As a home entertainment expert and a Level I Imaging Science Foundation-certified calibrator, I know that a gorgeous TV picture, combined with thoughtfully integrated smart features, can help immerse you in your movie nights. To determine the best TV, my tech team and I put 15 TVs to the test, evaluating display across movies, shows, gameplay and more. After evaluating for hours, we unanimously selected the TCL QM8L QLED as the best TV overall for its stunning picture quality, useful Google TV operating system and more. But if you’re a gamer, pick up the Samsung S95H OLED, while fans of OLEDs should also consider the LG OLED Evo C6 for its rich contrast. Here are the best TVs, after spending over 100 hours testing displays.

The TCL QM8L QLED TV was universally loved by my team and me for its beautiful picture, useful smart controls and more. Our testers watched a scene from Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Details, like a closeup of the monster’s hand, looked sharp and clear, while they could easily spot “texture on sailors’ clothes, gloves and faces—it’s super crisp,” said one tester. Our testers noted some very minor blurring during heavy action sequences, but they loved its vivid, accurate and consistent colors in a dance scene between Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Harlander. The display was also one of the best TVs to see small extras like “the stripes on Victor’s jacket, even when the camera is in motion,” according to one tester. It also handled dark scenes exceptionally well—“details pop out from the shadows really nicely,” said another tester.

If you’re seeking a TV with built-in cloud gaming services, you may want to look elsewhere: The TCL QM8L QLED doesn’t ship with them. However, should you prefer to connect a console or play Netflix games, the TV offers an Auto Game Mode which helps keep responses fast and motion smooth. Our testers said their games looked “nice and rich” on the screen, with smooth, lag-free motion. While many TVs include weak audio, with practically nonexistent bass and tinny dialogue, our panelists felt the integrated Bang & Olufsen speakers were “distributed nicely around the TV,” and they could hear the “rumbles, sharp clashes of weapons and yelling voices clearly.”

The TCL QM8L QLED uses Google TV OS, which our testers loved for its ease of use. The home screen is pretty straightforward—though it features ads at the very top—and one tester particularly liked that the home button and smart features button “navigate to a home base.” Because it’s a Google framework, it offers Google Gemini integrations, and you can choose from offerings like Ask, Learn, Briefs and Create. Our testers appreciated the optional voice commands, too.

While it’s a little bulkier than other, sleeker options my tech team and I tested, we found the Hisense U8 Series TV to be an excellent value pick for its solid picture, intuitive operating system and more—often costing just over $1,000. The remote’s large, tactile buttons helped users easily find and select commands, and the backlight felt helpful for late movie nights. Its Google TV OS was also easy and useful: Voice commands responded quickly.

Typically, in more budget-friendly panels, there’s some kind of trade-off—the picture quality may not be as good, or the audio sounds weaker than more expensive panels, as examples. Our panelists found the Hisense U8 Series Mini-LED bucks that tend: Colors looked textured and rich, with vibrant hues. One tester also noted little “blooming. Action was on par, with no blur,” he said. There’s a slight loss of crispness, especially at wide viewing angles, but unless you’re a hardcore cinephile, you won’t notice; our testers felt it was suitable for their viewing needs.

One thing to note about the Hisense U8 Series TV is that it has no dedicated gaming service. If you need a cloud gaming service, plan to look elsewhere. However, if you plan to connect a console, the Hisense TV offers a Game Mode which helps keep refresh rates high and lag low. Its audio quality was clear, and our testers felt they could easily hear the “gruffness in Frankenstein’s Monster’s voice,” said one tester, adding that “nothing sounded distorted” as she moved around the display.

While many of the TVs feature a slim back panel, our testers’ favorite OLED TV, the LG OLED Evo C6, features an incredibly slim panel—with the exception of a small portion of the back, which prevents this model from sitting flush-mounted on a wall. Our testers raved about the display’s color accuracy, saying it showed “the best color of all the TVs tested.” While OLEDs tend to appear darker, our testers felt the C6’s display was bright enough for most spaces; only very minute details were lost to the inky blacks, and our testers felt it added to the moody ambiance when watching Frankenstein.

