The 2 Best 4K TVs on a Budget of 2023

We tested Roku's new Plus Series TV and Amazon's Fire TV Omni QLED TV and added our thoughts to the Competition section. We also added information on new TCL and Hisense 4K TVs.

It's a budget-TV golden age: You can get a surprisingly good 4K TV for less money than ever.

While videophiles and serious gamers may be better served by higher-end LCD or OLED models, we recommend the TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S555) for anyone who just wants a very good 4K HDR TV that isn't a burdensome investment. The 5-Series provides a bright, punchy picture and a healthy heap of welcome extras.

These LCD TVs offer advanced specs such as local dimming, quantum dots, and contemporary gaming features at reasonable prices.

Our picks not only support the two most common HDR formats—HDR10 and Dolby Vision—but also handle those formats skillfully.

In our evaluations, we prioritized the quality of the built-in smart-TV features. You shouldn't have to add an external source if you don't want to.

We measured each TV's brightness, contrast, and color accuracy using Portrait Displays's Calman software and light and color meters.

This Roku-based TV delivers a satisfying picture for the price, and it supports the latest gaming features. But it can't get as bright as higher-end LCD TVs, and it has only a 60 Hz refresh rate.

The TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S555) continues the tradition of the company's previous 5-Series models, delivering advanced TV tech that ensures a great picture for a reasonable price. It's brighter than similarly priced models, though not as bright as a premium LCD TV. This TV supports the latest AV formats, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos for spatial audio, and it offers a snappy and intuitive smart-TV experience via the built-in Roku platform.

Although this TV is limited to a 60 Hz refresh rate (rather than the 120 Hz found on pricier TVs), it still has a lot of features that appeal to gamers. Toss in four HDMI inputs and a sleek, durable build, and you have one flexible and well-formed television.

Advertisement

This TV delivers performance very similar to that of our top pick, but it isn't quite bright enough to display satisfying HDR.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $400.

Deciding between our top pick and Hisense's U6H Series Google TV was no easy task for us. In terms of price and hardware, the U6H checks the right boxes: This series offers the same advanced tech as our top pick and produces a good-looking picture overall. But in our comparative testing, the U6H fell short of our top pick in overall brightness and its ability to show fine shadow details in darker movie scenes.

That said, you might prefer this TV to the TCL 5-Series if you’re gaga for Google—and especially if you’d prefer to have Filmmaker Mode, a picture mode tuned for maximum accuracy (and one that the 5-Series lacks).

If, however, you want a TV that looks good across a variety of lighting conditions, keep in mind that the Hisense U6H lacks the backlight power to perform its best in a bright room.

This Roku-based TV delivers a satisfying picture for the price, and it supports the latest gaming features. But it can't get as bright as higher-end LCD TVs, and it has only a 60 Hz refresh rate.

This TV delivers performance very similar to that of our top pick, but it isn't quite bright enough to display satisfying HDR.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $400.

I’ve been reviewing TVs, computer monitors, and other displays and home theater gear for over a decade. I have ISF Level III training and calibration certification, and over the past decade I’ve tested and calibrated hundreds of TVs—from premium $8,000 flat panels to $100 doorbusters—using hardware such as light and color meters, pattern generators, and input-lag testers.

The 4K TVs we cover in this guide offer great performance at a budget-friendly price, generally around $500 or less for a 55-inch TV. If you’re looking for an affordable upgrade to get 4K resolution, high dynamic range video, or the latest gaming features—or if you’re looking for something a little larger than your current TV—this is the guide for you.

However, if picture quality is your top priority and you’re willing to pay more for a better performer, check out our guides to the best LCD/LED TV and the best OLED TV.

If you’re looking specifically for a smaller TV, check out our guide to the best 32-inch TVs. Also, although our picks here provide some important gaming features, if you’re a serious gamer you may want to see our guide to the best gaming TV.

The Hisense U8H Series delivers a premium 4K HDR experience at a much friendlier price than the competition.

Samsung's S95B TV delivers everything we love about OLED technology but with higher brightness that makes it a good fit for any room.

Our goal in every round of testing is to find the lowest-priced 4K TVs that use advanced performance technologies such as local-dimming backlights and quantum dots to deliver a satisfying viewing experience with the fewest drawbacks. (Read our TV buying guide for explanations of the tech terms we use here.)

We consider only TVs that support high dynamic range video playback (preferably in both the HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats) and can produce the wider color gamut used in 4K HDR content.

Because we’re looking for user-friendliness in this category, the quality of the TV's integrated streaming platform is more important here than for our other TV guides.

