With Christmas on the horizon, chances are you’ve been thinking about what you’d like to get the special people in your life. You might have even thought about what you’d like them to get you, too. Maybe a new pair of wireless headphones, a music streamer, or even an OLED TV? Or, maybe you’re not sure yet.

As lovers of hi-fi and AV equipment, the What Hi-Fi? team’s Christmas wishlist is littered with equipment falling into the aforementioned categories along with physical media to help us better enjoy our existing gear.

So, if you’re finding yourself stuck for ideas on what to get people, or even what you’d like for yourself, hopefully our Christmas wishlist can provide some inspiration. Check it out below.

Arcane: Series 2 SteelBook

Words by Robyn Quick

SteelBooks, a premium collectable case for a Blu-ray or 4K disc, can be a divisive subject for many AV fans. For some, the idea of forking out extra for the same movie or TV show you can get from a standard 4K Blu-ray is pointless. But, others see it as a worthwhile purchase to celebrate your favourite content and keep it for decades to come.

As you may have guessed, I sit in the second camp. So, I could barely contain my excitement when I saw that the second season of Arcane has finally got a 4K SteelBook release, complete with custom artwork on the cover. It costs a whopping £50, but that hasn’t stopped me from putting it at the top of my Christmas wishlist. A person can dream, right?

The series was released on Netflix last year and, if you haven’t watched the show, I can only urge you to do so. It’s packed with jaw-droppingly beautiful animation from start to finish, all while set in a dystopian, steampunk-inspired world that will suck you in from the first frame.

Buy Arcane Season 2 SteelBook at HMV

LG C5 (OLED55C5)

Words by Joe Svetlik

I’ve needed a new TV for a while now, but the situation is getting ever more pressing. My current model is pushing 12 years old, which is about 96 in TV years. To make matters worse, I recently had a new TV cabinet made. Which is great, but it just throws the crapness of my current TV into even sharper relief.

That’s why I’ve added the 55-inch LG C5 to my Christmas wishlist.

Now I think it would fit in my alcove, but I have to be careful. A friend on our road recently bought a 55-inch TV, and despite careful measuring, it is just that bit too big, meaning it has to sit at a slight diagonal at all times. He would have replaced it with a more sensibly sized model, as his wife suggested, but in his words, he was being “a bit of a child about it.”

Why the C5? It won a What Hi-Fi? Award for its rich, punchy, crisp image and peerless feature set. And for me, 55 inches is the perfect size – cinematic without dominating the room. Providing it fits.

Joe Hisaishi – Princess Mononoke (Symphonic Suite) on vinyl

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Regular readers have likely figured out I am a bit of an anime fan. One that’s especially fond of Studio Ghibli titles. This year alone, I went to see the London stage production of Spirited Away and to the BFI to check out the 4K remastered version of Princess Mononoke on the big screen.

The latter was a particular highlight, with the work done to its audio reminding me quite how beautiful the music, as well as iconic artwork, is for Ghibli movies. So much so that there’s one specific record at the top of my wishlist for Santa this year – Joe Hisaishi’s Princess Mononoke (Symphonic Suite).

Though the original soundtrack vinyl is great, I’ve always been a big fan of the Symphonic Suite version, which saw composer Joe Hisaishi re-arrange it for a full orchestra. The result is a captivating listen that captures the film’s evocative, thought-provoking, but ultimately hopeful and sympathetic tone.

This makes it a fantastic listen from start to finish and one I’ve been wanting to own on vinyl all year. Here’s hoping Santa’s listening and didn’t spot the “incident” on Denmark Street that I was 100 per cent not responsible for in March…

Buy Joe Hisaishi – Princess Mononoke (Symphonic Suite) on vinyl at Amazon

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas on vinyl

Words by Kashfia Kabir

Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack to the 1965 special A Charlie Brown Christmas is up there with The Muppets Christmas Carol as encapsulating a kind of magic that transcends all time, ages and trends.

The whimsical yet sometimes muted jazz compositions match the Peanuts TV special beautifully, capturing the melancholy mood of Charlie Brown as he grapples with finding the true meaning of Christmas, while his friends mock and ridicule him, until, eventually, you get that lovely combination of friendship, kindness and warmth.

There are compositions in this album that are now synonymous with both Christmas and Peanuts (such as the bouncy, upbeat Linus and Lucy), while Skating is a personal favourite that fills you up with childhood joy and the feeling that everything will be okay. I’ve been eyeing up the Craft Recordings vinyl reissue (ideally gold foil package) for ages.

Buy Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas on vinyl at Drift Records

LEGO Retro Radio

Words by Harry McKerrell

If, like me, you’re at the stage of life where you’ve got various nieces and nephews running all over the place during the festive period, you’re probably going to be gifting quite a lot of LEGO this year, especially once your pint-sized relatives reach the stage where they’re not in danger of just trying to eat the blocks.

That’s all well and good, but who’s buying the LEGO for me? Millennium Falcons and pirate ships are a bit off-brand (still cool, though), so how about a retro radio instead? Inspired by the transistor designs of the 1970s, complete with that classic horizontal tuner, the radio is capable of making a few actual noises – though I’d predict that it probably looks a lot better than it sounds.

Buy LEGO Retro Radio at Lego.com

WiiM Pro Plus

Words by James Cook

In my experience, when listening to music socially, most people nowadays want the convenience of a wireless connection to a speaker and a music streaming application so everyone can queue up songs. And whilst I think it’s a shame that many have never listened to a vinyl record in full on a proper hi-fi system, there are merits to this, provided it doesn’t sacrifice too much sound quality.

For too long, I’ve been using a Lightning-to-RCA lead to connect my iPhone directly to my integrated amplifier for catering to social gatherings, so sound quality has, inevitably, suffered. That’s where the WiiM Pro Plus comes in.

This five-star, affordable music streamer is detailed, expressive and organised, and will slot nicely into my existing hi-fi setup without breaking the bank. It’s got a plethora of streaming options to choose from too, so I can enjoy convenient and collaborative listening without sacrificing so much sound quality – perfect for when I’m entertaining friends or family, or even those rare occasions when I can’t be bothered to stick a record on the turntable!

If you’re planning to do anything similar over the Christmas period, I’d recommend giving it a look yourself.

Technics EAH-AZ100

Words by Lewis Empson

I started 2025 with a flying visit to CES, the annual consumer tech trade show, with Panasonic, where the Japanese tech giant announced a new pair of wireless earbuds alongside its latest batch of five-star OLED TVs.

The Technics EAH-AZ100 immediately caught my attention; at the time I had a pair of EAH-AZ60M2 buds constantly lodged in my ears, so I was already a fan of the company’s work.

After a quick demo at Panasonic's launch event, and a follow up listening session back in the UK using our very own review pair, I was completely sold on these incredible sounding earbuds, and I’ve been pining after a pair ever since.

Their clean and spacious sound is befitting of a What Hi-Fi? Award, and I especially appreciated how expressive and punchy these buds sounded, meaning they perfectly suited my preferred music genres of alternative and pop.

I can’t forget to mention the “excellent noise cancelling", which would also make the AZ100 a perfect companion for my noisy morning commute.

These premium buds are at the top of my wish list, especially in that dashing new Midnight Blue finish.

Sony Bravia Projector 7

Words by Daniel Furn

As one of the newer members of the What Hi-Fi? editorial team, I was lucky enough to sit in on our reviewers’ extensive testing process during one of my first weeks here. The test I witnessed was none other than the five-star Sony Bravia Projector 7, which proved to be both a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because the Bravia Projector 7 boasts incredible depth, superb contrast control and is quite simply a joy to watch. And a curse? Going back to my home TV, itself a very capable OLED, feels a lot less cinematic in comparison.

I realise that with a starting price of £6999, this very much falls under the “wish” part of a wishlist. But if Santa Claus decides he’s feeling particularly generous, then to have the rich, balanced, and detailed image of the Sony Bravia Projector 7 would very much be a Christmas miracle. Maybe if I’m particularly good next year?

PlayStation 5 Pro

Words by Tom Parsons

Look, I don’t need a PS5 Pro. Of all of the ‘Pro’ PlayStation consoles in history, it feels like the least essential, even to someone as graphics-obsessed as I am, but just knowing there’s a better version of the PS5 out there with slightly smoother, slightly shinier visuals is enough to nag at me.

There’s another thing at play here, too. My good lady wife has, at the age of [redacted], suddenly taken up gaming. She’s recently smashed through Ghost of Tsushima and The Last Of Us Part 1, and is about halfway through The Last Of Us Part 2. She’s got her eyes on The Witcher 3 next, and I know first-hand what a long, obsession-inducing game that is.

In other words, my current PS5 is in high demand these days, and it looks set to get worse, so it might be time to treat myself to a second one. And if I’m going to get a second PS5, it might as well be the best one that’s available, right? It is Christmas after all.

Buy PlayStation 5 Pro at Amazon

Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X

Words by Andy Madden

As someone who spends a lot of their working time tethered to a laptop, I’m always on the lookout for a quality pair of headphones to make the time pass by. Of course, the best wireless headphones deliver convenience and quality, but when I’m at my desk, I don’t mind a wire or two getting in the way.

This is why I’ve been using the Beyerdynamic DT900 Pro X on and off for the past few years. I’ve been plugging these cans directly into my MacBook Pro, and given I’m only using them with Amazon Music, I don’t really need to plug them into an external DAC, which helps to keep the wire count to a minimum.

So you can imagine the look on my face when I first read our Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X review. These headphones succeed the pair I’m using and manage to take performance forward in a number of areas, all the while remaining as comfy as your favourite pair of slippers.

I also don’t mind the fact that the Beyerdynamics are an open-back design. While I’m working solo, nobody is being annoyed by the headphones leaking my favourite tunes. It’s just something you might want to bear in mind if you add them to your wishlist.

It’s going to be a simple case of swapping out the old with the new, and I’d urge anyone looking for a simple and hugely effective way of boosting their own desktop audio to take a closer look at these classy over-ears.

MORE:

All I want for Christmas is this record-breaking demo tape that sold for $50,000 at auction

Goodbye, 2025! Check out 7 of our favourite test tracks of the year

I saw 75 films this year – these are my 5 best and 5 worst movies of 2025

A big year ahead? 6 pairs of wireless headphones and earbuds I'd love to see in 2026

Black Friday is now firmly in the rearview mirror, but Cyber Monday is dead ahead, and most of the best TV deals are still available.