While the picture is an excellent option, our testers noted that the TV’s remote is deeply frustrating. It uses a combination of a traditional d-pad and a scroller. Bump the scroll button and the remote turns into a mouse-like controller, which our testers felt was “pretty terrible and difficult to use” because it’s “finicky to point accurately.” It’s also very easy to accidentally reactivate. While our testers didn’t like the remote, they appreciated the intuitive LG WebOS 26 operating system. It puts your apps and tabs like Games, Music and your apps front and center. It also offers helpful watch suggestions, too, and offers complimentary LG Free Channels to enjoy fast, ad-based streaming.

While the TV showcases movies and video content beautifully, our testers also appreciated that the TV offers the LG Gaming Portal, which allowed them to log in and connect to Amazon Luna, Blacknut, Nvidia GeForce Now and more. They also loved the gameplay picture quality but saw some lag when playing. It wasn’t enough to deter them from video gaming, though, but they recommended this TV more for movie nights than cloud gameplay. It also comes with a customizable gaming mode, which our testers found helpful for components like stabilizing blacks, adjusting refresh rates and more.

The Sony Bravia 8 II is an OLED panel designed with cinephiles in mind. In addition to Standard and Vivid TV viewing modes, the TV offers Cinema and Professional modes to help you watch movies as the director intended them to be viewed. These modes provide impressive contrast and true black levels. Sony also offers advanced AI-enabled image processing, which keeps details sharp and smooths motion sequences to create a stellar picture. “Motion was exceptionally smooth, with no visible tearing,” says one tester, adding that the TV’s high quality made it “easy to distinguish minute details in the characters and vehicles.”

For those who don’t want to invest in a dedicated soundbar, the Sony Bravia 8 II also features well-balanced speakers. They’re “powerful and loud,” according to one tester. That’s partially due to the technology behind the screen, which Sony calls “Acoustic Surface Audio+.” While most TVs use traditional speakers typically located on the back of the TV, the Sony Bravia 8 II uses technology that gently vibrates the display, which in turn helps to produce a more robust audio quality. While the TV still uses built-in subwoofers, our testers found that it produced some of the best audio quality of all TVs we tested.

Our testers loved its sleek build, but many noted one drawback: its feet placement. There are two feet set at opposite edges of the frame, which feels inconvenient, especially considering that Samsung and LG models use a single stand. Double-check that your console is long enough to hold both of the feet before you invest in this model. Because it’s an OLED, another tester also noted that the display made some dark details murky; one tester noted difficulty seeing the War Boys’ eyes during a Mad Max: Fury Road scene. Additionally, the Sony TV uses Google TV OS. While our testers found it very user-friendly, if you plan to game, we recommend plugging in your PlayStation; you can’t stream games from Amazon Luna, as an example.

If you have a sunny living room, our panelists felt the Samsung S90H OLED was an excellent choice to enjoy movies in bright spaces thanks to its high brightness and matte coating, which reduces sun glare. Our testers noted no blooming during dark sequences with pops of light, which is characteristic of OLED panels. “Skin tones looked accurate, and there was plenty of detail in both foreground and background elements” of several scenes. During action sequences, fast moments not only looked smooth, but also “looked natural,” as Frankenstein’s Monster and sailors engaged in battle.

OLEDs typically excel at showing crisp detail, and the Samsung S90H OLED was no exception; details “remained consistent” regardless of where and how Frankenstein’s Monster, Victor Frankenstein or Elizabeth Harlander moved in our test sequences. There were some exceptions, where our testers noted some black splotches in particularly dark sequences. Again, this is a normal feature in OLEDs, where the deep, inky blacks of self-lit pixels can cause some murkiness, most notably in dark scenes. If this may bother you, then our tech team recommends looking at the TCL QM8L QLED, our top pick.

It needs calibration—out of the box, the colors are too dark, so it’s essential you take the time to brighten the display so you can enjoy it in your space. It comes with the Samsung Gaming Hub integrated, which polarized our testers. Some loved its “vibrant” and “consistent” colors, while others felt the Gaming Mode muted colors and gameplay a hair too dark during Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Your mileage may vary; if it’s too dark, our testers found it helpful to adjust the Dynamic Black Equalizer under the Game Bar to improve black details.