Gaming-friendly features such as automatic low-latency mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR) are now available on some budget TVs. You can read more about these features in our guide to the best gaming TV. We do not require the inclusion of higher-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports for our picks in this guide because most TVs in this price range do not have a true 120 Hz refresh rate; they are 60 Hz TVs, and they don't need an HDMI bandwidth higher than 18 Gbps.

To help us whittle down the list of TVs to test, we rely on reviews from sites we trust, such as Rtings.com and Reviewed.

For those who have no idea where to start in the TV buying process, we explain the tech terms and answer the big questions.

The best way to compare TVs is to put them next to each other and look at them using the same content. We also consider how they perform in relation to the more expensive TVs we test for our best LCD/LED TV guide.

We take each TV out of the box, set it up, and measure it using Portrait Displays's Calman software, in conjunction with a C6 HDR2000 colorimeter and a VideoForge Pro test-pattern generator, to measure the color, the color temperature, the light output, and more.

To compare TVs, we use an HDMI splitter to send the same signal from a source device to each TV, or we play content simultaneously from the same app. We use a large variety of content, including TV, movies, and test patterns, to compare the displays and assess their abilities.

We do all of our side-by-side TV comparisons with the settings at their factory defaults, making only small adjustments at most across picture modes. So when we refer to how accurate a TV is in this guide, we are talking about the performance you’re likely to see at home.

Additionally, we evaluate the TVs with the lights on and off, and we look at them from wide angles to see how well they work for larger seating arrangements.

This Roku-based TV delivers a satisfying picture for the price, and it supports the latest gaming features. But it can't get as bright as higher-end LCD TVs, and it has only a 60 Hz refresh rate.

When it comes to budget-friendly 4K TVs, TCL's 5-Series Roku TV (2022 version, model S555) is unmatched in sheer flexibility. Whether you love watching movies and TV, spend your downtime gaming, or just want easy access to a huge array of streaming apps, the 5-Series is outfitted with almost everything one could desire from a modern television. It isn't the best at any single thing, but for the price this TV is good enough across many situations, so it's a great choice for the large majority of potential buyers.

It offers above-average picture quality. The 5-Series possesses the necessary technologies to achieve a better black level and overall dynamic range. Although the 2022 version boasts fewer zones of local dimming than the previous model did, TCL has refined the local-dimming operation enough that this TV consistently provides satisfying black levels while also getting bright enough to combat ambient light. During my testing, I measured black levels as low as 0.025 nit as well as a peak brightness just shy of 700 nits (during HDR playback), both of which are excellent results for a TV in this price range.

The Movie picture mode provides a good balance of dynamic range and realistic color only slightly more saturated than it should be. Although purists might begrudge the lack of a more accurate mode (such as Filmmaker Mode, something that our runner-up has), the vast majority of people are likely to enjoy TCL's middle-ground approach. This TV preserves all the important picture details while creating an image that's slightly punched up, so you don't need to shut off all the lights and block all the windows when you want to enjoy a film (though you should try to mitigate ambient light if you want the best picture).

The improved brightness is good for HDR performance. Not only does this TV have the brightness to create satisfying HDR images, but also its color is enhanced by quantum dots to provide notable improvements to the red and green primary colors. It also supports the most popular HDR formats: HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision.

While watching Edge of Tomorrow in Dolby Vision on the TCL 5-Series and the Hisense U6H side by side, I paused the opening scene of Tom Cruise lying in a helicopter with the sun streaming through the window, and I asked my wife which TV looked better. She said that the window on the U6H gave the impression of light, while the window on the 5-Series looked like actual light—a telling-enough explanation of the two TVs’ brightness and uniformity differences.

In our measurements, the 5-Series couldn't produce the full gamut of HDR colors, and it isn't as accurate with HDR content as pricier LCD TVs we’ve tested—but it comes close.

This TV works well for gaming. Although the 5-Series might not be ideal for advanced PC gaming due to its 60 Hz refresh rate and lack of support for higher PC frame rates, it has almost all of the other features you could want in a gaming TV. During my comparative testing, I noticed that the 5-Series did a slightly better job with 1080p upscaling than the Hisense U6H, which is good news for anyone using a pre-4K gaming console.

If you have a current-generation console, you’ll be glad to know that in our tests this TCL TV had a consistent 10.1 milliseconds of input lag (a measurement we took using the 4K Leo Bodnar video-signal delay tester), which is good enough for all but the most competitive gamers.

The 5-Series also supports auto game mode (automatic low-latency mode, or ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), and AMD FreeSync. And I appreciate that its "game mode" is a toggle rather than a standalone picture mode, as it allows you more control over the quality of the picture while still ensuring minimal input lag and video processing.