In fact, I just found a sneaky way to get my favourite small OLED – the 42-inch LG C5 – for just £727 at AO.com.

The previous best price was £740 at Hughes, and the TV is still £759 at Amazon, so this is a great deal. And remember, this is a TV that launched at a price of £1400!

• Check out all of the Black Friday deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Black Friday event

Getting this price means signing up for an AO.com membership, which costs £40, but I've accounted for that in the £727 price I've quoted.

How it works is you sign up for the membership for £40, then you can buy the TV for just £687 – and get free delivery thrown in.

A small amount of effort then, but well worth it for the best 42-inch TV that money can buy.

The LG C5 is clearly the best 42-inch TV currently available – and yes, I say that as someone who’s tested many.

The hallmark OLED magic is all here: pixel-level contrast, truly inky blacks, and that pixel-level contrast control that never fails to draw you into a film or game.

With a little tweaking – we recommend Filmmaker Mode with judder reduction off and tone mapping on – the picture is beautifully balanced. Rich but natural skin tones, bright highlights when called for, and none of that over-the-top HDR exaggeration.

Scenes pop with impressive depth, colours feel cinematic rather than overcooked, and even fast action stays entirely smooth, with no ghosting or blur.

On the smart TV front, the C5 gets close to top marks. The latest webOS has too many adverts, but it also houses a full complement of properly nativised streaming apps, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, and even BBC iPlayer, ITVX and many more besides.

But where the C5 really shines, at least for me, is gaming. All four HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K/120Hz gaming (4K/144Hz if you have a powerful enough PC), with VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision Game Mode support.

That low input lag and high refresh rate make it so responsive that many people buy the LG C5 as a large gaming monitor rather than a traditional TV, and I'm all for that.

No TV is perfect, and the 42-inch C5 has some small flaws.

Colour volume takes a slight hit in very dark scenes; there are moments when low-light content feels a bit flatter than I’d like; and the built-in speakers are pretty weak.

But the picture is still excellent overall, and no TV sounds great, so these flaws are easy to accept – particularly at this price. Do try to add a soundbar to improve the audio, though.

In short, the C5 isn’t flawless, but it comes as close as any 42-inch OLED has to date. For me, it’s hands-down the best compact premium TV you can buy: cinematic when you watch movies, super-responsive when you play games, and compact enough for a second room or smaller lounge.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals

If you thought Black Friday was done and dusted, you'd better think again.

Not only are the best Black Friday TV deals still available – I've just found a neat trick that gets you even more money off several of the best TVs, including most sizes of the excellent LG C5 OLED.

• Check out all of the Black Friday deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Black Friday event

It's all down to lesser-known retailer Hughes, which is offering blanket discounts across its store, based on how much you spend:

Hughes was already matching the lowest prices on most versions of the LG C5, so these codes take even more money off, resulting in the very lowest prices you can find anywhere in the UK right now.

And in case you're wondering, yes, Hughes does offer free delivery. It's also got an excellent 4.6 rating on Trustpilot, with the summary stating that "Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company".

So, that's the lowest prices anywhere, on amazing OLED TVs, and from a trusted online store. Seems like a win-win-win to me.

Today's best Black Friday LG C5 deals

• 42-inch LG C5: was £1400, now £740 at Hughes
• 55-inch LG C5: was £1900, now £955 at Hughes
• 65-inch LG C5: was £2700, now £1231 at Hughes
• 77-inch LG C5: was £3800, now £1851 at Hughes

42-inch LG C5 deal

55-inch LG C5 deal

65-inch LG C5 deal

77-inch LG C5 deal

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals

LG's C5 OLEDs are always among the most popular TVs, particularly around Black Friday, when they tend to get massively discounted.

The discounts aren't the only appealing factor, though. The LG C5 is arguably the perfect combination of performance, features and price, which is why we declared it the "best TV for most people" in our full review of the 55-inch model.

The C5 now has three What Hi-Fi? Awards to its name, too. It really is that good.

• Black Friday 2025: our pick of the best deals on headphones, TVs, speakers, soundbars and more

There's still a lot to consider before you click the big 'Buy' button, though, and it can be hard to cut through the noise, especially during the chaos of Black Friday.

That's why we created this page, which is a complete guide to the C5, from finding the best prices, to what's in the box and how to set it up once you've got it home.

The best LG C5 deals

Which screen size is right for you?

The LG C5 comes in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from the pint-sized 42-inch model, all the way up to an imposing 83-inch screen size.

Which size you opt for will likely depend on the size of your room, and you'll want to keep viewing distances in mind for the best experience.

We've shared our recommendations for the ideal viewing distances for 4K TVs before, and you can find our guidelines for each available screen size of the C5 below.

These aren't strict measurements, so feel free to adjust depending on what is most comfortable for you; however, you should be able to narrow down your preferred screen size by measuring your room and comparing it to the distances below.

Good to know: what's in the box, important measurements and more

It's not the most glamorous part of buying a new OLED TV, but we're here to share some crucial information regarding what's included with your new TV; manuals and all.

In the box you'll find the TV (no surprises there), a tabletop stand with screws (unlike the G-series OLEDs, which have previously included wall-mount stands), the Magic Remote with batteries, an attached power cable, optional cable tidy clips, and the user manuals and warranty guides.

The stand is mostly the same across the core 48- to 65-inch screen sizes, with each featuring a centrally mounted stand that's 47cm in width.

The 77-inch model uses a very similar-looking stand; however, it's slightly wider at 52cm, whereas the 83-inch model interestingly features the narrowest stand at 46cm.

The position and fairly narrow width of the stand make it easy to position on a wide range of media units; however, it's best to measure up just in case.

The 42-inch size features a slightly different tabletop stand with dual blade-style feet at either end of the TV, which are 71.8cm apart. Ironically, the smallest model technically features the widest stand. If you're hoping to wall mount this TV, then you should know that all sizes are compatible with the universal VESA standard.

Every model comes with LG's Magic Remote, which includes a unique motion-style pointer interface; if you've ever used a Nintendo Wii, then you'll find yourself right at home with this remote.

If you'd prefer to use a more traditional interface, then you can simply turn off the motion feature in the settings menu, under the "pointer options" heading, which can be found in the system category.

Finally, if this is your first OLED TV, then you've likely heard about burn-in before. While this used to be a major issue with OLED TVs, we've found that this issue has become much less prevalent in recent years.

If you hammer this TV for years on end with static content on the screen for long periods of time, then you may well encounter it, but LG includes various systems to help negate this issue, including a pixel cleaning process that happens automatically and frequently.

Key features

The LG C5 is a feature rich TV for movie fans and gamers like. It features an OLED panel which, if you haven't come across this panel technology before, features individual light control for each of the pixels, allowing them to completely turn off with no influence on the adjacent pixels.

This means that when the TV shows blacks, they're real blacks, and there's no halo effect when bright objects are shown on dark backgrounds.

Furthermore, this is a 4K HDR TV, with support for the Dolby Vision HDR format with relevant content from Blu-ray discs, streaming services, and even video games.

Speaking of gaming, the panel can reach speeds of up to 144Hz, with variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode both included, meaning gaming is responsive and buttery smooth on this TV; hence why we awarded it the title of "best gaming TV" this year.

There are four HDMI 2.1 sockets on the C5, all of which are capable of accepting high-speed signals up to 4K/144Hz (console gamers are limited to 120Hz), with one of these sockets doubling as the eARC port to interface with external audio equipment.

Streaming and smart functionality are included via the webOS platform, which features every imaginable streaming service and entertainment app. LG has also included compatibility with other smart home appliances and gadgets via its ThinQ initiative, meaning you can interact with your smart home via the TV.

AI takes a step forward this year, with a voice-interactive help troubleshooting function that allows you to change the settings on the C5 by simply explaining your issue to the TV's remote.

How can you get the best out of this TV?

We've raved about the 42-, 48- and 55-inch versions of this TV's picture performance. It provides a crisp, three-dimensional and vibrant image that's balanced and engaging in equal measures, but you need to adjust a few settings to truly get the best out of this TV.

We find Filmmaker Mode to be the best setting, as it provides the most authentic image for those looking to achieve a picture closest to the director's original intention.

It turns off most of the settings we'd hope for; however, we recommend checking the sharpness value in the picture settings and turning it down to zero if it's not already set there.

Furthermore, the TruMotion setting is worth looking into, as it adds just a touch of smoothness to motion, which is needed with this TV. It doesn't introduce the so-called soap opera effect, but those sensitive to motion processing may wish to steer clear.

Finally, we'd recommend switching on Dynamic Tone Mapping in the picture settings, as it adds some necessary pop and brightness to HDR10 content.

What should I pair with the LG C5?

If there's one area where we found the C5 to be underwhelming, it's the built-in speakers. To be fair to LG, most TVs that we test don't tend to impress with their included speakers, hence why we recommend pairing the C5 with a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

If you're thinking of buying the 42- or 48-inch C5, then you should look at the Sonos Beam Gen 2, as its compact chassis pairs well with these smaller screen sizes. It delivers five-star immersive sound, and it can be found for just £335 at Amazon in the Black Friday sales.

If you've chosen any of the larger sizes, then the Sonos Arc Ultra will best suit your TV. It's larger in width, meaning it'll fit more naturally underneath, and the bigger, bolder and more room-filling sound will match with the bigger picture. It too can be found at a discount right now, with a Black Friday price of £799 at Richer Sounds.

Elsewhere, we'd recommend the Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-ray player (currently down to £289 at Richer Sounds) as a 4K Blu-ray will deliver the sharpest image to enjoy on your new OLED TV.

And as this is a supreme gaming TV, you can't go wrong with a Sony PlayStation 5 (now just £289 for the Digital Edition), which supports all of the excellent gaming features that this TV includes.

Also consider

There are, of course, alternatives to the LG C5. The Sony Bravia 8 is a prime example, as it offers a stunning picture with Sony's excellent picture processing, a slick design and better sound, though the 65-inch model is considerably more expensive at £1799 at Richer Sounds.

Samsung offers the S90F, which features a brighter QD-OLED panel at 65 inches, though the other sizes seem to feature standard OLED displays. We can vouch for the 48-inch model as a great alternative to the smaller LG C5, but we haven't tested any of the other sizes.

Panasonic's Z90B is another excellent 48-inch OLED option, as this Award-winning TV sports a more balanced and authentic picture, as well as better sound.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a story about the LG C5 deals that were around at the time and had a go at predicting whether they would be beaten on Black Friday.

