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We tested the new Onn Frameless Roku TV and added it to Other good 4K TVs on a budget.
If you want a 4K TV that supports all the latest video and gaming technologies but doesn’t cost a fortune, we recommend the TCL 5-Series. Although it can’t match the image contrast and brightness of the best LCD TVs and OLED TVs, the 5-Series still delivers a great-looking 4K picture, and it comes in 50-, 55-, 65-, and 75-inch sizes to fit most rooms. Plus, it’s available with either the Roku TV or Google TV streaming platform built in, so you can choose the system that you prefer.
Our goal was to find the lowest priced 4K TVs that use advanced tech like local-dimming backlights and quantum dots.
All our picks support the two most common HDR formats: HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Support for other HDR formats is a plus.
We emphasized the quality of the built-in streaming platform so you don’t have to add an external source if you don’t want to.
We measured each TV’s brightness, contrast, and color accuracy using Portrait Displays’s Calman software and light and color meters.
The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs.
The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs.
The 5-Series is TCL’s lowest priced TV line to incorporate advanced LCD technologies like a full-array local-dimming LED backlight to improve image contrast and quantum dots for richer color. (See TV features, defined for more info on the technical terms used here.) Gamers will appreciate the inclusion of many of the latest HDMI 2.1 features, so the TV works great with the newest game consoles. TCL offers the 5-Series with either Google TV or Roku TV built in, so you can pick the streaming platform that works best for your situation. Both versions support the most common HDR10 and Dolby Vision high dynamic range formats, and the Google TV version adds support for HDR10+. Just don’t expect the 5-Series to deliver the impressive HDR brightness and contrast of our favorite premium LCD TVs, and the lack of a 120 Hz panel means that motion won’t be quite as clean and smooth.
The Vizio MQ7-J Series has good picture quality and advanced gaming features, but the integrated SmartCast streaming platform is only so-so.
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Like the TCL 5-Series, the Vizio M-Series Quantum (model MQ7-J) has a high contrast ratio thanks to its full-array local-dimming LED backlight, and the use of quantum dot technology helps it produce a colorful, bright image. This TV supports all the latest HDMI 2.1 gaming features and every high dynamic range standard in use today (including HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HGiG), but it only has a 60 Hz panel so motion isn’t as clean and smooth as you’ll find on higher-end TVs. The integrated SmartCast platform offers most of the popular streaming services available right now and supports both AirPlay and Chromecast to receive streamed content from mobile devices—but it isn’t as comprehensive and customizable as platforms like Roku and Google TV. The MQ7-J Series is available in screen sizes from 50 to 75 inches (including less common sizes like 58 and 70 inches), but note that the 2021 M-Series Quantum lineup includes two different models—the lesser-quality MQ6-J model does not use a local-dimming backlight, so we do not recommend it.
The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs.
The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs.
The Vizio MQ7-J Series has good picture quality and advanced gaming features, but the integrated SmartCast streaming platform is only so-so.
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I’ve reviewed TVs and home-theater equipment since 2008. I am an ISF level II–certified calibrator, so I am aware of what makes for a good TV image and how to get those things out of a TV. I have all the necessary test equipment and software to provide the objective measurements to back up my subjective opinions.
Although most TV reviews involve scrutinizing one display at a time, we compare the models we’re reviewing right next to one another so that we can see exactly how they differ.
If your TV works and you’re happy with it, stick with what you have. If your TV is dying or has already died, or if you’re looking for something a little larger or more compatible with the latest video and gaming standards, the 4K TVs we cover in this guide offer great performance at a budget-friendly price.
Although the picks in this guide are good performers that support high dynamic range (HDR) video, they don’t have the outstanding contrast and high peak brightness you can find in higher-end TVs, and they seldom have a true 120 Hz refresh rate to render smooth, crisp motion. So if picture quality is your top priority and you’re willing to pay more to get a better performer, check out our guides to the best LCD/LED TV and the best OLED TV.
The Hisense U7G’s excellent performance, wealth of features, and approachable price make it our favorite LCD/LED TV.
