Whether you’re after the best in home cinema tech, or a great value TV, we’ve got the lot right here.
Best TV Buying Guide: Welcome to TechRadar’s round-up of the best TVs you can buy in 2018.
When we buy a TV, we aren’t expecting to replace it in a year’s time like a mobile phone.
No, the biggest screen in your home is meant to last you, ideally until the next big technological leap comes along that convinces you it’s finally time to upgrade.
So it’s important to make the right decision when it comes to buying a new set. You want to get something that supports all the technological standards that are going to be important over the coming years while ignoring the gimmicks that will cost you dearly before fading into obscurity in a short couple of years.
Do you need a TV with Dolby Vision, or is HDR10 enough? What’s the deal with 10-bit color? Actually, come to think of it, what even is HDR?
Our guide to the best TVs available is here to help you separate the wheat from the chaff to let you find your next set if money is no option to you.
If you’re looking for a buying guide that deals with TVs that only support the new Ultra HD resolution, check out our guide to the best 4K TVs .
In the mean time, if you’re looking for the best-of-the-best TV out there today without limits or stipulations then this is the place for you.
Here’s a summary of our list of the best TVs around: Sony XBR-ZD9 LG Signature Series OLED W7 Samsung Q9F QLED Sony Bravia XBR-XE90 Series Samsung KS9800 Series Sony Bravia A1 OLED “So, should I buy a TV now or wait it out?”
We hear this question a lot. Like most technology, TVs are getting incrementally better all the time, but recently there has been a huge flurry of progress as manufacturers have rushed to embrace new display standards including Ultra HD and HDR.
Thankfully, things seem to have settled down a little in this department, and the majority of TV manufacturers now support these next generation of features, including newer versions of HDR such as Hybrid Log Gamma.
So long as your next TV purchase supports these technologies (looking for an Ultra HD Premium certification is a good way to go), we reckon you won’t be kicking yourself in six month’s time when the next batch of sets arrive
That said, we’d be remiss if we didn’t let you know about the cool technologies that are just around the corner in TV tech. Chief amongst them is support for the new HDMI 2.1 standard, which as well as allowing support for 8K at 60 frames per second and 4K at 120 will also allow for FreeSync to be supported over HDMI.
It’s cool technology for sure, but unless you’re seriously into your gaming then we reckon you’re safe making a purchase now. Want better audio? Check out our guide to the best soundbars available. Once you’ve decided on a panel, make sure you read our guide on how to set up your TV to make sure you’re getting the most out of it.
1. Sony XBR-Z9D Series (2016)
Sony’s 2016 flagship TV set new standards in picture quality
65-inch: Sony XBR-65Z9D| 75-inch: Sony XBR-75Z9D | 100-inch: Sony XBR-100Z9D
Stunning HDR picture quality
Ground-breaking backlight
Android TV feels sluggish
Pretty average audio
From the moment we laid eyes on the XBR-65Z9D we’ve been desperate to get our hands on one. It is, hands down, the holy grail of television for 2017: a TV able to combine the extreme, high dynamic range-friendly brightness of LCD technology with a backlight arrangement capable of getting LCD closer than ever before to the stunning light control you get with OLED technology.
This backlight arrangement comprises more than 600 LEDs that sit behind the 65Z9D’s screen that are capable of outputting their own light levels independently of their neighbors. This should enable the TV to produce more of the extremes of light and shade associated with new high dynamic range ( HDR) technology while suffering less than other LCD TVs with distracting clouds, stripes or halos of unwanted, extraneous light.
As if this wasn’t already attraction enough, the 65Z9D also sports Sony’s new ‘X1 Extreme’ video processing system and the latest version of Sony’s reliable Triluminos wide color technology for unlocking the extended color spectrums associated with HDR sources.
2. LG Signature Series W7 OLED (2017)
LG’s W7 OLED melds into the wall
65-inch: LG 65W7OLED | 77-inch: LG 77W7OLED
Insanely slim design
Color, clarity and contrast
Future-proof HDR
Motion issues with TruMotion
The LG W7 OLED is truly something special. Not only is it one of the thinnest TVs to ever grace our vision (it’s 2.75mm thin), but it’s also one of the most gorgeous. When fed the right kind of content – in this case, 4K HDR10 or Dolby Vision video – it truly shines. A super-slim design alone wouldn’t have been enough to warrant the extra cost to upgrade to LG’s latest panel. But the thin frame on top of a Dolby Atmos soundbar on top of four types of HDR support on top of the magnetic mounting system on top of the new webOS 3.5 operating system surely did the trick. This incredibly gorgeous TV isn’t without its faults (see: motion handling, its sticker price and soundbar issues), but in terms of sheer picture performance there’s nothing else like it right now.
3. Samsung QLED Q9F (2017)
Getting the hots for metal Quantum Dots
75-inch: Samsung QE75Q9F | 65-inch: Samsung QE65Q9F
Unprecedented colour levels
Ultra high brightness
Occasional backlight clouding
Limited viewing angles
It looks like someone on Samsung’s TV design team has been watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. The 65-inch Q9 is a ringer for that film’s mysterious black monolith thanks to the way both its front and back sides are completely flat and feature ultra-robust, polished finishes. Ultra HD HDR playback is what the Q9F was created to do and, given Samsung’s potent HDR track record, it’s no surprise to find that it does it supremely well. Even though the Q9F has 4K HDR optimisation in its DNA, it’s capable of looking seriously good with high definition standard dynamic range content too.
4. Sony XBR-X930E Series (2017)
Sony turns to the bright side using its Slim Backlight Drive
65-inch: Sony XBR-65X930E | 55-inch: Sony XBR-55X930E
Blisteringly bright HDR images
Stunningly rich colors
Android TV is cumbersome
Runs sluggishly at times
The X930E Series builds on last year’s X930D series in a few important ways, the first of which is by including one of Sony’s new X1 Extreme chipsets. These are around 40% more powerful than the original X1 chips, and introduce separate databases to help the TV analyze noise and upscale sub-4K sources to the screen’s native 4K resolution. Add in an apparently much-improved sound system and Sony’s Triluminos technology for delivering today’s wider color ranges and the X930E series seems to tick all the right boxes.
Unfortunately, though, even an improved version of Sony’s Slim Backlight Drive can’t completely hide the fact that with current edge LED technology there’s always a backlight-based price to pay for all that HDR-sating brightness.