The Samsung S95H OLED earned unanimous praise from our panelists for its excellent picture quality, and that’s partially thanks to its impressive OLED technology. Texture on Frankenstein’s Monster’s fur coat was sharp and detailed, and one tester commented she could see “pores on the actors’ faces.” Also impressive was the deep contrast, which helped showcase darker details while still allowing bright spots of color—like torches and candles—to pop in several scenes without any blooming. Motion also stayed very consistent and smooth during action sequences. Colors, such as Elizabeth’s auburn hair, vibrant green dress and red necklace looked vivid and consistent, though our testers noted that in general, the picture was a hair darker than they preferred.

The Samsung S95H OLED uses the Samsung Tizen operating system; while our testers felt some of the app icons were a little smaller than they’d like, most felt the system was intuitive, with access to software like Samsung TV channels and an art mode. It also offers extras like the Samsung Gaming Hub, which connects you to your cloud gaming services like Amazon Luna, Nvidia GeForce Now, Blacknut and more. The TV also includes Copilot and Samsung’s visual AI interface to help you receive answers to your questions, which our testers liked.

Gameplay also felt smooth and vivid, with virtually no lag across different video games, according to our panelists. The biggest issue our testers noted was in its overall design: The TV features a thick silver bezel, and one tester called it “annoying” and a “dealbreaker.” They also shared that they believed this TV best for movie enthusiasts and gamers—not casual viewers, as it needs calibration to unlock the picture quality’s full potential.

Samsung’s The Frame Pro TV is an elevated version of Samsung’s The Frame TV. While its sibling is the best 55-inch lifestyle TV, if you need a larger display, which is increasingly common, the Samsung The Frame Pro is the better choice. The TV shows nice detail onscreen, “clearly rendering fine elements like makeup, fabric texture, sand and even swashing fuel,” according to one tester of Mad Max: Fury Road. Its anti-glare matte coating also doesn’t affect its vivid colors, nice contrast and motion smoothing. Our testers noted that while there is a loss of some crispness during scenes with lots of movement and wide action shots, for the most part, the TV does the job well enough to suit most needs. And the lovely anti-glare matte display showcases works of art when you’re not watching movies.

Our testers also appreciated the “vibrant, clear and smooth” graphics when playing Amazon Luna games, but the bigger issue for one particular tester was the gaming mode. While it should have automatically registered gameplay and turned on gaming mode, The Frame Pro TV didn’t (though, to be fair, it did turn on for every other tester). It’s a good, well-rounded TV, but it doesn’t necessarily excel in any other category besides lifestyle television.

As much as our testers appreciated the Samsung The Frame Pro, it doesn’t quite fit into any other box outside of a lifestyle TV. It can display movies, but it doesn’t excel at that for cinephiles; additionally, while it features a 120Hz refresh rate, it didn’t wow every tester during gameplay. Also, our testers unanimously said that this TV requires a soundbar—the audio is simply too weak without one. Its sizes are also limited to 65-, 75- and 85-inch displays. Should you need a smaller panel, we recommend the base Samsung The Frame TV.

One of our testers’ favorite panels, the Samsung R95H Micro RGB TV, was liked for its sleek build, gorgeous picture, decent audio quality and more. One of our testers felt it showcased “the most true-to-life colors I’ve seen on a TV,” while another was impressed by how motion remained smooth and clear during action sequences without sacrificing sharpness or details. That said, prepare to spend time calibrating this panel: Our panelists noted it needed some extra tweaks even after I calibrated it initially, which was my main complaint in my Samsung R95H Micro RGB TV review.

While many TVs offer good heat dissipation throughout the panel’s back—this helps prevent overheating, which can damage a panel’s components—the Samsung R95H Micro RGB TV felt pretty darn toasty after only two hours’ of use. While our large testing space remained cool, when I tested it in my home’s (much smaller) living room, I noticed every night my space felt sweltering by the time I stopped watching movies. Our testers noted its lack of proper heat sink, too; for that reason, I can’t recommend placing this on a wall, but it’s fine to set it atop a console. Our testers also recommended placing it a big room, saying that the wide viewing angle helps make movies look “awesome.”

