Best 4K TV: Our favourite sets to buy right now

While the Panasonic MZ2000 is undoubtedly the best overall Panasonic TV, it doesn’t offer much flexibility with its bolted on sound system. For those who want a less expensive OLED and the freedom to add their own sound system, the MZ1500 is a fantastic TV for those purposes.

If you’ve seen a Panasonic OLED in recent year then you’ll definitely recognise the MZ1500’s design. Nothing has changed in terms of look, and it’s not a TV that’ll grab the attention in a room, but that appears to be the point. It is easy to assemble though, and the swivel screen means you position it to avoid glare or ambient sunlight in a room.

The smart interface is Panasonic’s My Home Screen which is a simple affair. It has all the main video streaming apps, though if you’re after more than that then it’s rather bare. Nevertheless, it’s an accessible interface that doesn’t require a log-in to make use of its features, and for that we appreciate not having to remember another password.

Connectivity accounts for the usual inputs and output, with two HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K/120Hz gameplay and VRR. We measured input lag at 14.3ms, which is quicker than the Sony A80L but slower than the LG C3 OLED. The Game Control Board offers a series of settings that can be customised during gameplay for those who want the best performance from their games.

Much like Sony’s OLED TVs, the Panasonic features a very natural-looking HDR performance. Blacks on this OLED are rich and deep, the peak brightness is high as we measured over a 1000 nits on a 5% HDR window. That’s more than enough to give HDR some zing and zest.

And it manifests itself through bright highlights, brighter reds and more nuanced blues, as the Panasonic MZ1500 is able to reveal a wider range of colours than the Sony A80L. The addition of Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive also helps for an improved performance in both bright and dark rooms, and especially with the latter, you can view more detail in dark HDR scenes.

Upscaling is very good, maintaining the look of content without enhancing it, and while this set’s motion processing isn’t as good as Sony, it’s not far behind, smooth and natural look at its ‘Min’ setting.

The sound quality is better than we’d expecting, with warm bass that’s got some depth and weight to it. It’s not the best at delivering dialogue, a little too warm with some words being muffled, but we wouldn’t be rushing out to buy a soundbar to go with this TV. The audio system works well enough on its own.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Panasonic MZ1500

Sony’s X95L is its flagship Mini LED screen, and it’s performance is fantastic. This is absolutely a TV to consider for your home given that it’s fallen below £2000 / $2000 (in the US the X93L is the equivalent model).

This TV allows you attach its support feet in any of three separate positions to find a more accommodating space within your set-up. The 65X95L’s smart interface is provided by Google TV, while there are four HDMI inputs to plug sources into, while the Acoustic Centre Sync port means you can partner the TV’s speakers with those in one of Sony’s current series of soundbars.

Two of the HDMI inputs support 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates, and auto low latency mode switching. though there’s no Dolby Vision Game mode, either, and input lag for this model was measured at a rather high 18.8ms.

Our reviewer pegged the brightness of the TV on a 10% white HDR test window was 1560 nits, which is easily around the same brightness of premium OLED and QD-OLED models, except you’re paying significantly less for the privilege of owning this Mini LED TV.

This level of brightness helps to produce Sony’s customary deft and naturalistic images, full of contrast and colour. And while there’s still an element of blooming it has been reduced compared to the 2022 model. Our reviewer found the local dimming to be less aggressive than on Samsung’s Mini LED TVs – and is less of a distraction as a result.

We found upscaling of HD sources to be exemplary, too, adding exceptional refinement and density to less than 4K images without exaggerating noise.

And as usual with a Sony Acoustic Multi-Audio TV, the best thing about this TV’s audio performance is how precisely it places sound effects on the screen. In a perfect world the sound would have more forward projection and impact, as well as bass, but this is excellent performance for a flat-screen TV.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: Sony XR-65X95L

The C4 OLED marks a return to form for LG’s mid-range OLED model after the C3 OLED fell a little flat by LG’s usual high standards.

The design carries on from previous iterations, our reviewer hailing its premium quality and finish. It feature four HDMI inputs, all of which support 4K/120Hz, ALLM, and VRR, so you can plug in as many gaming sources as you like and get an impressive performance across the board. We measured input lag at 13ms, but with Boost mode enabled that can go down to 9ms.

The webOS interface is a slick experience, introducing user profiles to customise content for each person in a household. It’s quick in terms of responsiveness, easy enough to navigate, and LG have said going forward that it’ll receive updates for the next five years, so the C4 will always have the latest content. In terms of streaming apps it has as many as you would ever want, with global apps alongside local ones such as iPlayer and ITVX.

Picture performance has had a boost with colours looking rich and lush but never overstated. Peak brightness has had a bump, providing more intensity to HDR images. Motion smoothing has improved, and for its 2024 TVs, you can watch Filmmaker mode content with Dolby Vision for a more cinematic and accurate viewing experience.

