Best OLED TV: Six of the best OLED TVs

While we found Samsung’s S95B QD-OLED to impress in a number of ways, and the follow-up S95C to be better, it seems Samsung has struck gold at the third time of asking with its S95D OLED.

The S95D appears to be a big improvement on what came before, and one of the brighest OLED TVs we’ve reviewed, hitting 1798 nits on a 10% window. Brighter even than the LG G4, which we measured at 1500 nits in its movie mode.

That level of brightness helps to produce incredibly rich colours, with contrast that brings out the detail in both dark and light areas of the image. That’s further helped with the TVs high sharpness and detail levels, which helps to create a well defined and colourful 4K image.

Despite our misgivings when we saw Samsung’s anti-glare screen technology previewed before the TV went on sale, our reviewed was very impressed by how well it worked on the S95D, though it does mean that dark areas do take on a slightly grey appearance.

The sound system supports Dolby Atmos, and like Samsung’s other OTS speaker systems, it’s very good at placing effects on and around the screen. However, it’s still not that good at pushing sound forward into a room, and it’s volume limited in terms of how loud it can go.

The Tizen interface has been refined with new sections to help recommend suitable content that matches your tastes, and there’s now the option of creating multiple profiles. Gamers will enjoy the quick performance from this TV, as we measured the input lag response at 9.8ms. All four HDMI 2.1 inputs support 4K/120Hz through its One Connect box and PC gamers get up to 144Hz refresh rates.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: Samsung S95D OLED

The A95L is Sony’s second attempt at creating a QD-OLED TV, and for the 55-inch model, we feel that its stellar picture and sound quality make it well worth its premium price of £2499 in the UK.

We found the TV delivered a beautiful image. There’s fantastically fine shading of colours, high brightness, colours that look impressively pure, as well as excellent levels of sharpness and detail. You won’t find many TVs with a picture that looks as good as this, though in terms of brightness it is beaten by the Samsung S95D, which may be a factor if you watch TV in a room with lots of ambient light in it.

Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio system again works its magic in delivering an audio performance that’s big in size and accurate in terms of where effects and dialogue are placed, pushing sound into a room in a manner that other TVs struggle to do. The woofers add some punch to the low frequencies too, giving the TV some well need oomph.

The connectivity covers two HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for eARC, VRR, ALLM, and 4K/120Hz. For PS5 gamers there is the Auto Tone Mapping feature that optimises the HDR performance but with no support for AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync. Input lag is faster than the A95K at 16.7ms, but the LG and Samsung TVs on this list can go quicker. A new addition for the A95L is the inclusion of Dolby Vision Game mode to help extract more contrast and brightness from supported games.

The A95L’s smart features are delivered by Google TV, which means it is covered for the main global streaming services, as well as UK’s catch up services which are available as separate apps. You also get the BRAVIA Cam bundled in, although our reviewer didn’t feel the need to make much use of it.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: Sony XR-55A95L

If you knowledgeable about OLED TVs, you may be wondering why we’ve chosen the MZ1500 over Panasonic’s flaship MZ2000. In short, it’s all to do with the sound system.

While the Panasonic MZ2000 is undoubtedly the best overall Panasonic TV, its sound system is bolted on and it’d be pointless to add another sound system to TV. The MZ1500 is a more sensible choice for those who want an excellent 4K HDR picture and can pair it with their own sound system.

It’s a TV that’s easy to assemble, and the swivel screen means you position it to avoid glare or ambient sunlight in a room. The smart interface is Panasonic’s My Home Screen, which has all the main video streaming apps, though it’s rather limited if you’re in need of sports and music apps.

Connectivity includes two HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K/120Hz gameplay and VRR. We measured input lag at 14.3ms, which is quicker than the Sony A80L but slower than the LG C3 OLED. The Game Control Board brings up a series of settings that can be customised during gameplay for the best gaming performance.

Like Sony’s OLEDs, Panasonic takes a very natural approach to tuning the picture for its TVs. Blacks are rich and deep, the peak brightness is over a 1000 nits, and that’s more than enough to give HDR some punch and wide array of colours.

Highlights (the brightest part of the picture) and rendered bright, the MZ1500 reveals a wider array of colours than the Sony A80L with its bright reds and more nuanced blues. The addition of Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive also gives it an advantage in both bright and dark rooms, as the TV retails more brightness and detail in the image.

Upscaling is very good, maintaining the look of content without enhancing it, and while this set’s motion processing isn’t as good as Sony, it’s not far behind, smooth and natural look at its ‘Min’ setting.

The sound system produces warm bass with some depth and weight. It sounds a little too warm and wooly with dialogue that results in some lines sounding muffled. That said, we wouldn’t rush out to buy a soundbar but it’s design makes it easier to incorporate one than the MZ2000.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Panasonic MZ1500

We didn’t think the G3 OLED was as good as it could have been due to its green tint to HDR images. While the G4 OLED doesn’t fully resolve the green tint issue, we do think it’s an improvement on the previous flagship OLED

This screen features LG Display’s 2nd gen MLA OLED panel, and that boosts brightness well above what older OLED TVs were capable of. Peak brightness hits 1523 nits on a 2% window, making for supberly bright and intense highlights, while full screen brightness is 287 nits. That’s not as bright as the Samsung S95D that features on this list.

