Today’s best TVs offer lifelike picture, brilliant colors and smart capabilities that allow you to stream, game and more from the large screen. Right now, our overall favorite is the Samsung S95D because of its bright, vivid picture and increased refresh rate support, making it a great choice for gaming, watching movies and more.
We named the Samsung S95D TV as the best TV you can get for your home right now.
Illustration: Forbes / Photo: Retailer
But, we have other recommendations that each reflect big leaps in clarity, color vibrancy and overall brightness of screen technology. Our tech editors have gone hands-on and tested every single model on this list to ensure each pick truly is one of the best TVs you can get right now. Some of these panels we also name as some of the top best gaming TVs and best smart TVs on the market, too. Whether you’re a movie buff, avid gamer or budget-minded shopper, here are the best TVs you can add to your home today.
Best for: Enjoying movies and games with bright, brilliant colors.
Pros:
Extremely bright for an OLED TV
Richer colors than ever before
Matte coating gives it great reflection handling
Cons:
Expensive
Matte coating slightly dulls the colors
The Samsung S95D OLED takes everything we loved about its predecessor, the S95C, and improves it. It has the same near-infinite contrast ratio for deep inky blacks, but gives it a boosted brightness to make the HDR highlights look even better. The QD-OLED panel gives it incredibly rich colors and a gorgeous, vibrant picture. It’s enhanced by a new AI algorithm that dynamically adjusts image settings like brightness, color saturation and contrast to give every scene the perfect configuration for what you’re watching. During our testing, we noted the Samsung Tizen OS feels intuitive for streaming and gaming, with easy access to all your apps as well as the built-in Samsung Gaming Hub and Ambient Mode, too.
The matte screen coating makes this TV especially good at handling reflections and external light sources, so you can use it in brightly lit spaces without it overly affecting picture quality. It’s fantastic for gaming too, with plenty of HDMI 2.1 ports, a high 144Hz refresh rate for PC gaming and a super fast response time. Input lag is almost non-existent, so if you want a TV to play competitively on, this is the one to get. We also named it the best 65-inch TV you can get right now.
Best for: Watching the latest 8K content on YouTube as well as upscaling your movies and TV shows.
Pros:
Greater detail with 8K resolution
Mini LEDs make it super bright
Wide range of HDR support
Cons:
Native 8K content limited
Very expensive
No Dolby Vision
The Samsung QN900D is Samsung’s latest 8K TV with the best picture quality you will find on any TV. With 8K resolution and strong AI upscaling algorithms, 4K and older content looks far sharper, and the high brightness of this TV ensures that your movies really pop on the screen. It doesn’t have the super-high contrast of OLED, but with plenty of dimming zones and HDR support, it still looks stellar in both dark and bright rooms.
Its gaming features are top-notch, too. It has a fast 144Hz refresh rate and great response time with a low input lag, making this an excellent TV for competitive gaming. It runs the latest version of Samsung’s Tizen OS too, with easy access to the latest streaming services. This version is 75 inches which we feel makes the most of the 8K resolution, but you can get a more affordable 65-inch version. You can also read the full Samsung QN900D 8K TV review to learn about this futureproof TV.
Best for: Watching movies and TV with both high contrast and high brightness.
Pros:
Minimal input lag for gaming
Support for both G-Sync and FreeSync
Cons:
Expensive
Audio could be better
Sony’s A95L is arguably the most high-end OLED TV ever made. It combines the fantastic Samsung QD-OLED panel found in its flagship TVs with Sony’s top-tier visual processing, audio and enhanced gaming support for a truly stellar television. It has near-infinite contrast and rich colors from the combination of OLED backlighting and quantum dots, and its XR processor is the best in the business, delivering dynamic image enhancements in movies and TV shows for a nuanced image with incredible HDR detail. During our testing, we noted that its contrast is one of the strongest on the market, with footage of the Tokyo cityscape at night showcasing gorgeous detailing without any blooming.
