Best 55-inch TVs 2026: 4K HDR OLED, Mini LED and LCD sets, tried and tested

There's never been a better time to buy a 55-inch TV.

Long considered the sweet spot of the TV market, 55 inches remains the ideal size for many homes, offering a properly cinematic experience without overwhelming your living room or your budget. It's also the size at which manufacturers tend to showcase their most popular models, giving buyers plenty of choice.

And what a choice there is.

OLED TVs continue to set the benchmark for outright picture quality, Mini LED models are brighter and better value than ever, and this year has even seen the arrival of the first mainstream RGB Mini LED TVs, adding another exciting option to the premium end of the market.

So which of these competing technologies would be best for you? That's where we come in.

Every TV we review is put through extensive side-by-side testing using movies, TV shows, sport and games, allowing us to separate genuine performance gains from marketing claims. We assess everything from picture and sound quality to gaming features, smart platforms and ease of use before deciding whether a TV deserves our recommendation.

The models below are the very best 55-inch TVs we've tested. Whether you're looking for a flagship OLED, a brilliantly balanced Mini LED, an exciting new RGB Mini LED model or simply the best performance for your budget, you'll find a recommendation here.

Written by

Written by

Tom Parsons

I'm What Hi-Fi?'s TV and AV Editor, and I've been testing TVs and home cinema products (as well as hi-fi kit, headphones, and a whole lot more besides) for over 18 years. I'm obsessed with picture quality and love 55-inch TVs, as that’s the size where the latest technologies – including OLED and Mini LED – are most widely available. I'm equally obsessed with value, though, and I believe a great home movie experience should be available to all. Thankfully, there are now budget and mid-range models that can give you exactly that. As well as a great picture, I'm also looking for excellent gaming specs, an app-packed operating system and solid sound – but I do always recommend adding a dedicated sound system if you can.

What is the best 55-inch TV right now?

The best 55-inch TV for most people right now is the Samsung S99H. Its OLED panel delivers dazzlingly bright highlights, fantastic motion and an immersive sense of depth. It also boasts flawless gaming specs, which cannot be said of every Samsung TV in recent years. It's been a top TV for months, but it's only now that the price has come down substantially that we can wholeheartedly recommend it over the older, also discounted Sony Bravia 8 II.

The best 55-inch TV overall

Image 1 of 7

The Samsung S99H (known as the S95H in the US and Australia) is a spectacular all-round OLED TV, combining dazzling brightness, superb contrast, beautifully judged colours and excellent motion handling.

More impressively, it has finally dethroned the Sony Bravia 8 II – the awesome OLED that dominated our recommendations for the past year. It's the only TV we've tested this year to beat it, which is quite an achievement in itself.

Samsung’s latest QD-OLED panel delivers an image that's both immediately eye-catching and impressively refined.

Highlights are wonderfully bright, blacks are deep and inky, and the resulting contrast gives pictures a real sense of depth. Colours are rich and vibrant, but there's a welcome level of restraint to the processing, too, with natural skin tones and plenty of subtlety in darker scenes.

Detail is superb, motion is handled with care, and the S99H makes everything from blockbuster films to standard Blu-ray discs look fantastic.

It's also a formidable gaming TV. All four HDMI 2.1 sockets support 4K at up to 165Hz, alongside VRR and ALLM, making it an excellent choice for both console and PC gamers. Samsung's Tizen smart platform is comprehensive, too, while the improved Glare Free screen coating helps keep reflections at bay.

There is just one significant omission: Dolby Vision. Samsung continues to back HDR10+ instead, and while that format offers its own dynamic metadata advantages, Dolby Vision remains much more widely supported by streaming services and 4K Blu-ray releases. If you want the broadest possible HDR compatibility, this is something you will need to consider.

The S99H's sound system has also taken a welcome step forward. Dialogue is clear and effects are spacious, although it lacks the bass weight and sheer impact of a dedicated system. It's enjoyable by TV standards, but we strongly recommend adding a soundbar or home cinema system.

The S99H is expensive, and its unusual design won't appeal to everyone, but its outstanding picture quality and all-round ability make it the finest 55-inch TV you can currently buy.

Read the full Samsung S99H review

• ^ Back to the top

The best budget 55-inch TV

Image 1 of 8

You don't have to spend a fortune to get a thoroughly enjoyable 55-inch TV. For proof, see the TCL P8L.

This affordable Mini LED model combines a surprisingly sophisticated picture with an impressive feature set, making it one of the most compelling big-screen bargains we've tested.

Its 72-zone Mini LED backlight gives the P8L a significant advantage over many budget LCD TVs. Contrast is convincing, with deep blacks and good control of blooming, while Quantum Dot colour delivers a vibrant, lively image without things becoming excessively saturated.

The overall presentation is nicely balanced, too, with a natural sense of colour and plenty of detail. It's a dynamic performer that produces good contrast and impressive depth for the money.