LG’s rich but balanced looking colours make for a fabulous looking image, and it’s processing is excellent, especially the way it makes images look three-dimensional. However, towards the end of testing we did notice a green tint, and although it wasn’t as bad as it was on the OLED65G3, for a TV that costs as much as this, we were hoping the issue wouldn’t appear again.

The TruMotion processing has seen improvements again for a natural performance with fewer artefacts, closing the gap to the Sony A95L. Upscaling is in some ways clearer and more detailed than the Sony model, with a significant boost to 480p and 1080p content, as wells describing terrific levels of contrast, detail, clarity, and sharpness without seeming artificial or unnatural.

The audio performance is better than before, with a warmer, weightier sound and a bit more bass to its output. It’s excellent with dialogue, making sure it’s audible with all types of content. The AI Sound Pro mode is good with Dolby Atmos tracks but we still find that when listening to live broadcasts it can sound too sharp. With non-Atmos content, the Standard or Cinema presets are better. We’d still like some more dynamism and intensity to the sound system though.

Gaming has always been a strength of LG’s OLEDs and as usual there is support for 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM across all the HDMI inputs. We measured latency at 12.9ms, and with VRR technologies such as HDMI VRR, AMD FreeSync Pro and Nvidia G-Sync, that can be further reduced. WebOS is home to Freeview Play and all the UK catch-up and on-demand apps, with plenty of other choices from video to sports and music to choose from.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: LG OLED65G4

The Philips OLED+907 as an excellent choice for TV, film fans and gamers but it’s no longer Philips flagship with the OLED+908 replacing it. The new OLED is an impressive TV but also a flawed one.

It remains a swish and very stylish TV with its ultra-thin bezel, metal swivel stand and cloth-clad Bowers & Wilkins sound system. Connectivity includes four HDMI inputs, two of which support 4K/120Hz refresh rates. One of those inputs is shared with the eARC port, but given the performance of the sound system, we wouldn’t necessary say that you need a sound system to go with this TV

That’s because the audio quality is very impressive. There’s power, weight and a fine sense of detail provided for a TV audio system. Bass is very good for a flatscreen TV, and in some cases it’s better than the Sony A95L.

Smarts are provided by Google TV, although this brings with it a few issues as there is no support for Freeview Play and UK catch-up and on-demand apps. You can get around this with built-in Chromecast for some apps. Otherwise app selection is huge thanks to access to Google Play Store, with all the usual suspects covered.

Ambilight is provided in its three-side form and it adds to a room’s ambience in a way no other TV brand can.

Image quality can be superb. The 55OLED+908 is the first to use LG’s MLA panel and brightness is very high and colours are richly described, but what impressed us most is the balance that the OLED+908 can display. Detail in the dark parts of the image is excellent, highlights are brightly rendered, while contrast really stands out.

The TV’s levels of sharpness and detail are much higher than any other OLED we’ve tested in recently. Some may feel that it can look a little unnatural, but we don’t mind that aspect of the Philips processing. What we do mind is that the Philips’ images can look a little green from time to time. Not as bad as the LG G3 was, but noticeable nonetheless.

The 55OLED908 has reached its end of life, as we expect it to be replaced by the 55OLED909 models in the latter half of 2024.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Philips 55OLED+908

Hisense doesn’t launch very many OLED TVs, but its A9H is one that we think you should give consideration to, especially around the £1500 / $1500 price point.

The UK only gets the 65-inch model, and in terms of build quality this is a TV is very robust, and though assembling it is fairly simple, it does take a while to attach the stand. It’s built to a higher standard than we remember other flagship Hisense TVs being built to.

The VIDAA interface keeps things simple, which we like, and all big streaming apps are catered for in Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV+. VIDAA Free gathers titles from free services such as Plex, Pluto TV and VIDAA TV. Freeview Play adds the UK catch and on-demand apps.

There are advanced features for gamers, such as AMD FreeSync Premium VRR for PC, and Dolby Vision Game mode for Xbox Series consoles. We measured latency at 14.9ms, which is around the same performance as the Panasonic MZ1500.

Of the four HDMI inputs, two cover the 2.1 standard. Auto low latency mode is across all inputs; HDMI VRR and 120Hz are available on the HDMI 2.1 ports. Note that one of the 2.1 inputs supports eARC, which mans if you plug in a sound system, that leaves just one input available for another 2.1 source. Hisense’s HDR support covers Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+ certification, IMAX Enhanced and Filmmaker mode.

The picture performance is reminiscent of Philips TVs from a few years back in that the A9H’s picture processing can be very heavy handed. In its Dolby Vision IQ mode, everything from colours, brightness, detail and sharpness is amplified to the nth degree. Brightness can reach over 1000 nits, though in its Standard mode it’s closer to 700 nits.

There are elements of banding and contouring that we noticed with content, but the Hisense is capable of a lovely looking picture performance.

The audio performance is very good, one of the best we’ve heard from an OLED TV. Bass is big, there’s depth to the soundstage, as well as fine levels of detail and sharpness.