I used the Black Friday pricing of previous C-series OLEDs, as well as my general experience monitoring TV prices, so I figured I'd be in the right ballpark at least.

Well, I was wrong, particularly on the 42-inch LG C5.

I predicted that the smallest LG C5, which was £949 at the time, would drop to £899. But you can actually buy it right now for just £799 at Richer Sounds (and others).

• Check out all of the Black Friday deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event: huge savings on TVs and projectors
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals: save up to £2700 on TVs
• Peter Tyson: save hundreds on a new AV receiver

This is so much cheaper than I expected at this stage of the C5's life.

I expect the price will head back up a bit after Black Friday, and I don't imagine it will get back down below £800 until at least Christmas, so this seems like a great time to buy.

The 42-inch LG C5 OLED is a smart bet for anyone wanting top-tier picture in a compact package. It’s not a dramatic leap over the previous C4, but it refines what was already excellent.

The design is sleek and understated – slim, light and easy to set up – though its low-set feet mean a soundbar might obscure part of the screen. The remote is still the same Magic Remote: a little plasticky, no backlight, and clunky by modern standards, but functional if not flashy.

What really stands out is its feature set: all four of the HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K/144Hz (and the more console-friendly 4K/120Hz) gaming, VRR and ALLM – everything a serious gamer could want in a small TV.

Throw in HDR support for Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, plus a powerful Alpha 9 Gen 8 chip with LG’s Brightness Booster Engine, and you’ve got a sub-55-inch TV that punches way above its weight.

Streaming apps feel snappy, thanks to webOS 25, and services such as Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, BBC iPlayer and even GeForce Now are all at your fingertips.

As for the picture, it’s a treat. In default settings, things can look a little artificial, but switch to Filmmaker Mode with judder reduction off and dynamic tone mapping on, and the magic happens.

The desert landscapes in Dune shimmer with detail, the Fremen fighters feel three-dimensional, and motion remains smooth even in chaotic scenes. Skin tones are warm and natural in daylight, though in darker scenes some colour volume is lost – faces can take on a slightly pale, greenish hue, which is more noticeable than on some competing sets.

When it comes to upscaling, the C5 handles lower-res content really well: dim lantern-lit scenes retain a soft, organic glow and details don’t look overly sharpened or artificial.

That said, the speakers don’t match the brilliance of the screen. The built-in sound is serviceable for casual viewing, but it lacks bass and directionality – you’ll almost certainly want to pair this TV with a good soundbar for a proper cinematic experience.

In short, the 42-inch LG C5 is the best small OLED around right now: rich, immersive visuals, flawless gaming chops, and a solid smart platform. Add a soundbar and you're set.

More of today's best Black Friday deals

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Wine, beer and spirits: save up to 34% on drinks

It's perhaps unsurprising that of all the product categories we cover, TVs is probably the busiest.

There's just so much ongoing progress in TV land, with loads of brands launching entirely new TV ranges each and every year. Just keeping up can make your head spin.

In total, we've tested almost 50 new TVs in the last year, including several that were sent in specifically for Awards consideration and are yet to have their reviews published.

Whittling down all of those TVs to just seven winners (across eight categories) for the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 was no easy task, but our team of expert reviewers managed to do just that.

Those winners include affordable and premium Mini LED and OLED sets, ranging in size from just 42 inches right up to a truly cinematic 98 inches, so there's pretty much something for everyone.

If you're looking for an 8K TV Award-winner, though, you might be disappointed.

With no visible progress on 8K content and only one brand producing 8K TVs in earnest, having an 8K TV Award was beginning to feel a bit odd. Perhaps the next 12 months will change things and this Award will be reinstated next year.

We would have liked to have had a budget 43-inch Award-winner as well, and perhaps even a 32-inch TV Award, but try as we might, we just couldn't find any TVs of either type that were worthy.

But, less about the unworthy TVs, and on with the very worthy winners of the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025.

Three Awards for the LG C5

Since 2018, LG's C-series OLED TVs have won at least one What Hi-Fi? Award every year except 2020. This year, it's taking home a highly impressive three Awards.

The first goes to the 42-inch LG C5, which, despite not being a huge upgrade on the C4 that went before it, remains the very best TV we've tested at its size.

42-inch OLEDs are hugely popular among those who really care about picture quality but have a smaller room, and the C5 is the best of the bunch, with perfect blacks, excellent colour balance, impressive motion handling and oodles of detail. A worthy winner indeed.

The C5 also takes the win for the best mid-range TV in the 55- to 77-inch category. The C-series has always excelled in balancing performance, features and price, and no previous generation has typified this more than the C5.

And, once again, the C-series takes the win as the best gaming TV. Whether it's the bijou 42 incher, the mid-sized 55-inch version or the 77-inch beast, the C5 cannot be beaten for gaming features and performance.

And three Awards for TCL

TCL has been the surprise TV brand of 2025.

After several years of showing glimmers of greatness while struggling for consistency, the brand's 2025 range has proven to be genuinely exceptional.

The core of the success appears to be a new backlighting system that combines vast numbers of super-bright Mini LEDs with a new level of control. The super-aggressive pricing is a big factor, too – when you can get a better TV for less money, why look elsewhere?

The 50-inch C6KS is perhaps the best example of this. Despite costing significantly less than £500, it romped to victory against several much more premium TVs on pure performance.

We feel that the C7K is the real pick of TCL's 2025 TV range, though, which is why it wins the Awards for the best budget TV in the 55- to 77-inch category, and the best super-sized TV.

Not only did the C7K have to defeat rivals from Samsung, Sony and Hisense, it also got the better of its more premium sibling, the C8K. Yes, the C8K is better in some ways, but the C7K is more balanced overall and a near-perfect representation of our performance-per-pound mantra.

An Award each for Panasonic and Sony

The flagship OLED market has been more competitive than ever this year, with new Primary RGB Tandem OLED TVs battling with the latest-gen QD-OLED models for super-bright, super-contrasty dominance.

This Award turned into a fight between the LG G5, Panasonic Z95B, Samsung S95F and Sony Bravia 8 II, and it's the Sony model that has emerged victorious, with the Samsung coming a close second.

The Bravia 8 II pushes brightness a little less than those rivals, but it combines cinematic authenticity with amazing processing that results in an incredibly rich, detailed and three-dimensional picture.

Panasonic may have missed out in that flagship OLED battle, but it's still a TV Award-winner, with the Z90B OLED taking the prize for the best premium TV in the 48- to 50-inch category.

Competition was fierce here, too, with the LG C5 and Samsung S90F both also proving to be five-star sets. Ultimately, though, the Panasonic Z90B's as-the-director-intended approach to picture quality saw it take a deserved win.

So, that's seven winning TVs across eight categories. But which will take home the even more coveted Product of the Year Award at this year's glitzy What Hi-Fi? Awards ceremony?

That will be revealed on whathifi.com on the evening of 13th November, so stay tuned.

MORE:

See every What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 winner here

Don't forget the sound: here are our 2025 soundbar Award-winners

And here is the complete list of the best TVs you can buy right now

LG's five-star, Award-winning C5 OLED TV might no longer be the latest model on the market, but that is currently working in its favour.

The mid-range entry in LG's 2025 lineup is still a formidable TV, and we're seeing prices drop lower than ever before. And with Amazon Prime Day on the horizon, we're expecting even bigger savings.

The C5 offers much of what we loved about LG's new C6 OLED TV, all at a lower price. Primarily, the ability to stick it into Filmmaker Mode and reap the rewards of its superbly detailed, contrast-rich picture.

It's also a top choice for gamers thanks to its four full bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, and LG is even adding more audio functionality with a recent update that enables Dolby Atmos FlexConnect.

With screen sizes ranging from a compact 42 inches to a sizeable 83 inches, the C5 is a truly versatile television, and it's the one we recommend watching this Prime Day.

The value for money proposition it offers is second to none in the OLED market, and with prices plummeting, that's only going to become more apparent over time.

We've collected the best deals across all screen sizes below, so if you're eyeing up an LG C5, then simply check here to find the very best price.

LG OLED42C5 (42-inch)

Launch price: £1099 / $1399 / AU$1695

Like the other sizes of C5, this isn't a huge step on from its predecessor. But given the quality of the C4, even a modest upgrade still makes for a phenomenal TV – a What Hi-Fi? Award winner, no less.

Instead of the pedestal stand of the other sizes, it has blade-style feet. But it packs all the same gaming smarts (including four HDMI 2.1 ports) of its larger siblings into a package compact enough to serve as a second set, or to suit a smaller lounge.

Of course, it helps that lots of TV makers have shunned the 42-inch size recently, instead opting to go large. But the C5 would stand out even in a crowded market, it's that good.

• Read our LG OLED42C5 review

LG OLED48C5 (48-inch)

Launch price: £1399 / $1599 / AU$2495

The 48-inch model is about as premium as TVs come at this size. Again, you get the same unbeatable gaming spec as the others in the C5 series, including four HDMI 2.1 ports and gaming features like VRR and ALLM.

Competition is much fiercer at this size than at 42 inches, however. So these discounts are very welcome – the price cuts have been more aggressive as the TV gets closer to its one-year anniversary.

The lack of decent audio is more noticeable at this size, so you will want to invest in a decent soundbar. But if you can find a deal, this TV will not disappoint.

• Read our LG OLED48C5 review

LG OLED55C5 (55-inch)

Launch price: £1900 / $1999 / AU$3295

Once you get to 55 inches, manufacturers start equipping their TVs with more sophisticated tech – think more advanced panels capable of delivering brighter pictures. The good stuff, in other words.

That's certainly the case here. Because while the upgrades over the C4 might look a little thin on paper (consisting of just a brighter screen and AI-focussed software), they deliver another stunning TV that's among the best of its size. Hence the 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award.

Yes, the design (unchanged since 2022's C2) is starting to look a bit dated. And yes, the sound is still sub-par, especially given the quality of its visuals. But for a stacked feature set (including unparalleled gaming prowess) and eye-popping picture, the C5 is the best 55-inch TV for most people.

• Read our LG OLED55C5 review

LG OLED65C5 (65-inch)

Launch price: £2700 / $2699 / AU$4295

We haven't tested the 65-inch model, but it should be identical to the Award-winning 55-incher, just slightly bigger.

