You’ve picked a great time to buy a new TV. There’s never been a better combination of quality and price available. Whether you’re looking for a bargain or the best, there’s an option for you.

TVs are brighter and produce better color and contrast than ever before. Recent advances in TV tech — such as quantum-dot OLEDs and Mini-LED LCDs — have trickled down from expensive, flagship TVs to models the rest of us can afford.

While the best TVs are still a significant investment, you can find large screens with good colors and contrast for not a lot of cash, too. If you can spend more, you’ll be wowed with what you see.

To help steer you to the best choices, we spent the past few months testing the latest available models of a range of TVs, from 43 to 85 inches. After many hours binging our favorite shows and movies in the name of research, comparing aspect ratios and display quality, and testing the smarts of each model, we found that these three TVs rose to the top.

The colors are what you’ll notice first. Like Samsung’s more expensive S95C, red, blues and greens jump off the screen and draw your eye. It makes watching feel lively, whether it’s the fiery explosion of the atomic bomb in “Oppenheimer” or players streaking across the field during a soccer match.

The S90C’s quantum-dot OLED screen is plenty bright for almost any room, so you needn’t worry about the typical brightness compromise to get an OLED’s film-like picture. The tech produces excellent contrast, revealing details in dark scenes, though it doesn’t support Dolby Vision, which could cause some people to choose LG’s similarly priced C3 instead. The S90C also looks good from a variety of angles, making it a great fit for rooms in which many people will be watching at the same time.

Gamers will love that all four HDMI ports support HDMI 2.1 — ideal for making the most of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s ultra-smooth 120Hz gameplay capabilities — and it has very low latency. Paired with Samsung’s Gaming Hub, which gives you access to many of the top game streaming services, the S90C can be a centerpiece of a game room.

While not as slim as the S95C, the S90C’s design is stylish and looks well built. It certainly appears more polished than many sub-$1,000 sets.

The S90C’s biggest drawback is its price; it’s typically available on sale for around $1,600 for the 65-inch model. But you get a lot of the tech and picture quality of the much more expensive S95C, which typically runs over $3,000. It may be hard to justify the expense when many TVs around $1,000 deliver a pretty good picture, but if you can find the extra money, it’s worth it.

You don’t have to spend much to get an impressive picture these days. Starting at just $400 for the 55-inch model, the Hisense U6K incorporates Mini-LED and quantum-dot technology to deliver eye-popping colors and rich contrast — something you’d pay well over a thousand dollars for a few years ago.

Reds, greens and blues radiate from the screen, and you can see details in dark scenes that most lower-cost TVs can produce. It even has decent sound on its own, though a soundbar will improve your viewing experience.

You do give something up to get a gorgeous picture at this price, though. In the case of the U6K, it comes at the expense of speed. The TV runs Google TV, a robust smart TV platform but one that taxes even higher-priced models. The result is a sluggish interface, but you can overcome that by adding an external streaming device, such as a Roku Streaming Stick.

The U6K also had some trouble handling fast-moving sports action — it stuttered during playback, especially in 4K — and it looks best when you’re watching directly in front. If you’re off to the side, the picture loses its vibrancy.

If you want the best TV no matter the cost, the Sony Bravia A95L is the one you want to buy. Starting at about $2,800 for the 55-inch model, the A95L isn’t for those on a budget. But what you get is the most impressive TV we’ve ever tested.

The A95L’s picture is the star of the show. Its OLED screen incorporates quantum-dot technology to produce excellent contrast, which makes it easy to see activity in dark scenes. Colors look amazingly realistic and accurate, though they aren’t as vivid as Samsung’s flagship S95C (another very impressive TV). In addition to making the most of 4K signals, the A95L does a great job of upconverting regular HD video to make it seem like it’s in 4K (or at least close to it).

But there’s more to the A95L than just the picture. It is jam-packed with the latest tech. Its processor easily handles the strain of Google TV, resulting in a quick interface. The A95L supports Dolby Vision in Game Mode, translating the impressive picture to gaming. Its 2.2-channel sound system spreads throughout the room and delivers some bass. It even comes with a Bravia Cam, which you can use for video conferencing, but more importantly, it can calibrate the picture to the current conditions of the room.

The only downside to this TV is the price. But if you want the best TV, this is the one to buy — and it should please your eyes for years. Think of it as an investment in your future happiness.

It’s getting harder to choose between OLED and Mini-LED LCDs. It used to be simple: You picked OLED if you cared most about picture quality, and LCD if brightness was most important.

Quantum-dot OLED (QD-OLED) is the latest in premium TV panel technology. QD-OLED increases brightness and vibrancy, as well as produces more accurate colors. While still not as bright as LCD (in most cases), QD-OLEDs should be bright enough for well-lit rooms in the daytime.

Mini LEDs combined with quantum dots bring LCD TVs closer to OLED’s ideal picture quality by improving contrast while keeping the sharp detail and eye-burning brightness that LCDs are known for.

So what does this mean? Brands continue to release models using both OLED and Mini LED technology, all of them battling for the title of the best possible picture but in reality, providing alternatives for buyers looking to watch in different types of rooms. At this point, OLEDs still have the edge on absolute picture quality but are still less bright, so they’re a better fit for darker rooms, while brighter Mini LEDs can work in spaces that get a lot of natural light.

