When looking for back-to-school TVs, price means absolutely everything. You don't need to splurge on one of the best OLED TVs if you're not going to use it for more than four years, especially if most of your time will be spent (hopefully) studying, researching, or sitting in classrooms.
Still, if you're here, you obviously want to find a TV with good-enough picture quality and not settle for the cheapest TV you can find. While the TV you take to college doesn't have to be a top-of-the-line set, one with a good amount of features and reliable picture performance should be your goal.
As someone who tests TVs (and someone who's not too far out of college that I can't remember dorm life) I've tried to narrow the list of TVs down to fit most budgets. So, if you're heading back to school yourself, in search of a new TV for your child, or want a budget display for your off-campus apartment, these are the six TVs I recommend.
Quick List
- Roku 40” Select Series HD TV: was $229 now $178 at Amazon
- Sony 43" Bravia 3 LED TV: was $499 now $449 at Best Buy
- TCL 55” QM6K Mini-LED TV: was $599 now $497 at Amazon
- Samsung 32” The Frame QLED TV: was $597 now $547 at Amazon
- Hisense 65” U6QF Mini-LED TV: was $999 now $597 at Amazon
- Panasonic 65" W95A Mini-LED TV: was $1,799 now $597 at Amazon
Best back-to-school TV deals
Roku Select Series TV
This Roku display is the perfect back-to-school TV selection, especially if you're on a budget. You will have to make some compromises, like going with a non-4K TV, but that doesn't make the Roku Select any worse of an option. It's limited on specs but high on value, making itself a steal at under $200.
Roku just updated its TV lineup, meaning the Select is totally revamped. I got to see the new Roku Select in action earlier this year and was blown away by how slim the design was. The great thing about Roku, too, is the wide selection of free content you have at your fingertips, so you don't even need to subscribe to any streaming services to get quality content.
Sony Bravia 3 LED TV
Sony's commitment to designing some of the best TVs even extends to its budget models. You'd be right in equating Sony TVs with premium, but it also has some cheaper sets that could work well in a dorm room setting.
One such model is the Sony Bravia 3 LED TV. Again, given the price range set under $600, you'll have to live with something other than an OLED, which is fine because the Bravia 3 has some pep in its step.
It's not pushing out any record-breaking numbers by any means, but it does have some quality color coverage. In our testing, the Bravia 3 hit 95.88% of the UHDA-P3 gamut and sports a Delta-E of 3.5. The Delta-E score deals with color accuracy, with lower numbers being better. In this case, the Bravia 3 has some great color accuracy, as anything under a 4 is quite good.
Brightness is another matter entirely. You're not going to see metrics that mirror a Hisense Mini-LED model here, but that's what you get at this price. At least the Bravia 3 does have an input latency of 9.2ms, so on the off chance you end up gaming in your spare time, this TV won't disappoint.
TCL QM6K Mini-LED TV
So 1080p and bare-minimum LED TVs just aren't really for you? That's okay, because TVs are getting cheaper these days and both TCL and Hisense have some incredible picks for you in the lower-rungs of their lineups.
Case in point is the TCL QM6K, a well-rounded, gaming-centric Mini-LED TV that does its best to eke out as much value as is possible on a sub-$500 sticker price.
In our review of the TCL QM6K Mini-LED TV, we raved about its sleek design and picture performance. Again, this isn't a premium display, but it still ticks all the right boxes, netting you good color accuracy and tons of gaming features. It wrangles all of the HDR formats, too, making it particularly ideal for anyone with HDR streaming subscriptions.
You can also expect to get somewhat middling audio out of this TV, but that's to be expected across the board with most displays. While it might say it's audio system is made by Onkyo, that doesn't quite mean it will have as bombastic an audio output as conventional Onkyo speakers.
Need a TV that can also double as a computer monitor? One in particular that I really love on TCL TVs is its 240Hz mode, which lets you drop the TV to 1080p and play games in the higher refresh rate. It's a bit niche and works best when paired with one of the best gaming PCs... just don't let it distract you from your schoolwork.
Samsung The Frame TV
Samsung's The Frame isn't the cheapest TV on the market, but you can find it at lower prices, especially in smaller configurations.
It's great for college students who want their room to have some real personality. It comes with access to tons of artwork from galleries across the world, which will certainly make any art history majors out there very happy.
It's obviously a good TV, with solid picture performance, but Samsung's The Frame also has incredible audio for a smaller display. You'd expect Samsung to put all of its effort into designing the look and aesthetic of the TV, but the speakers actually offer some kick unlike other options in its weight class.
Hisense U6QF Mini-LED TV
While it might sit at the bottom of Hisense's 2025 TV lineup, the U6QF still has some quality features and performance that makes it stand out. We don't have an official review of the TV just yet, but we went hands on with the Hisense U6QF Mini-LED TV several months ago and saw some promising results.
At 144Hz, the U6QF makes a name for itself with some serious specs at a budget price. On top of its high refresh rate, the U6QF also boasts gaming features, like VRR and ALLM, plus two HDMI 2.1 ports. Hisense also has a special AI Smooth Motion technology, which should enhance motion clarity on the display.
Finding a solid 65-inch TV for under $600 is tough, but the U6QF delivers. It's a brilliant TV for this price, but you might have to contend with some blooming and poor off-axis viewing, which is common for Mini-LED TVs at lower prices.
Panasonic W95A Mini-LED TV
We've been singing the praises of the Panasonic W95A ever since the 75-inch variation hit an all-time low price of $797. One of its biggest drawbacks upon debut was the premium price, and now it's one of the cheapest Mini-LED TVs you can buy — even if it's a year old.
Don't let its age fool you, though. I tested Panasonic W95A Mini-LED TV last year and was pleasantly surprised by its brightness, HDR performance, and anti-glare mitigation. Again, this TV won't quite match the same high brightness metrics available on Hisense models, but with just over 1,400 nits in both HDR and SDR, it's plenty bright for any dorm room.
With its sticker price down to its lowest point, the W95A makes the perfect budget pick for any student looking to get exceptional picture performance without a hefty investment.
More from Tom's Guide
- If you just bought a Hisense TV, change these 5 settings right away
- I’ve set up hundreds of TVs in my career — here are 6 mistakes people make when setting up a new TV
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