You can expect the same stellar picture quality, immense gaming specs and webOS operating system, which comes with all the usual streaming apps.

The picture should look all the more engrossing at this size. In our review, we praised the 55-incher's "rich, solid and engaging picture that balances vibrancy and authenticity," along with the "excellent contrast and image solidity."

Throw in comprehensive HDR support and that extensive feature spec, and you've got quite a TV on your hands.

LG OLED77C5 (77-inch)

Launch price: £4499 / $3699 / AU$5995

If you have the space – and budget – for a 77-inch TV, you might feel a little shortchanged by the 40W built-in sound system. But the least you can do is partner it with one of the best soundbars.

Discounts are still likely with this size model, so we certainly wouldn't recommend paying full price. Check out the best deals below.

LG OLED83C5 (83-inch)

Launch price: £5999 / $5399 / AU$7995

With the same 40W sound system as the 55-inch C5, the 83-incher will be woefully underpowered in the audio department. But we'll say it again, you really should buy a separate soundbar.

At this size, something like the KEF XIO, Sonos Arc Ultra or Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max should suffice. Anything less, and you really aren't doing it justice.

The 83-inch C5's stand is a little wider to accommodate its massive size. But otherwise, this TV has an identical spec to the 55-inch size and above.

MORE:

LG G5 vs LG G4: what improvements does the 2025 flagship OLED TV offer?

Check out the best TVs around

As Black Friday approaches, there's one question on the minds of savvy TV buyers: will there be any great deals on the LG C5?

It's little wonder there's so much interest in the C5.

• Check out all of the early Black Friday deals on Amazon

LG's C-series OLED TVs have long been the benchmark when it comes to the combination of performance, features and price, and this year's C5 is a real upgrade on last year's C4 – at least in the larger sizes.

All sizes of the C5 have already seen significant discounting and can be bought for a lot less than they launched for. But will they drop even lower for Black Friday at the end of the month?

I track the prices of the best TVs right through the year, and a look at the price history of last year's C4 suggests that yes, the C5 should get even cheaper for Black Friday.

But how low might it go? Let's break it down, size by size.

LG C5 42-inch (OLED42C5)

• Launch price: £1400
• Current price: £949
• Predicted Black Friday price: £899

The 42-inch version of the C5 isn't much of an improvement on the 42-inch C4, and that means it isn't quite as accomplished as the versions that are 55 inches or larger.

That doesn't mean the 42-inch C5 is a bad TV, though. On the contrary, it's the best TV of its size that we've tested all year, delivering balanced, consistent picture quality right out of the box, plus an unbeatable suite of gaming features.

It's a great option for smaller rooms, and is even just about compact enough to work as a desktop gaming monitor.

The 42-inch C4 dropped to £888 during Black Friday last year, so I think it's fair to expect a drop to £899 for the C5. Seeing as it's already available for £949, it could go even cheaper.

Read our full LG OLED42C5 review

LG C5 48-inch (OLED48C5)

• Launch price: £1500
• Current price: £1049
• Predicted Black Friday price: £999

Like the 42-inch model, the 48-inch version of the C5 is very similar to its predecessor. In this case, that actually means you can buy an even better TV – namely, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B.

But the 48-inch C5 is still an excellent, five-star TV in its own right, offering the same enjoyable picture quality as the 42-inch model, but at a more engaging size.

The 48-inch C4 hit £999 during Black Friday last year, and the C5 isn't much more expensive even now. I wouldn't be surprised if this one hit £949, but £999 is still a great price.

Read the full LG OLED48C5 review

LG C5 55-inch (OLED55C5)

• Launch price: £1900
• Current price: £1199
• Predicted Black Friday price: £1099

This is where the C5 series gets really good. Despite the on-paper specs being largely unchanged, the 55-inch C5 is a solid step forward from its predecessor in terms of picture quality.

There's increased brightness, dynamism and solidity to the image, and more accurate, more consistent colours. Best of all, you get this exemplary picture without the need to dig deeply into the settings.

As with every other C5, the 55-inch model has four HDMI 2.1 sockets that all support 4K/120Hz gaming (and 4K/144Hz, for that matter), as well as VRR and ALLM. This is a gloriously good gaming TV.

The sound is a bit of a letdown, but that's par for the course with OLED TVs. Budget for a soundbar and you'll be set.

The 55-inch C5 dropped to £1099 during Black Friday last year, and I expect the C5 to go at least that low.

Read the full LG OLED55C5 review

LG C5 65-inch (OLED65C5)

• Launch price: £2700
• Current price: £1699
• Predicted Black Friday price: £1499

While we haven't published a dedicated review of the 65-inch version of the LG C5, we did look at it as part of our Awards comparisons, and can confirm that it performs just as expected.

By going for 65 inches rather than 55, you sacrifice a small amount of sharpness on account of the decreased pixel density, but gain much more in cinematic scale. Otherwise, the TVs perform the same.

If you have the room and budget for the larger set and you're serious about home cinema, I recommend going for it.

Last year's 65-inch C4 hit £1495 during Black Friday, and I think the 65-inch C5 will drop to around the same price this year.

LG C5 77-inch (LG OLED77C5)

• Launch price: £3800
• Current price: £2799
• Predicted Black Friday price: £2399

Again, we haven't run a dedicated review of the 77-inch version of the LG C5, but we have seen it in action at various events over the course of the year, often alongside its smaller siblings, and the performance looks perfectly consistent.

Again, you will lose a little pixel density and therefore sharpness by going up to this size, but the increase in cinematic scale is pretty massive at this level.

The 77-inch C4 dropped to £2399 during Black Friday last year, and while the 77-inch C5 has a little way to go to hit that level, I think it will get there this year.

LG C5 83-inch (LG OLED83C5)

• Launch price: £5999
• Current price: £3999
• Predicted Black Friday price: £3549

Honestly, going up to 83 inches with an OLED TV is not a great move from a value point of view. The additional six inches of screen real estate adds absolutely loads to the price – £1200 at the time of writing.

Why is that? It's all to do with the added complexity of manufacturing OLED panels this large, and the apparently high failure rate at the factory.

But while the 83-inch C5 isn't the most sensible option, it sure is the most exciting. This is the absolute largest size you can buy, and while the additional six inches doesn't sound like a lot, it makes a big difference to the cinematic spectacle of a movie night.

Prices of the 83-inch C5 are currently tracking a bit higher than they were for the C4 this time last year, but I still expect it to hit a similar level – around £3549 – for Black Friday.

FAQ

MORE:

Check out all of the best Black Friday deals we've found

Here are the best TVs you can buy, and here are the best soundbars

• Our experts rate the best TVs we've tested

If you’re looking for a Big Deal Days discount on a small OLED TV, then I have some bad news for you.

Specifically, that not only is the best deal not on Amazon, it’s also worryingly easy to miss as it only appears when you checkout on the store running it – just Google it and you’ll miss it.

The good news is that right now, if you jump to Richer Sounds you can pick up the 42-inch LG C5 I just finished reviewing for £949, a £150 saving on its RRP and the best price I’ve spotted right now. For comparison’s sake, Amazon is still selling it for £1049.

If you want a new small OLED TV, this five star set is the one to get. Though the team and I found it’s a modest upgrade on the outgoing 42-inch LG C4, which won a What Hi-Fi? Award last year, it’s still a fantastic TV – especially now that stocks of the older model are drying up.

For the money you’ll get a small OLED with excellent connectivity, featuring four, rather than the standard two HDMI 2.1 inputs needed to run a current generation games console or PC at full speed.

App and HDR support are also excellent thanks to the use of LG’s established WebOS software. But most importantly, during all our comparative checks, where we ran it head-to-head with rival sets, including the 48-inch Samsung S90F, it delivered an excellent performance.

Whether it was the glistening desert of Dune: Part 2, an intense night battle during Civil War or the grim space station in Alien: Romulus, the set delivered an immersive, well balanced picture in nearly all the test scenes we threw at it.

As we said in our 42-inch LG C5 review:

"The 42-inch LG C5 is the best small OLED TV we’ve tested this year. Like its predecessors, it offers a near-flawless feature set and solid, sharp, immersive picture quality, neatly packaged in a small room-friendly frame."

Our only big word of caution is around its audio. The TV’s inbuilt 2.0 speakers are ok for basic TV watching, but lack the low end heft and precision to make a movie truly immersive. So if you want the best results you will need to budget for a soundbar to go with it, if you don’t have one already.

We’d personally recommend the five-star Sonos Beam (Gen 2), which is small and remains one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars we've reviewed from a performance-per-pound perspective. As luck would have it, there’s also a pretty good deal on the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) running right now.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we’ve tested

We rate the best soundbars for movie fans

Our picks of the best 40-inch TVs

The 42-inch LG C5 is the smallest option in the Korean tech heavyweight’s current line of OLED TVs.

That automatically gives it a unique place in the market as most TV makers are forsaking people short on space this year, with Sony, Philips and more all shunning 42-inch sizes in favour of a “bigger is better” approach.

Add to that LG’s strong track record in the small OLED TV space, with numerous previous 42-inch LG C-series models going on to win What Hi-Fi? Awards over the past few years, and you can see why it quickly becomes one of this year’s most interesting options.

But, with changes to its specifications being fairly minimal, can the smallest C5 make lightning strike again? Here’s what we found after thoroughly putting it through its paces in our viewing rooms.

Price

• The 42-inch LG C5 has the same RRP as the 42-inch C4
• Prices have dropped since launch
• It's now similarly priced to rival TVs from Samsung and Panasonic

The LG C5 42-inch launched with the same £1400 / $1399 / AU$2199 starting price as the outgoing LG C4 42-inch. But prices have gradually dropped and you will generally find it floating at around £1099 / $1399 / AU$1695 at most stores right now.

That puts it directly in line with the 42-inch versions of the Samsung S90F and Panasonic Z90B.

If you’re after something a little (or a lot) bigger, you can also pick up the LG C5 in 48-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes. Pricing goes up in line with the TV’s screen size, capping at £5999 / $5399 / AU$7999 for the largest 83-inch option.

Design

• Similar design to last year's C4
• The TV sits low on its feet, so a soundbar could block some of the screen
• The UK remote is basic, but some regions have a newer, better version

Like all the C5 TVs we’ve tested this year, LG hasn’t reinvented the wheel designing the 42-inch model. So much so, that one of our reviewers mistook it for last year’s C4 when he first saw it.

