If you're like me, you have a love-hate relationship with deal holidays like Memorial Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Yes, they often bring with them some of the best TV deals, but they also are inundated with mundane deals that you have to methodically sift through to find those hidden gems.
Here's where I can help. I test TVs for a living and, on top of that, as Tom's Guide's Managing Editor of TVs and AV, I get to see pretty much every single new model in any given year. As you'd expect, editorial gigs don't offer the biggest paychecks in the world, so when I have to shop for some new tech, I always look for the best deals.
With all that preamble aside, these are the Memorial Day TV sales I'd actually buy for myself with a limited budget.
Quick Links
- Hisense 65" U8 Mini-LED 4K TV: was $1,499 now $1,099 @ Amazon
- Samsung 65" S90C 4K OLED TV: was $2,599 now $1,599 @ Samsung
- TCL 85" QM8 QLED 4K TV: was $1,699 now $1,499 @ Amazon
Hisense U8N: A brand-new Mini-LED TV for $1,099
So, a bit of sneak peek for you: I just reviewed the Hisense U8N and I loved it. When the review goes live, it's going to be one of the best TVs of 2024. That said, you can imagine my surprise when I saw the 65-inch version of the TV — a screen that literally dropped less than two months ago — is already on sale for $1,099. (The 55-inch model is on sale for $799).
So what makes this TV worth the sticker price? Not only is it new (i.e. no FOMO), it's one of the brightest TVs we've ever tested, which makes it great for living rooms with lots of ambient light and for folks who do a lot of daytime TV watching. For gamers, it offers two HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K/144Hz gameplay, as well as support for Dolby Vision Gaming that made games like Tekken 8 look amazing during my test period.
The only downsides here are its lackluster motion processing and upscaling — it's not the TV I'd recommend to people who watch a lot of 1080p content still (I have another TV I'll recommend for that in a second). If you have a stream of 4K content playing at your house, though, this is a phenomenal TV at an unbelievable price.
Samsung S90C OLED: An OLED wunderkind
Here's a hot take: I wouldn't buy any OLED TV unless it was on sale. At launch, OLED TVs are some of the most expensive TVs you can buy, and Samsung's OLED TVs are no exception. Case in point? The new Samsung S95D OLED just launched at $3,299 — and that's just for the 65-inch version. The 77-inch version will cost you a crazy $4,499.
While the Samsung S95D is a spectacular TV, I'm not sure it's worth that much.
Instead, I'd pick up last year's excellent Samsung S90C OLED, one of the best OLED TVs of 2023, that's now available for $1,597 after a $1,000 price drop. The S90C takes a small dip in brightness compared to the S95D, but it offers the same beautiful black levels, incredible motion processing and upscaling technology, as well as four full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports that can play games at 4K/120Hz.
If I had to replace the TV in my home theater, the Samsung S90C is the one I'd buy.
TCL QM8: A massive Mini-LED TV for $1,499
For most spaces, I think a 65-inch TV is perfect. You can sit as close as six feet to it and see all the details, or as far back as 10 to 12 feet and still get a great visual experience. That said, with larger living rooms and home theaters, you might need to go for something bigger. If you find yourself in that situation, then an 85-inch screen is probably the way to go unless you're ready to upgrade to a projector. (Editor's note: If so, don't miss our guide to the best projectors!)
Pouring over the glut of Memorial Day TV deals, the best 85-inch TV deal I found was for the TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV that's down to just $1,499 at Amazon.
As an alternative to the Hisense U8N, the QM8 offers similar peak brightness numbers and excellent contrast thanks to its Mini-LED backlight, and even offers two HDMI 2.1 ports that can reach a 240Hz refresh rate if you drop the resolution to 1080p. There's no ATSC 3.0 tuner inside, however, but again, if you only plan on using a TV for streaming and gaming, then this 85-inch behemoth is well-worth it.
- Don't miss our guide to the best Memorial Day sales where you can find the freshest deals this weekend!
