What’s the best TV to get in 2020?
Best TV 2020: Black Friday is upon us and there plenty of deals to be found as prices are reduced across a range of sets. This list features the best TVs available in 2020,whether they be 4K, 8K, QLED and OLED. Check out our summaries to find out whether you can save yourselves plenty of money on them.
From the smallest and cheapest TVs to the latest technology the market has to offer, there’s something for everything in this guide. Check out the list below for a shortlist of our favourite TVs and for a more in-depth view, plus current prices on all the TVs to save yourself some money over Black Friday, scroll down to read a summary.
Related: Top Black Friday TV deals
- Best OLED TV: Panasonic HZ2000
- Best QLED TV: Samsung Q95T
- Best gaming TV: LG CX OLED
- Best entry-level OLED: Sony A8
- Best Ambilight TV: Philips OLED805
- Best HDR TV: Panasonic HZ1500
- Best 65-inch OLED: Panasonic HZ1000
- Best TV sound: Samsung Q80T
- Best 8K TV: Samsung Q950TS
- Best 8K HDR TV: Sony ZG9
- Best 48-inch OLED: LG OLED48CX
- Best TV for motion: Sony XH95
- Best affordable 8K TV: Samsung Q800T
- Best 50-inch budget TV: Samsung TU8500
- Best value budget TV: Hisense Roku TV
- Best small budget TV: Samsung UE43TU7100
Panasonic TX-55HZ2000
The ultimate home cinema TV
Pros:
- Universal HDR support with Dolby Vision IQ
- Filmmaker Mode with Intelligent Sensing
- Effective Dolby Atmos sound system
- Freeview Play
Cons:
- No HDMI support for 4K/120fps
- No Disney+ app
- Over specified for AV enthusiasts?
Panasonic’s flagship OLED doesn’t fail to disappoint. We called it the Ultimate Home Cinema TV and for good reason.
Like the other OLEDs in Panasonic’s range it supports Dolby Vision (IQ), HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG. It takes the upfiring Atmos speakers from the GZ2000, and delivers Filmmaker Mode with Intelligent Sensing, optimising the image to brightness of your room so you can see every detail.
With its Professional Master Edition OLED screen, it delivers the brightest pictures of any OLED. Near black detail is excellent, the increased brightness adds more intensity to highlights and colour handling is accomplished. It is expensive though and not a set for gamers, but the HZ2000 nonetheless delivers on its promise of bringing Hollywood to the home.
LG CX OLED
Superb visuals
Pros:
- Excellent picture quality
- Great design
- Plenty of smarts, features and customisation
- Excellent upscaling
Cons:
- Still no UK catch-up apps
- Just a small leap over the C9
The CX brings LG’s mid-range OLED series down to affordable prices while offering a number of refinements and new features in Dolby Vision IQ and Filmmaker Mode.
The CX is great with whatever content you feed it, offering a rich and detailed 4K image. Sound quality is good and its wide gaming support makes it perfect for the PS5 and Xbox Series X (it is the official TV of Xbox). There are plenty of video streaming services to enjoy, with more smart features available via the slick webOS interface. The lack of several UK catch-up apps will annoy, but at its current price the CX is excellent value.
Samsung QE55Q95T
Spectacularly bright HDR images
Pros:
- Terrifically bright and punchy HDR performance
- Class-leading gaming performance
- Stylish design
- Impressive upscaling
- Wide app support
Cons:
- No Dolby Vision HDR
- Requires creating a Samsung account to download additional apps
The Q95T is an excellent 55-inch QLED, with fantastic performance across the board.
Picture quality produces bright and punchy HDR colours, and it’s a great upscaler of sub-4K content, delivering consistently good images from any source. It’s also ready for next-gen gaming with class-leading input lag and a number of HDMI 2.1 features (including VRR and 4K/120Hz). The sound is respectable, and joined together with a compatible Q-series soundbar it’ll offer an even more impactful sound. The omission of Dolby Vision support is the one disappointment.
Sony KD-65A8
Sony’s best entry-level OLED yet
Pros:
- Beautifully refined, contrast rich pictures
- Elegant, minimalist design
- Big, warm and immersive sound
Cons:
- Bright scenes lose a little impact versus rivals in a bright environment
- Android TV isn’t the most user-friendly smart system
- No HDR10+ support
The KD-65A8 is the cheapest and finest entry-level OLED Sony has made. Its build quality is excellent – minimalist and striking, offering ample space for the TV’s images to hog the glory.
And its pictures are things of beauty: refined, balanced, natural, intense, precise, pretty much noise-free, while also benefiting from some of the finest colour, upscaling and motion processing around. And don’t discount the sound either, with Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio technology pushing audio into the room for a big, immersive performance.
