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Sony is known for amazing picture quality and color accuracy, says Carl Prouty, the technologist at Abt, a national electronics and appliances retailer based in Glenview, Illinois.
The brand has decades of experience creating imaging equipment for professional cinematographers and videographers, says Mark Steinberg, the senior technologist at B&H Photo & Video, a national electronics retailer in New York City. Other TV brands do not have this history, and it shows in Sony’s superior image quality, says Steinberg.
Sony also has excellent built-in audio, especially in its top-end smart TVs, according to our experts. Plus, most of its TVs have Google TV built in, one of the easier interfaces to use, in my experience.
Sony TVs tend to be slightly more expensive than similar models from competing brands, however.
This isn’t Sony’s most premium consumer TV, that would be the Sony Bravia 8 II, but this model has most of the brand’s best qualities, including a vivid 4K OLED screen, fast 120Hz screen and easy-to-use Google TV software, in a fairly-priced package that’s great for most people.
OLED TVs are known for rich color accuracy and contrast, which plays into Sony’s main strength: superior image quality.
The Bravia 8 also has better built-in audio quality than most competitors. It projects sound from the screen itself using an advanced audio system called Acoustic Surface Audio+. This leads to much richer audio quality compared to traditional TV speakers, which occupy more limited space around the sides of the TV frame, according to our experts.
This is a better Sony option if you plan to place it in a bright room that gets lots of natural light — the QLED screen can get much brighter than the OLED screen of the Bravia 8. It doesn’t have as rich of color and color contrast as the Bravia 8, but it still has a similarly detailed 4K resolution, fast 120Hz screen and easy-to-use Google TV software.
If you want the absolute brightest Sony TV, the Sony Bravia 9 gets brighter than the Bravia 7, but it costs significantly more.
Samsung is another well-regarded brand that makes excellent TVs, some with unique designs. Its quantum dot LED (QLED) TVs are extremely bright and are a great fit for group watching in rooms that have a lot of ambient light or glare, according to our experts.
Another standout from the brand is its The Frame TV, a TV with a matte finish on the screen. When turned off, it displays art and can blend into your space instead of looking like a blank void.
Most Samsung TVs have the Tizen interface built in — its menus can be a little less intuitive than those on Google TV and Roku, says Steinberg (and in my experience).
This 2026 model is very bright and comes in a range of sizes that make it easy to fit in all kinds of spaces. It has advanced mini-LED lights in the panel that display a vivid, bright picture across a wide viewing angle, according to the brand. That means it’s a good fit for group daytime programming like sports. New to this version is a matte coating on the screen that reduces glare and reflections compared to previous models.
Like most of the TVs on our list, it has a 4K resolution, multiple HDMI 2.1 ports, a fast refresh rate and HDR support.
One of Samsung’s most popular TVs is The Frame Series. The screen has a matte finish that makes it less reflective than traditional screens. When turned off, it becomes a digital art frame of sorts, displaying different artwork curated by the brand. You can also upload your own images or access additional artworks from Samsung’s Art Store (for a fee).
LG TVs are great for all forms of media, but they are particularly loved by gamers, according to our experts. The brand’s OLED TVs have an especially striking, vibrant image (though image quality may not be as dynamic as Sony models, says Steinberg).
The brand also has Filmmaker Mode built into its TVs: it automatically sets the picture settings to better match the TV show or movie you are watching, according to the brand. LG TV also uses the Web OS interface for its menus and control — it is relatively simple and intuitive to use (though not my absolute favorite).
LG TVs are typically a little less expensive than Sony and Samsung TVs, says Steinberg.
While not LG’s most high-end model (that would be the LG G5), the C5 Series is more than enough TV for most, with a striking OLED screen that has excellent color contrast and very wide viewing angles, according to the brand. Great colors, wide viewing angles, a fast screen and ample connectivity make it a good fit for movies, sports and gaming.
Like most OLED TVs, the C5 is not the best fit for a bright living room — consider a Sony or Samsung QLED TV for very bright spaces that get lots of natural light.
If the C5 Series TV is out of your budget, consider the lower-priced B5 series instead. It still has a 4K OLED panel with wide viewing angles, vivid colors and deep contrast, but is dimmer and a bit slower than the C5. You still get the same webOS smart platform, Filmmaker Mode, good gaming connectivity and compatibility with smart home devices.
There are a lot of budget-friendly TV brands (Hisense, Vizio, and Insignia, to name a few), but TCL is one of the best, says Steinberg. Its TVs usually cost less than those from Sony, Samsung and LG, but still have essential features like a 4K HDR image, fast 120Hz refresh rates, modern connectivity and more. And many TCL TVs have Google TV or Roku built in, two of our favorite interfaces to use.
Most TCL TVs have narrow viewing angles, meaning they do not look as good when viewed off-center. If you are looking for a TV to host a sports party, consider one of our other recommended brands.
TCL sells more premium models than this one (namely the QM8K), but the QM7K Series is an excellent value for the features. It has a QLED screen with mini-LEDs that deliver high brightness, vibrant colors and deep contrast, according to the brand. For gamers, it has modern HDMI 2.1 connectivity with fast refresh rates well-suited to gaming. It also has Google TV with Google Assistant built in, meaning you can control the TV with your voice.
If budget is your top priority and terms like quantum dot LED, quad-OLED and local dimming zones make you want to fall asleep, the TCL S5 Series is an accessible and affordable option. It has a 4K image and an easy-to-use Google TV interface built in. It cannot compete with the image quality of our other picks, but it’s the most affordable on our list by far. It also comes in six sizes.
How big your TV should be is strongly connected to how far away you’ll be watching from. Industry groups Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and THX have formulas to calculate your optimal viewing distance and angle. Some TV manufacturers and electronics retailers (like LG and B&H Photo) recommend the same formulas, others (like TCL and Best Buy) don’t.
All of them have slight differences, but ultimately give similar recommendations, averaged out below:
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness including recent stories on smartwatches, cameras, earbuds and more. For this piece, I spoke with television industry experts to learn more about TV brands and what makes them notable.
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