LG’s C1 OLED TV offers superb image quality, a good streaming-TV platform, future-proof connection options, and a thin, attractive design.
If you’re looking specifically for a smaller TV, check out our guide to the best 32-inch TVs. Also, while our picks here have some important gaming features, serious gamers may want to check out our guide to the best gaming TV.
TVs in this price range all make compromises to get the cost down, but some compromises are more noticeable than others. Our goal was to find the lowest priced 4K TVs that use advanced performance technologies to deliver a satisfying viewing experience with the fewest drawbacks. We only considered TVs that support high dynamic range video playback (preferably in both the HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats) and can produce the wider color gamut used in 4K HDR content. Producing darker black levels results in better contrast ratios and leads to an image that seems to offer more pop than on other displays. Accurate colors that look natural are preferable to unrealistic, oversaturated colors in a TV image. A wider viewing angle makes it easier for a group of people to watch the TV while still enjoying a good picture. No budget TV excels in all these areas, but we wanted something that balanced affordability with performance and user-friendliness.
Because we were looking for user-friendliness, the quality of a TV’s integrated streaming platform was more important for this category than for our best LCD/LED TV picks. For TVs in this price range, the need to buy a separate streaming device might add 10% to the overall cost, so we favored TVs with an excellent system built in.
Gaming-friendly features such as automatic low-latency mode and variable refresh rate are starting to be available on some budget TVs, which is a plus. You can read more about these features in our guide to the best gaming TV. We did not require the inclusion of higher-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports for our picks in this guide because most TVs in this price range do not have a true 120 Hz refresh rate; they are 60 Hz TVs that don’t need an HDMI bandwidth higher than 18 Gbps.
To help us whittle down the list of TVs to test, we relied on reviews from sites we trust, such as Rtings.com, which does a very good job of providing a large number of objective measurements for TVs and direct comparisons between other models across all price ranges. Reviewed also has lots of reviews, but doesn’t report most of their objective measurements.
High dynamic range is a must-have feature on 4K TVs, but not all TVs can do it right. We discuss what technologies to look for to get a true HDR-capable TV.
The best way to compare TVs is to put them next to each other and look at them using the same content, so we did just that with the budget models we tested. We also considered how they performed in relation to the more expensive TVs we tested for our best LCD/LED TV guide.
We took each TV out of the box, set it up, measured it, and calibrated it using Portrait Displays’s Calman software, along with the X-Rite i1Pro 2 and SpectraCal C6 meters in conjunction with a Murideo Seven test-pattern generator to measure color, color temperature, light output, and more. This process let us acquire before-and-after calibration measurements for each TV to assess its accuracy right out of the box and how close we could bring it in line with HDTV standards.
We recognize that someone shopping for a budget TV is highly unlikely to spend the $300 (or more) it costs to get a TV professionally calibrated. As such, we did all of our side-by-side comparisons with the settings reset to factory defaults. The only adjustments we made to the TVs involved the basic user-menu picture settings, using patterns from the Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark Version 2 Blu-ray disc; for $30, this disc lets you correctly set the main controls (contrast, brightness, color, tint, and sharpness). This basic setup is what we hope most of our readers will do (see Recommended settings below). You would need calibration hardware to set more-advanced controls correctly. When we refer to how accurate a TV is in this guide, we are talking about the performance after calibration with a Blu-ray disc, not with instruments. If we found that a TV offered a self-calibration program, as TCL models are starting to do, we ran that program as well, since such calibration can be performed for free.
We placed two TVs next to each other on tables of the same height. We made sure each TV was positioned so that we could look at it dead-on from our fixed viewing position; this arrangement prevented the image from looking washed-out due to changes in viewing angle. Using an HDMI distribution amp, we sent the same signal from a Blu-ray player or Nvidia Shield to each TV.
Additionally, we evaluated the TVs with the lights on and off and looked at them from wide angles (to see how well they would work for larger seating arrangements). We used a large variety of content, including TV, movies, and test patterns, to compare the displays and assess their abilities.
The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs.