The Roku TV interface is simple and clean. Even if you don't care about features like local dimming, quantum dots, and HDR, the 5-Series is still the budget 4K TV to buy thanks to the intuitive nature of its Roku TV smart platform. Navigating the Roku interface was a breeze in our tests, and because most apps allow you to sign in via QR code, it was also a snap for us to log in to HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and so on.

Although Roku isn't as smart-home friendly as our runner-up's Google TV platform, Roku offers just what most people look for in a smart TV: a simple layout that provides quick access to almost any streaming app you could want. This TV is also Apple AirPlay 2 compatible, and it can work hands-free with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Siri—though the included remote doesn't have a built-in microphone, so you need to add an intermediary smart device or Roku's Voice Remote Pro to take full advantage of those features.

The spacing between the feet is adjustable. If you don't plan to wall-mount this TV, you can attach the two feet either toward the middle of the panel or out toward the edges (on the larger sizes), which is a nice perk considering the inherent variability in the width of home TV stands.

This is not the thinnest of TVs, and it wouldn't disappear on a wall—but you can't find that kind of design in this price range aside from edge-lit TVs, and those tend to have poor picture quality.

The 5-Series comes in 50-, 55-, 65-, and 75-inch screen sizes, and each model boasts four HDMI inputs, with one reserved for eARC to send high-quality audio, including Dolby Atmos, from the TV to your soundbar or AV receiver.

The S555 is available only as a Roku TV. The previous 5-Series came in both Roku TV and Google TV variants. Google TV boasts some advantages over Roku, namely native Bluetooth audio output (in contrast to Roku's requirement that you use the Roku app on your mobile device) and voice control. But in the meantime, if you prefer the Google TV platform, the older 5-Series Google TV (S546) is still available; you can learn more about it in Other good 4K TVs on a budget. Or you can add a Google Chromecast to this TV.

This TV's brightness sometimes outstrips its local-dimming abilities. As a result, it creates a bit of bloom or glow around bright objects situated in darkness (such as the moon in a dark sky) or brightens its letterbox bars in 16:9 content. In our tests, this effect was only slightly perceptible when we were viewing the TV head-on, but it became more distracting during off-angle viewing, when we were sitting to either side of the screen. You can eliminate the glow by turning down the backlight, but the TV's brightness is one of its key strengths, so we don't necessarily recommend doing that.

The viewing angle is limited. Like most LCD TVs, this TV suffers from contrast loss and color shift when viewed from wide angles.

The most important thing you can do to get the best performance from any TV is to set it up correctly. For the TCL 5-Series, we recommend using the Movie picture mode and reducing the sharpness control to zero. In our tests, we preferred Contrast Control Zones (the local-dimming control) set to high, as the low and medium settings offered little improvement (if any) over leaving it disabled.

Other image-processing functions, such as Dynamic Contrast, should be disabled, as they actually cause the TV to lose dynamic range. The Natural Cinema function should be enabled so that the TV produces motion that is accurate for TV shows and movies. You should disable all of the Auto Power options in the System Power menu.

Most TVs aren't set up to look their best right out of the box, but a few simple picture adjustments can be a huge improvement.

This TV delivers performance very similar to that of our top pick, but it isn't quite bright enough to display satisfying HDR.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $400.

If you can't track down the TCL 5-Series, or if you prefer the Google TV smart platform over Roku, the Hisense U6H Series Google TV is an excellent alternative. The U6H goes toe-to-toe with the 5-Series in its advanced picture technologies and features, and it's available in the exact same range of screen sizes.

So why did it end up in second place? Though the U6H outperformed the 5-Series in some areas, it lagged behind in the performance metrics that we consider most crucial for TVs in this price bracket, namely its overall brightness and black-level performance.

This TV isn't as bright as our top pick. I measured its HDR peak brightness averages around 580 nits and never higher than 600 nits (the TCL 5-Series can reach almost 700 nits). In direct comparisons with the 5-Series on Dolby Vision content, the U6H's lower brightness was a noticeable detriment to its handling of HDR material, though it looked fine in standalone assessments. If you primarily watch SDR content, this lack of brightness is less of a concern.

The U6H boasts a higher local-dimming zone count than the 5-Series, and the difference was apparent in the precision of the dimming in dark scenes, as this TV consistently provided deep black levels and had almost no trace of blooming or glow around objects, or visible backlight operation in letterbox bars.

However, the black level was at times too deep, so I had trouble seeing the finest black details in dark scenes. I also noticed some uniformity issues (sometimes called the "dirty screen effect"), where spaces between the backlight LEDs were visible. Banding (uneven steps from light to dark) was evident in some of the picture modes, especially when I turned on the ambient-light sensor, which automatically adjusts the TV's brightness to suit the room lighting.

