Which televisions are top rated

To help you navigate the dozens of seemingly identical TV models from Samsung, LG, Vizio, TCL, Sony, and other manufacturers, we've watched hundreds of hours of content on them and picked a few of our favorites. We've listed everything from the best budget TV to the absolute best set you can buy—and a few excellent choices in between. Unless labeled otherwise, every TV we link to is 55 inches. There are often larger and smaller sizes available on the retailer's site, but this is a very good size for most living rooms.

We also believe you should invest in a good soundbar and TV streaming stick. TVs now come with wonderful displays, but they're terrible at sound and running apps.

Be sure to check out our many other buying guides. There have been mild price fluctuations due to the international chip shortage. We've updated the links and prices, but they may fluctuate more than usual. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Most of us don't have gargantuan budgets for a new TV, but we do want to buy one that will last.

It's a beautiful 4K TV that marries advanced technology like quantum dots great for bright colors and local dimming for deeper blacks with a built-in Roku interface. TCL is known for competitive pricing, and this 6-Series is no exception, providing the image quality we'd expect from LG and Samsung models that cost nearly double the price.

Get CNET's comprehensive coverage of home entertainment tech delivered to your inbox. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. David Katzmaier. Jump to details. Best alternative for tighter budgets: Vizio MQ7. Best cheap TV runner-up: Vizio V-series.

Sizes: , , , inch. Sizes: , , , , inch. Sizes: , , inch. Sizes: , , , , inch Read the Vizio V-Series review. Sizes: , inch. How big a TV should I get? What is the best smart TV system for streaming? A nationally representative survey conducted by CR found that these attributes are very or extremely important to more than three-quarters of smart TV owners. Consumer Reports evaluates the various ways TV brands collect, use, and share consumer data, how well they protect it, and how transparent they are about their data practices.

You can adjust the settings yourself , but many people find them tricky to locate and use. We also judge companies by how they handle security procedures, such as encrypting all user communications by default, enabling automatic security updates, and protecting against known security vulnerabilities. Like all the products that Consumer Reports tests and rates, every TV we evaluate is purchased at retail.

There are far fewer OLED TVs on the market, and they tend to be more expensive, though prices have dropped over the past couple of years. OLED sets do a great job of displaying the blackest parts of an image, so the deepest shadows can really look black, as in real life, rather than gray.

OLED TVs also have essentially unlimited viewing angles, so the picture still looks great if you view it from the sides of the screen.

These models include a feature called local dimming, which divides the backlights into zones that can be dimmed or illuminated separately, depending on the scene. This can help improve black levels.

Also, it doesn't get extremely bright, so highlights may not pop how they should, and there's some banding with gradients of similar color. However, this only really matters if you want the best movie experience possible in HDR, but you should still enjoy its excellent all-around performance. Overall, it's one of the best TVs we've tested. It doesn't have any of the gaming features of the LG C1 OLED , and even though those may come in a future firmware update, it's not as good for gaming because it has higher input lag.

However, it comes with a different panel type that allows it to get brighter, especially in HDR, so most small highlights stand out the way the creator intended. It also has much better out-of-the-box accuracy and improved gradient handling, meaning it displays colors accurately and without any banding.

If you're looking for the best TV with an OLED panel that we've tested, you can't go wrong with the LG, but if you want something that offers a better movie experience, the Sony is an excellent choice too. LED TVs have an advantage over OLEDs because they get much brighter, and they don't have the risk of permanent burn-in, so you can leave it on your favorite news channel all day without worrying about damaging the panel.

Whether gaming or watching movies in a dark environment, it has high native contrast for deep blacks. Gamers should appreciate the low input lag and quick response time. There's a great local dimming feature, but it's not as effective in Game Mode because it raises the black levels more.

If you prefer using it in a bright room, it has Mini LED backlighting that gets very bright. Unfortunately, it has a lower contrast than most VA panel TVs due to the 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer, which helps improve the viewing angles at the cost of the contrast. It also has some uniformity issues with dirty screen effect that could get distracting during sports or long panning shots in movies, but this can vary between units. However, that means it has a higher native contrast ratio for deeper blacks, and its local dimming future is great both in and out of Game Mode.

It has the same gaming perks, like HDMI 2. It has a quick response time, but there are issues of red ghosting and motion artifacts in Game Mode that could become distracting. It also gets bright enough to make highlights pop for an excellent HDR experience.

However, if you prefer something cheaper, you should be happy with the Hisense. It's a straightforward TV with quantum dot technology, and despite its low cost, it offers great picture quality that rivals more expensive options.

It's well-built and available in a variety of sizes, from 50 to 75 inches, so you can get the one that suits your needs the most. This TV comes with Android TV as its built-in interface, which is fairly easy-to-use and has a massive selection of apps available through the Google Play Store.

The mic on the remote also gives you access to Alexa and Google Assistant. In terms of picture quality, the U6G performs well both in dark and well-lit environments. It has a VA panel with high native contrast, and the decent local dimming feature helps it display deep blacks with incredible uniformity, providing impressive performance for watching movies.

It also has excellent reflection handling and gets bright enough to fight glare.