The best OLED TVs don't actually include only the latest models, and there's a really good reason for that: some of the ones that are on sale are incredibly expensive, which puts pressure on the prices of 2021 and 2022 models, which is potentially brilliant news for anyone looking for the best possible OLED TV for the best possible price.
OLED TVs are among the best TVs you can buy today, with the ultimate in contrast, plus perfect colours and blacks that don't suffer from light bleed. That's because the pixels in an OLED TV generate their own light, which is much more controllable than the backlit required by LED TVs. They're not hugely cheap, but if you're very lucky and get a decent discount you might even see OLEDs creeping into the best TVs under £1000.
There are huge differences between different OLED TVs. Price is one, of course, but there are also differences in the panels, in the processors, in the smart TV features, and in their compatibility with HDR standards, games consoles and surround sound. And you'll most likely find that where manufacturers make stacks of different LED TVs, the range of OLEDs is considerably smaller. That's because OLEDs are comparatively complicated to make, and expensive too.
For now, the best OLED TVs are big ones: you'll find them in our guides to the best 55-inch TVs and best 65-inch TVs for some time (and occasionally in the best 75-inch TVs and best 80-inch TVs) but the cost and complexity of smaller panels means you won't find many OLEDs duking it out with the 42-inch LEDs. That'll change over time, though.
In this guide, you'll find lots of 4K OLED TVs. What about 8K? For now, 8K OLED isn't quite there yet: getting sufficiently packed pixels is proving very difficult and very expensive, so 8K OLEDs are best filed under "lottery winner" for the time being. To find out more, check out our guide to the best 8K TVs.
Why get an OLED TV?
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The Best OLED TVs will blow your mind in terms of their display and brightness. OLED technology means the pixels emit their own light, rather than a backlight from an LED or LCD screen – making the picture much more crisp and far clearer than any other type of TV screen – cool right?
To dive into the inner workings of an OLED TV, you can check out our article 'What is OLED?', and you may also find it useful to read our OLED vs QLED guide to understand the difference between some of the tech.
What we also love about OLED TVs is how thin they are – making them much less chunky and easier to mount on the wall. However, being so thin, this does mean OLED TVs do sometimes compromise on sound. If sound is something you don’t want to compromise on, you should also check out the best soundbars to complete your setup.
Due to their fast pixel response, OLED TVs also make the best best gaming TVs and can support both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X – so if you’re a gamer, you’ll want to check these out too.
What is the best OLED TV of 2023?
The best OLED TV overall is the LG G2, which delivers spectacular visuals thanks to its revamped OLED panel and improved processing. It sets an incredibly high bar and while it isn't the cheapest OLED it delivers serious bang for your buck. It's better even than the Philips OLED+936, which offers exceptional picture quality and immersive Dolby Atmos audio thanks to its included Bowers & Wilkins speaker bar.
If you're looking for a smaller, more affordable OLED TV, the LG OLED48C1 is it. All of LG's current OLEDs are exceptional, and this mid-range model hits the sweet spot for performance and affordability.
We still think one of the best OLED TVs for cinephiles is the Panasonic JZ2000, which arguably offers even better image quality, but isn't as strong for features in other departments, and is very highly priced, making it more of a niche choice.
The best OLED TV for budget-conscious buyers is the LG BX, which is much cheaper than either of the options above, yet is very close for overall image quality, and also offers the same HDMI 2.1 future-proofing as the LG G1, and has an equivalently good smart TV platform.
The best OLED TVs: ranked
The LG G2 takes everything that was great about the LG G1, including its spectacular OLED panel, and makes it even better. The panel now delivers 30% higher luminance, and the new Alpha 9 Gen 5 processor delivers superb visuals and audio too, with particularly impressive upsampling even from SD video sources.
It delivers highly detailed, natural looking images with deep blacks, class-leading contrast and excellent viewing angles, and the only feature that's missing is support for HDR10+. But that's more than compensated for by the Precision Detail here, a Dolby Vision HDR feature that requires serious horsepower – horsepower that right now is only available in the G2.
As we said in our LG G2 review, "the G2 is the complete package": it looks incredible, it sounds great too and the latest webOS 22 smart TV platform is a joy to use. No surprise, then, that it also won the T3 Awards trophy for Best OLED TV 2022.
The LG G2 is also an excellent gaming TV thanks to its next-gen console support and very low lag: the on-screen action is incredibly smooth and detailed, and with four HDMI 2.1 inputs supporting 4K at 120Hz with VRR for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync as well as the HDMI version it covers all the gaming bases for now and for the long term too.
Samsung steered clear of the OLED market for the last 10 years or so, and now they've come back in with a bang. The Samsung S95B is one of the best OLED TVs you can buy right now.
The Korean tech giant has described it as a QD-OLED, but what exactly does that mean? Well, it’s a blue OLED that uses Quantum Dot layers (explained here) to create the red and green sub-pixels, which ultimately prevents the blue OLED from decaying faster than the other colours.
