The best 65-inch TVs should do more than deliver great picture or good sound quality. Today's TVs are smart, sharply designed and packed with the latest tech, but you also want a set that balances value along with the fancy features. When a 65-inch TV is the right fit, all of these factors matter even more, because that big screen will take up a lot of space in your living room or home theater.
You'll want to decide up front whether you're planning to use the included stand or mount the TV on the wall. According to our guide What size TV should you buy?, you'll get the best viewing experience seated 60 inches (5 feet) from a 65-inch 4K screen, so make sure that you have adequate space for your big screen, and plan accordingly. You'll need adequate space for the width of the TV (roughly 4.5 feet across).
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Over the course of the year, we look at everything from budget smart TVs to premium OLED models. After reviewing dozens of TVs, with well over 100 hours of lab testing and eyes-on viewing, we've pulled together this list of the best 65-inch TVs you can buy.
What are the best 65-inch TVs?
When it comes to 65-inch TVs, our clear favorite is the LG CX OLED, which delivers incredible picture quality and a feature-rich smart TV experience. From the stellar OLED panel to the motion- and voice-controlled smart features, the LG CX OLED isn't just the best TV we've reviewed, it's also the smartest and offers huge value for its premium price.
For the budget-conscious, the TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) is our top pick. For less than $1,000 you get a brilliant QLED display with mini-LED backlighting, providing the best OLED alternative we've seen all year. And while Roku TV may not be as feature-filled as some of the smart TV platforms we've seen, the sheer amount of apps and content available is staggering. The TCL 6-Series R635 is the best TV value of 2020, and it's not even close.
The best 65-inch TVs in 2021
The 65-inch LG CX OLED is one of the best TVs ever made, with a mix of performance and features that put other TVs to shame. The OLED display offers rich, detailed picture quality with razor sharp 4K resolution and pixel-perfect lighting, and LG makes things even better with powerful video processing and Dolby Vision IQ, which adjusts the display for ideal HDR performance in any lighting conditions. LG has also loaded the TV with smarts, like built-in support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice interaction and smart home compatibility. Combine the ease of voice control with a motion-sensing remote and the LG is the most intuitive smart TV we've ever used.
With both HDMI 2.1 connectivity and Nvidia G-Sync support, it's also the best gaming TV, whether you use a console or a PC. Speedy performance and gamer-friendly features just seal the deal. It's also a beautiful TV when the power's off, thanks to LG's display-on-glass design and sleek stylings. From every angle, it's the best TV we've seen.
Read our full LG CX OLED review.
When it comes to value, there's just no beating the TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635). With the 65-inch model selling for an affordable $899, the TCL is packed with capabilities on a par with much more expensive competitors. The display looks great thanks to QLED enhancement for better color and brightness, and the mini-LED backlight offers the best contrast and HDR performance we've seen on a LCD-based display.
TCL also adds gamer-friendly features, like THX Certified Game Mode, which makes it one of the best sets for the latest game consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X. Combine this with smart design touches like built-in cable management and the excellent Roku TV platform, and the TCL 6-Series R635 is the best budget-friendly value you can get in a 65-inch TV.
Read our full TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) review.
If you're willing to pay top dollar for unbeatable quality, the Sony Bravia A8H OLED is the 65-inch TV to buy. This 4K OLED TV is a thing of beauty, with immaculate picture quality, impressive audio and the best version of Android TV you'll find. But with a higher price than even competing OLED sets, this is quality at a premium price, and it's not for everybody.
Sony's powerful X1 Ultimate Picture Processor delivers unbeatable picture quality, the OLED display looks exquisite, and Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio produces incredible sound right from the screen. But it's not the best TV for gaming support, with no HDMI 2.1 capability and slow response times, and the higher price of the Sony only delivers small improvements over the competition. If money is no object, it's the TV to get, but you'll get a better bang for your buck elsewhere.
Read our full Sony Bravia A8H OLED TV review.
The 65-inch Vizio OLED TV (OLED65-H1) is the most affordable OLED TV on the market, and the first to offer a less-premium alternative to offerings from LG and Sony to shoppers in the United States. Selling for hundreds of dollars less than the competition, the Vizio OLED packs plenty of smart features alongside the 4K OLED display, and delivers the sort of premium picture quality that normally costs much more.
Vizio's SmartCast smart TV platform has also expanded its app selection significantly, and all of the major apps you might want – from Netflix to Disney+ – are available right on the TV. The few that aren't offered on the home screen (HBO Max is the most glaring omission) can still be enjoyed through the TV's built-in Google Cast and AirPlay 2 support. Combine all of this with an improved remote control design and great sound with better-than-average bass, and you've got one of the best TV values of the year, and the easy pick for affordable OLED TVs.
