Buying a new TV is intimidating. Look for one online and you’ll get bombarded with acronyms and numbers. Visit a store and you’ll come face-to-face with a wall of images that are more confusing than helpful. But we all know that once it’s in our living rooms, we’ll spend thousands of hours relying on that screen to transport us to The White Lotus, make sure we’re caught up on Oscar-worthy films, show us all the NFL action, and even serve as a hub for learning basically anything via YouTube.
Since we spend so much time with our TVs, it’s worth doing a bit of research to make sure you’re buying the right TV for your preferences, including budget, made by a trustworthy brand. But instead of opening 57 browser tabs to Google all of the TV jargon, we’ve checked in with home entertainment expert Will Greenwald, a Lead Analyst at PCMag, which Mashables publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns.
Following Greenwald’s expertise (he and the PCMag team use high-end equipment to test each TV) and Mashable’s experience, we’ve narrowed down the best TV brands to a list that’s easy to digest. Below, we’ll explain which TV brands excel where and mention a few top picks from each brand to help narrow down your endless options.
LG makes some of the best OLED TVs on the market today. They offer superior image contrast and close to perfect black levels, and they tend to be great when viewed from an off-angle. The LG lineup of sizes and prices is also noteworthy, allowing shoppers to spend less than $1,000.
Without wasting any time, Greenwald wrote to Mashable, “The LG Evo G5 is the best OLED TV Ive seen yet,” which is truly impressive since he’s tested more than 170 TVs with highly specialized equipment. “If you can afford it, the stunning LG Evo G5 is simply one of the most gorgeous TVs you can buy,” Greenwald explained in his review.
The LG Evo G5 knocks it out of the park in terms of brightness, with super accurate colors. The “G” is LG’s Gallery series, which comes with a slim design meant to be hung on the wall, sitting nearly flush. The modern edge-to-edge screen comes with hardly any bezel.
In terms of gaming, the LG Evo G5 has a 144Hz refresh rate that can reach up to 165Hz with variable refresh rate (VRR). Greenwald’s testing shows input lag of 4.8 milliseconds, which is well below the 10-millisecond threshold considered to be acceptable for gaming. In simpler terms, that’s less than one frame of latency per second.
The LG Evo G5 comes in 55, 65, 77, 83, and 97 inches.
If you’re looking for an LG TV that’s less expensive than the Evo G5, the C4 is a standout model. Mashable’s sister publication, CNET (also published by Ziff Davis), considers the LG C4, which debuted in 2024, to be an excellent OLED TV. This model is brighter than its C3 predecessor and comes with a 144Hz refresh rate. CNET’s review said, “The LG C4 combines superb picture quality with a price thats not incredibly unreasonable, making it a top dog among its competitors.”
The size range here leans smaller, with the option of 42- and 48-inch versions, which are smaller than the LG Evo G5 goes (the smallest G5 is 55 inches). Of course, smaller means a more affordable price, and the 42- and 48-inch LG C4 come in at under $1,000.
The LG C4 comes in 42, 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83 inches.
You don’t need to spend several thousand dollars to get a great TV. Budget-friendly options come with plenty of features packed into a high-quality screen, and many options cost less than $1,000. In terms of brands, Greenwald says Hisense and TCL lead the way as the best options that offer affordable prices without skimping on quality. Here are a few picks Greenwald recommends after extensive testing.
The 4K QLED Hisense U8N comes with features and a display that feels like it should cost much more. “Hisense once again hits it out of the park with a premium TV that rivals much more expensive competitors,” mentioned Greenwald in his PCMag review, while listing it as a “fantastic value.”
In Greenwald’s testing, the U8N was shockingly impressive, hitting 920 nits in HDR Theater mode and then achieving 2,755 nits when testing with an 18 percent white field. For comparison, the Samsung QN90D (which costs more than double the U8N’s price) only gets to 1,253 nits with an 18 percent white field. Greenwald also mentioned that off-angle viewing of the U8N is pretty perfect with no desaturation.
On Mashable’s list of the best 65+ inch TVs, the TCL QM8 earns the top spot. Finding the balance between affordable price and great image quality, we consider the TCL QM8 to be an excellent option for most people. Greenwald’s testing showed incredible brightness levels thanks to the 4K QLED with HDR content in Dolby Vision. Greenwald also mentioned “very good color performance, and loads of useful features,” which add to the attractively affordable price. “It beats rival Hisense models in peak brightness, so its the TV to get if you simply want the highest light output.”
Gaming stats are also impressive, with a 120Hz native refresh rate that can reach up to 144Hz with VRR support from AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Input lag is also impressive, measuring just 6.4 milliseconds in Game Mode, according to Greenwald’s testing, which makes it slightly quicker than the Hisense U8N.
The TCL QM8s size options are also impressive, ranging from 65 to a massive 115 inches.
The TCL QM8 comes in 65, 75, 85, 98, and 115 inches.
Samsung earns the top spot as the best TV manufacturer with unique feature offerings. The brand has several impressive models that wow in terms of performance, plus its one of the only manufacturers to release 8K TVs (but you don’t need one). Samsung’s The Frame lineup is also noteworthy.
