The Best TVs (and Helpful Buying Tips)

This cheap TV from Vizio supports Dolby Vision and has an easy-to-use interface that allows flawless app casting from Android and iOS. It's hilariously cheap for these features; a 55-inch model will set you back around $300. You can choose from a ton of sizes, ranging from a 48-inch guest-room TV to an 85-incher for the living room.

You'll miss out on deep black levels, because this TV doesn't have the fancy mini-LED or OLED panels you'll find on other picks on this list, but at this price you can't really complain. These TVs look shockingly good for the money and can even game at 120 frames per second in 1080p with motion enhancement, which is all that anyone really needs for most consoles. —Parker Hall

LG's C4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) sits a tier below flagship OLEDs to pair a luxe experience with serious value, especially at current sale pricing. The slim-bezeled OLED offers eye-watering brightness and color, with support for Dolby Vision that Samsung's rival S90 TV series notably lacks.

I love the magic remote, which is like a Wii remote for your TV that lets you point and click at what you want on screen (it's really awesome for making picture changes or logging in to your myriad streaming accounts). Couple that with support for Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay for easy casting from your cell phone, plus the ability to do 4K at up to 144 Hz across all four inputs while gaming, and you have yourself a brilliant centerpiece for your fancy modern living room. —Parker Hall

It's no secret that we're fans of Roku's smart TV interface—that's a big reason TCL TVs with Roku smarts topped our TV list for so long in the midst of worthy adversaries. Now Roku has stepped out and is making its own TVs in-house, and the company's Roku Plus Series TVs serve as a great entry point for those on a budget.

I spent a month or so testing the Plus Series and came away pretty darn impressed with its picture. Sure, you don't get a high refresh rate for gaming (this panel is limited to 60 frames per second, which is still fine for most consoles), but you do get excellent color via the quantum-dot-enabled (QLED) panel. Full-array local dimming means solid black levels, and this model is even supported by HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant, making it a great affordable smart TV.

★ Take it up a notch: If you're after Roku smarts but with higher performance, we also like the Roku Pro Series TV, which provides improved picture quality thanks to features like mini LEDs for enhanced contrast and a 120 Hz panel for smoother gaming and better motion handling. —Parker Hall

Sometimes you get a TV that hits all the right notes from the moment it glows. Panasonic’s new Z95A OLED (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is that TV. With a meticulously tuned version of LG Display’s MLA (Microlens Array) OLED panel at its core, this TV is fabulously bright, offset by fantastic shadow detail, excellent reflection handling, and the perfect black levels for which OLEDs are praised. Details are crisp, with excellent upscaling, while the colors are rich, deep, and natural. It all adds up to one of the best TVs I’ve laid eyes on. If that weren’t enough, it loads up every major flavor of HDR and the best built-in sound you can buy (though it does make the build bulky).

One notable drawback is its subpar Fire TV operating system—I don’t love the layout, and apps are sometimes slow to load. Like Sony’s current crop of premium TVs, the Z95A has just two HDMI 2.1 inputs for the latest game consoles, one of which is the eARC input for an audio system. With sound this good, you may not need one anyway, and the rest of the package is so stellar I could barely get this thing off my console. —Ryan Waniata

As our guide bears out, brightness is a throughline for modern TVs, with each new model seeming to push the nit limits of its display type and price class. Samsung's QN90D (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is not the brightest TV in its class, but its blend of a still-fiery mini LED backlight system and stealthy anti-reflection tech combine for fabulous performance in the full light of day. It's my favorite TV for the money when it comes to wasting a good Sunday watching football.

The QN90D matches its punchy brightness with rich and natural color shading, crisp picture processing, and oily black levels that don’t skimp on the shadow detail. Its standout motion response makes it great for gaming, as do extras like VRR (variable refresh rate) at up to 144 Hz across four inputs and a dedicated Game Hub. It's not all gravy, as the TV sometimes reveals light bloom in the dark and over-sharpened artifacts with lower-quality content. Off-axis viewing isn’t as good as OLED TVs, and Samsung obstinately omits Dolby Vision. Still, the QN90D's premium picture and bright-room brilliance make it a top pick for the right space. —Ryan Waniata

TVs have gotten insanely bright of late, and the Hisense U8N (8/10 WIRED Recommends) is among the brightest of the new order. While its searing skills oddly vary between sizes, the 65-inch and 75-inch models offer peak brightness that nearly doubles last year's already brilliant U8K (8/10, WIRED Recommends) in some modes. That kind of spectacle takes some getting used to, but it pairs with the U8N's quantum dot colors for dazzling performance. An onboard ambient light sensor can help keep the sparkles in check when the sun goes down, while the TV's mini LED backlight dimming system allows for fantastic contrast and black levels.

The U8N adds good usability thanks to a loaded Google TV interface, a speedy 120 Hz panel, and plenty of gaming features, including dual HDMI 2.1 ports for standards like VRR and ALLM to pair with the best gaming consoles and PCs. The upgraded pedestal stand adds some class, too. The U8N's mid-tier pricing equates to some compromises like mediocre off-angle viewing and some image processing issues, but few TVs match its brightness and even fewer top its value. —Ryan Waniata

Samsung’s S90D (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is still one of the baddest TVs you can buy. Its OLED display provides incredible contrast thanks to fabulous black levels and great brightness for an OLED, while the use of quantum dots (available in the 55-, 65-, and 77-inch models) brings intense yet natural colors.

