Buying a TV this year? These are the 5 biggest TV trends to watch in 2025

Samsung The Frame Pro 2025 TV Lineup
(Image credit: Samsung)

We’re finally getting a glimpse into what TV brands have in store for the best TVs of 2025. As I take stock of the news to date, I’m met with the realization there are more surprises in the world of TVs this year than I had anticipated.

Sure, some of these developments were telegraphed months ago, but several announcements — new display hardware and the expansion of wireless TV technology, for instance — were not on my radar heading into the new year.

If you’ve been out of the loop for the last few weeks, allow me to welcome you back into the fold. These are the most noteworthy TV trends emerging in 2025.

1. New OLED technology puts QD-OLED on notice

LG G5 OLED at CES 2025

(Image credit: Future)

Heading into 2025, if you had told me that the successors to LG and Panasonic’s top-performing OLED TVs (the G4 OLED and the Panasonic Z95A) would not make use of Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology, I’d have told you that their finest OLED TVs would not be standing up to the bright, colorful qualities of Samsung’s quantum dot-enhanced OLED without the help of MLA tech. But I’d have been wrong.

This year, LG Display recently announced Primary RGB Tandem technology is replacing MLA on top-shelf OLEDs from LG and Panasonic. According to LG Display, the fourth-generation OLED panel is about 33% brighter than previous panels that leveraged MLA technology while consuming 20% less power (on a 65-inch model).

Right now, the only OLED TVs confirmed to use LG Display’s fourth-generation panel are the flagship LG G5 OLED, the LG M5 OLED and the Panasonic Z95B. The latter even uses a unique airflow system that is said to dissipate heat, cooling the panel down.

Having seen the new panel in person, I can confirm that its brightness is impressive. We’ll have to see how it compares to QD-OLED TV later this year.

2. Mini-LED gets an upgrade — without the help of quantum dots

A 116-inch TV displaying a colorful, abstract pattern in front of a marble wall in a large, upscale living space overlooking a cityscape

(Image credit: Hisense)

At CES 2025, both Hisense and Samsung announced Mini-LED TVs that will redefine the display technology, ostensibly bridging the gap between the popular, premium QLED TVs of today and the self-emissive Micro-LED TVs of tomorrow.

Hisense has been the most forthcoming about its new display hardware. The brand refers to the tech as RGB Local Dimming, but on shelves, the name that has stuck is Hisense TriChroma LED.

The only TV we’ve seen that taps the new tech is the Hisense 116UX TriChroma Mini-LED TV. This room-dominating, 116-inch TV sets itself apart from the Hisense Mini-LEDs of years past by replacing blue light-driven quantum dots with clusters of tiny lenses, each of which react to red-, green- and blue-colored LEDs. According to Hisense, its TriChroma LED displays offer better brightness, class-leading color volume and lower energy consumption than traditional Mini-LED displays.

Samsung's unnamed, 98-inch 8K TV equipped with RGB Micro-LED technology displaying green foliage in a white-colored room

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Samsung touted a similar technology at the trade show, but details remain scant. It harnesses “micro-sized” red-, green- and blue-colored LEDs (much like the Hisense 116UX), but the technology is not self-emissive like the prohibitively expensive Micro-LED technology we’ve seen in the past.

However, rather than shy away from Micro-LED branding, Samsung has chosen to lean into it, calling this new hardware RGB Micro-LED. The 98-inch, 8K TV (seen above) was available for all to see at CES, and yes — it’s marvelous to behold.

Samsung insists that some version of this TV will find its way onto the market in 2025, with a possible expansion into other series next year.

3. Wireless functionality spreads to more models

This year, LG’s wireless Zero Connect Box is back, and unsurprisingly, there’s a new OLED to go with it. Unsurprisingly, the aforementioned LG M5 will pick up where last year’s M4 left off.

Samsung is getting in on the wireless action, too.

What is surprising, however, is that LG is bringing the same technology to its LCD/LED lineup. The LG QNED9M will also come with the Zero Connect Box, which can be placed anywhere within 10 meters of the TV for wireless audio and video transmission from connected devices.

Meanwhile, Samsung is getting in on the wireless action, too. The brand’s Wireless One Connect Box will ship with the all-new version of its lifestyle TV, The Frame Pro.