Philips 55OLED805
Improvements courtesy of AI
Pros:
- Multi-HDR support with HDR10+, Dolby Vision and HLG
- Freeview Play
- Ambilight
- Play-Fi compatibility
Cons:
- No support for 4K/120fps
- No Dolby Vision IQ
The OLED805 doesn’t disappoint. Philips has made a few changes under the hood from its previous TVs and drafted in some new features.
One major feature being that the new P5 chip has built-in AI technology, adapting picture quality to type of content on screen for an improved image. 4K exhibits an almost three-dimensional look, while HDR is impressively done and near-black levels are breathtakingly fine. It lacks HDMI 2.1 features, particularly for gaming, but for its impressive picture quality the OLED805 a sure-fire winner.
Panasonic TX-55HZ1500
Superb images from any source
Pros:
- Detailed, stable, entirely natural and believable images
- Bigger, better-realised sound than most TVs
- Every HDR base covered
- Decent ergonomics
- Good upscaling
Cons:
- Expensive for a 55in TV
- One or two missing apps
- Sound can be bettered by a half-decent soundbar
The Panasonic HZ1500 is another impressive OLED from the Japanese brand. While the changes from the previous year’s GZ1500 aren’t substantial, it’s enough to make it a thoroughly enjoyable set.
The HZ1500 likes nothing more than gobbling up 4K HDR content, with support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. New is Dolby Vision IQ, which optimises compatible content to take into account any changes in a room’s ambient light. Also new is the upfiring speaker drivers that give Atmos sound a bigger and taller soundfield. It’s a TV that delivers a remarkably accomplished image from whatever source you plug into it.
Panasonic TX-65HZ1000
A super 65-inch OLED
Pros:
- Fantastic picture quality
- Multi-HDR support
- Good sound quality
- Simple interface
- Good build quality
Cons:
- Expensive
- Not tuned for gamers
The HZ1000 is Panasonic’s third-tier OLED for 2020, but its still an incredibly strong performer.
It drops the upward-firing Atmos speakers of the HZ1500 and HZ2000, and doesn’t go as bright in terms of HDR, but this 65-inch model makes a highly compelling argument for a big-screen telly. Picture quality is fabulous, and there’s multi-HDR support for Dolby Vision IQ. Sound quality for a flatscreen is good, though you’ll want to consider a soundbar.
If you are a gamer then this TV makes few concessions. It is pricey and there’s no support for the Apple TV app or Disney+. Still, for a big screen experience this OLED is fabulous.
Samsung QE65Q80T
A great set for gaming
Pros:
- Corking picture quality from any standard of content
- Excellent for gamers
- Class-leading user interface
Cons:
- Expensive
- Sound is nothing special
- No Dolby Vision
The Q80T offers an ambitious feature set, with full-array local dimming, Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound and super-fast gaming performance.
It’s a dab hand at upscaling SD/HD content, and its brightness means HDR content is brought to life in a gorgeous and punchy manner. No Dolby Vision support will annoy home cinema enthusiasts, but gamers will be pleased with the 8.7ms latency.
Samsung QE75Q950TS
Sensational picture and sound
Pros:
- Spectacular picture quality with a wide range of resolutions
- Beautiful, cutting edge design
- Innovative and effective object tracking sound system
Cons:
- One or two very rare backlight glitches
- It will be too expensive for most households
- No Dolby Vision support
The Q950TS is easily Samsung’s best. 8K TV. Picture quality is superb as the 8K Quantum Processor works its socks off to upscale sub-8K content. Black levels are impressive, and blooming is pretty much removed from equation. The TV’s scorching brightness means HDR content fizzes off the screen while also remaining nuanced and natural.
The Q950TS also boasts Samsung’s innovative OTS+ system, with speakers in the top, sides and bottom of the screen. In many ways it brilliantly conveys the size of the sound and accurately positioning effects on-screen. While the Q950TS is not cheap, it’s one of the best LCD TVs we’ve tested.
Sony KD-85ZG9
A stunning next-generation TV
Pros:
- Sensational 8K HDR picture quality
- Very good, immersive upscaling
- Excellent video processing and backlight management
Cons:
- Super-expensive
- Occasional limited backlight blooming issues
- Voices can get lost in action movie audio mixes
Sony has been rather quiet compared to LG and Samsung with its 8K TVs. But its entrance into the market proves Sony is just as capable.
The ZG9 rewards its owners with stunningly bright, clear and detailed images. Its colour management is excellent, as is the upscaling of sub-8K source material. With a huge number of local dimming zones, it delivers some of the most impressively dynamic and dramatic HDR pictures. Sony’s first 8K TV is a genuinely thrilling effort.