Filmmaker Mode is good for picture purists. This mode (which the TCL TV lacks) is set up to show movies and TVs as accurately as possible, without your having to adjust any picture settings or turn off motion smoothing. In our tests, the U6H measured a bit more accurately than the 5-Series and reproduced the full gamut of HDR colors.

The lack of brightness makes HDR gaming a little less enjoyable. While playing a title like Forza Horizon 5 in Dolby Vision, I found that this TV wasn't bright enough for the experience to be immersive. Any trace of light in the room introduced a reflectivity that was oodles brighter than the content on the screen.

The overall gaming experience on the U6H was snappy and responsive, but the background details were softer than I would have liked during fast-motion scenes.

The U6H uses Google TV instead of Roku. In our tests, the Google TV platform was as fast as (and sometimes faster than) Roku's platform. And it has some modern touches that many people are likely to appreciate, including support for Bluetooth audio output (for listening via headphones or a wireless speaker) and easy ways to interface with your Google account (using Google Photos pictures as screensavers, for example).

The only "whoopsie" moment I had with the U6H's Google TV interface was when someone in a TV show said "OK, people," and it reacted as if I had said "OK, Google." The biggest drawback of Google TV is that, compared with Roku, it shows you more targeted ads.

The U6H has a nice design. I’d be remiss not to mention that, from a design perspective, the U6H looks a lot better than it needs to for a TV in this price range. It isn't especially thin from the side, but the back of its chassis is molded into an interesting design (à la Samsung TVs) that helps it stand out from the average budget TV. In addition, the feet are fitted with a clever form of cable organization, making it easy for you to route the power and AV cables in such a way that you can't see them.

The most important thing you can do to get the best performance from any TV is to set it up correctly. With the Hisense U6H, the easiest way to get SDR content to look the way the director intended is to jump to Filmmaker Mode—though this means sacrificing the expanded colors you’re technically paying for, since quantum-dot color exceeds the Filmmaker Mode color gamut.

In our testing, both the Theater Day and Theater Night modes also proved to be pleasingly accurate (and a bit more colorful), though you should go into the picture settings and make sure Motion Clearness is off. Also, if Motion Enhancement is on, make sure it's set to the Film preset. In addition, we recommend turning off the Noise Reduction and Digital Noise Reduction controls.

If you want the TCL 5-Series with Google TV: You can still track down the older TCL 5-Series (S546), a previous pick. The newer model (S555), our current top pick, is available with Roku only, and although it does make appreciable improvements in picture quality compared with this older Google TV model, the two models are still quite similar. The S546 model gives you a full-array backlight with local dimming for better contrast, quantum dots for better color, and much of the same format compatibility. The S546 doesn't include TCL's branded Game Studio Plus package of gaming enhancements, but it still boasts many of the same key features, including automatic low-latency mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR).

TCL recently confirmed details about its 2023 TV lineup. The S4 is the company's most affordable 4K TV line for 2023, available in sizes from 43 to 85 inches starting at $280. The S4 TVs support a variety of HDR formats (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG), have more advanced MEMC controls than previous models, and will be offered in both Roku and Google TV versions.

The Q6 is the next step up, offering "up to 66%" higher brightness than the S4, as well as quantum dots—but no local dimming like the current 5-Series has. This line adds support for HDR10+ and, despite having a native 60 Hz refresh rate, utilizes a feature called Game Accelerator 120 for smoother game playback. It also has Auto Game Mode and AMD FreeSync. The Q6 comes in a Google TV version only, in 55-inch (55Q650G, $500), 65-inch (65Q650G, $700), 75-inch (75Q650G, $900), and 85-inch (85Q650G, $1,600) screen sizes. We plan to test this model soon.

Hisense has also confirmed details about its U6K, U7K, and U8K 4K TVs. All of these "ULED" LCD TVs will include mini-LED backlighting, quantum dots, and full-array local dimming. Most relevant to this guide is the U6K—the successor to our 2022 runner-up—which will be available in 55-, 65-, 75-, and 85-inch sizes, allegedly starting at less than $500 (though Hisense has yet to confirm pricing). This year, the U6K aims for 600-nit brightness for HDR, is equipped with over 100 local dimming zones, and maintains the same 60 Hz refresh rate as 2022's U6H. It will continue to use the Google TV smart platform. We are currently awaiting more specific pricing information for the U6K, and hope to test it soon. You can read about the higher-end U7K and U8K Series in our guide to LCD/LED TVs.