4. Lifestyle TVs are here to stay

Hisense CanvasTV on wall in living room

(Image credit: Hisense)

Speaking of lifestyle TVs, it appears as though we’re entering their golden era. In addition to Samsung’s better, brighter update to The Frame, brands like TCL and Hisense are putting their spin on lifestyle TVs front and center in 2025.

The TCL Nxtframe and Hisense Canvas TV both aim to give your living room an elegant touch, offering thoughtful, portrait-like designs and libraries of displayable artwork.

With the rise in popularity of lifestyle TVs, these brands have begun to take these displays seriously. As mentioned, The Frame Pro will be arriving with wireless technology, and Samsung has even upgraded its display to a new, edge-based mini-LED lighting system, which delivers a much better picture than its non-Pro counterpart.

5. For gamers, 165Hz is the new 144Hz

It didn’t take long for 144Hz to lose its spot at the top, but the 165Hz native refresh rate has officially arrived. The upgraded spec won’t have much of an impact on console gamers’ experience (since all current-gen consoles max out at 4K/120Hz), but PC gamers planning on linking up to their next TV will get their shot.

Of the TVs announced so far, only the LG G5, the Samsung S95F OLED, the Hisense 116UX TriChroma LED TV and Samsung’s 8K QN990F can showcase 4K content at 165Hz. That said, I’m expecting more 165Hz TVs to be announced before the year’s done.

More from Tom's Guide

TOPICS
Michael Desjardin
Senior Editor, TV

Michael Desjardin is a Senior Editor for TVs at Tom's Guide. He's been testing and tinkering with TVs professionally for over a decade, previously for Reviewed and USA Today. Michael graduated from Emerson College where he studied media production and screenwriting. He loves cooking, zoning out to ambient music, and getting way too invested in the Red Sox. He considers himself living proof that TV doesn't necessarily rot your brain.

Read more
Two people sitting in a modern living room watching a wall-mounted LG G5 OLED TV. The TV is displaying a cityscape at night.
I test TVs for a living — here's the 5 TVs for 2025 I'm most excited about
LG G4 OLED TV
What to expect from TVs in 2025 — OLED, Micro-LED and more
LG M5 OLED TV
LG TV lineup 2025: All the new OLEDs and QNEDs announced at CES
A 116-inch TV displaying a colorful, abstract pattern in front of a marble wall in a large, upscale living space overlooking a cityscape
The 8 best TVs of CES 2025 (so far)
LG 2025 QNED TV on living room wall
LG 2025 QNED TVs announced ahead of CES — meet LG’s newest Mini-LED and QLED TVs
Hisense 136MX MicroLED TV
Surprise! MicroLED TVs aren’t dead after all — and 2025 might be their breakout year
Latest in TVs
A woman hanging a small painting onto a wall alongside Samsung's The Frame TV, which is wrapped in wood-colored bezels and displaying an oil painting of flowers. Across the wall all several more pieces of artwork, emphasizing how The Frame blends into the space.
The TV as we know it is finally changing — and these designs are leading the charge
Aurzen Zip projector
I just tried this foldable projector that fits in the palm of your hand — and it's one of the coolest gadgets of the year
The Hisense UX in an editor's living room.
I tested this 110-inch TV for 3 months — and it's the best and worst thing to happen to my living room
Samsung S95D with ocean backdrop
Samsung QLED vs OLED: What do you get when you pay a little more?
Amazon Fire TV on stand in room
Here's how Alexa Plus could fix Fire TVs
Panasonic Z95B OLED TV CES 2025
One of the best OLED TV makers could be about to abandon the US
Latest in Features
MWC 2025 awards logo along with Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Nohting Phone 3a and 3a Pro, Lenovo Codename Flip and HMD Amped buds
Best of MWC 2025 — these are the 10 top mobile gadgets you need to see
The DeepSeek logo seen on the silhouette of a smartphone
I have ChatGPT Plus — but here's 7 reasons why I use DeepSeek instead
Photo of woman doing dumbbell workout
No gym? Build upper body strength and torch your core with just a pair of dumbbells and 25 minutes
Infinix solar phone, TCL RayNeo X3 glasses and ThinkBook "Codename Flip"
MWC 2025 Day 1 — here's 7 amazing new gadgets you need to see
Honor Earbuds Open
I'm a big open-ear skeptic — but these new wireless earbuds just changed my mind
Toy Fair 2025 awards
Best of Toy Fair 2025: The top 11 new toys from LEGO, Hasbro, Mattel and more