We're pretty picky about our TVs, which is why we've spent more than 500 hours testing and reviewing more than 40 sets in the last 12 months. In doing so, we evaluated the smart features, lab-tested the displays and ran the apps to find the best TVs out there.
After testing dozens of smart TVs, our favorite 4K model overall is the LG C9 OLED TV, which offers the best combination of picture and sound, a truly smart smart TV experience, and a decidedly sleek design.
Looking to spend less? The Vizio M-Series Quantum is the best value-priced 4K TV around, delivering a premium smart TV experience and quantum-dot enhanced picture quality for under $1,000. If you want to save the most money, the TCL 43S517 Roku Smart 4K TV is the best cheap TV, selling for under $400, but you'll need to settle for a smaller screen size.
There's a lot more out there, from premium OLED alternatives to giant, 75-inch big screens. You'll even find a great outdoor TV on our list. And if you want to learn more about the latest changes in the TV world, we've got a sneak peek at new models, like the rollable LG OLED TV R coming next year, or the Vizio P-Series Quantum X. We also have news, like the announcement of Apple AirPlay2 and HomeKit capabilities coming to LG and Vizio TVs or Samsung's 292-inch wall-sized 8K TV. And be sure to check out the latest 4K TV deals.
The best 4K TV overall
1. LG C9 OLED TV
The best 4K TV overall
Screen Size: 65 inches | Screen Type: OLED | Refresh Rate: 120 Hz | HDMI ports: 4 HDMI 2.1 | Size: 57 x 32.7 x 1.8 inches | Weight: 55.6 pounds
The LG C9 OLED wowed us in more ways than one, with a best-in-class OLED display, superb smart features, and a design that looks impressive even when the TV isn't on.
The OLED display is the best we've seen on a 4K TV, with excellent color reproduction, precision lighting and unbeatable black levels. Combine this stunning performance with strong sound quality and cutting edge connectivity, like HDMI 2.1, and the C9 OLED is clearly the best TV we've reviewed.
But LG pushings things just a bit further with the addition of smarter-than-average smart TV features. Building upon the already impressive webOS platform, the new ThinQ AI-enhanced TV has both Google Home and Amazon Alexa built-in, an industry first. Pair this with a new dashboard for controlling all of your smart home devices, and the LG C9 OLED looks to be the smartest TV we've tested.
Read our full LG C9 OLED review.
Our favorite smart TV value
2. Vizio M-Series Quantum
Our favorite smart TV value
Screen Size: 65 inches | Screen Type: LCD with Quantum Dot | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | HDMI ports: 4 | Size: 57.3 x 35.6 x 2.8 inches | Weight: 53.4 pounds
The Vizio M-Series Quantum delivers a premium quantum-dot display for a reasonable price, and adds SmartCast 3.0 – Vizio's evolving smart TV platform – to make it the best you'll get for under $1,000.
With local dimming and color boosting technology, the M-Series Quantum has impressive picture quality and great HDR performance, complete with Dolby Vision support. A built in Google Chromecast opens up a vast landscape of apps and services, and the updated SmartCast software includes support for Apple AirPlay2 and HomeKit, making it just as good for iOS users.
Read our full Vizio M-Series Quantum 65-inch (M658-G1) review.
Top-notch premium OLED
3. Sony Master Series A9F OLED
Top-notch premium OLED
Screen Size: 65 inches | Screen Type: OLED | Refresh Rate: 120 Hz | HDMI ports: 4 | Size: 57.1 x 32.9 x 3.4 inches | Weight: 60 pounds
The Sony Master Series A9F OLED represents the pick of the litter from Sony's 2018 lineup, and it shows. The A9F combines Sony's sophisticated video-processing hardware with a beautiful OLED panel to offer one of the best viewing experiences we've seen on a 4K TV. The superb OLED panel offers rich color and deep black levels without sacrificing detail or brightness.
The A9F also boasts some great high dynamic range support, with basic formats like HDR10 and HLG supported, along with Dolby Vision and the brand-new IMAX Enhanced format, which has its own standards for color, contrast and picture clarity. And thanks to OLED's per-pixel illumination, it has none of the haloing that plagues even the best LCD systems.