Gameplay also looked excellent, and our testers liked how it smoothly handled intense gaming action while keeping colors vivid and sharp. Like other Samsung TVs, it includes the Samsung Tizen operating system, which allows you to game stream, access Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity and more. Its audio quality sounds “superb” according to our testers, though some said it could use a little more bass. And as always, all of our testers commented while it’s good enough as a standalone, they did recommend adding a soundbar to feel more immersed in films.

While the TVs listed above were our top picks, we tested 15 models to find them. Below are some of the TVs that didn’t quite make the cut, but our testers liked.

Best OLED TV Runner-Up: Samsung S95F OLED (Forbes Vetted score: 3.5/5 stars): The Samsung S95F OLED features gorgeous contrast and a great image quality that impressed our testers across both streaming movies and gaming. It skews toward yellow and orange hues, but keep in mind you can tweak the warmth settings if that bothers you. Our testers found that its motion handling isn’t as refined as our top picks. We also noted that the audio is weak, and the bezels are thick for a flagship option. You can read the full Samsung S95F OLED TV review to learn more.

Best Lifestyle TV Runner-Up: Samsung The Frame (Forbes Vetted Score: 3.8/5 stars): The Samsung The Frame features an anti-glare matte display so you can watch no matter the ambient light. Colors looked lifelike, without too much saturation. Motion can look pretty muddled, however, with one tester saying, “The humans are depicted better and more clearly than other models I have tested, but the action of vehicles and other elements are a bit less clear” during the Mad Max: Fury Road action sequence we used for evaluation. Again, if you’re seeking a smaller panel in your space, The Frame is just fine, but for bigger sizes, The Frame Pro better excels at motion handling, which is why it takes the top spot.

Best TV For Casual Viewing: Roku Pro Series TV (Forbes Vetted score: 3/5) The Roku Pro Series was generally well-liked, with testers noting that the panel featured nice gradients. “Notably, the red smoke is deep, rich and more dimensional than on the Hisense model,” one tester said about the Mad Max: Fury Road action sequence we used for evaluation. The Roku OS is also very intuitive to use. However, while the display is suitable for most needs, the TV simply didn’t stand out from the rest of the pack. It’s still a great TV for casual viewing.

Best 8K TV: Samsung Neo QLED QN990F 8K (Forbes Vetted score: 3.6/5 stars): For a sleek, luxe option, the Samsung QN990F features great textures and details across movies and gaming. Our testers all had different opinions on the color saturation: Some felt it was oversaturated, while others felt underwhelmed, particularly with the blues and oranges. Gaming fared better, with every tester loving the vivid colors and details. However, our testers said that the value didn’t quite match the price. If you want to future-proof your TV, this is a great option; however, a 4K TV should suit you just fine.

Best Gaming TV Runner-Up: LG OLED Evo G6 (Forbes Vetted score: 4/5 stars) The LG OLED Evo G6 had a gorgeous contrast, with “impeccable sharpness” and “plenty colorful” sequences. That said, we experienced issues calibrating this TV; some calibration features were locked despite multiple attempts to unlock them, and it reduced the brightness considerably. It also ships with the infamous LG remote, which one of our testers called the “worst in the industry.” Still, its picture is excellent for movies, with exceptional contrast and detail. It includes the LG Gaming Portal for cloud gaming, which our testers liked for its sharp detail, vibrant colors during gameplay and near-zero lag.

Best Value TV Runner-Up: TCL QM7L QLED (Forbes Vetted score: 4/5 stars): Like the TCL QM8L QLED TV, the TCL QM7L has impressive, vibrant colors and a lovely contrast. Its viewing angle isn’t as wide as our top pick, and our testers felt there was more blurring during action sequences. It has an impressive soundstage that one tester said was the “best audio of all TVs I tested.” It’s good if you’re seeking a midrange option with a focus on accurate, vivid colors over gameplay.

