Club Benefits
Over the years, whenever friends, family, and readers have asked me for advice on buying a TV within their budget, I've always emphasized three key features: a price that's low enough, performance that makes sense for the price, and 4K resolution. Recently, though, I've added a fourth essential feature for any bargain-hunting TV-shopper: Mini-LEDs.
Once upon a time, Mini-LED backlighting was a premium feature reserved for high-end models. Nowadays, you can buy a Mini-LED TV for a remarkably reasonable price.
Article continues belowWhy are Mini-LED TVs better?
The name of the game is contrast.
As far as super-affordable TVs go, there are a couple of display technologies that sit below Mini-LED: direct-LED and edge-lit LED. There are different variations on these two types, but at their core, these are the options at the bottom of the barrel.
Edge-lit LED TVs are usually the least sophisticated. As the name suggests, edge-lit TVs illuminate the picture using LEDs from the edge of the panel rather than directly behind the screen. It’s a relatively affordable way to produce LCD/LED TVs, and in many cases, this type of backlighting allows for a thinner design (a nice bonus that only somewhat offsets the not-so-impressive picture quality).
Direct-LED TVs typically perform better than edge-lit TVs, as these tried-and-true backlights sit behind the screen. This proximity allows light to travel a shorter distance, which goes a long way toward keeping the bright stuff bright and the dark stuff dark. That's Contrast 101.
The best direct-LED TVs come with a feature called full-array local dimming. This allows the LEDs to be divided into independently dimmable zones. Again: The name of the game is contrast, and this dynamic approach greatly improves the picture's contrast.
Enter Mini-LED TVs. They're essentially super-scaled-down versions of garden-variety direct-LED backlights, and their small stature offers some pretty tantalizing benefits.
Thanks to their size, Mini-LEDs are clustered into more zones than you'll typically find on traditional direct-LED displays. With so many of these backlights in play, the TV is free to cut off light across entire swaths of the picture, increasing contrast and reducing light bloom.
Not only that, but due to the nature of Mini-LED backlighting, you're far less likely to put up with a picture whose corners and edges leak light during darker sequences. Shows, movies, and games just flat-out tend to look better on Mini-LED TVs than they do on dirt-cheap edge-lit TVs.
Like all TVs, Mini-LED screens vary in price and performance. But while this feature was once a pricey luxury, it's now closer to a sensible, essential feature of any cheap, non-OLED TV.
Mini-LED TVs are cheaper than ever before
If you buy one of the cheapest Mini-LED TVs on the market, you might not enjoy the bright, melt-your-face-off picture quality typically associated with this display technology, but in nearly every circumstance, it's a better choice than an edge-lit or direct-LED-based alternative.
One of the most affordable Mini-LED TVs on the market right now is from Hisense, and as far as value propositions go, it's a good one. In our Hisense U65QF review, we commended this TV for being brighter than any other TV in its class.
When we reviewed it, the street price of the 65-inch U65QF was around $569, while the 75-inch version cost $799. Now that the sale price has settled, the 65-inch Hisense U65QF is $548 at Amazon, and the 75-inch version is down to $499. (Yes, you read that correctly: The 75-inch version is currently cheaper than the 65-inch version.)
The U65QF is just one example of an ultra-affordable Mini-LED TV — there are many more. For several years now, Mini-LED TVs haven't just been getting better across the board; the technology has also been getting cheaper.
It's true that, for all of its perks, a TV like the Hisense U65QF isn't as polished and well-engineered as most mid-range or top-shelf Mini-LED TVs. That's just the nature of the business.
But if you can land a 75-inch Mini-LED TV for $499, spending just a little bit less (or, in some cases, more) on a 75-inch edge-lit TV starts to feel a bit silly. And, unless you're furnishing a guest room, dorm, or kitchen with the cheapest possible option, my advice is to lock down the better hardware.
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