The audio system is still a rather average one, the AI sound mode still tends to raise the noise floor when improved. You’ll want to add a soundbar to this system to get the best performance.

Reviewer: Steve May
Full Review: LG OLED65C4

The Samsung QE65QN95D is, so far, the Korean brand’s best LCD TV for 2024, impressing with its colour performance, and high peak brightness which will suit people who watch TV in brightly-lit rooms.

In the UK it’s RRP is £3299, while the equivalent model in the US is the QN90D, which has an RRP of $2699 for the 65-inch screen.

The number of dimming zones remains the same as the QN95C with 1344 zones, while peak brightness is similar at 2120 nits. The big difference with this model is the step up in AI processing, which helps to upscale to non-4K images in a clean, crisp, and natural way thanks to its ability to tell the difference between actual detail and noise.

With 4K HDR content, the TV pumps out some rich and vibrant colours, producing a fantastically sharp and detailed picture. Considering that this is an LED LCD TV, the contrast it can produce is fantastic, with the QN95D able to produce the most convincing black levels we’ve seen on a TV of this type.

The speaker system is solid rather than spectacular. It offers power, clarity and space, while the Object Tracking Sound (OTS) system plants effects on screen with accuracy. Bass and volume remain a little limited, so you won’t want to stress this TV too much.

For gaming, all four of the HDMI inputs support 4K/144Hz, so gamers don’t have to pick and choose which devices go into which HDMI input. There’s HDMI VRR for gaming consoles, with PC gamers getting AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. We measured input lag to 9.8ms, which is the same as the QN95C and Q80D TVs.

The latest Tizen smart interface is a small improvement over previous ones offering more means to personalise the experience and create profiles, while it also uses AI to serve content to the viewer. It also features practically every streaming app you could ever want, so you’re unlikely to run out of entertainment options with this TV.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: Samsung QE65QN95D

Another TCL TV features on this list, and the C845K is one of the more impressive affordable Mini LED sets we’ve reviewed as of late.

Available for less than £1000 in its 65-inch size, this is an aggressively priced Mini LED set that performs better than the similarly specced Hisense U7K. It’s not perfect, but if you’re looking for a bright HDR performance, this TCL TV is arguably the stand out model below £1000.

The build quality is heavy duty, so it’d be tricky to try and place this TV on a wall without some assistance. The back end is also fairly chunky too, so despite the Mini LED backlight, it isn’t the skinniest Mini LED we’ve ever seen. Our reviewer wasn’t a fan of the remote that came with the TV, describing it as cheap and cheerful for such a well specified TV.

And the TCL C845K has some impressive features for the price. It has 576 local dimming zones in its Mini LED backlight for more precise brightness and reduction in blooming that can affect picture quality. Brightness can hit 2200 nits, which is brighter than even the brightest OLEDs on the market such as the LG G3. For gaming it has HDMI 2.1 support with 4K/120Hz, ALLM and VRR, as well as Dolby Vision Gaming where it’s supported. An input of lag of 15ms is good, if not among the quickest that can be achieved.

HDR support equals Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, and HDR10+, so the TCL can play nice and optimise colour and brightness with those formats ensuring the best picture quality that the C85K is capable of. Google TV is supported for the user interface, which we found to be more attractive and better organised than Android TV. At the moment, it doesn’t yet support the UK catch-up apps, but TCL is offering users a Roku stick for anyone who wants one.

Picture performance is an area that greatly impressed us. The TL C845K does need some tweaking from its settings to produce its best picture, but once done it is capable of excellent contrast, convincing black levels merged with spectacular brightness, alongside bold colours. You’d get a better picture performance out of the box with Mini LEDs from the likes of Sony, but it’s not available at this price.

The 65845K’s sound is as aggressive as its pictures. It’s 70W sound system is able to pump out a sound that’s very loud but remains detailed and offers an impressive amount of bass. When pushed to its limits it can sound coarse and bass features some distortion, but otherwise this TV’s audio performance is better than other TVs that cost a significant amount more.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: TCL 65C845K

On the surface, the Philips 55OLED+908 appears to have you need. Impressive picture, good sound for a TV, and gaming specs that can provide a premium performance. It is, however, a slightly flawed one.

Image quality can be superb. The 55OLED+908 is the first Philips’ TV to use LG’s MLA panel and peak brightness hits high levels (as long as you turn a few settings off) with colours that are richly described but also well balanced what impressed us most is the. Detail in the darkest parts of the image is excellent, while highlights are bright, creating an impressive sense of contrast.

The TV’s levels of sharpness and detail are higher than any other OLED we’ve tested recently. But there are a few issues we spotted. One is banding and discolouration in some scenes, with the Philips’ images looking a little green. It’s not as bad as the LG G3 was, but noticeable nonetheless.