Best Value Micro RGB TV: Hisense UR9 Micro RGB TV (Forbes Vetted score: 3.8/5 stars): The Hisense UR9 Micro RGB polarized our testers. Some loved its immensely vibrant colors and detail, while others felt it was too vibrant and not as sharp as others on the list. No matter what, invest in a soundbar; the soundstage is a little tinny, and it’s best for a smaller viewing space. If you want punchy colors, especially for animation, vibrant films and gameplay, it’s an excellent option. It’s also worth noting that this is an innovative back panel, and Hisense has kept it affordable at around $2,000 for the 65-inch model.

Our TV testing methodology was a multistage process overseen by the consumer technology and electronics team at Forbes Vetted. We combined intensive testing sessions with real-world use and compared every TV using the same set of criteria. In this way, we ensured consistency and a framework for helping us to accurately recommend models for specific users—from casual viewers to heavy gamers. We then examined the specs and overall performance of each TV, and looked at their size options, screen type, resolution, refresh rate, operating system and HDR.

The entire process was guided by consumer tech and electronics editor Rebecca Isaacs, a home entertainment expert and Level I Imaging Science Foundation (ISF)–certified calibrator. We utilized a panel of over a dozen testers representing a wide variety of TV users, from casual viewers to technology and gaming experts with a background in displays, to ensure our findings were well-rounded.

Our testing included multiple phases: We tested 15 TVs over the course of a week for initial testing analysis. We followed that up, when possible, with long-term testing for at least two additional weeks to assess real-world use and to identify any glitches that didn’t appear during panel testing.

• Color and contrast: Testers watched the same clips across every TV, including an action sequence from Mad Max: Fury Road and two sequences from Frankenstein. They also played games via the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service, including Borderlands 3, Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and more. We looked for vibrant, natural colors and deep blacks without gray tones, as well as highlights that showcased details.
• Motion handling: Fast-moving scenes and gaming sequences revealed how well each TV managed motion. We noted issues like tearing or pixelation and highlighted panels that showcased smooth, lag-free performance.
• Audio quality: Testers judged built-in speakers on clarity, balance and more by playing the TV, movies and gaming clips at 50% volume.
• Design and aesthetics: Testers evaluated bezel thickness, stand design and panel depth and considered how each model would look in any space. They also connected Amazon Luna and Xbox controllers via Bluetooth to test each TV’s gaming components.

If you’re shopping for a TV, there are few important features you should understand and consider before adding one to your cart. From display size to TV panel type and more, here’s what to look out for.

If you’re searching for a TV, chances are you’ve seen three major panel types dominating your search. Here’s how to tell them apart:

• OLED: This display type consists of millions of self-lit pixels. While they have the best contrast and showcase vibrant colors, they typically don’t get as bright as other market options, so they’re more ideal for dim rooms. They also run the risk of burn-in, which is when you see an area of permanent discoloration on the screen.
• Mini-LED: This display type uses thousands of mini-LED lights and, depending on the panel, hundreds or thousands of dimming zones. Because they can get significantly brighter than OLED panels, they’re best for brightly lit rooms. That said, their use of dimming zones means weaker contrast.
• QLED: This panel type adds a “quantum dot layer,” sometimes over a mini-LED panel, to enhance the colors and contrast. While this type offers a slightly darker picture, it’s a good balance between OLED and mini-LED panels.

What you choose depends on your needs and preferences. “It depends mainly on your budget and how contrasted, bright and colorful you are willing to pay for your TV to be,” says Avi Greengart of Techsponential. This especially applies when you want a larger panel, as “mini-LED sets are often the most affordable way to get TVs larger than 85 inches that still look good.”

When you look at your TV, you want to be able to see every detail directly without any image degradation. “Don’t put a TV at an angle from the main viewing position,” Greengart recommends, though you also want to be mindful of your space. If you have a wider viewing space, you may want to opt for an OLED, which, thanks to its self-lit pixels, doesn’t experience image degradation. But if you have a smaller space, a mini-LED or QLED should be just fine.

