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If you live in an apartment or share a dorm room, a 55-inch TV is probably the perfect size. It's not so big that you'll need a crew of friends to help you move it or hang it, and most of them are available for under $1,000.
I say most because the LG C5 OLED is technically the best of the 55-inch models, but it'll cost you a little over a grand for the 55-inch set. If that doesn't fit within your budget, the Hisense U65QF is our value pick. It delivers excellent contrast and color volume for a fraction of the price. You won't get the sumptuous black levels that only OLED can deliver, but it's a darn good TV all the same.
The best 55-inch TVs available right now
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Best 55-inch TV overall
You might be wondering why we're recommending the 2025 LG C5 as the best 55-inch TV over the recently-released LG C6. In the end, it comes down to price. The LG C6 is a fantastic TV, but it's not a substantial upgrade over the C5, and with the price of the older TV now lower, you get an incredible experience for less with last year's model.
It's still a pricey option, so it might not be the right choice if you're working on a budget, but it's easily one of the best OLED TVs around right now. When we tested the C5, the vivid picture and popping colors really looked great for films, shows and sport.
We were particularly impressed with the set's brightness, making it a good choice for bright or sunny rooms, as the external light doesn't drown out the TV. And for evening viewing, we found the C5's Dark Room worked well to adjust to lower light settings.
The two downsides we found when testing the TV last year were the often confusing and over-engineering remote and middling audio quality. The C6 has a better remote, but it's also double the price, and the improve control isn't worth that.
The audio is still the same, but it's more tolerable at 2026's lower price. And the money you save by avoiding the flagship model means you might end up with the budget to add one of the best soundbars to your setup anyway.
- Read our full LG C5 OLED review
Best budget 55-inch TV
The Hinsense U65QF is another 2025 model (like the LG C5, recommended earlier) and the reason I've included it here is pretty much the same: last year's TVs are cheaper now and the newer models are not substantially better to justify spending more.
The U65QF was already our favorite budget 55-inch TV, and now it's even cheaper for you to pick up this impressively bright set. Plus, if you want to game without breaking the bank, it has two HDMI 2.1 ports that hit 144Hz when connected to a gaming PC.
It deals well with brightly-lit movies and shows, but isn't quite as adept with darker scenes (as we found during Ryan Coogler's Sinners), but it's not unwatchable, either. The same holds true for the audio; it's great at this price, but don't expect the most immersive, theater-style experience.
The most significant downside to this TV is that Hisense decided to load Amazon's Fire TV software instead of something better like Google TV. You can still access all your apps, and it's reasonable if you're integrated with Amazon's ecosystem, but the actual interface is quite confusing and loaded with ads.
Still, at this cost it's a price worth paying; once you press play on your show or movie, the Fire TV interface is pretty much irrelevant, and the actual performance of this budget-friendly television comes into its own.
- Read the full Hisense U65QF review
Best 55-inch TV for brightness
Wait, didn't you say that the LG C5 was incredibly bright? So how can the Samsung S95F be the best 55-inch TV for brightness? The main reason is that it performed better in our lab tests for a specific type of brightness, known as HDR Brightness.
This is High Dynamic Range (HDR) and means the TV focuses more on improving brightness in specific areas to elevate the contrast and colors, rather than increasing brightness across the whole of the TV, to give a more vivid and colorful picture.
When testing for HDR, the LG C5 scored 1,125 nits (a measure of brightness) while the Samsung S95F hit 2,138 nits on the same test. The reason it could do this is because Samsung used a quantum dot filter (versus a standard OLED panel), which converts blue light to red and green, to improve color saturation and brightness.
But even aside from the technical aspects of the S95F, it's a fantastic TV. Samsung's Tizen software is, like Amazon's Fire TV, a bit cluttered and nothing like the minimalistic approach taken by Apple TV. But over the past few years, it's been streamlined a bit, so you can more easily work out which parts to ignore.
And, just like with the Hisense U65QF, once you press play on something, you forget the weird software and can immerse yourself in the vibrant picture, where the colors pop and blacks are as dark as intended.
- Read our full Samsung S95F OLED review
Also tested
Not all 55-inch TVs end up on our list of the best, but plenty of them are great options nonetheless. If none of the sets above sound appealing, take a look at the following recently reviewed picks.
How we test the best 55-inch TVs
Testing the best 55-inch TVs is a thorough process. We put every TV through our custom lab test, measuring color gamut, color accuracy and brightness to objectively see which sets are the best for these key indicators. We also test for lag time, measuring to the millisecond how long it takes for content to travel from the original source to the screen. We use these results to make numbers-based comparisons about color and display quality.
To do this, we run all of these TVs through a series of technical tests designed to determine their performance on a quantitative level. We perform these with an X-Rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer, a SpectraCal VideoForge Pro pattern generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman calibration software that measure and charts the TVs' performances.
Specifically, we're looking at:
Peak Brightness: The highest level of brightness (measured in nits) that a TV can sustainably put out in a 10% window.
Delta E: A measurement of how accurate colors are right out the box in its Calibrated or ISF Modes. The lower the number, the more accurate the colors are.
DCI-P3 Color Volume: This metric measures the total coverage area of a TV's color output. A higher percentage means better color expression. We also measure a TV's color output against the Rec2020 color space as well.
Input lag: An important metric for gamers, input lag measures the total time it takes for a signal that passes through the HDMI port to appear on the screen.
In addition, we spend hours with each set to see how our lab results translate into anecdotal performance. We also compare competing sets using a range of content across several sources.
With that information, we can tell you which TVs look best, sound best and offer the best viewing experience.
Of course, we also consider the smart TV functions and apps for each TV, looking at everything from the remote control design to the voice interaction.
How to choose the best 55-inch TV for you
Getting a TV is an investment. It’s a piece of tech you’re likely to own for several years, which is why you want to make sure you’re picking the best 55-inch TV for you.
Size: First figure out whether you’re locked into a 55-inch set. Just because it’s the biggest size that fits on your wall or TV stand doesn’t mean that it’s right for the room. Similarly, consider if a 65-inch TV would better suit your space.
Price: Expect to pay about $500 for a good 55-inch 4K TV. But if you have a tighter budget, check out our best TV deals for some alternatives. Keep in mind performance will take a hit in lower price ranges, though.
HDR: If you want the most colors, get one of the HDR sets with Dolby Vision compatibility above. This technology is able to deliver more colors, more contrast levels and increased brightness. It could make a set a bit more costly, but it guarantees you’ll still be satisfied with TV as the Dolby Vision format seems to be gaining momentum.
Ports: Another thing to consider is port offerings. Some of the sets above sport three HDMI ports, while some have four. In general, more ports is better, especially if you have a collection of input devices like soundbars or game consoles.
FAQs
What's the best 55-inch TV for watching movies?
In theory, all the TVs we recommend are good for watching movies. After all, movies, TV shows, and gaming are the main things you'd want to do with your new TV, so we make sure to test each set for all use cases.
But if there's one that stands out, it's the LG C5 OLED, the model we rate as the best 55-inch TV for most people. It's an incredible all-rounder, but our favorite part that makes this an ideal option for movies is the color.
The color reproduction is fantastic, especially at this price, and highlights darker details while making brighter parts of the image really pop. If you want your movies to look like theater-style performance at home, this is the TV you want to pick up.
You also get great audio performance built-in, but if you really want to bring the theater home, it's worth adding one of the best soundbars to your set up with this TV. That'll blow nearly everything else out of the water at this price.