As these technologies evolve, we’re seeing more and more variations on them. TCL, for example, just unveiled its new QD-Mini LED TV series, which is a mouthful of a term that essentially promises the high brightness of a Mini LED television with advanced processing that aims to provide richer colors and more prominent blacks than the company’s previous Mini LED sets. We also recently got our eyes on the Hisense U9N ULED TV (short for Ultra LED), which is a similar variation on Mini LED that impressed us with its QLED-like color quality and remarkably high brightness. Both TCL’s and Hisense’s latest sets are rated for a peak brightness of up to 5,000 nits, which trumps many of our favorite OLED sets by a few thousand nits.

TL;DR: Non-OLED TVs are getting ever closer to OLED quality, sometimes with cheaper prices and even better brightness.

We were careful to call out the core technology in the TVs we tested and to note how (or if) it seemed to impact the viewing experience. Our testing pool consisted of a mix of OLEDs, QLEDs and LED panels. QLEDs and LED panels are similar in that they both use a backlit panel that transmits light through filters containing pixels to create an image. An OLED is entirely different as it emits the image through individual pixels.

Design and appeal

Ports and connectivity

Note: The built-in speakers on most TVs in 2024 are generally lackluster. If high-quality audio is important to you, given the many relatively affordable options now available, we recommend adding an external soundbar or home theater setup to any of the TVs we tested.

Sony’s top LCD-based TV rivals OLEDs for picture quality and includes some of the tech that makes the A95L our luxury pick. The Bravia XR X93L produces bright colors, deep contrast and sharp detail — everything you want in a TV picture.

But it’s more expensive than our overall favorite, the Samsung S90C, and the picture quality is similar. There’s also no 55-inch version, which could be a deal breaker. But if you prefer LCDs to OLEDs, this could be the TV for you.

From $370 at Amazon and Best Buy

The TCL Q6 also gives you a lot for your money, just like our budget pick, the Hisense U6K. The Q6’s colors are vivid, and it produces a good overall picture. Best of all, you can often find it for less than the U6K. However, it doesn’t handle dark scenes well and suffers some similar issues as the U6K, such as a sluggish interface and limited viewing angles. But if you find a great deal on one, you may be able to overlook those things.

In the money-is-no-object category, we prefer the overall picture quality of the Sony A95L, but Samsung’s flagship OLED TV makes a strong case. Its colors are more vivid than the A95L, and the display handles hues especially well. It also has eye appeal: The electronics are in a separate box, allowing the panel itself to come in at just 0.4 inches thick.

However, like other Samsung TVs, it doesn’t support Dolby Vision, which may be a deal breaker for you. And the Sony A95L just does more for the money. But if you prefer Samsung to Sony — and you can afford it — you’ll probably be just as happy with the S95C as with the A95L.

There is no beating the price for Amazon’s Fire TV Omni when it’s on sale. But it’s only a good choice if you are interested in smart TV features (and Amazon content) over picture quality.

Like other budget options, it has a standard LED panel, and it can’t get overly bright or intensely dark, which leads to a lack of vibrancy and overall poor contrast. It’s not the worst we’ve ever tested, but we think anyone who cares about picture quality should step up to TCL’s 6-Series.

There are some good points for those mostly interested in convenience. The Fire TV interface is much improved in responsiveness on the Omni, and we like being able to control the entire experience with our voice through Alexa.

We dig The Frame because rather than just being a blank black screen when it’s off, it not only shows art but with its ultra-slim bezel and wall mount, it looks like it was meant to do just that. Aside from it’s art showcasing features, it’s a crisp, vibrant QLED panel that boasts a high refresh rate, and it’ll get the job done for watching the big game or taking in the latest superhero flick. You do end up paying a premium for this with a starting price of around $600, and that doesn’t include the physical “frame” that attaches around the TV itself.

We were impressed with the picture quality of the Samsung Q80T, thanks to the ample backlighting and the quantum processor. Sound quality was surprisingly great as well.

It does fall in the upper echelon of picture quality by offering more details than our previous budget pick, though at a price that stings a bit more. The Q80T also supports fewer services than some competitors. Those looking for a luxury panel will still find the Sony A95L a better pick and those looking for a more affordable TV will be happy with the Hisense U6K.

If we had a unique design pick, the Samsung The Sero would have taken the cake. We first saw this motorized TV — and previewed it — at CES 2020. It stands as the most unique TV we’ve ever tested. With a press of a button, the TV screen flips from a vertical view to a horizontal one.

So why the flipping design? Well, it integrates with your phone and is targeted at millennials. You can screencast your Android phone and basically have it mirrored on The Sero. When you flip your phone, the TV screen flips. Truth be told, it’s pretty cool in person. It’s great for viewing TikToks and really sits as a talking point wherever it is set up.

We’re still waiting on the promised iOS support, but The Sero stands as a lifestyle piece or a conversation starter more than a TV for everyone.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story included eight additional TVs in the “Others we tested” section (including models from Vizio, Toshiba, TCL, Samsung, LG and Sony) that have become unavailable since our latest update.