Read our full Vizio OLED TV review.
The Samsung Q80T TV combines quantum-dot enhanced picture, clever smart features, a powerful Quantum processor and impressive Object Tracking Sound to create one of the most formidable Samsung QLED sets yet. We were especially impressed with the set's excellent color quality and HDR performance, though you will have to accept that Samsung TVs don't offer Dolby Vision support. Another great feature? In addition to Samsung's Bixby voice assistant, you can set up the TV with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, with or without a smart speaker.
And while it's not Samsung's most premium 4K smart TV, it's really, really close. The only real differences between the Q80T and the more expensive Samsung Q90T QLED TV is that the Q80T has it's ports on the TV, instead of a separate box – well, that and a couple hundred dollars in the purchase price.
Read our full Samsung Q80t QLED TV review.
Hisense is a popular brand, offering some of the most affordable 4K smart TVs on the market. The Hisense H8G combines Android TV, quantum-dot color and Dolby Atmos sound to create one of the best Hisense TVs yet. The Hisense H8G Quantum benefits from the same quantum dot enhancement used on Samsung and TCL QLED TVs, which means better colors than a standard LED set. Android TV offers a wealth of apps and smart features, including Google Assistant for voice interaction and built-in Chromecast for streaming directly from your phone or web browser to the TV.
The set also has a nearly bezel free design that looks far more premium than the 65-inch H8G's $799 price would suggest. With support for Dolby Vision HDR and impressive Dolby Atmos sound, the Hisense H8G Quantum is an impressive value, and worth considering if you're in the market for an affordable 65-inch TV.
Read our full Hisense H8G Quantum Series (65H8G) review.
How to choose the best 65-inch TV for you
If you're in the market for a new TV, you'll want to consider a few factors before you spend your money. Our TV buying guide breaks down the fine details of what features matter and what distinguishes a great TV from one that's just okay. For a 65-inch set we strongly recommend going with 4K resolution. There are a few older 1080p models still available, but they simply aren't a good value today. And while 8K TVs are hitting the market, it will still be some time before 8K resolution gets mainstream support.
For a 65-inch 4K TV you'll want to sit about 5 feet from the screen to hit the sweet spot of being close enough to enjoy all the sharp details, but not so close that you'll be able to make out the pixels that make up the picture.
A basic 65-inch 4K smart TV will range between $800 and $2,300, depending upon how premium your tastes run. The TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) is the best budget model we've seen in this screen size, but if you want the best picture available, the LG CX OLED is our top pick for its combination of stellar picture quality and deep feature set.
For the best picture, we recommend getting a set that offers high dynamic range (HDR) support. HDR10 is the base standard, while Dolby Vision is a higher-caliber format, and we recommend opting for Dolby Vision support when you have the choice.
Port selection is another chief concern. More HDMI ports will let you connect more devices, like game consoles and satellite boxes. And if you have a soundbar, you'll want to connect it using an HDMI port with eARC.
Finally, you'll want to find a smart TV platform that you like. Companies like Samsung and LG use their own proprietary software, but many use more broadly available software, like Android or Roku TV.
Want something in a different size? We've got you covered. See our favorites, big and small:
Best 43-inch TVs | Best 50-inch TVs | Best 55-inch TVs | Best 70-inch TVs | Best 85-inch TVs
How we test 65-inch TVs
When it comes to evaluating TVs, we're serious about getting it right. That's why every TV we review is put through a rigorous testing process that measures key standards of picture quality and performance.
Our lab tests involve testing for color accuracy and color gamut using an X-Rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer, an AccuPel DVG-5000 video test pattern generator and SpectraCal CalMAN Ultimate calibration software. These tools are relied on by professional calibrators throughout the industry, and we've paired them with custom workflows to gather the information needed for our reviews. These measurements are taken first in standard mode to simulate the average watching experience, and then taken again in other display modes to find the top color and brightness performance offered by each set.
Our testing measures contrast and maximum brightness, as well as lag time. Using a Leo Bodnar Video Signal Input Lag Tester to test video signal delay, we time how long it takes for content to travel from the original video source to the screen, measured to the millisecond. Shorter response times equate with faster gaming performance, letting us objectively know which TVs are better for gaming.
We use all of these objective test results to make comparisons about quality and performance between different TVs, but our evaluation doesn't end there. We also spend hours with each set, watching shows and movies, and using carefully selected video samples to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each set and help us tell you which TVs look and sound the best in a real home viewing environment.
And there's more to today's TVs than just viewing, so we also check out the smart TV functions and evaluate everything from the interface to the remote control design. This lets our reviews speak to the technical capabilities of today's smart TVs and how they fit into your connected home.
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