So, it’s a fairly light and slim unit, with feet rather than the pedestal you’ll find on the larger C5 options. These are easy to set up, as all you have to do is clip them into the easily identifiable slots on the TV’s back and screw in the four included screws. Even one person can do it in a matter of minutes.

The only downside is that the feet only have one height option, which is fairly low. Even a soundbar on the small side, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), will block a bit of the display when placed directly in front of it.

The remote is also identical to all other C5 models, which is another minor annoyance. In some regions, the TV comes with a new, more streamlined remote, but in the UK you still get the undeniably clunky Magic Remote, which has been around since the LG C1.

The plastic unit is a little clunky by today’s standards and, despite our constant letters to Santa, doesn’t have a backlight or even USB charging, let alone solar charging.

The only minor perk is that it has basic motion controls that let you interact with the screen using a cursor, though even this has been known to annoy some owners (and reviewers).

Features

• Advanced AI processing promises a raft of visual improvements
• Comprehensive HDR support
• Flawless gaming specification

LG’s C-series OLED TVs have a strong track record for offering near-flawless feature sets, which is one of the main reasons why, for the third year in a row, the firm has not made any significant changes to this year’s model.

The panel tech remains basic WOLED, which isn’t a surprise as LG is keeping its top-end Primary RGB Tandem OLED tech for the flagship LG G5. Last year’s flagship panel tech, Micro Lens Array, has also been sent to the big AV farm in the sky, rather than trickled down to this year’s step-down models.

There’s also still no heatsink, which is a slight annoyance as the Panasonic Z90B includes one. This would, in theory, let LG push the panel harder without risking overheating and damage.

But, it’s forgivable as the C5 still comes with a few promised improvements to peak brightness and the ilk – though LG’s been careful not to put a specific nit count, or percentage boost, out in the wild.

While the 42- and 48-inch versions of the C5 lack the 'Brightness Booster' tech of the larger models, LG has seemingly squeezed a small amount of additional brightness out of the OLED panel, primarily through the upgrade to a new Alpha 9 Gen 8 chipset.

The chipset also leverages LG’s new and improved AI processing to offer movie fans better upscaling (an area where it has been falling behind Samsung recently), as well as better audio and more accurate HDR tone mapping.

As an added incentive, LG also claims it will help the set retain colour volume even during demanding low light scenes – an area in which the LG C5 48-inch and older LG C4 42-inch in particular struggle.

Outside of this, the TV’s specifications are pretty flawless. Like all LG OLEDs this year, HDR support includes HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG. HDR10+ remains absent, but this is no surprise and is barely disappointing.

As expected, the 42-inch C5 features four full-speed HDMI 2.1 sockets, all of which can run games at up to 4K/144Hz with VRR. ALLM, meanwhile, automatically switches the TV to its low-latency mode when a game is detected.

One of the HDMI 2.1 inputs, as is the norm, doubles as the TV’s eARC port for people wishing to connect a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

The generous number of HDMI 2.1 inputs means even the most demanding of gamers with an Xbox Series X, PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 will be able to have all their boxes connected at once and not have to worry about troublesome cable swapping.

LG’s WebOS 25 software runs the show and is identical to the version seen on larger C5 models. This means the UX is fairly easy to navigate, featuring rows of shortcut icons for apps and LG’s own marketplace.

Streaming app support is excellent and includes Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX. There’s also a lot of nice gaming support, with a new Xbox app and GeForce Now offering convenient ways to stream games from the cloud.

Picture

• Very cinematic picture, despite the small screen size
• Skin tones look warm but not overdone, but tend to pale in low light
• Peak highlights are brighter than expected
• Lacks some solidity and definition in darker scenes

Powering up the LG C5 42-inch connected to our ever faithful Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, running our 4K Blu-ray of Dune: Part 2, we’re met with a sense of deja vu, with the picture telling a very similar story to that of the 48-inch model.

In its default settings, the picture looks a little too artificial for our liking. The sunscorched desert holds a wonderful lustre, with every grain of sand sparkling and looking nicely sharp and three-dimensional, but the contrast isn’t right; the sky is too bright and missing some light detail.

Highlights on the Fremen fighters are pushed too hard, making them look as though they have a stage spotlight on them.

Working through the settings, things quickly improve. After some fiddling, we settle on Filmmaker Mode, with the lowest Cinematic Movement option on, sharpening and judder reduction off and dynamic tone mapping on for the best results.

Once done, the picture looks fantastic, with the Fremen and Harkonnen fighters looking wonderfully sharp and three-dimensional. The TV’s slightly warm colours and solid peak brightness levels create a truly immersive experience despite the screen’s small size.

With the lowest Cinematic Movement setting on, the clashing desert fighters' movements feel weighty and the set deals with the demanding rapid movements of the buzzing Ornithopter wings with zero issue. We never notice artefacts or ghost frames sneaking in as the scene plays.

Our positive experience continues as we transition to our Civil War 4K Blu-ray. The open segment of the test scene, where a character wakes up sunburned in the middle of an impromptu military camp, showcases what the C5 42-inch is capable of.

Skin tones in particular look fantastic, holding a pleasing warmth without ever looking overbaked – to the point that the S90F we’re testing it against looks noticeably too red.

As the film transitions to a night-time battle, the TV leaves a positive early impression, with the streets looking suitably sharp and stray tracer bullets and explosions offering higher peaks than we’d expect from a basic WOLED.

But as it shifts to focus on the characters, we notice a key issue we’ve seen on past LG OLEDs in recent years. Specifically, that colour volume is noticeably drained.

Skin tones suddenly take on a greenish, pale hue in low light, making them look flat and noticeably less realistic than the image on the S90F, which retains its warmth and colour volume and offers clearly better dark detail.

The issue is exacerbated when we switch to our Alien: Romulus test disc. The distant space background oozes menace, but as the isolated spacecraft slowly emerges from the darkness, it looks too soft, with key details not being as defined and sharp as they should.

This adds up to make the set a fantastic performer in most instances, but far from the final word with its handling of incredibly dark scenes.

The 42-inch C5 largely makes up for this with its decent performance in our standard upscaling test. Popping our SDR copy of True Grit into the Oppo player, the C5 deals with the incredibly difficult movie’s dim opening admirably.

There’s a pleasing warmth to the lanterns glowing in the otherwise pitch black scene, and falling snow retains its fluffy quality, never appearing oversharpened or being plagued by annoying artefacts.

Transitioning to a bright town scene, the film retains its intentional spaghetti western grain and looks nicely authentic, leading to an immersive viewing experience.

Sound

• Its 20W sound system is less powerful than the bigger versions of C5
• The AI modes designed to improve audio are best ignored
• The C5's flat, compressed audio is fine for TV but not for movies
• Cinema mode improves tonal balance and separation of sounds

Audio is an area in which LG’s OLEDs have struggled recently, with many of the sets we’ve reviewed this year offering, at best, middling sound quality compared to their rivals. This remains the case with the 42-inch LG C5.

The unit comes with a 2.0-channel, 20W sound system. As is usually the case with smaller TVs, this is the weakest sound system of any LG C5 this year. The larger 48-inch LG C5 has a 2.2-channel 40W speaker system, by comparison.

Like the other C5 TVs we’ve tested, LG's made a lot of noise (see what we did there) about the TV’s AI processing powers and how they help improve the set’s audio quality.

These include things such as a specific mode designed to further separate dialogue from background noise in movies as well as a dedicated AI audio mode, which claims to optimise the sound to the viewer’s tastes. The latter requires you to go through a point-and-click setup process, picking options that “describe your preferences”.

As before, we actually get the best results ignoring the AI mode, which tries a little too hard to separate mid and upper frequencies, at times pushing the speakers to sibilance.

But even then, moving to its AI-free, out-of-the-box standard mode, the audio is slightly flat.

Playing Civil War, the audio sounds a little compressed, with any rise in volume resulting in lost detail. The rumbling low end of explosions lacks the intended oomph required to get you on the edge of your seat.

We get the best results when we switch to the TV’s Cinema mode. Here, tonal balance improves. Voices become clearer and there’s some separation between the rumbling engine noises of the on-screen tanks and screaming gunfire overhead. There’s even some limited directionality to the tracer rounds flying from left to right on screen.

All-in-all, the audio is good enough for basic TV viewing in this setting. But it still fails to truly immerse us in the movie for a couple of reasons.

First, despite being better, the speakers aren’t powerful enough to properly project the characters’ voices, with demanding explosions and louder low-end background noises tending to completely drown out the dialogue.

Second, the speakers have a slightly flabby low end. This is particularly noticeable with our standard Blade Runner 2049 test disc. As well as being too weak to do justice to the bone-shaking synth soundtrack, the low-end thumps lack precision and fail to deliver the film’s intended oppressive, menacing tone.

Verdict

• The LG OLED42C5 is the best small TV of the year
• It boasts a flawless feature set and sharp, immersive picture
• The sound is the main drawback, so buy a soundbar

The 42-inch LG C5 is the best small OLED TV we’ve tested this year. Like its predecessors, it offers a near-flawless feature set and solid, sharp, immersive picture quality, neatly packaged in a small room-friendly frame.

The only minor issue remains its audio, which, while fine for casual viewing, isn’t powerful or precise enough for immersive movie watching. Plan for a soundbar in your budget, if you don’t already have one.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 3
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Panasonic Z90B 48-inch

Also consider the Samsung S90F 48-inch

Read our LG C4 42-inch review

Best TVs flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

Amazon’s latest Big Deal Days event is here and we have good and bad news. First, one day in, as often happens with hi-fi and high-end home cinema, the number of good Amazon deals on products we’ve fully reviewed are thin on the ground right now.

But, as a silver lining we have spotted some good deals, especially if you’re happy shopping with a specialist retailer, that are worth shouting about. These are the five best that our experts fully recommend.

• Check out all of Amazon's Big Deal Days discounts here

1. WiiM Pro Plus: £169 at Richer Sounds (save £50)

WiiM is something of a fan favourite among our readers, with its streamers and recent amps offering surprisingly accomplished feature sets considering their competitive pricing.

So getting a good deal on the WiiM Pro Plus, a streamer our reviewers already consider stellar value even at its normal price, is not to be sniffed at.

Available from £169 at Richer sounds (save £50), for your money you’ll get a simple to set up streamer capable of delivering a detailed, expressive sound that we liked so much, we gave it a What Hi-Fi? Award last year.