The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to the best LCD and OLED TVs.
The TCL 5-Series includes the following models:
The TCL 5-Series is the best budget 4K TV because it offers great picture quality for the price and has the gaming and streaming features that people need—including the option to choose between the Roku TV and Google TV streaming platform. The use of a full-array LED backlight and quantum dot technology gives the TV great contrast and color, and the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 features like variable refresh rate and automatic low latency mode make it a great choice to pair with the newest generation of game consoles. TCL even offers a free calibration app for certain phones that helps you make sure the image is accurate without having to spend extra for a professional calibration.
With support for full-array local dimming (which TCL calls Contrast Control Zones), the 5-Series can produce deep blacks while also having bright highlights by dynamically adjusting individual areas of the backlight, rather than the whole thing. This results in great image contrast. This TV can produce high dynamic range video that is bright and vibrant. The Roku TV version supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG HDR formats, and the newer Google TV model adds support for the HDR10+ format. We measured 450 nits of brightness on the Roku version and closer to 550 nits on the Google TV version. This isn’t as bright as the TCL 6-Series and other more expensive LCD TVs that fall in the 800- to 1,000-nit range, and there aren’t as many local-dimming zones—but this TV still looks far better than a budget TV did just a couple of years ago. We saw some blooming (or glow) around bright objects against a black background, but this was mostly kept under control.
Many midrange LCD TVs now use quantum dots to display a wider range of colors, and the 5-Series does so, as well. With HDR content this lets you see reds, blues, and greens that are more vibrant and saturated, closer to what you see in the real world. SDR content can’t take advantage of this wider color range, but at least the 5-Series displays those SDR colors accurately, without making everything look like a neon version of reality (unless you want it to).
TCL updated the 5-Series in 2021 to add a Google TV model alongside the existing Roku TV one. This choice distinguishes the 5-Series from many competitors. In our guide to the best media streaming devices, we prefer Google TV over Roku because of its more modern interface that makes it easier to find specific content to watch, but some people prefer Roku for its ease of use. The Google TV platform lets you stream from Chromecast-compatible apps in your mobile devices, while the Roku platform does the same with AirPlay-compatible apps. The Google TV remote also adds a farfield mic for voice control, so you don’t need to hold it in your hand for it to hear you, plus the ability to use a webcam. But overall the performance between the two is about the same.
The 5-Series is also ready for the newest HDMI devices thanks to support for important HDMI 2.1 features. Both versions of the TV have support for automatic low latency mode, where the TV automatically switches into game mode when playing video games to reduce input lag and provide a more responsive experience. They also have eARC, which lets the TV pass uncompressed audio, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, to a soundbar or receiver (older versions of ARC can only pass lower-resolution compressed audio) through the HDMI cable. The Google TV version of the 5-Series also supports variable refresh rate, where the refresh rate of the TV changes if a video game gets too busy in order to reduce on-screen artifacts. Variable refresh rate is nice to have, but it’s less important on a 60 Hz TV like this one than it is on a 120 Hz TV, where PCs and game consoles might not be able to keep up all the time. The 5-Series lacks full-bandwidth (48 Gbps) HDMI 2.1 inputs, but again those aren’t needed in a 60 Hz TV.
TCL lets you automatically adjust the image on your TV using a free app with a smartphone. While most TVs have at least one fairly accurate picture mode for you to use, a TV’s image quality can drift over time, so it’s nice to be able to fine-tune the picture quality. We’ve tested the iPQ app (for iOS and Android) over a number of years, and while it isn’t as good as professional calibration, it does make the image more accurate than before, is free, and takes under five minutes to do.
The 5-Series comes in four screen sizes (50, 55, 65, and 75 inches sizes) to fit in rooms small and large. Even a 50-inch TV with good performance is becoming more rare these days, as smaller TVs often get fewer features than the larger models. For the two larger 5-Series screen sizes, you can choose between different positions for the feet, making it easier to place on top of a smaller table. We wouldn’t recommend you place the feet closer together if your TV is located in higher traffic areas, as the result will be less stable, but it lets the 5-Series work in situations where other TVs can’t (we recommend adding a wall anchor).