Without a doubt, Samsung’s family of The Frame models is what you want if you like the idea of your TV also serving as a digital picture frame. When you’re not watching TV, The Frame can go into Art Mode, giving you access to the library of graphics or giving you the option to display your own photos. Customizing The Frame’s functions is also possible, so the TV (including Art Mode) can power off when it detects no one is in the room. Greenwald also mentions that many libraries and museums offer free high-resolution images of paintings that you can add to The Frame’s library to display in your home.
The overall look of The Frame is meant to be similar to a hanging piece of art, sitting nearly flush with the wall, and the matte finish cuts down on glare while also adding to the overall art aesthetic. Greenwald explained in his review, “You can even set the ambient art mode to display a matte frame around the picture to further improve the illusion. With the backlight set to a moderate level, the effect is striking and stealthy enough that guests could mistake what appears on screen for a framed painting at first glance.” Thanks to these features, he’s ranked it as his top pick for a digital picture frame.
Sadly, Greenwald doesn’t feel that The Frame’s performance as a TV justifies the price. He noted, “For watching videos, the TVs performance is more in line with very good budget models.”
The Frame Pro is an updated version of the original offering, and the nearly wireless design is a cool upgrade. It still needs a power cord, but everything else, like HDMI ports, is stored in a Wireless One Connect Box. Samsung also upgraded to a Neo QLED 4K display with The Frame Pro. But again, Greenwald thinks more affordable options, specifically the Hisense U8N, offer a better value unless you find the Art Mode features worth the cost.
Samsung The Frame comes in 43, 50, 55, 65, 75, and 85 inches.
Samsung The Frame Pro comes in 65, 75, and 85 inches.
The Samsung S95D is a great option, performing well in terms of contrast, variety of features, and gaming specs. Greenwald said it has “fantastic contrast and color that OLED TVs typically offer, along with light output that rivals many high-end LED models.” The S95D earned a PCMag Editors’ Choice award thanks to its specs, including almost undetectable input lag. But the real appeal of the Samsung S95D is the picture quality with perfect black levels and detailed shadows, as seen by Greenwald’s testing results.
The included Eco Remote has solar recharging capabilities, which feels like a modern and thoughtful touch on Samsung’s part. Plus, it comes with Samsung’s One Connect Box, which is always welcomed since it moves all connection ports to an external component, allowing for a slimmer design.
The Samsung S95D comes in 55, 65, and 77 inches.
The 4K OLED Samsung S95F impressed Greenwald when he tested a pre-production version, being the brand’s brightest OLED yet, dethroning its predecessor, the Samsung S95D. The built-in speakers on almost all TVs aren’t worth using (you should probably upgrade to a soundbar), but Greenwald was actually impressed with the advanced speaker system on the Samsung S95F. The 120Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and acceptable input lag also make the S95F a nice gaming TV option.
The Samsung S95F comes in 55, 65, and 77 inches.
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One of the least intimidating ways to start shopping for a TV is to pick a size. Those are listed in inches and measure the screen diagonally from corner to corner. On the small size, you can find 42-inch TVs, and on the large size, you’ll be getting into 75+ inches. Keep in mind that bigger isn’t always better, and you’ll want to consider how far away you’ll be from the TV to help find a comfortable fit. PCMag recommends going with at least 55 inches if you’ll be sitting between six and seven feet away. Eight feet warrants a 65-inch TV, which is Mashable’s recommendation for most people.
If you’re unsure, PCMag suggests you grab a cardboard box from the recycling pile, cut it into the TV dimensions you’re considering, and see how it feels on your wall.
Two of the most common acronyms you’ll see when choosing a new TV are QLED and OLED. These both refer to the type of display a TV comes with, and they’re quite different.
OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, and each pixel of the display is independent, generating its own light. “OLED panels can produce the best possible contrast of all display technologies. If part of the picture is black, those pixels can simply turn off and emit no light at all,” Greenwald explains in his OLED vs. QLED comparison. OLED screens are fantastic for displaying a color range with deep blacks, but they tend to be pricey.
QLED, quantum dot LED, screens incorporate a layer of nanocrystals on an LCD panel. If you typically watch TV during the day, QLED models tend to offer a better experience in bright rooms, QLEDs also tend to be more affordable than a comparable OLED, so they might be preferred if you’re hoping to keep the budget in check.
You might be hanging onto a 1080p TV, but 4K has become the industry standard. These numbers refer to the TVs resolution, and 4K translates to a display with at least 8 million active pixels, or four times as many compared to a 1080p display. “This means 4K is obviously much sharper than 1080p. In the space that a 1080p TV holds a pixel, a 4K TV of the same size can hold four,” Greenwald explained. “That makes for a significant jump in clarity.” Since 4K TVs are the norm these days, finding one that matches your size and budget preferences should be fairly straightforward, and you’ll have plenty of options under the $1,000 mark.
For years, we’ve been hearing about 8K TVs, but you don’t need one (yet). As of May 2025, you can buy a TV that’s capable of 8K resolution from Samsung, LG, and Sony, but you’ll have limited 8K media to play on that screen aside from some demo footage and a spattering of content from NHK, Japans public broadcaster. It’s very likely that by the time we actually get a decent library of 8K content, TV technology will have advanced far from where it is now, rendering your first-in-line 8K TV outdated. Instead, stick with 4K for now and upgrade in the future.
Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader’s Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she’s not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three.