2. Sony WF-C710N: £79 at Amazon (save £21)

Good sounding wireless earbuds that cost less than £100 are rare. We know because we’re constantly looking for new ones to recommend to music fans on a budget. Which is why the Sony WF-C710N are such a great option for cash-strapped music fans. Available on Amazon for £79 (save £21) the earbuds offer the best audio and ANC quality you’ll find on such a cheap set.

3. Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT: £439 at Amazon/Richer/Sevenoaks (save £40)

Everyone loves a good bit of vinyl. But both the albums and a record player to do them just can be quite expensive.

Which is why we’re pleased to report one of our favourite affordable turntables has already had a decent Big Deal Days discount. Specifically, you can buy the five-star Pro-Ject T1 EVO BT Turntable with Bluetooth and OM10 Cartridge for £439 at Amazon.

That’s a decent £40 saving on its normal price. If you do, you’ll be treated to a solid record player our reviewers describe as “a new standard for Bluetooth turntables at this price – for its simplicity, flexibility and performance, it’s a winner of a spinner”.

4. BenQ W2720i: £1799 at Richer Sounds (save £200)

There’s something magical about watching movies on a proper projector. And if you have the space, we’re pleased to report the current deal on the five-star BenQ W2720i is one that What Hi-Fi? TV and AV editor Tom Parsons strongly urges you to consider.

The deal lets you pick up the projector for £1799 at Richer Sounds – a £200 saving on its normal price.

If you do you’ll be treated to an all-round performer with an intuitive streaming platform baked in. As we said in our review:

“The W2720i’s combination of living room-friendly smarts and home cinema-friendly picture quality is seriously hard to resist.”

5. LG C5 65-inch: £1599 at Richer Sounds (save £1100)

OLED TVs are always a hot item during Amazon sales, but after scouring Amazon for OLED deals, the best bargain on a model we’ve tested is actually on Richer Sounds. Jump over to the store and you can currently grab yourself a 65-inch LG C5 OLED TV for £1599, that’s a giant £1100 on its launch price earlier this year.

For the money you’ll get a solid value OLED capable of delivering a punchy but never overcooked picture, with flawless app support and excellent gaming specifications. Our only word of caution is to budget for a soundbar for it if you don’t have one already. The LG C5’s audio is distinctly middling, even by TV speaker standards.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we've reviewed

We rate the best music streamers

Our picks of the best turntables for music fans

The What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 are fast approaching which means as well as our usual review testing, we’re also taking a fresh look at all the five star products we’ve currently reviewed that are still on sale.

Why? So we know the Best Buy winners we announce in October are actually the best, having run them head-to-head will their latest and greatest rivals in our dedicated viewing and listening rooms – rather than just relying on memory.

As a part of that, the process means I’ve spent the last few months with constant back pain, in and out of our windowless TV testing space, swapping a multitude of OLED TVs along with the rest of the home cinema team.

And while I’m very glad I’ve been granted a reprieve and allowed back upstairs into the daylight, one big benefit of the experience is that the team and I have identified three completely new OLED TVs worthy of a place in our best OLED TV buying guide.

Here’s what you need to know about them.

The Sony Bravia 8 II is the ultimate option for cinephiles

The flagship OLED TV market is a very interesting place right now, with LG Display’s new Primary RGB Tandem OLED replacing MLA as QD-OLED’s main rival.

Both of these have the same goal – boosting brightness levels while simultaneously improving colour volume and accuracy.

It’s also in a state of flux because a new top-end rival, in the shape of RGB Mini LED, is set to taking OLED on next year – and based on senior staff writer Lewis Empson’s experience looking at early prototypes and samples at the IFA tradeshow, that will be a very interesting fight…

But if you’re shopping right now, the Sony Bravia 8 II is our new recommended premium OLED. Featuring a QD-OLED panel, while its colours can very occasionally look a little cool for our liking, the set offered the best holistic performance of any of the top end sets we’ve tested.

In fact its stellar motion processing, incredible ability to retain dark detail lost on rival sets and punchy, but never overused, peak brightness let it offer one of the most immersive movie watching experiences we’ve had on an OLED, period. Hence our verdict:

“Several little improvements combine to make the Bravia 8 II significantly better than the awesome A95L, and that makes it one of the very best TVs that money can buy.”

The LG C5 continues the firm’s hot streak – at least at 55- and 65-inches

The LG C-series of OLEDs have been a common sight both in our best TV guide and yearly list of Award winners.

Last year alone the 42-inch LG C4 and 48-inch LG C4 picked up a total of three Awards in the TV category.

Which is why it’s kind of funny that this year it’s actually the larger 55- and 65-inch LG C5, not its smaller 48-inch LG C5 sibling, that impressed us the most.

The larger options offer the best mid-range performance for any step-down OLED we’ve tested this year.

Despite not having a heatsink, or an upgraded Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel, like the one sported on the LG G5, the 55-inch C5 we tested was noticeably brighter than its sibling and rivals.

But, despite this, it manages to offer warm, authentic colour temperatures, even during low light scenes – an area many modern OLEDs struggle with.

Add to this its stellar gaming specifications, which include four full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, excellent app and HDR support and competitive price, and it’s an easy five-star recommendation.

We have a new recommended small OLED TV

But why not the smaller LG C5? Cards on the table, it is a very impressive small-ish OLED – hence the reason we gave it a five-star rating.

But, as we’ve said before, smaller TVs, even ones from the same series, perform differently to larger ones. There are a lot of reasons for that, including pixel density, the size of the drivers used in the sound system and more.

And while the smaller C5 retains a lot of its larger siblings’ strengths, it also exacerbates a lot of its weaknesses.

Its colours aren’t quite as accurate and it was a little aggressive with its brightness during certain scenes when we tested it. These issues were particularly noticeable thanks to a key rival we tested it against, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B.

Where the 48-inch LG C5, and to be fair to it 48-inch Samsung S90F we also tested recently, have an overt focus on going very bright, the Z90B goes in the other direction, valuing consistency and balance above all else.

This meant that, though it doesn’t have the oomph you find on rivals when it comes to certain test scenes, its colours always maintain a pleasing authenticity and it never distracts from what’s playing out on screen by aggressively raising its peak brightness, the way its rivals do.

This made it a fan favourite among every member of the test team helping review this year’s 48-inch sets. It’s also why the Panasonic Z90B is our new recommended small OLED and we reported in our review:

“Thanks to its ongoing focus on colour accuracy and delivering an 'as the director intended' experience rather than razzmatazz, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B is the best TV at its size that we have tested.”

If you have any questions about any of the TVs mentioned in this feature drop them in the comments section below and one of our testers will do their best to answer them ASAP! Otherwise, happy OLED hunting!

MORE:

These are the best 65-inch TVs we’ve tested

We rate the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Our picks of the best 40-inch TVs

LG's C-series OLED TVs are among the best performance-per-pound TVs you can buy. Nothing new there.

But, since 2022, there's been one way in which they trounce their rivals – weight.

The 65-inch version of 2021's LG C1 weighed 32.6kg.

The following year's 65-inch C2, though, was a much fitter 16.5kg.

Weights have crept up a little since then, with this year's 65-inch C5 coming in at 18.8kg, but that's still significantly less than rivals.

The 65-inch Sony Bravia 8, for example, weighs 23.2kg, while the 65-inch Samsung S90F is 22.5kg.

There are obvious practical benefits to this lighter weight – it makes building, moving and wall-mounting the TV much easier – but it's a big deal for sustainability, too.

That's because the lighter a product is, the lower the carbon emissions involved in its transportation.

In fact, LG "expects to lower carbon emissions by 84,000 tons across manufacturing and transportation – equivalent to the CO2 absorbed annually by a 30-year-old pine forest the size of 11,000 football fields".

The lightness of LG's C-series OLEDs is a strong contributing factor to that figure, but so are other initiatives, such as the use of shipping freight over air freight wherever possible.

It's the weight element that really appeals to me, though, because I see it as a real bonus for the buyer as well as one for the environment.

I'd like to see LG's rivals take a similar approach. They all have environmental initiatives of their own, of course, but some weight loss on top would be a bonus for everyone.

Quality has to be maintained, though. The LG C5 is as handsome as it is light, and build quality is very good.

Sound, though, is a weakness, and one wonders how much the thinness and lightness are factors there.

Still, I'd very much likely to see brands such as Sony and Samsung give it a crack.

Here's hoping lightness becomes a TV battleground in the near future.

MORE:

Check out all of our Sustainability Week coverage

Filmmaker Mode isn’t just great for picture quality – it’s great for saving energy, too

Here are the best TVs you can buy right now

August is here, and as well as sunshine it brings with it a fresh entry into our regular Pick of the Month column.

In it, we once again detail all the top hi-fi and home cinema hardware that impressed our reviewers enough to earn a five-star rating over the past month.

Despite most of us packing up and taking advantage of the good weather, our testers were hard at work reviewing everything from affordable turntables to audio powerhouse KEF’s first ever Dolby Atmos soundbar.

But of this long list of products we tested in July, only seven impressed enough to earn a wholehearted recommendation from the What Hi-Fi? reviews team.

Here is everything you need to know about them.

Chord Electronics Alto

The Alto is one of the more interesting bits of hi-fi to pass through our listening rooms in the last month.

First, because it’s the latest product from Chord Electronics, a company with a strong pedigree in the hi-fi space. Second, because it doesn’t neatly fit into any one traditional hi-fi category.

You could view it as an analogue headphone amplifier, thanks in no small part to the four – yes, four – outputs Chord’s loaded it with. But Chord has also designed it so you can use it as a simple high-end amp to drive stereo speakers.

Its hybrid purpose is the result of Chord’s original intention to launch it as a professional tool for studio engineers, who often need to swap between multiple headphones and speakers while working.

Oddities aside, after testing it with appropriate wired headphones and speakers, we’re pleased to report it’s a great option for the very specific type of hi-fi fan it targets. Hence our glowing conclusion:

“Overall, there is no denying that the Chord Alto is an impressively capable product. In its primary objective, that of a headphone amplifier, it is one of the finest we’ve heard. That it also impresses when driving speakers in a near-field context and as a preamp are bonuses that turn it into a rather remarkable and tempting option.”

Score 5/5

Read our in-depth Chord Electronics Alto review

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)

Bose didn’t make a lot of noise about its second generation Ultra Earbuds. In fact, when asked, the company outright told our audio experts it had made next-to no changes to the buds' drivers or audio performance.