Describing the TV, in the Samsung S95B review, we said that 'the blacks are awesome and the shadows richly detailed, while OLED’s pixel-perfection delivers super-bright and incredibly precise specular highlights. The motion handling is impressive, while a host of cutting-edge features ensures the S95B is a perfect choice for next-gen gamers.'
To add to that, we were really impressed by the design which is slick and unobtrusive. Its slim build does mean you lose out a little on sound quality, but that's nothing a soundbar can't fix.
In our LG OLED C2 review we said that this is the best OLED TV for most people. It takes everything that was great about the LG C1 and adds some very worthwhile improvements. The LG G2 is marginally better but a lot more expensive; this hits the sweet spot between size, quality and price. Our pick is the 65-inch model, but if you're looking for smaller sizes please be aware that the excellent and much brighter OLED panel in this model isn't in the 42-inch and 48-inch models.
And that panel is really rather special. It's the same as the previous model but it's much more efficient, enabling LG to pump up the brightness to deliver even better visuals. There's a new state of the art image processor for class-leading upsampling, and the presence of multiple HDMI 2.1 ports means this is also one of the best gaming TVs you can buy as well as being impressively future-proof. Thanks to excellent variable refresh rate (VRR) support it's one of the best TVs for PS5 too.
Whether you're a gamer, a movie buff or a box set binger LG's latest OLED TVs raise the bar for picture quality and image processing. The C2 is absolutely gorgeous to watch and delivers a level of realism and immersion that's really rather special. The smaller versions are good, but the larger models are great.
Best OLED TVs 2023: the best of the rest
It could be argued that the one reason not to get an OLED TV is the modest brightness when compared to some other screen technologies. Sony's goal with the A90J is to use the next generation of panels, paired with the best heat management to drive its high-end OLEDs at much higher brightness levels. The good news here is that it seems to have worked, and that's why the Sony A90J has swooped in at the top of our list.
The picture quality on this flagship TV is every bit as good as you would hope. When it comes to OLEDs decent black levels are a given, but the slight boost to brightness on the A90J means there's amazing scope for realistic display of high dynamic range material. The headline facts here are that this is easily one of the best HDR TVs we've seen. The upscaling and image processing are first-rate and this has to be on any serious OLED TV wishlist.
On the downside, UK smart TV apps are lacking. These are expected to appear this year bringing support for iPlayer and other broadcast catch-up apps but their current absence is an annoyance and head-scratcher for such a big company.
On the plus side, Sony's decision to use the Google TV platform delivers a big improvement over the old Android TV system that, at times, was problematic.
Variable refresh rate at up to 120hz is a selling point for those with games consoles or gaming PCs connected. You do lose Dolby Vision on high frame rate, which is a shame, but we suspect not the end of the world for a lot of people.
Check out our full Sony A90J review and start saving those pennies.
Panasonic's one-step-above entry-level range of OLED TVs come in sizes ranging from as little as 42 inches right up to 65 inches. The Panasonic LZ980 is also compatible with every significant high dynamic range (HDR) standard, that includes HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ.
While not the brightest TV in the world, we still found ourselves impressed with the picture quality. In the Panasonic LZ980 review, we explained how 'it’s the attention to detail it demonstrates that’s initially most striking. No subtlety of tone or shade is too minor to elude it, and even in scenes of what might at first appear uniform colour the LZ980 has no difficulty in offering variation and insight.'
The sound, on the other hand, leaves a lot more to be desired even when you have the volume dialled all the way up. Voices project well but there's still some hollowness to the audio overall so we'd recommend picking up a soundbar to go alongside it.
The A2 series is LG's affordable OLED range, and while the price tag is significantly lower than the C2 and G2 models that doesn't mean you're getting a lesser panel: like its siblings it delivers deep, inky blacks, vivid colours and great HDR with support for Dolby Vision IQ.
The refresh isn't as fast – it's 60Hz compared to the 120Hz of the C2 – and the processor here is an A9 Gen5 AI Processor 4K as opposed to 8K. But it still covers the basics very well and won't ever make you feel you spent too little on your TV.
Between this and the C2, the key differences are in the connectivity options (HDMI 2.0, not 2.1) but the same software, apps and AirPlay compatibility; the speakers deliver half the volume but there's an eARC port for the obligatory soundbar; and the C2 has better motion handling. If you're looking for a state-of-the-art, future-proofed set for next-gen console gaming then the A2 isn't it, but it's an excellent all-rounder and excellent value for money.
The LG G1 was the first model with LG's next-gen 'OLED evo' panel, which promised a little more brightness than most OLED TVs, and better colour accuracy. That's matched with the usual impeccable per-pixel brightness control, resulting in astounding HDR images – only the LG G2 can beat that.
It's also LG's best TV to date for detail and texture in images, thanks to a new version of LG's image processor. Native 4K footage looks incredibly sharp without being unnatural, and noise is reduced to impressibly low levels, so things look more lifelike. Upscaling from HD to 4K has also been improved, so whether you're watching something made for 4K or not, the LG G1 really makes the most of it. The same goes for motion processing, which is among the best in the business, helping everything flow smoothly without becoming artificial at all – it's especially improved for 24fps films, which is welcome.