The remote that’s included with the TCL Roku TV is like other Roku remotes: very minimal. It offers playback controls, a directional pad, volume, power, and a few buttons for quick access to certain streaming services (but you can’t change which services). There’s no number pad here, and almost everything else is handled by on-screen menus, which some people will find annoying, but it does control the TV just fine. The remote for the Google TV version is very similar to the Roku remote. It’s a bit longer in size, but it has a nearly identical selection of buttons and is just as simple to use.
The 5-Series’s panel has only a 60 Hz refresh rate, so motion isn’t as fluid as it can be on a 120 Hz panel, which offers faster pixel refresh and reduced motion blur. Getting a 120 Hz panel requires spending more on a different model.
The 5-Series uses a BGR subpixel array that sometimes causes the image to look slightly different from how it does on TVs with the standard RGB subpixel array. When I fed this TV test patterns with solid blocks of color, those colors looked dithered instead of solid, which is something I haven’t seen in other TVs. But when watching movies or playing games instead of staring at test patterns, I didn’t notice the issue. As long as you don’t enjoy watching test patterns on-screen, this isn’t something you should worry about.
The Vizio MQ7-J Series has good picture quality and advanced gaming features, but the integrated SmartCast streaming platform is only so-so.
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The Vizio MQ7-J Series includes the following models:
If the TCL 5-Series is unavailable or you need a less common screen size like 58 or 70 inches, Vizio’s 2021 M-Series Quantum (MQ7-J Series) is our runner-up pick. It offers nearly identical image quality to the 5-Series, thanks to its full-array local-dimming backlight that produces good image contrast and its quantum dot color technology, which allows the TV to produce a very wide color gamut. The TV supports all the major high dynamic range formats, as well as HDMI 2.1 features that will appeal to gamers. But the integrated streaming platform isn’t nearly as comprehensive or well designed as the Google TV and Roku TV options on the TCL 5-Series, and the MQ7-J Series currently carries a higher price tag.
Vizio’s M-Series Quantum can be confusing because the company offers two different versions in its 2021 lineup: the MQ7-J and MQ6-J. Only the MQ7-J models have local-dimming capabilities, while the MQ6-J models have full-array LED backlights without dimming. We tested both versions and found that the MQ7-J’s superior backlight gives it a clear performance advantage, so we think you should avoid the MQ6-J. However, that can be tricky when stores only advertise the TV as the Vizio M-Series Quantum.
The MQ7-J can show HDR highlights at up to 500 nits of brightness, which is more than the 5-Series Roku version but less than the Google TV version. It supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG formats, so it works with every major HDR standard out there. When we viewed this TV next to the TCL, we found that the differences in image quality were very minor, and you aren’t likely to notice them. Overall the image quality is very nice for the price, and no one should be disappointed in it.
Vizio has also packed worthy HDMI 2.1 features into the M-Series Quantum, including eARC (to allow for higher-quality audio to pass from the TV to a soundbar or receiver), variable refresh rate, and auto low latency mode (see our gaming TV guide for more on these functions). But like the TCL 5-Series, this TV only has a 60 Hz refresh rate, so you don’t get (or need) full-bandwidth 48-Gbps HDMI 2.1 inputs—and the motion quality isn’t as clean and smooth as you can get from a 120 Hz panel.
What hinders Vizio’s TV is its use of the company’s own SmartCast streaming platform, which doesn’t have the depth of app selection or the nice user interface that Google TV and Roku TV offer. SmartCast has improved over the years, but some apps aren’t added until months after they appear on other platforms. The interface also isn’t as quick, responsive, and customizable as the other options, so people may want to rely on an external media streamer instead of SmartCast, which ties up an HDMI input. The TV does support both AirPlay and Chromecast, which is rare. Usually you must choose one or the other.
Overall the Vizio MQ7-J has a good image with great HDMI 2.1 features, but it just doesn’t have the better streaming capabilities that the TCL models offer. But if you rely on an external streaming platform, then the Vizio is a fine alternative.