Its gaming bona fides include 144-Hz refresh rate support across all inputs, VRR, and built-in cloud gaming for Xbox, Luna, and others. It looks excellent in game mode by default. Gaming aside, I loved everything I watched on this TV, from 4K HDR Blu-rays to the 2024 Olympics. While it doesn’t offer Dolby Vision HDR support (Samsung opts for HDR10+ instead), the S90D is otherwise fully loaded at a price that's well below flagship models. —Ryan Waniata

Sony's A95L (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is among the best-looking TVs I have ever seen, adding quantum dots to an OLED display for striking colors and an even brighter picture than its fantastic predecessor, the A95K. Samsung makes these panels, but Sony adds its special XR processing for pristine clarity and color shading that feels at once natural and immersive. From a performance perspective, it's hard to find a flaw. Sony must have thought the A95L was perfect since the brand didn't update it in 2024, but the new Bravia 8 II (coming to my testing room soon) will bring next-level brightness to compete for the best TV of the year.

Apart from its picture, the A95L folds in many of the extras you'd expect in a modern flagship display, including top-tier gaming features (though only across two of its inputs), an intuitive Google TV interface, and surprisingly good onboard sound. The A95L isn't for budget shoppers, but it's as stunning to look at as it is costly to bring home. —Ryan Waniata

You may think your current TV is bright enough, but Sony’s masterful Bravia 9 QLED TV (9/10, WIRED Recommends) begs to differ. Its powerful mini LED backlighting system is among the brightest we’ve tested, making it one of the few premium QLED models that outduels LG's G5 OLED, while maintaining excellent black levels and contrast. Add in Sony's excellent picture processing for vivid detail and vibrant yet restrained quantum dot colors, and you get a stunningly realistic viewing experience across content.

Restraint is key to the Bravia 9’s success. Its blazing backlight is judiciously distributed for exhilarating highlights and full-picture punch without the eye-blasting overload of cheaper brightness powerhouses. Off-axis viewing is also impressive for an LED TV, though the trade-off is some screen rainbowing with direct reflections. Sony TVs continue to skimp on HDMI 2.1 compatability, with only two of the flagship's four HDMI ports providing modern features like 4K gaming at 120 Hz. Those knocks aside, this TV is a modern QLED marvel (with a price tag to match). —Ryan Waniata

Samsung's S95C QD-OLED TV (8/10, WIRED Recommends) offered phenomenal brightness for an OLED TV, and generally incredible picture quality bolstered by great features and design. In 2024, Samsung took an even bigger swing with the S95D (8/10, WIRED Recommends), adding an anti-reflective screen coating for class-leading glare resistance. Even direct lighting from inches away is dissipated with surprising efficacy.

The trade-off is that the S95D tends to lose some perceived depth in direct lighting, as the black backdrop swaps obsidian gloss for a duller coating. This is really only noticeable with very dark backgrounds in bright rooms, but it could be a reason for some Samsung fans to consider the step-down S90D (9/10, WIRED Recommends). That said, the S95D looks fantastic day or night, with great contrast and impressive brightness. Add in great features and stylish design, and you've got a killer QD-OLED that can take on even the toughest rooms. –Ryan Waniata

If you've got a big, bright room and need a TV to fit the space you should take a good look at the Hisense UN9. This massive 75-inch QLED TV (also available in 85-inch) is the length of a twin mattress and is capable of a ludicrous 5,000 nits of peak brightness in short spans, meaning you can watch the early NFL games in a room with all your window coverings open and not notice.

The Google TV smart functions work as expected and the remote has the same simple functional design as Hisense TVs that cost a few hundred bucks, but in polished aluminum. The other great feature is the discrete side-mounted speakers—I've been testing it for months without a soundbar and haven't found the audio in any way wanting. —Martin Cizmar

As we've noted in previous coverage, 8K TVs are a tough sell since 8K content is still scarce and the files are enormous. Luckily, Samsung's 8K TVs do a swell job upscaling 4K video, which is especially handy for larger screen sizes. Samsung's bright and beautiful QN900C (8/10, WIRED Recommends) comes in sizes ranging from 65-85 inches, and 65-inch TVs are the smallest 8K models you'll likely find. The TV's 33 million pixels are matched by fabulous picture processing, potent brightness, and vibrant colors. It all adds up to showy spectacle that's tough to rival.

The QN900C is our current go-to model, not because it's the latest version, but because its sale price is much more affordable than new models. Even as the QN900F arrives, I recommend most 8K adopters go for the cheaper (and larger) QN900C while available. After all, the larger the TV, the better you can enjoy 8K's improved pixel density. Along with its sparkling 8K resolution, the QN900C is loaded with options like Samsung's pedestal-style floating-screen design and tons of gaming features for a top-tier experience. —Ryan Waniata