LG G6 OLED vs G5 OLED: How much better is LG’s new best TV?

LG's flagship TVs have always been in contention for the title of best OLED TV — even if Samsung's top-end QD-OLED TVs like the Samsung S95F OLED have recently given them a run for their money.

At this year’s CES, LG unveiled the latest in its line of flagship screens. Dubbed the LG G6 OLED, it takes the reins from last year’s LG G5 OLED.

What’s different? Well, unlike some years, the LG G6 OLED is a pretty substantial upgrade over the G5 OLED — LG claims that the G6 OLED is a fair bit brighter than the model before it and boasts even deeper blacks.

So if you're in the market for a new top-end OLED TV, is it worth shelling out for LG's newest, or should you save some cash and go for the last-generation model?

LG G6 OLED vs G5 OLED: Specs

LG G6 OLED vs G5 OLED: Design

Physically, the G6 and G5 both follow LG's sleek, wall-friendly approach. Both include "Zero Gap" wall-mounting brackets that let the TV sit flush against the wall, giving you that picture-frame look with minimal space between the screen and the surface. Both models come in the same size options, too: 48", 55", 65", 77", 83", and 97".

Connectivity is also consistent. You get four HDMI 2.1 ports on both, supporting up to 4K at 165Hz. It's nice all four of the ports are HDMI 2.1 ports, though definitely expected at this price point. The only exception is on the largest model, which is limited to 120Hz.

The fact that the design is so similar will be good news to those that liked the design of the G5 — but perhaps less so for those who feel it was getting a little stagnant. Regardless, you couldn't argue the TV isn't slim and subtle, which is nice — especially when coupled with the Zero Gap mounting bracket.

LG G6 OLED vs G5 OLED: Performance

Because the design is so similar, performance is really the most important difference between the two. The G6, as you might expect, brings updated display panel tech to the LG G series. In fact, it seems as though the larger sizes in the G6 lineup actually use LG's second-generation Primary RGB Tandem panel, building on the OLED EVO tech from the G5. This newer architecture should deliver better color purity while keeping the brightness advantages that tandem OLED designs offer.

Brightness is where these two TVs differ most though. LG says the G6 is 20% brighter than the G5, and real-world testing puts the newer model. In our testing, we found the LG G5 to offer a brightness of up to 2,296 nits at a 10% window, so if LG's claims turn out to be true, the G6 could reach 2,750 nits or so. That said, this jump applies mainly to small highlights rather than full-screen brightness, so don't expect everything to look uniformly brighter across all your content.

The other brightness-related upgrade, though, will make your entire image appear brighter, even if it's not. The G6 has a new "Reflection Free Premium" polarizer, which supposedly helps reflections drop to under 0.5% — significantly beating the roughly 1.5% you get from typical solutions. In practice, this means a noticeably cleaner image when you've got windows, overhead lights, or other ambient light sources in the room.

Black levels in bright rooms improve meaningfully too. At 500 lux — about what you'd have for comfortable reading — the G6 keeps blacks deeper than 0.24 nits. You might be wondering why black levels are an issue with OLED TVs, and the answer is basically that while the TV is outputting any light from black areas of the screen, ambient light from your environment can make them appear brighter.

Then there's the TV's processing, which also gets an upgrade. The G6 has LG's Gen 3 Alpha 11 processor, up from the G5's Gen 2 version. The extra power helps most with upscaling sub-4K content, making older movies, cable broadcasts, and standard-def streaming look noticeably cleaner. We'll have to see how effective this new upscaling tech is, but LG's top-end TVs were already quite good at this.

Both TVs support modern HDR tech including Dolby Vision, but don't get your hopes up about Dolby Vision 2 just yet — LG has confirmed that it currently has no plans to support Dolby Vision 2 in 2026. It's entirely possible support will come further out, but don't buy your TV based on this.

Still, the G5 already handles HDR very well, especially in controlled lighting. The G6's improvements are real but might seem subtle if you mostly watch in dark rooms where the G5's contrast and detail are already excellent. For dark-room viewers, the upgrade may not be worth the extra cost.

Gamers also in for much of an improvement — gaming specs are identical on both models. They both have Variable Refresh Rate support, 4K at 165Hz, and cloud gaming through GeForce Now with support for G-Sync and FreeSync.

Outlook

The G6 OLED makes the most sense specifically for watching in environments that are brighter or have a lot of reflections. Its higher peak brightness will make highlights pop more, but not everyone will need that.

The G5 is still an excellent TV that shouldn't be overlooked just because something newer came along. It still offers amongst the best image quality you can get from any TV out there right now, and it'll likely lower in price over the next few months ahead of the G6's release.

Speaking of release date, we don't yet know exactly when the LG G6 will come out. LG often releases new TVs around March or April, so hopefully we won't have to wait too long — but without official confirmation, it's hard to say. The LG G5 has been out for a while now, so if you need a TV right now, it's the way to go.