Best TVs under £500 in 2024: cheap 4K TVs in many sizes

Getting a great TV without breaking the bank is more possible today than it ever has been - great displays are getting cheaper all the time. The best TVs under £500 go above and beyond what you might expect at such a price point. With 4K Ultra-HD resolution being the standard for most TVs these days, the TVs on our list mostly tick that box.

It’s also important to remember that size isn’t always everything. In this list, you’ll find some of the best 55-inch TVs and best 48-inch TVs. However, you could choose to invest the same amount of money into something smaller, but higher quality, such as one of the best 40-inch TVs or best 32-inch TVs – most of which come in at under £500 too.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for here and feel you can stretch your budget a little further, then take a look at the best TVs under £1000, as you might just find your perfect TV waiting there for you there.

With December now in full swing, it's also a great time to be shopping for a new TV, with festive deals aplenty. If you want to see all of the best deals we've highlighted, as well as the very best T3 gift guides, check out the T3 Christmas hub, which gathers these and more.

Best TVs under £500 you can buy in 2024

Our tips for buying a cheap 4K TV

So what should you look for when buying a cheap 4K telly, and what compromises can you expect to make? You can read about how we test here.

Screen sizes obviously vary dramatically, depending on brand and price. A growing number of manufacturers are now pushing out smaller (40-43-inch) 4K panels to meet booming demand.

All TVs worth their salt are net connected, via Wi-Fi or ethernet, so check whether they support all the streaming and catch-up services you want them too. But bear in mind that just because a set doesn't include everything, that doesn't have to be a deal-breaker – the best media streamers include a huge range of services, and cost from only around £40, so if you're making a big saving on the TV, you still won't break the bank.

It’s also worth double checking that your shortlisted set has enough HDMI ports for your games consoles, Blu-ray player, set-top box and maybe that extra streamer if it's – this is an area where compromises are often made to get the retail price down.

Freeview Play is a handy bonus as it serves as both your programme guide looking forward and also lets you seamlessly delve into catch-up TV that you might have missed, without needing to load up separate apps.

HDR (high dynamic range) compatibility is a bonus, although these entry-level sets typically won’t be bright enough to dazzle with spectral highlights in the same way an 800-nit OLED panel will.

Another element that is usually majorly skimped on with cheaper TVs is the audio. So if you've got a few quid left over, consider buying one of the best soundbar or soundbases we've tried.

How we test TVs at T3

Testing a TV can only really be done one way – using it. When we have a TV to review at T3, one of our team will use it for a good period of time to see how it holds up to different uses. After all, light conditions, types of media and more can all affect how a TV performs, and you won't test all of that in a day.

We're judging a lot of things when we put a TV through its paces, including probably the most important criterion: picture quality. Whether it's a top-end OLED or miniLED display, or a QLED or LED mid-ranger, we'll check on colour accuracy, sharpness and motion to see how the TV performs.

While most TV experts would recommend an external sound system or soundbar to go with any great display, we'll also pay attention to the native sound quality that a TV's speakers offer. Plus, we'll take into account how easy it is to use, since unintuitive menus can be a constant annoyance if they're bad.

Taking all of these factors and more into account, we're left able to contextualise how a TV performs, not just on its own merits but also compared to the wider market. That's how we judge the score it gets awarded, with the very best options earning a lucrative T3 5-star badge to show they're a telly of rare quality.