The A9F has excellent sound quality and robust volume, making it one of the best audio experiences you'll get from a TV; no soundbar required. The A9F is also one of the first Sony sets to ship with Android TV 8.0, which keeps everything we liked about Android TV while fixing a lot of the things we didn't.
Between the stunning picture quality, the impressive sound and the refinements offered by the latest version of Android TV, the Sony Master Series A9F OLED offers one of the best TV experiences ever.
Read our full Sony Master Series A9F OLED review.
Our favorite for cord cutters
4. Vizio P-Series 65-Inch P65-F1
Our favorite for cord cutters
Screen Size: 65 inches | Screen Type: LCD | Refresh Rate: 120 Hz | HDMI ports: 5 | Size: 57 x 32.7 x 2.7 inches | Weight: 54.3 pounds
Vizio TVs are popular with the cost- and cord-cutting crowd, thanks to inexpensive prices and a good number of free content options that come built in to the company's smart TVs. The Vizio P-Series 65-inch P65-F1 is the best of the bunch. The 4K panel offers 120-Hz refresh rates, excellent backlighting with local dimming and an impressive number of HDMI ports for hooking up your other devices. This set also has great picture quality and HDR support, including Dolby Vision.
You will give up some conveniences, like a voice assistant (Vizio doesn't have one) and a limited selection of local apps. But with built-in Chromecast supporting thousands of apps and easy content sharing from your phone or tablet, there's still a wealth of content for people ditching cable or satellite subscriptions.
Read our full Vizio P-Series 65-Inch P65-F1 review.
The best 4K TV under $500
5. TCL 43S517 Roku Smart 4K TV
The best 4K TV under $500
Screen Size: 43 inches | Screen Type: LCD | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | HDMI ports: 3 | Size: 37.8 x 22.1 x 2.9 inches | Weight: 18.5 pounds
Great things can come in small (and affordable) packages. In fact, this is our best cheap TV overall. The TCL 43S517 Roku Smart 4K TV is smaller than the 65-inchers we usually recommend, but with an attractive sub-$500 price, great picture and sound quality, and a slew of genuinely exciting features, this 43-inch model is a great deal. (And you can find larger sizes at similarly affordable prices.)
TCL's reputation for better-than-average quality is well-earned, and the TCL 43S517's feature set make this TV one of the best values we've seen. Despite the inexpensive price, you'll get Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos audio support and integrated Roku voice search, giving you an outsize smart-TV value in a size that's perfect for a second TV or for use in smaller apartments.
Read our full TCL 43S517 Roku Smart 4K TV review.
A great OLED alternative
6. Samsung Q90 QLED TV
A great OLED alternative
Screen Size: 65 inches | Screen Type: LCD with Quantum Dot | Refresh Rate: 120 Hz | HDMI ports: 4 | Size: 57.1 x 32.7 x 1.6 inches | Weight: 62.4 pounds
The Samsung Q90 QLED TV is the best premium 4K LCD on the market, and a valid alternative to OLED. Samsung's quantum-dot technology continues to close the gap with OLED, offering premium picture quality so good that we had to compare the two side by side to spot the differences. Packed with every technology Samsung has to improve picture quality – ranging from Quantum dots and black filters to 400+ dimming zones and an arsenal of processing smarts – the Q90 is the best 4K TV Samsung makes, and it shows.
It's also got some unexpectedly smart features nobody else offers, like AMD's FreeSync for optimized gaming, exclusive Apple TV content, and a polished smart home control dashboard that makes it the brainy hub for all of your connected devices.
Read our full Samsung Q90 QLED TV review.
A very good big-screen TV
7. Sony X950G 75-inch Android TV
A great big-screen TV
Screen Size: 75 inches | Screen Type: LCD | Refresh Rate: 120 Hz | HDMI ports: 4 | Size: 65.9 x 37.8 x 2.9 inches | Weight: 77.6 pounds
TVs are bigger than ever, but they aren't always great. Thankfully, the Sony X950G 75-inch Android TV manages to avoid most of the big screen pitfalls, delivering great picture quality, wide viewing angles, and a feature set that's just as impressive as the 75-inch display. Sony has also polished up the smart TV experience, updating it's TVs with the sleeker Android TV 8.0 and giving the TV a redesigned remote control. For an extra large screen that's just as big on value, the Sony X950G 75-inch Android TV is a smart buy.