There are a couple of limitations to be aware of. The P8L isn't especially bright, so it can struggle to punch through in very bright rooms, while a little black crush means some fine detail can disappear into dark shadows. These are relatively minor niggles, though, and don't detract significantly from an otherwise very enjoyable picture.

It's no slouch when it comes to gaming, either. Two HDMI 2.1 sockets support 4K at up to 144Hz, alongside VRR and ALLM, giving gamers plenty to get excited about at this price.

Support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, standard HDR10 and HLG is very welcome, too, while Google TV provides a comprehensive selection of streaming apps and smart features.

The built-in sound system is also better than you might expect from a budget TV, offering clear dialogue and a decent sense of scale, although a dedicated soundbar will give films and games considerably more impact.

One important regional caveat: the P8L isn't available in the US or Australia. TCL's QM6K is understood to be a very similar model, but potential differences between the two mean we wouldn't automatically apply our P8L review to it.

We've also only tested the 65-inch P8L, though we expect the 55-incher to perform much the same.

If you're shopping for a biggish TV on a relatively modest budget in the UK, the P8L is a terrific buy.

Read the full TCL P8L review

• ^ Back to the top

The best mid-range 55-inch TV

Image 1 of 7

If the Samsung S99H is a little too expensive, the LG C6 is an excellent alternative.

It doesn't quite reach the heights of its more expensive rival, but it delivers a wonderfully cinematic OLED picture, a comprehensive feature set and some genuinely impressive improvements over its predecessor. In performance-per-pound terms, it's a stunner.

The biggest step forward comes courtesy of LG's Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor. While the 55-inch C6 sticks with familiar WOLED panel technology, the new chip extracts noticeably more performance from it, producing a brighter, richer and more refined picture than the C5.

Highlights have greater intensity, colours are more vibrant without losing their natural balance, and the overall image has a greater sense of depth. Black levels are superb, contrast is excellent, and there's plenty of detail, whether you're watching a blockbuster in Dolby Vision or catching up with your favourite HD TV shows.

The C6 is particularly well equipped for gaming. All four HDMI 2.1 sockets support 4K at up to 165Hz, alongside VRR and ALLM, while HGiG and Dolby Vision gaming support make it a great partner for the latest consoles and gaming PCs. LG's webOS 26 platform is slick and comprehensive, too, with all the major streaming apps accounted for – though we could do with less prominent advertising.

There's even good news on the audio front. LG has made meaningful improvements to the built-in sound, with clearer dialogue, stronger dynamics and a more open presentation than we're used to from its C-series TVs.

Volume is still somewhat limited, though, and a dedicated soundbar or home cinema system is pretty much an essential upgrade.

The design is now a little too familiar, but the C6's striking slimness and surprising lightness remain strengths.

The C6 might not be a revolutionary upgrade, but its picture improvements are substantial enough to make it the new mid-range OLED benchmark. If you want a superb 55-inch TV without stretching to flagship prices, it's an easy recommendation.

Note: we've only tested the 65-inch model, but expect the 55-incher to perform pretty much identically.

Read the full LG C6 review

• ^ Back to the top

Best 55-inch RGB Mini LED TV

Image 1 of 6

Sony's Bravia 9 II may be the company's RGB Mini LED flagship, but for most buyers it's the Bravia 7 II that makes the most sense – particularly at 55 inches, where the Bravia 9 II isn't available. It delivers many of the same strengths at a much more accessible price, making it our current pick if you're specifically looking for an RGB Mini LED TV.

The Bravia 7 II combines Sony's new 'True RGB' backlight with the company's excellent XR processor, and the results are impressive. Colours are rich and vibrant without looking exaggerated, and motion handling is generally very impressive. The new backlight technology also helps deliver convincing black levels and excellent blooming control, allowing the Bravia 7 II to get closer to OLED than many backlit rivals.

Perhaps most impressive of all is Sony's picture processing. Whether you're watching native 4K HDR, streamed content or broadcast TV, the Bravia 7 II consistently delivers a wonderfully natural, cinematic image. It also has a knack for creating a tangible sense of depth and solidity that many rivals struggle to match.

The TV is well equipped, too. Google TV remains one of the best smart platforms available, gamers get support for 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and Sony's redesigned backlit USB-C rechargeable remote is a welcome quality-of-life upgrade.

The Bravia 7 II isn't flawless, however. While the RGB Mini LED backlight is a clear step forward, it still can't match the pixel-level contrast, viewing angles and consistency of the best OLED TVs. We also found that dark scenes could occasionally exhibit minor colour fluctuations, while the built-in sound system is merely decent rather than exceptional.