If you’re really minding your budget: New for 2022, Walmart’s in-house Onn brand has released the Frameless Roku TV that you can get for $100 or so less than our top pick, the TCL 5-Series. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by Onn TVs before, and this new model continues that trend. For what you’re paying—$378 for the 50-inch or $578 for the 65-inch, with 55-, 70-, and 75-inch sizes coming soon—this TV bundles quite a bit of value with top-tier TV tech: a full-array local dimming backlight, quantum dot color, and HDR10/Dolby Vision compatibility. During use, I found the Roku platform to be responsive and intuitive (as usual), and our lab tests bore out acceptable numbers for SDR and HDR color accuracy. While watching Dolby Vision content, I was impressed by the effectiveness of the TV’s local dimming to produce a fairly deep black level (especially important for keeping letterbox bars totally dimmed), and flesh tones looked very accurate as well—two areas that tend to be difficult for entry-level LCD/LED TVs. And as a bonus, this TV is quite easy on the eyes (hence the “Frameless” moniker).
The Onn Frameless Roku TV has some flaws, however, that kept it from being an official pick. The local dimming algorithm occasionally got confused, especially with varying shades of gray on the screen (such as when searching on the built-in YouTube app), which led to some visible shifting of black levels. Onn also claims 500-nit HDR brightness for this TV, but during testing I measured HDR peaks closer to the low 400s, coupled with black levels that were over-bright on occasion. The SDR contrast was more reliable: The TV coupled a brightness of around 350 nits with black levels as low as 0.025 nits. Like our picks, this TV has a 60 Hz refresh rate, so motion isn’t as fluid as it can be on a 120 Hz panel, and it doesn’t have the gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 features you get with our picks. But overall it’s a good choice for general viewing, given what you’re paying.
These are some of the most common features we talk about in our TV reviews:
Full-array local dimming: This term refers to a TV in which the backlight is behind the LCD panel and has individual zones that can turn on and off depending on the content. Such TVs are usually larger and more expensive to build and design, and more zones cost more. However, they typically provide the best LCD picture quality by improving contrast ratios and shadow detail.
High dynamic range (HDR): High dynamic range lets a TV display much brighter highlights while retaining deep blacks, although only with special HDR content. In the past, TV content had a peak brightness of around 100 nits, but these days high-end HDR sets can have highlights that exceed 1,500 nits. This feature drastically improves contrast ratios and provides a more dynamic image in which bright objects (the sun, fire, a photon torpedo) really jump off the screen. HDR10 is the standard format that all HDR-capable TVs support. HDR10 content contains metadata (or information about how the image should be presented) only for the entire movie as a whole, while the more advanced HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats have metadata for each individual scene—so the TV can better optimize the image as it changes.
Nits: Also called candelas per square meter (cd/m2), this unit of luminance measures how much light a TV can produce. Previously, TVs could output 200 to 300 nits, and SDR content was graded and mastered with 100 nits as the standard. With HDR, content is mastered with 1,000, 4,000, or 10,000 nits as the standard; as a result, the more nits an HDR TV can display, the more accurately it can display the highlights in HDR material without having to reduce the brightness of the highlights or clip them.
Wide color gamut: Ultra HD 4K content has a wider color gamut than standard HDTV content; right now, most UHD content is mastered with the same DCI/P3 color gamut used in theatrical cinema (the ultimate goal is the even larger Rec. 2020 color gamut). This expanded color gamut allows a TV to display richer reds, blues, and greens than ever before. Some TVs use quantum dot technology to produce this wider color gamut.
HDMI 2.1: This is the most recent version of HDMI, adding support for 8K displays, automatic low-latency mode for improved gaming, eARC for better audio when you’re using Audio Return Channel, variable refresh rate for syncing the TV’s refresh rate to a gaming console to avoid stuttering, and dynamic metadata support. You can read more about HDMI 2.1 in this post.
