Best 55-inch TVs 2023: Jump Menu
00. The list in brief ↴
01. Best overall: Samsung S95B
02. Best OLED: LG OLED C2
03. Best affordable: Samsung BU8500
04. Best Mini LED: Samsung QN95B
05. Best Sony: Sony Bravia X90K
06. Best Ambilight: Philips OLED+907
07. Best sounding: Panasonic LZ2000B
08. Best premium QD-OLED: Sony A95K
09. Best wall-mount OLED: LG OLED G2
10. Best for streaming: Sky Glass
11. The right size for you?
12. How we choose the best 55in TVs
The best 55-inch TVs in 2023 are the most commonly purchased tellies for most people. While we've covered the best TVs in our other dedicated feature, here we're focused on those dream living room options that deliver a truly cinematic experience at home – but don't decimate your bank balance.
If you’re specifically wanting to go for one of the best OLED TVs then we've got another list for that too. Or if 55-inches feels too big for your home then take a look at our best 48- to 50-inch TVs guide instead, which will serve you much better. We have more information at the end of this article about what to look for, too.
Panel technologies, whether the brightest-of-bright Mini LED-backlit LCD panels, most saturated from QD-OLED new entries, or best with black-to-white contrast from traditional OLED, all make for fantastic viewing experiences, at all kinds of price points. You'll find suggestions across the technology spectrum in this guide, ensuring the best 55-inch TV option for your needs, taste and budget.
It's part of my job here at T3 to test the best TVs, so I'm often hosting a brand 55-inch set in my living room for review to see if it makes this guide. Part of that process is also assessing price, so I'm always looking for deals too – and Amazon Prime Day 2, AKA Big Deal Days, taking place on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 October, is an ideal time to go TV shopping.
But if you're set on waiting for 'the big one', Black Friday takes place in the lead-up to Friday 24 November. Myself and the T3 team will be working hard to highlight all the best 55-inch TV deals from the event, along with expert buying advice, curated into our best Black Friday deals page – so keep that bookmarked!
T3's Top 3
Best overall
The best 55-inch TV for most people is the Samsung S95B. This QD-OLED brings vibrant colours and massive brightness all for a very fair price - it's cheaper than the newer S95C, hence its selection in the number one spot here. This was Samsung's return to the OLED-type format and what a triumph.
Best OLED
The best 55-inch OLED TV for most people is the LG C2. This is a great OLED set released in 2022 and as a result it's very fairly priced - cheaper than the newer and very similar LG C3 (released in 2023), hence its selection in the top 3 here - which massively adds to its appeal in this 55-inch format.
Best affordable
The best 55-inch TV option for saving money comes from the Samsung BU8500. We described it as 'superb for the price', because 4K quality this good for this little is unrivalled in our view. However, it's 'Crystal UHD', not Mini LED or OLED, so it's less refined, but it's that much cheaper to justify it.
The best 55-inch TVs we recommend in 2023
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Best overall
Even though Samsung doesn't position its first QD-OLED telly (what's that? here's an explainer) as the very best it offers, we think it's a stunning balance that, as said in our S95B review, "represents remarkable value for money, with awesome picture quality, a comprehensive smart system, and extensive gaming features".
Sounds like the S95B has it all then? The only real criticism is that the sound could be better, but you can always buy one of the best soundbars for Samsung TVs to help solve that. Oh, and Samsung simply refuses to support Dolby Vision for its HDR content, instead backing HDR10+ as its choice, but that's a minor misgiving in the order of things.
Overall, the S95B offers a winning combination of design, class-leading technology and features; and thanks to some recent price drops, the S95B is also a bargain compared to its newer replacement, the even brighter (and pricier) S95C.
Best oled
As we said in our LG C2 review, this is one of the best TVs on the planet today. With support for all the latest standards and four HDMI 2.1 ports for game console compatibility the specification is as impressive as the visuals, and even the sound is pretty good for a flat-screen TV. However we would recommend that you add one of the best soundbars – as you just won't get much of a spatial audio effect from this TV without one.
We like LG's webOS interface, which has been tweaked with better family personalisation options, and the set design is pleasing too. Overall this is the perfect TV package, with extensive connectivity, support for all the important standards and the sort of picture that'll make your jaw drop. And given price drops, it's the best 55-inch TV for most people, finding that sweet spot between excellence and affordability.