That means we'd still steer most buyers towards a mid-range OLED TV, such as the LG C6. But if you're sold on the benefits of RGB Mini LED – whether for its brightness, longevity or simply because you don't want an OLED – the Bravia 7 II is a superbly tuned television that showcases just how capable Sony's latest backlit technology can be.

Read our full Sony Bravia 7 II review

• ^ Back to the top

The best 55-inch Mini LED TV

Image 1 of 9

TCL has made some seriously impressive TVs in recent years, but the C8L is arguably its most accomplished yet.

Its combination of extraordinary brightness, vibrant but carefully balanced colours, and remarkably accomplished local dimming makes it the best TV you can buy if you don't want an OLED.

The biggest improvements over last year's C8K come in two areas: TCL's new Super Quantum Dot technology and a significantly upgraded Mini LED backlight.

The former delivers a wider, richer colour range while retaining impressive accuracy and subtlety, while the latter brings better contrast, deeper blacks and more precise control over bright highlights.

The result is a picture with tremendous punch and vibrancy, but also the sort of nuance and naturalism that lesser bright LCD TVs often struggle to achieve.

The C8L is exceptionally bright, too, with highlights that really leap from the screen and bright scenes that look breathtakingly vivid. Yet its local dimming system does an excellent job of keeping blooming to a minimum, while preserving the finest details in dark scenes.

Native 4K images are beautifully crisp and detailed, and both the Standard preset and Filmmaker Mode deliver a compelling blend of impact and authenticity.

It's a terrific gaming TV, too. All four HDMI sockets support 4K/120Hz, while 4K/144Hz, VRR, ALLM and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro are also supported. Input lag is impressively low at 10.1ms, and there's even support for refresh rates up to 288Hz at HD resolution.

The built-in Bang & Olufsen sound system is good by TV standards, offering a wide, detailed and powerful presentation, although its sometimes inconsistent balance and limited bass depth mean we still recommend a dedicated sound system.

There are a couple of caveats: blooming becomes more obvious when viewing from wider angles, and the screen can reflect bright light sources. We've only tested the 65-inch model, but the 55-incher should perform identically.

If picture quality is your priority, and you don't want an OLED, the C8L is a superb Mini LED TV that's easy to recommend.

Read the full TCL C8L review

• ^ Back to the top

Also consider

Sony Bravia 8 II
The previous entry as best overall on this list, the Bravia 8 II is still a great option. It's exceptionally bright and vivid, with perfect blacks and stunning shadow detail. It even sounds very good for a TV, which is refreshing.

Philips OLED760
The OLED760 is one of the most affordable ways to step into OLED ownership. It delivers the deep blacks and rich contrast the technology is known for, while Philips’ Ambilight system adds extra visual flair. Four HDMI 2.1 ports make it well equipped for gaming, though it’s not as bright as more premium OLED models.

Sony Bravia 5
If your budget won't quite stretch to the Bravia 7, Sony's most affordable Mini LED model is a great option. It might lack the massive specs of the TCL C8L, but Sony has squeezed every bit of performance out of the Bravia 5's hardware and tuned it brilliantly, resulting in a picture performance that's super-satisfying and cinematically authentic.

Panasonic Z95B
The Panasonic Z95B features a super-bright Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel rather than QD-OLED. It's also Hollywood-tuned for cinematic accuracy, and there's a multi-speaker Dolby Atmos system built into the bottom, top and sides of the TV. A great option.

How we choose

When choosing a new TV, picture technology is almost always the most important factor.

Without a doubt, OLED has become the premium TV technology of choice, thanks to its perfect blacks, extraordinary contrast and exceptional viewing angles.

QLED, which combines LED (or Mini LED) backlighting with ultra-vibrant Quantum Dots, is a strong alternative, though, largely thanks to being capable of greater brightness and punchier colours.

Standard LCD TVs (often, confusingly, sold as 'LED' TVs on account of their LED backlights) are more variable in overall quality but, if you shop carefully, can offer excellent bang for your buck.

Sound is massively important, too. Are you planning to combine your new TV with a dedicated sound system? You probably should, because most TVs sound passable at best, even at the high-end. But if you are determined to keep things neat and rely on the in-built speakers of your new TV, check our reviews to make sure that they're at least good – there's no point in a great picture if the accompanying sound is rubbish.

If you're a gamer, it's also worth considering the next-gen gaming features of your prospective new TV.

Xbox Series X and PS5 gamers can gain a competitive advantage on certain games if their TV supports 4K 120Hz, while VRR support can result in a smoother gameplay experience. ALLM, meanwhile, simply ensures that you automatically get the best visual experience from both games and movies / TV shows.

If you're a more casual gamer or not a gamer at all, you can pretty much disregard these features, and it's likely that doing so will save you a lot of cash.

55-inch TV FAQ

How we test

The process of testing a TV is long and complex, with oodles of elements to consider before giving the final review verdict.