24p: With few exceptions, movies in the theater display at 24 frames per second (abbreviated as 24p), which gives movies that “cinematic” look. All TVs now support 24p content, but some TVs maintain that look better than others.
Judder: This term refers to a slightly jerky motion that can occur when 24p film content appears on a TV with a 60 Hz refresh rate. To make 24 frames match up to the 60 Hz display, half of the frames appear two times and the other half appear three times. This display technique causes judder, which is most noticeable on panning shots. Some 120 Hz displays avoid this effect by repeating each film frame five times, while some 60 Hz panels run at 48 Hz to show each frame twice.
The most important thing you can do to get the best performance from any TV is to set it up correctly. For the TCL 5-Series, we recommend using the Movie picture mode and reducing the sharpness control to zero. We preferred the Contrast Control Zones set to high, as the low and medium settings offered very little improvement (if any) over leaving it disabled. Other image-processing functions, such as Dynamic Contrast, should be disabled as they actually cause your TV to lose dynamic range. Natural Cinema should be enabled so that the TV produces motion that is accurate for TV shows and movies. You should disable all of the Auto Power options in the System Power menu.
For the Vizio M-Series Quantum, you should first set it to the Calibrated picture mode to get the most accurate image with minimal work. We recommend setting the sharpness control to zero to prevent edge-enhancement artifacts and setting the Active Full Array function to medium or high. The high setting will provide darker blacks but can overly dim certain scenes—for instance, the stars may not be visible in a dark night sky. The medium setting isn’t as dark but shows all those details. For gaming, we recommend enabling game low latency, variable refresh rate, and game HDR (HGiG) for the best performance with newer consoles.
To adjust each TV’s brightness, contrast, color, and tint, we recommend using test patterns to set them properly. You can learn more about these adjustments in this post:
Most TVs aren’t set up to look their best right out of the box, but a few simple picture adjustments can be a huge improvement.
Also important: If you have kids and you’re not wall-mounting the TV, be sure to consider anchoring it. Doing so minimizes the chance of the TV falling over if it’s “accidentally” yanked on (or knocked over in an earthquake, if you’re in an area so prone). An anchor system is cheap (less than $20) and easy to install.
Hisense’s U6H Series will be the most affordable offering in the company’s premium 2022 ULED lineup. The U6H is a 4K Google TV with a full-array backlight with local dimming and quantum dot color, plus Filmmaker Mode and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It only has a 60 Hz refresh rate, though. The U6H will include screen sizes from 55 to 75 inches, and will be available this summer for prices starting at $580. Outside of the ULED line, Hisense will offer the more affordable A7H and A6H 4K LCD TVs, which lack local-dimming backlights and quantum dots but include Google TV. Those will start selling this spring, in sizes from 43 to 85 inches.
LG’s official CES announcements focused on its high-end QNED LCD TVs, but the company’s virtual showroom also highlighted some lower-priced TVs: the Nano80 and Nano75 that use LG’s Nanocell technology (but not quantum dots) to deliver improved color performance, and the UQ90, UQ80, UQ75, and UQ70 series of standard 4K LCD TVs, in screen sizes from 43 to 86 inches.
Samsung’s 2022 TV announcements have mostly involved the company’s high-end Neo QLED and new QD-OLED, but a couple of new budget 4K series—the BU8500 and BU8000—are coming, though they’re not yet available in the US at the time of this writing.
We’re still waiting on info about the 2022 options coming from Vizio and TCL, but we fully expect both brands to introduce successors to our current picks.
Finally, Skyworth said it is committed to expanding its U.S. presence in 2022 and is moving its TV manufacturing for the North American market from China to Mexico. The company plans to launch five Google TV LCD lines this year, with 11 models total. The more affordable options include the UD8000, a 4K QLED TV with quantum dot color and a 60 Hz refresh rate (in screen sizes of 65 and 75 inches), and the UD7200G, a standard 60 Hz 4K LCD/LED TV (no quantum dots) in sizes from 50 to 75 inches.
If you want details on the higher-end, higher-performance LCD TVs announced at CES 2002, check out our guide to the best LCD/LED TV.