Check out our full Sony X950G 75-inch Android TV review.
The best Amazon Fire TV
8. Insignia 43-Inch 4K Fire TV Edition
The best Amazon Fire TV
Screen Size: 43 inches | Screen Type: LCD | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | HDMI ports: 3 | Size: 38.2 x 22.5 x 3.2 inches | Weight: 19.6 pounds
Amazon keeps trying to make Fire TV work as a competitor to Roku, and that's finally happening with the Insignia 43-inch 4K Fire TV Edition. After a few disappointing early attempts, the Insignia made us sit up and take notice with respectable performance for an inexpensive TV, offering good picture quality and sound, with color gamut and accuracy that beat that of other Amazon-powered TVs. This Sony Insignia is easily the best Fire Edition TV we've seen, and the only one to get our recommendation.
It's also packed with features for the Amazon faithful, with Alexa voice interaction built in, Amazon's huge selection of Fire TV apps, and a smart TV experience that puts Amazon Prime Video front and center. This is a solid sub-$500 smart TV and the best Amazon-based TV on the market.
Editors' Note: (Updated April 18, 2019) Amazon and Google have made up, and YouTube is coming to Amazon Fire TVs, fixing one of our biggest problems with the Amazon-powered smart TV.
Read our full Insignia 43-inch 4K Fire TV Edition review.
The best outdoor TV
9. SunBriteTV Veranda Series 55-inch (2019)
The best outdoor TV
Screen Size: 55 inches | Screen Type: LCD | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | HDMI ports: 3 | Size: 49.4 x 28.7 x 3.5 inches | Weight: 47 pounds
The average TV is no match for rain, snow, dust or heat. But the SunBriteTV Veranda Series 55-inch outdoor TV is made for those conditions, with a rugged design that can withstand the elements. Whether it's in a cold garage or out on an enclosed porch, the weather-sealed chassis fends of weather, dirt and bugs, and the screen is made to be viewed in shady conditions where even ambient sunlight would trip up a normal TV.
With HDR capability and strong overall performance, it's a any great TV for any outdoor setting. And thinks to some excellent built-in speakers, there's no need to get a soundbar. If you want the great outdoor TV, this is the one to get.
Read our full SunBriteTV Veranda Series 55-inch (2019) review.
How We Test TVs
Evaluating TVs is about more than just kicking back to watch a movie. We lab test every TV, measuring color gamut, color accuracy and brightness to objectively see which sets are the best for these key indicators. We also test for lag time using a Leo Bodnar HDMI input delay tester, which measures to the millisecond how long it takes for content to travel from the original source to the screen. We use these results to make numbers-based comparisons about color and display quality.
MORE: Who Makes the Smartest Smart TV? Here Are the Results
We spend time with each set to get more-subjective evaluation and see how our lab results translate into real-world performance. We compare sets side by side and view samples from the latest movies, specialized test patterns that highlight strengths and weaknesses of each display, and a range of content across several sources. With that information, we can tell you which TVs look best, sound best and offer the best viewing experience.
For details on our testing methodology, please see How Tom's Guide Tests and Reviews TVs.
We also evaluate the smart TV functions and apps for each TV, looking at everything from the remote control design to the voice interaction. Get a more detailed look at each smart TV operating system in our look at Who Makes the Smartest Smart TV?
What 4K TVs Cost
You can find smaller 4K TVs that sell for less than $500, which will spare you some cash for some of the best soundbars or streaming devices to go with your set. However, you'll want to pay more for features like HDR support and a decent number of HDMI ports. Generally speaking, you'll pay around $500 for a lower-price, 55-inch, 4K TV and at least $900 for a 65-inch model. Premium 4K TVs can sell for thousands of dollars, but we find that the sweet spot for superior performance and value is right around the $2,000 mark.