screen that doesn't trade quality for the price.

What Is the Best OLED TV?

When they first came out nearly two decades ago, plasma TVs were the only flat-panel models available. However, they're now a dead category, and you won't find a major television manufacturer that sells new plasma models. That means you likely must choose between LED-backlit LCD TVs (also simply called LED TVs) and much less common, much more expensive OLED displays.

First, a note: LCD and LED TVs are distinct types, even though both use LCD panels that require some sort of illumination. Traditional LCD TVs rely on cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) for that task, while the now more common LED TVs use LEDs.

There are further differences in the various designs. LED TVs can be either edge-lit or backlit. Edge-lit TVs light up their screens with arrays of LEDs along the edges of the panels, allowing the set to be thin and light. Backlit TVs use a large array of LEDs directly behind the panel. That design choice makes the screen a little thicker but enables more even illumination and, for high-end screens, the ability to adjust individual LEDs to enhance black levels. Very good edge-lighting systems can produce excellent pictures, though, and TV manufacturers are making backlit LED arrays smaller and thinner, so the distinction means less than in the past. No matter the technology, an LED TV's thinness and brightness are roughly proportional to its price.

OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays are a rare and very expensive TV technology. Despite their name, they are drastically different from LED-backlit televisions. In fact, they're closer to plasma screens in how they work. Each diode generates both color and light, like in plasma screens, but the diodes can be much smaller and thinner than even LED-lit panels. That makes it possible for them to produce very impressive black levels.

Is OLED or QLED Better?

Generally speaking, QLED TVs (or LCD-based LED TVs) are brighter and usually more affordable than OLED models but have imperfect shadow detail. OLED TVs offer incredible color and perfect black levels but aren't as bright as QLED panels.

Consider your budget and the lighting in the room where you plan to put your TV. An OLED will do best in a home theater where you can block out most outside light, while a QLED will have an edge in a room that gets plenty of windows and sun. That said, as OLED TVs get brighter and more affordable, and QLED TVs use smaller and more numerous mini-LEDs for their backlights, the distinctions between the two will become less and less significant.

What Size TV Should You Get?

A big TV that's too close can be just as uncomfortable to watch as a small one that's too far away, so don't assume that the biggest screen available is the best choice. There are a few different rules of thumb regarding TV screen size based on your distance from it.

Generally, the distance between your couch and your TV should be between 1.2 and 1.6 times the diagonal measurement of your screen. So if your couch is six feet away from your screen, you can comfortably watch a TV between 42 and 60 inches. If your couch is five feet away, a 37- to 52-inch screen should work well.

For more, see our stories on how to choose the right TV screen size, the best 65-inch TVs, and the best 75-inch (and up) TVs.

What Is a Good TV Refresh Rate and Contrast Ratio?

One of the biggest problems with narrowing your choices to a single TV is the sheer number of specs. To make your job a little easier, two of the biggies, refresh rate and contrast ratio, are safe to ignore.

Refresh (or response) rate, the speed at which your TV's panel refreshes its image, is expressed in hertz (60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz, 480Hz, or 600Hz). The theory is that a faster refresh rate results in a smoother image. But in reality, there are several reasons this simply isn't true, and it's not worth paying more for a set with a faster response rate. In many cases, 60Hz is just fine for films and TV, and 120Hz is plenty for video games and sports (though you should probably turn off those higher refresh rate modes when watching most shows and movies to avoid that jarring soap opera effect). Also, keep in mind that numbers above 120Hz (except for a few Samsung TVs with gaming monitor-like 144Hz refresh rates), tend not to indicate a panel's native refresh rate; they're usually numbers produced through various backlight flickering and other image processing tricks.

Contrast ratio, meanwhile, is the difference between the darkest black and the brightest white a panel can display. In theory, the highest contrast ratio possible is desirable since dark blacks and bright whites contribute to a high-quality picture. There isn't really a standard way for manufacturers to measure this spec, though, and vendors are all vying to come up with the highest ratios so their TVs seem more appealing. Previously, OLED TVs were the only models we've tested to actually produce an "infinite" contrast ratio with a perfect 0 black level, but recently mini LED backlight systems have enabled some TVs, like Samsung's flagship LED models, to also offer perfect black levels with no noticeable light bloom. We measure contrast ratios with a consistent process across all TVs, so you can trust our numbers.

What Are the Different TV Connections?

Ideally, a TV should provide enough video connections for now and the foreseeable future. The most important input is HDMI, which supports all major forms of digital video sources, including Blu-ray players, game consoles, set-top boxes, and PCs through a single cable. Most TVs have three or four HDMI ports, but some might only have two. If you want a 4K screen, make sure the HDMI ports are at least HDMI 2.0. It's the current standard and supports 4K video at 60 frames per second; at best, older HDMI ports can only handle 4K up to 30 frames per second. HDMI 2.1, meanwhile, supports higher resolutions and faster refresh rates, though it isn't vital for most content currently available.

As for cables, unless you have a huge home theater system and plan to run cables between devices at distances longer than 25 feet (and that's being generous), brands and prices don't matter. We've compared the performance of high-end cables and inexpensive ones and found that they all carry digital signals similarly. More expensive cables might have better build quality, but you won't see any performance advantages from them. Don't shop for HDMI cables at retail stores, and ignore any clerks who warn you of "dirty electricity" or "viruses" that can come with cheap cables (both claims I've witnessed). Hop online and find the least expensive cable at the size you need and snap it up.

Just ensure the cables are labeled HDMI 2.1, "Premium High Speed," or "Ultra High Speed." For more, see our story on what you need to know about HDMI cables.

HDMI also supports the highest-end home theater audio standards, though you'll generally have to give up a port as a video input to use it. Most TVs have an HDMI port with an audio return channel (ARC) clearly labeled on the back. ARC enables sound to be sent downstream to a connected soundbar or speaker system from the TV over HDMI and supports compressed 5.1-channel surround sound like optical connections do. However, recent TVs have enhanced ARC, or eARC, which offers even higher-quality audio and more features than optical or ARC can provide. eARC supports uncompressed multi-channel sound, including spatial audio like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. In fact, if you want to use those much more precise surround systems instead of discrete channel feeds, you need to use eARC.

If you have legacy devices from before the days of HDTVs, some new TVs might still support them. While they're not standard, many TVs have composite or component video inputs you can use to hook up VCRs and older game systems. Groups of full-sized RCA ports might be available, but you're more likely to find 3.5mm ports designed for use with included dongles that convert the 3.5mm connection to three RCA ports for composite video or five RCA ports for component video.

Should You Calibrate Your TV?

Most modern TVs are accurate enough out of the box that they don't need calibration. Just follow our five simple tweaks to get the best picture settings for your TV and you should be good to go.

Still, if you spent a lot on your new TV, you might want to calibrate it to obtain the best picture possible. Professional calibrations can cost hundreds of dollars, but if you have a high-end home theater (the kind you hired someone to build for you), it can be a worthwhile added expense. And if you don't, you can get a calibration Blu-ray and make some tweaks yourself. You can also use the Apple TV's Color Balance feature, though it doesn't come close to a professional calibration and only affects the Apple TV device's (not the Apple TV app) output itself.

And, of course, don't forget to turn off motion smoothing (the effect that makes everything look like a soap opera) unless you're watching sports.