Instead the upgrades targeted its design, battery and various other quality of life improvements. This initially left our reviewers fairly concerned given the strength of competition this year – a list headlined by the five star Sony WF-1000XM5, Technics EAH-AZ100 and Bowers & Wilkins Pi8.

But thankfully, when we put them through their paces running our standard suite of comparative tests, these concerns were completely unfounded. Whether it was bopping pop, rumbling 12-bar blues or layered classical compositions, the buds delivered a punchy, full-bodied sound.

Add to this stellar active noise cancellation and they easily earned a five-star recommendation, with our reviewers reporting:

“Their outstanding noise-cancelling capabilities, excellent design and a punchy, entertaining sound make for a powerful combination – these Bose 2nd Gen earbuds are pleasing all-rounders.”

Score 5/5

Read our in-depth Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) review

LG C5 (OLED48C5)

If you’re after a small-ish OLED TV that is big enough for reasonably immersive movie experiences in a small-ish living space, then we have a new recommendation: the LG C5 48-inch.

Though the set is very similar to the outgoing LG C4 48-inch, the new model offers modest improvements to peak brightness and colour accuracy.

This, plus its flawless gaming specifications (which include four, rather than the standard two, HDMI 2.1 inputs) make it a fantastic choice for buyers that are short on space.

Hence our verdict:

“If you’re yet to take the OLED plunge, then this is a solid option, especially if you’re short on space or cash-rich enough to justify one as a secondary, bedroom set.”

Our only word of caution is to make sure you budget for a soundbar to go with it, as the speakers' smaller sizes means they’re not great, even by in-built TV standards. We’d suggest the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) for its smaller dimensions and pricing.

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth LG C5 (OLED48C5) review

ATC SCM20ASL

If you live by the mantra “honesty first” then you’ll likely be a big fan of the ATC SCM20ASL.

The chunky, active standmount speakers come loaded with a wealth of impressive hardware, with ATC's engineers tweaking nearly every part in a bid to make them as controlled and honest as possible.

The end result is a very utilitarian set of active speakers capable of accurately delivering every bit of information on the recording you’re playing.

While that may put off more casual listeners, or those that think a speaker’s job is to entertain, regardless of the track’s recording quality, for their target market they are a very impressive piece of hardware.

Even when paired with more modest hardware than we’d normally suggest for speakers their price, including a Lindemann Limetree Bridge II / Chord Hugo TT2 music streamer combination, the ATC SCM20ASL delivered audio full of clarity and control.

As we said in our review: “If you want to hear the recording in its unvarnished form, whether for good or bad, in our experience, few alternatives get closer to that ideal than the ATC SCM20ASL.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth ATC SCM20ASL review

Ortofon MC X30

If you’re looking to buy a sensibly-priced moving coil cartridge with plenty of talent then look no further. Last month our reviewers found one, in the form of the five-star Ortofon MC X30.

The X30 is the first moving coil cartridge from Ortofon’s new MC X range, which includes three other options – one more premium and two cheaper. The main difference between each is the stylus profile, which gets more ambitious as you go up the range.

This means the X30 is designed for relatively premium record players and comes with a custom rigid design bespoke-made for precision and top-of-the-line audio performance. Does it deliver the sonic goods?

Based on our experience testing it with price appropriate units, including a system comprised of the X30, a Technics SL-1000R turntable, Cyrus’s Phono Signature phono stage, Burmester 088/911 MkIII amplifier and ATC SCM50 speakers, the answer is a solid yes.

During all our checks the unit delivered expressive dynamics and a clean, crisp, detailed presentation. As we said in our Ortofon MC X30 review: “The Ortofon MC X30 is a bit of a no-brainer at this price, provided you already have a suitably talented MC phono stage in your system.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Ortofon MC X30 review

Samsung HW-Q990F

The Samsung HW-Q990F is the successor to last year’s Product of the Year winner in the What Hi-Fi? Awards best soundbar category.

This automatically gives it big shoes to fill. But the weight of expectation is especially heavy right now thanks to the recent influx of fresh rivals, including the Sonos Arc Ultra currently sitting at the top of our best Dolby Atmos soundbars guide.

But, having it put it through its paces in our dedicated listening rooms, we are pleased to confirm it’s an excellent soundbar system. At its heart it offers the same functionality as the outgoing Samsung HW-Q990D, featuring a central soundbar unit that pairs with a wireless subwoofer and twin satellite surrounds.

The clever work Samsung has done tweaking each unit's design, including their drivers, has led to palpable performance improvements, especially in the low end, leading our reviewers to report:

“The compact new cube subwoofer is easily the star of the show, offering a richer, more focused sound with greater tonal variation. Who knew shrinking down a core component of your system could deliver such huge performance gains?”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Samsung HW-Q990F review

KEF XIO

The XIO is the first ever Dolby Atmos soundbar from KEF – a hi-fi company behind some of the best speakers and speaker systems we recommend right now.

KEF's technical know-how in the audio sphere is immediately apparent in the wealth of custom hardware and design elements housed within the XIO’s surprisingly thin frame.

Highlights include the use of a specially optimised version of KEF’s Uni-Q MX drivers for the height channels, which pair with bespoke P185 drivers focused on low-end performance and two conventional 50mm drivers designed to extend its soundstage.

The giant 12-driver arrangement isn’t just technically impressive. Putting it through its paces against key rivals, including the equally premium Sennheiser Ambeo Max, in our test rooms it delivered a five-star performance.

Whether it was action packed fight scenes in John Wick 2, intense conversations in Oppenheimer or our standard Blade Runner 2049 chapter two low-end stress test, the unit delivered a detailed, precise and exciting sound.

Hence our verdict: “The KEF XIO is a soundbar of rare all-round ability that delivers movies and music with spectacle and finesse.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth KEF XIO review

TCL C8K (65C8K)

The TCL C8K is the latest flagship Mini LED set from TCL, replacing the outgoing and now significantly cheaper TCL C855K we reviewed last year.

Like its predecessors, the C8K has a singular purpose in mind: to prove TCL's ongoing argument that Mini LED can compete with OLED in the upper echelons of the TV market.

To do this, it comes with a wealth of technical upgrades. These include an increased number of dimming zones, new contrast-boosting CrystGlow WHVA tech, advanced AiPQ Pro processor chipset and a completely new sound system that’s been designed in “partnership” with Bang & Olufsen.

Putting it through its paces, the upgrades have paid off in spades, with the set offering palpable improvements on its predecessor, especially when it comes to uniformity, leading our reviewers to report:

“The C8K’s winning blend of extreme brightness, outstanding backlight control and aggressive pricing makes it one of TCL’s most exciting TVs yet.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth TCL C8K (65C8K) review

MORE:

These are the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed

We rate the best 40-inch TVs

Our picks of the best speakers

LG's C-series OLEDs are among the best TVs you can buy. They also come in a wide range of sizes, from 42 inches, all the way up to a colossal 83 inches.

If you're considering one of the 55-inch or over models, make sure to check out our main LG C5 vs C4 guide, where we give our opinion of how its larger sizes compare.

If, however, as for many of our readers, 48 inches is the more practical option, but you're not sure which generation of the C-series to get, then you're in the right place.

Both this year's LG C5 and last year's C4 scored five out of five for their 48-inch models, but there are some differences between them. Should you go for the most advanced model, or save some cash with the older but still capable set? Let's find out.

LG C5 vs C4: price

The 48-inch C5 and C4 launched at the same £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499, but that has come down for both models.

Unsurprisingly, the older model is substantially cheaper.

It current sells for around £800, while the newer model has been reduced to around £1300. So there's a good £500 in it.

LG's TVs almost always feature in the big sales events, so expect discounts come Black Friday. Again, you can bet the older model will see more money off than its newer sibling.

** Winner: LG C4 **

LG C5 vs C4: design

Design-wise, it’s really a game of spot the difference. LG’s C-series OLEDs haven’t changed much at all in recent years. These models look nigh-on identical to 2022’s C2.

On the one hand, that’s disappointing. On the other, it’s a fine design that does the job, and if it stops the price rising, most buyers would welcome its return.

Both 48-inch models have the same central pedestal stand as their bigger variants (only the 42-inch model has feet instead). This doesn't leave a lot of room for a soundbar, so you should measure up before you invest in one.

The C5’s Magic Remote has a new AI shortcut button and the ability to control smart lightbulbs, but otherwise it’s unchanged. And it is still not rechargeable or backlit. Sigh.

** Winner: Draw **

LG C5 vs C4: features

There’s not much to choose between them in terms of features either. The C5 still doesn’t have a heatsink, and it uses the same WOLED screen panel as the C4.

It does have a new processor though, the Alpha 9 Gen 8. This uses AI for everything from more advanced upscaling and improving colour accuracy, to a new chatbot to help diagnose and fix issues with your TV’s picture or sound.

Otherwise, both feature sets are almost an exact match.

You get three formats of HDR (HLG, HDR10 and Dolby Vision), but not HDR10+, four HDMI 2.1 ports, and a full suite of gaming features: 4K/144Hz (as well as the more common 4K/120Hz), VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming.

The C5 also has the Xbox app that was previously exclusive to Samsung TVs. This lets you stream games straight from the TV, no console required, and to connect a controller wirelessly to the set.

This comes courtesy of LG's webOS 25, as opposed to the C4's webOS 24.

** Winner: LG C5 **

LG C5 vs C4: picture

Out of the box, the C5 is just trying too hard; but a bit of time in the settings menu soon sorts that out. Its picture is wonderfully bright, but still packed with detail even in the brightest areas. Bright shading is strong, and motion natural.

But it’s not all good news. While the C5 does well rendering explosions with sufficient ‘pop’, colour volume tends to drop in darker parts of the image, especially when it comes to skin tones. It makes the image look flatter, and less natural.

It’s worth noting that this issue doesn’t always appear, even under similar conditions. It’s more something to be aware of than a reason not to buy.

Because, on the whole, the C5 is a wonderful performer – “superbly competent”, we call it in our review. And chances are most viewers won’t notice the issue we highlight above.

But then the C4 is no slouch, either, packing all the richness and solidity of its larger variants. Colours are punchy and warm, and the TV handles bright highlights very well – as we note in our review, “A glimpse of the sun through some foliage in Oppenheimer immediately draws our eye thanks to its punchy and vibrant presentation, while also remaining controlled and natural.”

