Thanksgiving is the Christmas Eve of TV sale events, and the best Black Friday TV deals are live now. I’m a TV expert and I have tested and reviewed 100+ TVs over the years and have spotlighted the best discounts on televisions someone from our team has tested below. Or check out the absolute best Black Friday deals.
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On one hand, I would not watch the Super Bowl on this super inexpensive Hisense TV. On the other hand, a decade ago it would have blown my mind. I just bought this TV for my mom and it’s what we’re using to watch football and play Switch today. The software boots surprisnly smoothly and quickly and because it’s a Hisense it’s quite bright compared to other TVs I’ve seen at this price. —Martin Cizmar
If affordability and convenience top your TV checklist, this balanced baseline model from Roku is an enticing choice. Roku’s simplified interface runs the show, making it easy for even the less technically inclined among us to navigate between inputs, broadcast TV, and your choice of hundreds of streaming services. The TV’s picture quality isn’t top tier, and its 60-Hz refresh rateView Live may not appeal to avid gamers, but you do get good brightness, vibrant colors, local dimming for solid black levels without blotchy light patches, and smart support for Apple Homekit, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
If you’re after something more budget-friendly, Hisense’s U7N QLED TV (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick as the best TV for most people right now, thanks to its mix of killer brightness, vivid quantum dot colors, and excellent contrast. We saw some uniformity issues in testing (aka the dirty screen effect) but it’s not noticeable in most situations, and the TV’s mini LED backlighting system is a step above regular LED TVs, with loads of dimming zones for minimal “blooming” or light wash around bright images. An intuitive Google TV interface and high-end gaming features complete the package for a TV that punches well above its price.
Looking to bust the brightness barrier? Hisense’s 65-inch U8N TV (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is among the brightest we’ve ever tested, outshining the vast majority of LED rivals with its searing highlights and voluminous quantum dot colors. You might think all that power would make it a poor performer in the dark, but the U8N’s advanced mini LED backlighting allows for inky black levels with very little light bloom. You’ll also get top-end gaming features and a Google TV interface. The TV’s off-axis image quality and motion handling are just OK, but otherwise you’re getting a lot of the goodies found in premium TVs for far less money. Add in a good sale, and it’s hard to say no.
Not to be outdone, Samsung’s second-tier OLED (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is another of my favorite TVs of the year. The 65-inch model’s QD-OLED panel (the 42-, 48-, and 83-inch models use a more traditional WOLED panel) provides fabulously rich colors and a slight brightness boost over its C4 counterpart, alongside the perfect black levels and excellent picture quality from any angle that makes OLED TVs top performers. Like the C4, you’ll get HDMI 2.1 support across all four inputs and Samsung’s Game Hub lets you stream games from an impressive list of services, including Xbox. Like all Samsung TVs, the S90D doesn’t support Dolby Vision, the most common dynamic HDR format, opting for HDR10+ instead. Otherwise, it’s hard to find a flaw.
This is our favorite 8K TV right now, despite it being last year’s model, because literally nobody needs an 8K TV right now. There is basically no content in 8k that isn’t self-shot at this point, but if you’re the type of person who spends big once a decade for a new screen and that decade is up, you may as well snag this model. It’s gorgeous, bright, and if they ever actually get around to making or delivering 8K content, you’ll be set. —Parker Hall
If I’d known the Bravia 7 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) would drop this low, I honestly would have given it a higher score. It seemed a bit too high at its $2,300 MSRP, but now that it’s $1,000 lower, and $400 off its original sale price, it feels like Sony’s giving these things away. My main gripe about the Bravia 7 was its notably poor performance from the side. If you’re mainly watching from straight-on, though, this is a killer performer for the money. The TV’s mini LED backlight is brilliantly bright, with dazzling colors, excellent contrast, and stunning clarity across content. Like most TVs in its class, it tacks on top gaming features (though only across two of its four HDMI inputs), and its Google TV interface adds intuitive control. At this price, this is among the best options for anyone after a bright-yet-refined TV experience.
LG’s C4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is perennially named one of the best TVs you can buy, for good reason. You’ll get the stunning contrast and perfect black levels of a top OLED display, rich and naturalistic colors, sparkling clear picture processing, and solid brightness with support for Dolby Vision HDR. LG’s smart interface is quirky but lightning-fast, and the Magic Remote works like a Nintendo Wii remote for versatile control. Extras like four fully-loaded HDMI 2.1 inputs to serve up the top gaming features make the C4 feel like a flagship TV at second-tier pricing. (Note: We’ve seen this price fluctuate in the past few w, dropping as low as $1,400, so you may want to keep the buy tab open and your finger ready.)
TCL’s QM7 (6/10, WIRED Reviewed) is one of the best TVs I’ve reviewed at its price point, with one exception: The HDR picture mode in my review model was oddly connected to SDR settings, which greatly limited its brightness in HDR. TCL was able to fix the issue for me, but said it won’t issue a broad update until December. It doesn’t seem to be a widespread issue, and this screen otherwise offers great contrast, rich and showy colors, and impressive screen uniformity that outdoes the similarly priced U7N. It’s that last trait that makes the QM7 a prime candidate for a large-scale display. A 98-inch screen is insane, as is the fact that you can now purchase one for well under $3,000. If you trust TCL’s willingness to stand behind its products, this TV could be the grand-scale showpiece you’ve been waiting for.
This is big savings on a trophy TV with a lightening fast refresh rate, blinding brightness, and surprisingly rich sound from side speakers. I’ve been testing this TV in my house for the last two months and have been delighted by the performance—so much so that I’m a convert to the Hisense brand and it’s all I’ll buy now. —Martin Cizmar
Sony’s A95L (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best 4K TV I’ve ever seen. It’s so good that Sony decided not to update it for 2023. The company instead turned its focus to backlit LED TVs like the searingly beautiful Bravia 9 (9/10, WIRED Recommends), but the A95L is still arguably the company’s best. You’ll get perfect black levels for incredible contrast, sweet and accurate colors, and impressive brightness for an OLED display. Unlike LED TVs, including the Bravia 9, it looks almost perfect from any angle. The frosting on this cake is Sony’s XR processing which provides crystalline detail for a remarkably immersive image. The TV adds solid features, including a Google TV interface and next-gen gaming support (though only across two of its four HDMI ports, helping to keep the TV from a perfect 10). It’s a pricey display that’s a little easier to stomach in a 55-inch size and especially tempting on a great sale.
Another brightness champion, the Bravia 9 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) matches its next-gen LED potency with brilliant balance to create one of the most stirring performances of any TV I’ve tested. You’ll almost feel the heat of the sun or lasers cascading across the screen, while Sony’s proprietary backlighting and processing systems provide incredible contrast and clarity. You’ll get Sony’s Google TV smart interface for simple navigation, and high-end gaming features, including in-house PlayStation exclusives. The TV’s off-angle viewing is good, not great, and I wish Sony would offer HDMI 2.1 gaming support across more than just two of its four inputs, but if you’re after the best LED TV on the market at its lowest price yet, you’re welcome.
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