LG OLED48CX
The first small screen OLED
Pros:
- Beautiful picture quality
- Strong sound quality
- Class-leading gaming features
Cons:
- Costs more than 55-inch version
- Care needs to be taken to avoid screen burn
- Missing most of the UK catch up apps
The LG CX was the first 48-inch OLED, bringing the display technology down to a size that can more easily fit in living rooms. Despite its smaller size, the performance is just as good as the ‘full-size’ model.
It combines fantastic picture quality and good sound with the most comprehensive gaming-friendly connectivity, making it an excellent choice for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. There’s no compromise in terms of features, though it is still missing most of the UK catch-up apps. At the time of review, the 48-inch model costs more than the 55-inch version, which arguably is better value.
Sony KD-65XH9505
Turns HDR up to 11
Pros:
- Fantastically bright, colourful HDR pictures
- Excellent sound quality
- Strong upscaling and motion handling
Cons:
- Some backlight blooming with high-contrast content
- Minor clipping in the most extreme brightness areas
- No 4K/120Hz HDR gaming support
The XH95 is a compelling 4K HDR TV from Sony, with a fantastically bright picture performance and aggressive colour application that really unlocks the potential of HDR images. It’s a great choice for those with bright rooms.
Upscaling of sub-4K sources and motion handling is strong, and sound quality – not always something TVs do well – is excellent. The big disappointment is the lack of next-gen gaming features, making it less than compatible with Sony’s own PS5.
Samsung QE65Q800T
Brings 8K closer to wider adoption
Pros:
- Bright, sharp 8K pictures with impressive black levels
- Powerful, impressively detailed audio
- Good value for an 8K TV
Cons:
- Heavy dimming of stand-out bright objects
- No Dolby Vision support
- Game mode reduces backlight controls
The argument made against 8K is that not needed and too expensive. The Samsung Q800T makes a convincing case against both points.
While native 8K content is still lacking, there’s an argument to be made that the Q800T makes 4K look even better than on a 4K TV. It furthers Samsung’s progress with black levels, displaying some of the best we’ve seen on an LCD TV, and it goes bright enough to make HDR look spectacular. The OTS+ sound system delivers plenty of power and detail to accompany those images, too.
There are still issues to iron out, but this is one of the cheapest 8K TVs on the market.
Samsung UE50TU8500
A great, affordable 50-inch set
Pros:
- Intuitive, easy to use UI
- Decent gaming performance
- Simple setup process
- Wealth of smart features
Cons:
- HDR performance could be better
- Underpowered speakers
Top of Samsung’s affordable Crystal UHD range, the TU8500 is money well spent. While HDR performance isn’t as adept as what you’ll get on the step-up QLEDs, the picture quality is wonderfully sharp, free from backlight bleed with a decent sense of dynamism to its images. As with the rest of Samsung’s range, gaming performance is very good.
With its competitive price, robust feature set and easy-to-use interface, the TU8500 is a great value telly for the casual viewer or gamer.
Hisense R50B7120UK
A super budget TV
Pros:
- Satisfying 4K and HD picture
- Decent sound
- Speedy Game Mode
- Lots of apps/channels
Cons:
- Limited HDR performance
- SD performance not great
- Limited viewing angles
Roku’s first stab at the UK market brings their affordable sensibility across the pond. The Hisense Roku TV features plenty of streaming options, as well as satisfying 4K picture quality for its asking price. Its upscaling performance is good with HD, though less so with SD content. Despite cheap TVs reputation for disappointing sound, the Hisense Roku is a qualified success with its big and clear performance.
For those who want a simple plug-and-go TV that supports the major streaming apps, this is one of the best budget TVs available.
Samsung UE43TU7100
An excellent 43-inch 4K TV
Pros:
- Easy setup
- Solid picture quality
- Amazing value for money
Cons:
- UI can be a little slow
- Limited connectivity
The UE43TU7100 is the cheapest TV in Samsung’s range and punches well above its weight with its performance. Easy to set-up and stocked with a huge library of apps that no other brand can match, images have a natural look and the black performance is better than what you’d expect for the money.
Gaming performance is very good, and it’s a solid bet for the bedroom gamer though don’t expect features that tie it in with the next-gen consoles. You’d struggle to find a better TV at this size and price.
How we test TVs
Every TV that passes through our doors gets put through a series of tests and naked eye checks to gauge its overall picture quality and optimal settings. Key things we look out for are screen uniformity, black level, maximum brightness and colour vibrancy/accuracy. We also check input lag to make sure gamers won’t lose their edge when playing online.
A variety of test footage is used to cover every type of scene, so we can assess a 4K TV’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as how it performs against the competition.
Sound quality isn’t forgotten, either – we give the built-in speakers a thorough listen to determine whether you’ll need to invest in a soundbar or speaker system to beef things up.
If you’re interested in checking out TVs at different price models, models and brands. Look through our main best ofs below models for everything from cheap 4K HDR TVs to expensive 8K models and everything in-between.