Modern TVs not only handle a variety of content resolutions – standard-def, 1080p, 4K and sometimes even 8K – and both standard dynamic range and high dynamic range (the latter in a number of formats), all of which need to be specifically tested.

On top of that, they have a sound system with various advanced settings and a full smart platform. We look at how well a TV manages to tie all of this up in one package, which can often be a challenging task.

Connectivity

As part of our testing process we manually check that every major app – from Netflix to All 4, Prime Video to Spotify – is not only present, but also outputting in the video and sound formats that it should.

Just because there's a Disney+ app doesn't necessarily mean it's working in Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos. In fact, in many recent cases it hasn't been.

We also connect both a PS5 and Xbox Series X in order to establish which advanced gaming features are and aren't supported, and on which of the TV's HDMI ports.

Is 4K 120Hz supported? How about VRR? Is there a Dolby Vision game mode? Is there an HGiG preset for more accurate HDR tone mapping? We check all of these things, and measure input lag using a Leo Bodnar device.

Picture quality

It’s all well and good having top-notch connectivity options, but they don’t mean much if the picture quality isn’t up to scratch.

We test how a TV measures up in this category by using a huge variety of content, from old DVDs to the latest 4K Blu-rays and plenty of streamed movies and TV shows in between.

Every TV is tested against the best model at its price and size – we have a stockroom packed full of Award-winners for this very purpose.

When it comes to settings, we are not satisfied with testing it with the ones straight out the box. We don’t go down the route of professional calibration either, as you should be able to get great results using the TV’s own settings.

Instead, we do spend hours adjusting settings using a mixture of test patterns and real-world content until we are sure we're getting the best out of a TV so that it has the best chance to shine.

Sound

We almost always suggest pairing your TV with a dedicated sound system such as a soundbar or AV amplifier, but many people want to stick with their TV’s built-in speakers.

Because of this, we use a wide variety of movie and music content and pay great attention to the TV's many processing modes and individual settings.

The right environment

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in Bath and Reading, where our team of expert reviewers do all of our testing. This gives us complete control over the testing process, ensuring consistency.

What's more, all review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole rather than an individual reviewer, again helping to ensure consistency and avoid any personal preference.

The What Hi-Fi? team has more than 100 years collective experience of reviewing, testing and writing about consumer electronics between it. What Hi-Fi's TV and AV editor Tom Parsons has been reviewing TVs for nearing two decades.

From all of our reviews, we choose the best products to feature in our Best Buys. That's why if you take the plunge and buy one of the products recommended below, or on any other Best Buy page, you can be assured you are getting a What Hi-Fi? approved product.

Recent updates

6th November 2026:
Culled the Sony Bravia 8 II, TCL C7K and LG C5 from the main list, replacing them with the Samsung S99H, TCL P8L, LG C6 and TCL C8L. Added the Bravia 8 II to 'Also consider'.

15th July 2026:
Added the Sony Bravia 7 II as the best RGB Mini LED TV, and added the Samsung S99H to the Also Consider section.

9th March 2026:
While our main list remains unchanged, we have added two new models to the Also Consider section, and all of the rest of the info on the page has been checked and updated so that it reflects the most up-to-date buying advice.

16th January 2026
Our first update of 2026 is a fairly light one, as our main recommendations have stayed the same since our last update. However, we have added the Sony Bravia 5 to the Also Consider section, and all other text has been checked and updated to reflect our latest buying advice.

5th November 2025
We have completely overhauled our recommendations: the Sony Bravia 8, LG C4, Hisense U7N and Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED have all been removed; the Sony Bravia 8 II and LG C5 have been promoted to the 'best overall' and 'best for gaming' positions, respectively; the TCL C7K has been added; and our 'also consider' recommendations have all been replaced.

28th July 2025
Replaced Sony A95L with Bravia 8 II, and TCL P755K for Hisense U7N. Added LG C5 as best new, and Sony Bravia 7 as best Mini LED. Also added the LG G5 to the 'Also consider' section.

5th November 2024
Replaced Sony A80L with Bravia 8 and LG C3 with C4. Removed the C4 as the 'Best 2024' model. Rewrote introduction to clarify which models we have tested at 65 inches.

9th July 2024
LG C4 added as 'Best 2024' model, LG LG G4 and Samsung QN95D added as 'Also Consider' options

2nd April 2024
'Also Consider' and 'Recent Updates' sections added, plus new FAQs added

2nd February 2024
Added new author information and combined US and UK recommendations

31st October 2024
Replaced the Panasonic LZ980, Sony A95K, TCL RP620K and Samsung QE55QN94A with the LG C3, Sony A95L, TCL C845K and Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED.

Useful links

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

• Looking for a bargain? Here are the best cheap TVs
• Hardcore gamer? These are the very best gaming TVs
• Need something bigger? What about the best 65-inch TVs
• Want a future-proof TV? Here are the best 8K TVs