Gaming is equally impressive, with a fast 120Hz refresh rate, snappy response time and near-zero input lag. It also integrates fantastically with the PS4 and PS5 for enhanced gaming, while the HDMI 2.1 ports allow for eARC for streamlined A/V setups. For those just using the TV’s speakers, you get a low of power for a standard TV, as well as the screen itself being used for additional sound projection.
Best for: High-end 4K gaming with the highest of details.
Pros:
Incredible brightness with OLED contrast
Super fast for gaming and four HDMI 2.1 ports
Near-zero input lag and response time
Cons:
Expensive
The LG G4 is the best TV LG has ever made, so it stands to reason that with its suite of gaming features, it’s the best gaming TV, too. It has sky high brightness for an OLED TV thanks to Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology, and it still maintains that inky black contrast that even Samsung and Sony’s QD-OLED panels can’t match. OLED also gives it a near-zero input lag and a response time, so you won’t feel this TV holding you back in even the fastest of competitive games. The Game Optimizer mode makes this TV even snappier, with no image degradation to speak of. During our testing, games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla looked crisp and performed beautifully on the screen, with no notable lag on the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service.
PC gamers can enjoy its 144Hz refresh rate, but it still manages 120Hz at 4K on consoles—with four HDMI 2.1 ports, you can connect a range of devices, including UHD Blu-ray players and powerful A/V systems using eARC. It supports Dolby Vision—unlike Samsung TVs—and the latest version of LG’s WebOS operating system is both fast and intuitive. You can read the full LG G4 TV review to learn more about what makes it a great gaming TV.
Most of the best TVs you can buy come in at 55 inches or larger—only a few extend into the smaller sizes. Fortunately, LG’s C4 comes in compact sizing and lets you enjoy the magic of high-end OLED in a 42-inch screen. That means you get the same stellar contrast, brightness, color vibrancy and impressive gaming features as the high-end options in a smaller and more affordable OLED TV.
It has a four full-speed HDMI 2.1 connections, making it a great pick for the new Xbox and PlayStation games consoles. Though it doesn’t have the sky-high brightness of the much-more expensive G4, it’s still leaps and bounds ahead of most TVs and almost any historic OLED. The C4 is a flagship TV in everything but name and price.
Best for: Catching your favorite sports games on the patio or while grilling.
Pros:
IP55 rating
Works in full, direct sunlight
Unparalleled brightness
Cons:
Very Expensive
If you spend a lot of time in your backyard, the Samsung the Terrace Full Sun can help you take the party outside. Its incredible brightness across the whole display allows it to be visible even with the sun shining directly on it. That does make it very expensive, but there are more affordable partial sun versions, but they lack the latest QLED panel technology with high refresh rate support.
As an outdoor TV, it boasts a weatherproof construction with an IP55 rating that is dust- and water-resistant, making it perfect for those outdoor spaces. The QLED 4K display is anti-glare for fuss-free daytime viewing and is able to withstand direct sun without losing picture.
Consumer tech editor Rebecca Isaacs is a TV expert with years of experience reviewing the latest in screen technology. She has tested most popular TV models currently on the market, and has written and edited most of Forbes latest TV content.
Jon Martindale has extensive experience in the tech space. Martindale formerly ran his own PC hardware review website and is responsible for updating many of Forbes TV articles.
We’ve published a robust library of TV guides, drawing from our team’s categorical expertise and testing experience.
As new TVs hit the market, we regularly update this article for accuracy and to vet our current recommendations. It was last updated in July 2024 to refresh all the recommendations, including crowning the new best TV overall, the Samsung S95D.
How We Chose The Best TVs
To find the best TVs of 2024, we first looked at the latest models from reputable brands like Samsung, LG, TCL, Hisense and Sony.
We then examined the specs and overall performance of each TV, and looked at their size options, screen type, resolution, refresh rate, operating system and HDR.
From there, we leveraged our team’s personal experience with many of these models to determine if they should make the final list; Isaacs has personally tested all the TVs listed above.
In addition to our hands-on testing, we spoke with product experts and industry leaders to help us determine what set each TV apart from the rest. Also, every TV needed to have stellar customer reviews, with no less than 4 out of 5 stars.
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