While many of my top picks range between 55 to 65 inches—the sweet spot for most rooms—sometimes, you want a larger panel. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel more immersed in your viewing, though Greengart cautions against going too large. “If you need to sit close to the TV, don’t buy a set where the image is bigger than what you can see without moving your head from side to side,” he says.

Resolution is the quality of the image on your TV, and it’s usually referred to in pixels. There are three main resolution types on the market right now: 1080p, 4K and 8K. 1080p, or full HD, is the baseline resolution, and it comes with budget-friendly and smaller panels. The latest standard is 4K—if you’re going to buy a new TV, I recommend opting for this because it offers significantly sharper details and images on your display. A step above 4K TVS are 8K TVs, and they offer the sharpest details on the market. That said, native 8K content is very limited at best, and these resolutions typically rely on AI upscaling to produce that sharper picture. They also come with a significantly higher price tag for that future-proof image quality, and as a home entertainment expert, I’ve found in my testing that the quality for the price isn’t quite there yet.

The terms HDR and Dolby Vision have probably popped up in your search. If you’re not quite sure what these terms mean, “HDR is a generic term for high dynamic range, which makes highlights on screen much brighter than the rest of the image, which comes closer to matching what we see in the real world," says Greengart. But it gets much more nuanced, he says. “HDR formats like HDR10 set the brightness and darkness levels once, and all of the content then uses those levels.”

Dolby Vision is a dynamic, advanced form of HDR, and it’s used to enhance shadowing and bright scenes to deliver better contrast and colors to your display. While it’s similar to HDR10+, it’s a different technology. “Dynamic HDR formats like HDR10+ and Dolby Vision allow the content owners to adjust the levels as needed throughout the content, which can result in scenes with great shadow detail followed by scenes with tremendous brightness and color,” says Greengart.

So, which is better? It wholly depends on your needs, says Greengart. “Which HDR formats you need depends on what content you watch and which formats your streaming providers or disks support,” adding that HDR performance trumps resolution to give you a better picture. If you’re a cinephile, Dolby Vision is the ideal choice. HDR10 and HDR10+ are still great for viewing, but they’re better for casual viewers. But it depends on how you prefer your display calibrated.

You have plenty of operating systems to choose from. The biggest brands use their own software: Samsung uses its homegrown Tizen OS; LG uses WebOS. Other brands like TCL and Hisense use Google TV, and you can find many different TVs offering Roku OS and Fire OS. “They vary widely, not just in capability but also in ease of use,” says Greengart. “Some have built-in AI assistants, and others opt for simplicity. My favorite OS for simplicity is Roku, followed by Amazon Fire.”

If you don’t like your TV’s operating system, you can always use a dedicated streaming device to use your preferred OS. “My favorite for capability is Apple TV (by connecting an Apple TV box), followed by Google TV OS; and my least favorite is LG’s webOS, which tries to do too much,” says Greengart.

For years, we’ve been testing and reviewing all sorts of screens—and we have a robust library of tech and electronic guides to prove it. By leaning on our hands-on testing and in-depth research, we’ve written dozens of TV stories and compiled a bunch of gaming roundups, each focused on providing the most up-to-date advice for our readers.

• Forbes Vetted consumer tech and electronics editor Rebecca Isaacs is the author of this guide. With more than six years of experience as a tech and home entertainment specialist, she has tested most panels currently on the market. In addition to firsthand testing, she covers many of the latest panel launches, traveling far and wide to get the scoop on the newest display technologies. At times, she has participated in demonstrations where TVs have been dissected down to their processors and dimming zones to learn about their inner workings. She is also a Level I Imaging Science Foundation (ISF)–certified calibrator
• Forbes Vetted executive editor Dave Johnson, who reviewed this guide, is a veteran tech journalist with decades of experience in the field. He’s authored nearly three dozen books on technology and photography, and like Isaacs, he is well-versed in the latest TV technology. To stay up to date on the latest TV trends, he regularly attends trade shows, like CES.

• Avi Greengart, president and lead analyst of the technology consultation company Techsponential