It even sound impressive, partly due to new AI audio processing, which does a great job of lifting the audio away from the screen and feeling bigger than the image. And LG's webOS operating system remains among the best smart TV software for friendliness, usability and support for loads of streaming services and smart home features. Read our full LG G1 review for one why we rate this TV highly enough that it won both Best OLED TV and Best Gaming TV at the T3 Awards 2021.
The one major issue to know about? That it doesn't come with a stand of any kind. This ultra-thin design is made for wall-mounting (and it comes with special mount that enables it to sit with zero gap from the wall), but you can buy either a simple stand for putting it on a TV bench, or a fetching floorstanding 'Gallery' stand too. But you'll need to factor that into the price.
This is the replacement for the HZ2000, the TV that thinks it's a cinema. Panasonic's flagship TV stands apart from most OLED TVs thanks to its Professional Edition Master OLED panel – this goes brighter than other OLED set, while still maintaining the rich and subtle dark areas that the technology is famed for.
This means you get more spectacular HDR performance than any of the other TVs here, and beautiful realistic colours. Panasonic's TVs are also tuned to be as close to Hollywood mastering monitors as possible, meaning that what you'll see on this TV is the same as what editors and directors see when getting the look of their movies right.
HDR performance is better than basically any other OLED on the market, its colour accuracy is also peerless, while its 4K processing packs in huge amounts of detail and realism.
It's also got a great new smart TV system, that Dolby Atmos sound system is as good as any one-box soundbar, and it's been updated with HDMI 2.1 gaming features for next-gen consoles… it's the complete package, really, and is absolutely one of the best TVs on the planet.
For movie lovers, there's no better TV – by a hair, this is the most richly cinematic set we've ever seen, as our full Panasonic JZ2000 review explains. Sadly, it's not available in the US.
The Sony A8's natural yet powerful images are a dream for cinematic movies and TV – the TV is capable of handling subtle tone changes and contrast with skill matching the absolute best of the best, which means you're seeing things closer to what the directors really intended to capture, especially with HDR.
That's paired with Sony's processing, which is unmatched when it comes to making motion look clear and smooth without changing how movies are 'meant' to look, but also boosting things like sports considerably. It's also a simply brilliant upscaler not only of HD to 4K, but also of SDR video to HDR – it gives things a convincingly wider colour range and depth, but doesn't feel artificial in any way.
The only image nit we can pick is actually about nits (er, which is a measure of brightness, the TV isn't infested, don't worry). It's less bright than the LG CX at its peak, and significantly less bright than the much more expensive Panasonic above. This doesn't affect the quality of the HDR – we still think it's the business for that – but a lower brightness (and a somewhat reflective panel) mean that if you have it in a bright room (particularly sunlight), it will be harder to view.
It's not only the picture that's great: it even manages really good sound, thanks to Sony's genius technology that turns the front panel itself into a speaker. This gives it clarity and drive that most thin TVs (and especially LG's) lack – you won't feel the need to grab a soundbar immediately with this.
Smart TV functions are handled by Android TV, which is good for app support, though not very slick. And gamers should think about looking elsewhere: it doesn't support the 4K/120fps or variable refresh rate features of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, sadly. Read our full Sony A8 review here.
Best OLED TVs 2023: what to look for
LG is the only company that makes OLED panels for TVs, and there’s very little difference in the OLED displays it makes and sells to all the other TV manufacturers year after year. In fact, one of the criticisms of OLED is that it appears to have reached a peak of innovation and that the technology is struggling to develop any further.
For the time being, though, that doesn’t really matter because, while the panel tech is the same, each manufacturer improves the processors that tells it what to do, and adds other flourishes on top. Each year when the nay-sayers claim that OLED is finished, somehow the likes of LG, Panasonic, Sony and Philips manage to squeeze out even more performance.
As such, it’s the new processing and audio technologies that are the features to look out, while you can assume there’ll be small improvements to dark details year-on-year, at least for now.
OLED TVs with integrated soundbars offer an experience that doesn’t require any additional boxes for audio. Their sound is streets ahead of sets that have speaker arrays stuck around the back of the TV.
Upscaling and contrast enhancements are also well worth noting, particularly since a lot of streaming content will be HD and at a bitrate where the image quality won't be a strong as from a Blu-ray, say – and, if you can get an OLED with good motion processing tech too, then that can be a big bonus up at the 65-inch size.
HDR support is worth thinking about, and while its preferable for a set to support both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ (the two forms of higher-end HDR), there’s no need to reject one just because it doesn't include both.
If you're big into gaming – especially on the PS5 or Xbox Series X, but also high-end PC gaming – you should look for sets with HDMI 2.1 connections, including 4K 120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate tech especially. These are designed to help games look clearer and smoother where they're supported, but aren't essential for those who'll watch movies and TV only. When the 2021 TV models become available, pretty much every TV will support them, so this won't be much of a worry. But for now, it's a factor you need to consider.
