Saving up for a new screen? To help you navigate the dozens of seemingly identical TV models from Samsung, LG, Vizio, TCL, Sony, and other manufacturers, we’ve watched hundreds of hours of content on them and picked a few of our favorites. We’ve listed everything from the very best TV to the best budget set you can buy—and a few excellent choices in between.
All of these models have a 4K Ultra HD pixel resolution (and some have 8K), because there aren’t a lot of good reasons to buy a standard HDTV anymore. TVs now come with wonderful displays, but they’re terrible at audio and can have lackluster interfaces, so you should also invest in a good soundbar and a TV streaming stick if you can’t find the app you want. If you’re unfamiliar with much of the lingo TV manufacturers use, our How to Buy a TV guide can help.
Updated January 2023: We’ve removed older models and updated this guide with our latest favorites from Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony, Hisense, and TCL.
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TVs can be tricky to shop for. Whether you read my exquisite guide to the Best TVs or not, you probably won’t find every top model at your local Walmart, Best Buy, or Costco. And when you’re browsing retail websites, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by marketing speak like HDR or local dimming. That’s why I’ve collected a few tips, tricks, and terms to help you shop smarter when buying a new TV. Think of these as a checklist to consider before you head to the store (or Amazon) to buy your next big screen.
Be sure to check out our guide to the Best Soundbars and our tips on upgrading your home audio to round out your home theater.
Table of Contents
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What Size TV Should You Get?
Samsung QN50A
Photograph: Samsung
Bigger screens are always better, right? When it comes to TVs, sure, but that doesn’t mean you should always spring for the largest size. Pricing on larger models can get out of hand, and you should always make sure you have room for all that screen.
Under 55 Inches
Some high-end OLED TVs have smaller sizes so they can double as computer monitors, but most TVs below 55 inches are largely nonstandard these days. Many manufacturers still make models below this size, but you likely won’t be getting the latest and greatest performance if you don’t go with a TV that’s 55 inches or larger.
55-Inch TVs
This is the standard size for modern TVs. It’s ideal for the average room in a home or apartment, but if you have a larger space, you may want to size up. Beware that TVs this size and larger often come with feet on both ends of the screen; if you’re not wall-mounting, make sure you measure the width of your TV stand to ensure it can hold your new TV.
65-Inch TVs
This is a good size option for larger living rooms or for spaces where you’re going to have many eyes watching at once. If you have the extra cash and space, it is worth the upgrade for those who love seeing details even closer in films and TV shows.
75 Inches and Above
I only really recommend TVs this size and larger for those with huge rooms looking for a cinematic experience. Buyer beware: Pricing on TVs this large can get exorbitant (into the tens of thousands for high-end models). Cheaper ones (under $1,000) might not look so great due to low resolutions.
What Screen Resolution Do You Need?
TCL 8K TV
Photograph: TCL
Resolution means the number of pixels on your screen. Modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution), 4K “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants. The former and the latter are somewhat rare, but for opposite reasons: Full HD screens are now old tech and are reserved for only the smallest and cheapest screens; 8K resolution is available only on expensive, very large TVs.
What’s the difference? More pixels! 4K TVs have about four times the number of pixels as 1080p screens, and 8K TVs have about four times that of 4K models, or 16 times (!) that of 1080p. In theory, this means a much clearer picture, but that’s not necessarily true. Because the pixels in a 4K TV at standard size (55-65 inches) are already packed so densely into the display, you may not be able to see the difference between 4K and 8K TVs unless you’re watching at a close distance. There’s also not much content available in 8K.
Stick to a 4K UHD screen—it’s your best bet unless you want a huge, expensive screen or something tiny and cheap for your bedroom.
What Is Backlighting?
TCL 5 Series
Photograph: TCL
Put simply, TVs (except OLEDs and some specialty models) are made up of multiple layers. There’s a layer that makes the color and image as well as a layer that lights said image so we can see it. These backlighting systems have a big impact on how good your screen looks in terms of contrast (the difference and definition between dark and light objects). Here are some backlighting terms you’ll likely run into and what they mean:
Edge lighting is typically used in low-end TVs, or TVs that need to be thinner than their direct-lit and locally dimmed counterparts. It involves a ring of lights around the screen that is then used to illuminate the display.
The new Imax Enhanced format reclaims a huge chunk of that screen real estate. There’s still a little bit of black bar space—TVs usually have an aspect ratio of 1.77:1, which is slightly taller—but you’re getting about a 26 percent larger picture than traditional ultra widescreen movies.
Sometimes, when streaming services try to fix the letterboxing problem, they do so in ways that negatively affect the picture. For example, when Disney scaled up The Simpsons to fill the screen all the way to the sides, it ended up cropping out some details that were essential for certain jokes to land. With this new Imax Enhanced format, that space is being filled by parts of the picture that were there when the cameras first recorded the movie. You’re gaining data instead of losing it.
Do I Need to Upgrade My TV?