The newer LG C3 is now available, which has only been a benefit to the older C2 model as it's helped keep the price down. Besides, there's barely any difference between those two sets.
Best affordable
If you want a brilliant budget TV buy, this is the one to go for: as our Samsung BU8500 review puts it: [this TV is] another demonstration of Samsung’s ability to hit a price point without compromising all that obviously... It's good quality and good value if you don't want to fork out masses of cash on a top-tier telly."
Of course it does need some perspective: this is a 'Crystal UHD' TV, so its backlighting is different and less precise than a top-end Mini LED TV such as the Q95B, and it doesn't have individual self-emissive pixels as per OLED technology. Long story short: you'll experience some mild backlight bleeding, but that's to be expected at this level.
Overall, the BU8500 is a really great TV with satisfying and convincing visuals, one of the best smart TVs around for this price. It's an excellent all-rounder and looks really smart as an object too.
Best mini led
Samsung's 4K flagship Quantum Dot Mini LED (also known as Neo QLED) is an incredible thing, with some of the best brightness and performance we've ever seen packed into a TV. Doesn't hurt that it's got a gorgeous, slim design too, plus excellent gaming support.
As we said in our Samsung QN95B review: it's a stunning TV and a major picture leap forward from its already impressive predecessor. It's also the T3 Awards winner of both Best TV 2022 and Best Gaming TV 2022, which shows how well-appointed this set is. If money is no object then it'll trump all of the top three above!
Neo QLED means it comes with a system called Shape Adaptive Light Control to deliver better dimming and reduce backlight blooming. It makes for particularly punchy high dynamic range (HDR) content, and it does an excellent job of reducing the backlight clouding that often affects LED TVs with local dimming. It's incredibly bright, peaking at 2900 nits, and the black levels and colour reproduction here will make you think you're watching an OLED TV.
Best sony
Another top-entry if you're looking for great quality but a more sensible price point. As said in our Sony X94K review: "[this TV] represents excellent value for money. It’s never less than thoroughly watchable from any source, it’s got a fine user interface, and is properly made by a company that knows exactly what’s what."
As you'll see from our title here, the X94K is also the X90K, it just depends on which region you're buying it in. There's literally no discernable difference between the two, so don't think that just because one has a bigger number it's going to net a better result.
On the downside the X94K doesn’t sound great, nor look particularly good if you’re viewing off-axis, but even so: if you’re after a big, accomplished TV that looks great head-on, and won't break your bank balance, then the X94K demands careful consideration.
Best ambilight
The key sell of Philips' TV range is the addition of Ambilight. This immersive LED projection, which spills light onto surrounding surfaces, adds to the scale of what this TV can deliver.
As we said in our Philips OLED 907 review: "No, it doesn’t look any kind of bargain on paper initially, but once you realise there’s no need for further spending on a soundbar the Philips is remarkably good value. Especially given just how spectacular the picture quality is."
On the downside it's a bit of a bore to setup with optimum results, and yes it'll cost you more than an LG OLED C2 (which has the same panel, but no Ambilight and worse sound), but otherwise the 907 is one of OLED TVs' superstars.
Best sounding
While Philips does a great job of delivering convincing sound from its TVs, it's Panasonic that takes the crown for delivering the most convincing Dolby Atmos surround sound straight out of the box. That's thanks to the LZ2000's huge soundsystem that's positioned all around the rear of the panel, ensuring upfiring coverage that no other TV can compete with, not unless there's a proper surround system mated with it anyway.
Add to this Panasonic's superb handling of images, its full-house when it comes to HDR format compatibility, and OLED quality that rivals the best of them, and this is an epic all-round telly. It's often very fairly priced, too, which may give it a further leg up compared to its most obvious Philips rivals, especially now that Panasonic's MZ2000 upgrade model has been revealed.
As said in our LZ2000 review: "this Panasonic is a gorgeous TV, one that delivers a polished picture performance; its OLED execution is sensational, with perfect near-black handling, and superb colour accuracy. The 360 degree sound system is also class-leading."
Best premium qd-oled
If money were no object then, in many ways, Sony's QD-OLED champion would beat Samsung's S95B option up the top of this very best-of list. The Sony sounds better for starters. Its pictures are more nuanced and believable too. But it doesn't half cost a lot, which is why it slides down to this position in fairness of balance.