In 2021, Amazon released two budget-friendly options: the Fire TV Omni and Fire TV 4-Series, both available in several screen sizes. These TVs boast high appeal if you love Alexa or the Fire TV streaming experience, but testing showed them to be poor choices for HDR; the 4-Series is especially dim. The Omni is the better of the two, but we think our picks are worth the slight price hike if you want decent picture quality.
The 2021 Hisense A6G wasn’t tested for the same reason as the LG UP8000, in that it uses an IPS-type panel and has no local dimming. It also has a peak SDR brightness of around 270 nits (our picks are at least 450 nits or more), so in a room with a lot of ambient light it might not be bright enough for you to fully enjoy.
The 2020 Hisense H8G has a much faster Android TV interface than the previous H8F, which makes for a better user experience. It has a wider color gamut thanks to the inclusion of quantum dots and more local-dimming zones than our picks, though they made almost no impact at all when we viewed or measured test patterns. Hisense also fixed issues we had with HDR video in previous models, in which the TV would crush shadow details, but this time around HDR video seemed a bit too bright. In addition, we found a couple of bugs during our initial testing of this TV (it handled only YCbCr color, not RGB, correctly, and the BT1886 gamma option interacted incorrectly with some color temperature presets). Hisense resolved these bugs, but in doing so it introduced new ones (where the gamma control didn’t work with certain color temperatures or caused the temperature to be incorrect). Hisense also resolved those problems, but all the issues combined make us wary of the H8G and the reliability of its software.
We didn’t test the 2021 LG UP8000 because it lacks local dimming and uses an IPS-type display, which means it has lighter black levels. Some TVs with IPS-type panels can use local dimming to overcome the lighter blacks in the panel, but without either of these features, the UP8000’s black levels are going to be poor compared to the models we tested.
We tested a 43-inch Onn Roku TV from Walmart for Black Friday 2020, and it performed surprisingly well for the price. It doesn’t support a wider color gamut or have full-array local dimming, but it was great at what it could do.
The 2021 Samsung AU8000 doesn’t have local dimming or wide color gamut support, so you aren’t going to get any benefits with HDR content on it. It costs as much as our picks despite the lack of these features, so we didn’t test it.
The 2020 Samsung TU8000 line comes in a wide range of sizes, from 43 inches up to 85 inches, but it doesn’t offer the local dimming or wide color gamut support that our picks do. It can’t get as bright as our picks or display the range of colors that they can, but it’s a good option for people who want a smaller or larger TV.
The 2020 Sony X750H is the company’s budget TV that fits our criteria, and although it has wide color gamut support, it doesn’t offer any local dimming or support HDMI 2.1 features such as automatic low-latency mode, variable refresh rate, or eARC. You can get more TV for your dollar with our picks.
The TCL 4-Series lacks support for Dolby Vision and a wide color gamut. Most important, its peak brightness is 50% lower than that of the 5-Series. In a darker room you aren’t likely to notice the effect, but in a living room or other bright situation, the extra brightness of the 5-Series makes that model easier to see.
The 2021 Vizio MQ6-J has no full-array local dimming and can only produce peak highlights that measure around 250 nits, so its picture quality is nowhere near that of our picks. It does support variable refresh rate for compatibility with newer gaming systems, but that feature won’t matter as much on this 60 Hz panel as it will on TVs that can run at 120 Hz. The Vizio MQ7-J Series performs much better than the MQ6-J, since it has a local-dimming backlight.
Chris Heinonen is a senior staff writer reporting on TVs, projectors, and sometimes audio gear at Wirecutter. He has been covering AV since 2008 for a number of online publications and is an ISF-certified video calibrator. He used to write computer software and hopes to never do that again, and he also loves to run and test gear for running guides.
Lee Neikirk is a senior staff writer reporting on TVs at Wirecutter. He has been testing and reviewing AV gear since 2012 and is an ISF-certified TV calibrator. When he’s not fussing over pixels, Lee is either jamming on a guitar, playing video games, or driving around endlessly trying to find beach parking.
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