The audio performance is very impressive. It brings power, weight and a fine sense of detail to complement its images. Bass is very good for a flatscreen TV, and in some cases it’s better than the Sony A95L.

Smarts are provided by Google TV, although there is no support for Freeview Play and UK catch-up and on-demand apps. You can either get around this by using built-in Chromecast for some apps or purchasing a streaming stick. Otherwise app selection is huge thanks to Google Play Store, with all the usual suspects covered. Ambilight is provided in its three-side form and it adds to a room’s ambience in a way no other TV brand can.

It’s a swish and stylish design with its ultra-thin bezel, metal swivel stand and cloth-clad Bowers & Wilkins sound system. Connectivity includes four HDMI inputs, two of which support 4K/120Hz refresh rates for gaming. Input lag 12.7ms, while there’s support for VRR and ALLM tech as well.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Philips 55OLED+908

Hisense has been one of the leading lights in offering an impressive specification for its TVs at an affordable price, but that hasn’t always meant a stellar performance. The Hisense U7K is a 4K TV we can heartily recommend, though.

Priced at an aggressive £1499 / $1049, the Hisense is a Mini LED that undercuts Samsung’s range of Neo QLED Mini LED TVs such as the QN85C. It claims a performance of around 1000 nits of peak brightness and delivers a very complete and convincing image when given native 4K HDR content.

Our reviewer found there were numerous subtle differences in tone and colour volume visible in the image, with skin tones enjoying plenty of variety, while the rest of the colour palette was vibrant without ever becoming overblown or unnatural. Black tones are respectably deep with no crushing evident even in dark scenes. It supports every useful HDR standard in HDR10, HDR10+ Adaptive, Dolby Vision IQ; along with IMAX Enhanced certification and Filmmaker mode for greater picture accuracy. 

The performance of the audio system is not the best we’ve heard, eliciting good clarity from the midrange but rather tentative in describing bass and producing a flat, undynamic sound overall. We’d recommend you budget to add a soundbar to this TV.

The VIDAA U interface keeps things simple with all the major on-demand and catch-up apps included, and we found it didn’t take too long for its algorithms to start suggesting content we’d actually want to watch. Gaming-wise it supports AMD FreeSync Premium for PC gamers, auto low latency mode and refresh rates up to 144Hz, making this a competitive TV to the likes of the QN85C and TCL 65C845K Mini LED models.

The Hisense U7K is a bit of a bargain for its price. It’s well specified, and performs very well for its price point with good picture and gaming skills.

Reviewer: Simon Lucas
Full Review: Hisense 65U7KQTUK

If you’re on the lookout for a large 4K TV, the LG OLED77G3’s stunning 77-inch display is tough to beat. 

The size and scale of the OLED77G3 is impressive to behold, while the high peak brightness of LG’s MLA panel helps the display to maintain wide and bright viewing angles – that is if you have a room spacious enough to mount the TV. 

As far as picture quality is concerned, the LG G3 supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail, as well as its own Filmmaker mode. We found that the TV gave a slight red push to images which was noticeable in skin complexions. Contrast is fantastically conveyed, as the deep blacks combine with the bright display to create a lush, almost three-dimensional image. At the same time, upscaling is well-judged with the TV making the best of what it is presented with. 

LG has also developed three measures to reduce the impact of image retention, or OLED burn-in, and offers a five-year warranty on its G3 models. 

The 77-inch G3 features LG’s webOS interface, which we found to the slick and swift, though there are a few unobtrusive ads. When it comes to content, you’re spoilt for choice with apps. Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, Now, Rakuten TV, Sky Store and more are all available on UK models, as is Freeview Play. 

The OLED77G3 includes four HDMI 2.1 ports, headphones and digital optical outputs, Ethernet, satellite and two RF aerial inputs, a CI+ 1.4 common interface slot, and three USB 2.0 ports. There are also a range of wireless connectivity options to hand, including Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, WiSA, Bluetooth 5.0, and Bluetooth Surround Ready. 

Gamers benefit from a range of high-end features, including ALLM, VRR and 4K/120Hz support across all HDMI inputs. There’s also AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync for PC gamers, along with a variety of cloud gaming and broadcasting services, including GeForce Now, Utomik, Blacknut, and Twitch. Lastly, there’s a Game Optimiser mode and support for Dolby Vision Gaming. 

Sound quality isn’t the G3’s strong suit with the low-end lacking punch and intensity. However, dialogue intelligibility is good with the speakers striking a natural tone and the placement of voices echoing where the actors stand on screen. 

If you’re looking for a large TV capable of delivering high-quality, immersive images and are prepared to invest in a sound system to boost the audio, the LG OLED77G3 is a fantastic option. 

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: LG OLED77G3