Still, it'll be well worth it for some cinema fans. As we said in our Sony A95K review: "Sony’s take on QD-OLED technology offers a more controlled and ‘creator’s intent’ approach than Samsung's S95B... the A95K is pretty much by default the best all-round 4K TV we’ve ever seen."
Sony’s 2022 flagship TV isn’t perfect, of course, as it can lose black level in very bright rooms; and we feel it's more like a step up from regular OLED TVs rather than a quantum leap (not Quantum Dot, har har). Still, a sublime TV if you can afford one.
Best wall-mount
LG's G2 is among its very best OLED TVs (sure, the G3 is even better, but it's pricier), with exceptional image processing, incredibly bright HDR and superb visual accuracy. It has superb sound, great gaming features and all the right streaming services, and while it's overkill for the average viewer it's a truly exceptional television.
However, the LG G2 is designed to be wall-mounted, which means it won't be suitable for all. There's no stand mount in the box, which if you're looking for then we'd suggest looking at the (slightly less bright) LG OLED C2 model instead.
As said in our LG OLED G2 review: "[this TV] represents OLED’s zenith, with cutting-edge image processing, incredibly bright HDR pictures, and exceptional levels of accuracy. Once you add in great sound, extensive gaming features, and a comprehensive choice of streaming services, you’ve got a 4K TV that’s hard to beat."
Best for streaming
While its screen tech won’t compete with some of the priciest options on this list, the Sky Glass is a 4K QLED TV with a decent 55-inch display and it packs in a powerful soundbar with Dolby Atmos surround sound support.
If that isn’t enough to convince you, then the best part about it is that you get everything Sky has to offer built-in when you pay the monthly subscription fees. You’ll be able to flick through Live TV, watch original Sky content and access all of the other satellite channels without hooking up a separate box or streaming stick. There’s just one wire to get it all up and running so you’ll be saving on space and cable mess.
You don’t need a satellite dish for it to work either because it relies entirely on an internet connection. In our Sky Glass review, you can see that the only major downside is that you do need to have decent broadband at home, if not then you’ll be better off sticking to a TV paired with the Sky Q box instead.
the right size
A 55-inch TV may initially sound too big, but once you consider recent tech and design trends, you might change your mind. For a start modern TVs are much thinner, and not just the OLEDs.
A 55-inch HDR TV will only be 2 or 3cm deep, and minimalist designs, shrinking bezels and hidden speakers mean both OLED and LCD TVs are primarily a screen with no extraneous design features, and less thick edges. As a result you may be able to fit a 55-inch 4K TV into a space previously occupied by a smaller but older model.
For small living rooms, 55 inches will likely be the upper limit of what will fit, and it is worth taking some measurements to be sure. But it can give you an epic cinema screen feel if you're sitting around 10 feet away.
In larger living rooms, where you may be sitting further away, it's basically the standard size you should be aiming for if you're sitting around 14 feet from the screen. Any more than that, and you should take a look at the best 65-inch TVs, though these do come with a price hike (and, of course, are notably bigger).
how we choose
The top-quality 55-inch 4K TV market is dominated by OLEDs and high-end QLED TVs (or equivalent LCD technology). As a result, you can expect the LCD screens to use a direct LED backlight with local dimming, which help them get closer to the deep black range that OLED offers.
If you go down the price ladder, you'll lose the OLED panels, and the LCD panels will become simpler, with fewer dimming zones in the backlight, before moving to edge-lit LED panels as you go more budget. These will still offer strong brightness and colours, but won't be as capable when it comes to dark scenes.
Both TV techs will offer extensive HDR support and AI-enhanced image processing on fancier models. You might also be looking for higher-end sound systems (though with more budget models, you'll still want to add one of the best soundbars), comprehensive smart systems, and plenty of cool gaming features – many of the best gaming TVs come in this size.
At T3 I manage the TV testing, using the voices of experienced freelancers, in addition to our own in-house testing – which I've been undertaking here and at other outlets for the best part of a decade now. So when it comes to the best 55-inch TVs there's loads to consider, which is why we've presented a range of price options, technologies and brands to consider in this guide.