The thousand-dollar question any time we talk about new video formats is whether the TV you have can use it, or if you’ll have to upgrade. When it comes to the aspect ratio benefits above, there’s good news: You can play Imax Enhanced content on most TVs and enjoy the larger picture.
However, Imax Enhanced is more than just an aspect ratio. It also includes certifications and guidelines for HDR video, and Imax teamed up with DTS to add specifications for DTS audio. You can think of these as Imax’s alternatives to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Both are standards that are designed to get the best picture and audio quality out of your system. For that, you might need a new TV.
A number of TVs from companies like Sony, HiSense, and TCL already support Imax Enhanced, so you might have one already. Then there are sound systems to think of. You can have an Imax Enhanced–compatible TV but still use whatever soundbar you want, but to get the full benefits of the standard, you might need new audio hardware.
It’s possible that some hardware could get an update to support the Imax Enhanced specification. Many TVs or sound systems are technically capable of outputting the kind of color, brightness, or audio quality the standard requires, but shipped before it was introduced in 2018. There’s no guarantee your TV will ever get an update, but some devices have. On the other end, Disney+ is the only major streaming service to include Imax Enhanced movies and shows, but it’s not completely alone. There’s support in Sony’s Bravia Core, Rakuten TV, and a few other platforms.
Ultimately, not having Imax Enhanced support doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy any of these movies. But it’s a way to get the closest thing to a proper Imax screening in the comfort of your own home. Even if your screen isn’t as monstrous as what you find in theaters, you can still reclaim a lot of your TV’s real estate and get a picture that’s similar to what you saw the first time you watched a film in Imax.
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Saving up for a new screen? To help you navigate the dozens of seemingly identical TV models from Samsung, LG, Vizio, TCL, Sony, and other manufacturers, we’ve watched hundreds of hours of content on them and picked a few of our favorites. We’ve listed everything from the best budget TV to the absolute best set you can buy—and a few excellent choices in between.
Unless labeled otherwise, every TV we link to is 55 inches. There are often larger and smaller sizes available on the retailer’s site, but this is a very good size for most living rooms. All of these models have a 4K Ultra HD pixel resolution (and some have 8K), because there aren’t a lot of good reasons to buy a standard HDTV anymore.
We also believe you should invest in a good soundbar and TV streaming stick. TVs now come with wonderful displays, but they’re terrible at sound and running apps. Be sure to check out our many other buying guides.
Updated October 2021: We’ve added the Samsung QN90A, Hisense U8G, LG C1 OLED, and Sony A90J. There have beenmild price fluctuations due to the international chip shortage. We’ve updated the links and prices, but they may fluctuate more than usual.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a1-year subscription toWIREDfor $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
Even as suppliers struggle to keep up with demand, it’s a great time to buy a new TV. The mid-tier market is more competitive than ever. You can get a lot these days for well under $1,000, and prices keep plummeting while our eyes reap the rewards.
The Vizio M-Series is among the best of a very closely matched bunch. It has quantum dots for brighter colors, local dimming for deeper blacks, a variable refresh rate for gaming, and a current price—at 55 inches—under $700. A TV that ticks all of those boxes is rarely this affordable. If you’re in the market for a new flatscreen, then that’s very good news for your wallet.
The Black Box
When you’re shopping in person, it can be tough to pick between good mid-range TVs because they all tend to look the same. Unfortunately, the M-Series is no different. Like various mid-priced models from TCL, Samsung, and LG, it’s about an inch and a half thick with relatively thin bezels. It comes with a rather generic-looking plastic remote that has a few hot keys for streaming services.
Photograph: Vizio
You’ll want to wall-mount this one unless you have a big TV stand. It has legs out near the ends, rather than a center pedestal, which means you’ll need a stand that’s about as long as the TV itself. That’s not going to work in every living room.
All of this is because Vizio’s entire business model is to take top-tier technology and put it into something affordable. That means compromises in aesthetics. So you’re not getting razor-thin looks here, but you do get Vizio’s excellent backlighting technology and iQ processing engine.
The company’s local dimming backlighting tech can turn off or dim based on the content that’s playing. In super dark scenes, some of the 32 zones of the backlighting are able to hit different brightnesses, so you get less gray and something closer to black.
Local dimming isn’t as good as with organic LED, or “OLED” technology, where each pixel is its own backlight, but it definitely still improves contrast quality. Vizio’s expertise with the tech is fully on display with this new M-Series. Watching darker shows like Stranger Things and The Mandolorian, I noticed that everything still manages to look crisp and clean, with just a touch of light bloom (where you get a halo around bright objects on dark backgrounds).
I should note that this model has HDMI 2.1 ports—an earlier 2021 M-Series model came with HDMI 2.0 ports, but that’s been remedied here. This upgraded port supports the eArc standard for easy soundbar setup that immediately integrates with the TV remote. And you should use a soundbar or a set of speakers, because the TV’s audio is pretty tinny, though it does sound better than thinner TVs.