Vizio has yet to confirm its 2023 TV lineup, but we expect details soon.

After testing Roku's new Plus Series TV, we’re struggling to justify its slightly higher pricing in comparison with our picks. The TCL 5-Series outperformed the Plus Series in brightness, color range, and overall dynamic range. While the Plus Series TV's built-in Roku software is as zippy and fluid as you may expect from a TV made by Roku (that is, a TV that cuts out the middleman), our top pick is also a Roku TV and gives you a roughly identical experience, not to mention better picture quality, for less money.

We tested the 65-inch version of Amazon's Fire TV Omni QLED TV, and while it's a solid performer, it didn't quite match our picks in picture quality. This TV's chief failing is that it doesn't get especially bright, sustaining only a little over 400 nits even in its brightest HDR picture modes. Though that isn't a bad result, it simply isn't remarkable in comparison with the TCL 5-Series, which achieves notably higher brightness for less money. Where the Fire TV Omni QLED does shine is in its hands-free Alexa/Fire TV operation, which works as smoothly here as on the more powerful Fire TV devices we’ve covered in our guide to media streaming devices. However, unless you’re an especially big fan of that functionality, our picks remain the better value.

Hisense's 2022 A6H Series represents a step down from the U6H Series and does not include technologies—such as quantum dots and full-array local dimming—that produce the best picture quality in an LCD TV, so we chose not to test it.

LG's budget-friendly options for 2022 included two nanocell models (the Nano75 and Nano80) and four standard 4K LCD models (the UQ9000, UQ8000, UQ7500, and UQ7000). We didn't test these TVs for a few reasons: Although the Nano models do offer enhanced nanocell color, both use IPS panels without local dimming, so their image contrast, while suitable for certain viewing environments, isn't likely to be good enough for the average living room or home theater space. Likewise, LG's standard 4K LCD models lack the higher-performance tech, namely to improve color saturation and contrast, that you get with our picks.

Walmart's in-house Onn brand released a frameless Roku TV, and although the Onn QLED Roku TV is priced competitively against our top picks, it has some flaws that keep it from going the distance. In our tests, the local-dimming algorithm occasionally got confused, especially with varying shades of gray on the screen (such as when we were searching in the built-in YouTube app), which led to some visible shifting of black levels. Onn also claims 500-nit HDR brightness for this TV, but during testing I measured HDR peaks closer to the low 400s, coupled with black levels that were overly bright on occasion. The SDR contrast was more reliable, as the TV produced a brightness of around 350 nits with black levels as low as 0.025 nit. Like our picks, this TV has a 60 Hz refresh rate, so motion isn't as fluid as it can be on a 120 Hz panel, and this model doesn't have the gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 features that our picks offer. Unless you can find this series at a huge discount, one of our picks is the better choice.

Reviews of Samsung's 2022 budget-friendly BU8500 and BU8000 indicate that, though they might use software-based local dimming, both are equipped with edge-LED backlights, which means they’re incapable of performing alongside our top picks and their full-array backlights. Like LG's standard 4K LCD models, neither Samsung series offers any enhancements for color saturation (such as quantum dots), and the reviews indicate that neither series gets bright enough to do justice to HDR content (or to look good in brighter rooms). So we did not test these models.

Vizio's 2022 D-Series is limited to a sub-4K resolution, so we did not consider it for this guide. We also dismissed the company's 2022 MQ6 and V-Series models from consideration because, even though they deliver 4K resolution, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ compatibility, 60 Hz refresh rates, and full-array LED backlights, they do not utilize local dimming—so their picture quality is likely to be a step down from that of our picks.

This article was edited by Adrienne Maxwell and Grant Clauser.

TVs, CNET

TV Reviews, Rtings.com

The Latest in Televisions, Reviewed

Lee Neikirk

Lee Neikirk is a senior staff writer reporting on TVs at Wirecutter. He has been testing and reviewing AV gear since 2012 and is an ISF-certified TV calibrator. When he's not fussing over pixels, Lee is either jamming on a guitar, playing video games, or driving around endlessly trying to find beach parking.

by Lee Neikirk

Samsung's S95B TV delivers everything we love about OLED technology but with higher brightness that makes it a good fit for any room.

by Lee Neikirk

We’ve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing TVs to find the best choices for any budget and room size. See all our top picks here.

by Wirecutter Staff

Looking for a new TV but unsure where to start? Whether you want to shop by size, price, or purpose, we have recommendations.

by Lee Neikirk and Chris Heinonen

The LG C2's comprehensive set of gaming features and excellent picture quality make it our pick for the best gaming TV.