Its picture is also meticulously detailed, picking out textures that other TVs miss – though it does feel a bit restrained in Dolby Vision Filmmaker mode. It just looks a bit dim here, though this is preferable to the artificial brightness some sets compensate with.

So, the C5 has the better picture, but it’s a case of modest gains, mostly due to the new processor rather than improvements with the screen tech.

** Winner: LG C5 **

LG C5 vs C4: sound

Audio has long been a weak point of LG's C-series TVs. That’s no problem as long as you can add a soundbar. But if you are reliant on the TV's sound, which model is better?

The C4 struggles with the tricky low-end effects of Bladerunner 2049, being plagued by distortion. It lacks projection and scale, and the bass notes don’t go nearly deep enough. But dialogue is nice and clear, and dynamics in explosions, for example, are delivered with suitable punch.

The C5 has the same 2.2-channel 40W speaker system as the C4, so its performance is much the same.

It sounds a little flat, with much of the sound coming from the centre of the screen. And its low end is as wobbly as the C4's.

LG's much-vaunted AI Sound mode does separate out the frequency range more, but it comes at the expense of fullness. Every part sounds thin. “Gunfire takes on a nasal, fizzy quality, and sibilance creeps into dialogue while the low end all but disappears,” we say in our review.

Even in Cinema mode, the sound remains flat and directionless. All in all, a poor show all round.

** Winner: Draw **

LG C5 vs C4: verdict

In terms of picture quality and features, the C5 is the better TV, but not by much in either regard.

When you factor in the parity of design and sound quality, and the £500 difference, the smart money would go for the C4 and put the saving towards a decent soundbar.

MORE:

Read our LG C5 review

And our LG C4 review

The new LG C5 OLED is a fantastic five-star TV – but here's why I won't be upgrading

LG G5 vs C5: which 2025 LG OLED TV should you buy?

This week I had the pleasure of being one of the team to help with the testing of the 48-inch LG C5 OLED TV.

Why was it a pleasure? Because after thoroughly comparing it to current generation rivals, including the Samsung S90F and Panasonic Z90B (reviews incoming), I can confirm it is a good TV for its target market.

Like past LG C-series TVs, many of which have won What Hi-Fi? Awards and been a regular presence in our best OLED TV guide, it offers a wealth of benefits.

These include perfect black levels, flawless gaming specifications for console and PC gamers, reliable picture quality and solid app support.

That’s why after more testing than we care to admit, all three of the team testing the set, myself included, agreed that it is a five star TV, concluding: “A brilliant small-ish TV that’s a solid option for anyone yet to make the jump to OLED.”

However, when I got home and powered up the 48-inch LG C2 sitting in my lounge, I had one thought slowly crystallise as I watched the latest episode of First Dates on Channel 4 and another nail-biting episode of Severance on Apple TV+.

Specifically, that I really don’t feel any need to upgrade.

Why? It’s clearly not because the C5 isn't a great TV. It is. It’s just that it’s not a big enough step forward to justify shelling out over a grand when the C2 is still very much more than enough OLED for most people.

Sure, it doesn’t go as bright and colours aren’t quite as vibrant, but generally, since I bought it three years ago, the upgrades LG has made to its C-series sets, the 48-inch ones in particular, have been incremental.

We said as much as a team in our 48-inch LG C5 review where we reported: “The 48-inch LG C5 retains the Korean giant's legacy as one of the top small-ish OLED TV makers, but largely because it sticks very closely to the blueprint that made past C-series sets great, rather than any clever innovation.

“But the lack of progress is beginning to show at this size, and it means that the 48-inch LG C5 isn’t the slam-dunk, no-brainer purchase it used to be – especially with Samsung and Panasonic nipping at its heels.”

In each instance, as I watched a new show or movie, I never once found the C2 wanting, or missed the perks I’d just experienced on the C5 in our test room.

This is also because I’m watching the set in isolation and I’m certain I’d feel differently if we were back in our test rooms, running the two side-by-side, making the upgrades more obvious.

But at home, the C2 still looks excellent, with its Filmmaker Mode offering a punchy picture that is accurate enough to let me simply enjoy what I’m watching, rather than what the TV is doing – which is ultimately its job.

And that’s why, especially in the tough economic climate in which we continue to live, I urge anyone who bought a C-series OLED in recent years to fight any urge to upgrade just yet.

Ultimately, I think it makes sense to save your money – or spend it on a more pressing upgrade elsewhere in your system.

MORE:

These are the best small TVs we’ve tested

We rate the best TVs money can buy

Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

The 48-inch LG C5 is the second smallest option in the company’s current step-down line of OLED TVs – which automatically makes it an interesting beast.

Flagship OLED TVs aren't really produced in sub-55-inch sizes. Sure, there's the new 48-inch G5, but that lacks the Primary RGB panel of its larger siblings, so it doesn't really count as a fully fledged flagship.

All of which is to say that while the C5 range is a step-down line, the 48-inch C5 is pretty much as premium as TVs this size get.

It’s also coming off the back of a hot streak for LG, with two generations of its predecessors not only earning top marks from our reviewers, but then going on to win What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Has lightning struck a third time with LG’s 48-inch C5 OLED TV? Here’s what we found after thoroughly putting it through its paces in our dedicated test rooms.

Price

The 48-inch LG C5 launched at a price of £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499. We’ve recently seen some early discounts that knock the odd hundred off, but you're currently still looking at paying close to full price.

The 48-inch C5's main rival is the identically sized Samsung S90F, which uses the same OLED panel technology. Unsurprisingly, the 48-inch Samsung S90F is priced at launch very similarly to the C5, at £1499 / $1500 / AU$2499.

You can also get the C5 in 42-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes. The 42-inch LG C5 launched for £1400 / $1399 / AU$2199. Prices then rise in line with the TV’s size, capping at £5999 / $5399 / AU$7999 for the largest 83-inch option.

Build

LG hasn’t rethought the wheel with the C5’s design. In fact, it’s so unchanged that if you put it next to 2022's LG C2, let alone last year's C4, you would probably struggle to spot the difference.

Unlike the 42-inch model, the 48-inch C5 has the same central stand design as the 55-inch version we reviewed earlier this year, which is quick and easy to assemble. Just plonk the stand on the TV's back and secure it with the included screws. Once done, it provides a stable base that will fit on most regular-sized TV cabinets without issue.

Sadly, the stand doesn’t have a swivel mechanism, though this is less of an issue here as the set’s ports are mostly housed on its side rather than back, making them fairly easy to access.

The bigger annoyance is the angled slant and low height of the stand, which can make the positioning of a soundbar tricky. If you do go for a soundbar, you will want to make sure it's a fairly low-profile model, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

In the US and many other territories, LG has released a new sleek, modernised controller for the C5. But we’re yet to see it in the UK, where a slightly tweaked version of the somewhat long-in-the-tooth Magic Remote is the only option provided.

The controller remains largely unchanged outside of the addition of a new AI shortcut button and a minor tweak that changes the input button so you can control all connected devices with it – including things such as smart lightbulbs – rather than just select which HDMI input you want.

While these changes are fine, we would have liked LG to make bigger quality-of-life changes, adding things such as backlighting and rechargeable batteries – elements that are increasingly common on rival OLED sets we test.

While the pointer functionality, which lets you navigate menus with an onscreen cursor that’s moved with motion controls, is welcome, the remote is clunky to use in low light, which is what most serious movie fans will be doing.

Features

The 48-inch LG C5 is packed to the brim with features, which is particularly impressive considering its small size. But, as with its design, not a great deal has changed since last year.

Starting with the two big elephants in the room: the panel tech remains unchanged and, despite years of asking, there’s still no heatsink.

The panel used remains a WOLED, with the older brightness-boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech seen on last year’s G4 sadly being retired, rather than trickling down to the C-series, as we’d hoped it would this year.

The lack of MLA is a shame, as it does offer palpable brightness improvements based on our testing. But it’s also not surprising, as it has been superseded by the Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech that LG Display debuted on the LG G5 at CES in January. MLA is sadly going to the same farm as curved screens and 3D TVs.

Equally, a heatsink could have helped the TV go brighter for longer without risking damage. The omission is particularly noticeable on this size of the C5 which, despite having the same Brightness Booster Engine as the larger models, can't hit the same peak brightness levels.

This isn’t a phenomenon specific to the C5, though. It’s an issue on all smaller OLEDs, due to a combination of factors including pixel aperture and the impact it has on heat management. Pushing the panel too hard can also impact colour accuracy, which is why companies tend to tune smaller sets more conservatively than larger models.

The only big change for the C5 is the use of a newer LG Alpha 9 Gen 8 processor. Like every chipset we’ve seen recently, the Alpha 9 Gen 8 has an overt focus on AI, which LG claims it has leveraged to help the TV deliver more advanced upscaling and holistically improve colour accuracy, audio quality and HDR tone mapping.

Outside of the dedicated AI picture and sound profiles, which can be accessed in the C5’s settings, the only obvious front-facing AI feature it brings is a new chatbot system designed to help you troubleshoot and generally use the set. Through vocal commands, you can do things such as tweak picture settings and ask what a particular toggle does.

The C5 supports the most common HDR standards of HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG. The only ongoing omission is Samsung’s home-brewed, open-source HDR10+, which is a rival to Dolby Vision and offers similar frame-by-frame dynamic range optimisation powers for compatible content.

Thankfully, the lack of big feature changes is largely forgivable, as the LG C-series was already one of the most feature-packed you could find.

The main highlight remains the inclusion of four, as opposed to the more standard two, full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as an eARC port.

While two HDMIs will be fine for most people, dedicated gamers with multiple latest-gen consoles and a sound system (which will use the eARC port) will really benefit from the C5's four.

Those four HDMI 2.1 sockets all support 4K/144Hz (as well as the more common 4K/120Hz), plus VRR and ALLM. Dolby Vision gaming is also on board and a welcome inclusion for Xbox Series X/S owners.

So all-in-all, if you connect a current generation games console or PC, the unit will run smoothly and as fast as the machine allows – it won’t be the C5 causing the bottleneck.

LG’s webOS 25 software runs the show and is fairly similar to the version we saw on the older C4. The only big addition outside of the AI assistant is a new Xbox app, which lets you stream games directly from the TV and adds the ability to pair a Bluetooth controller directly to the C5. This used to be exclusive to Samsung TVs.

Otherwise, the OS retains its strong app support, with key services including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX all being supported and running correctly during our checks.

Picture

Powering up the 48-inch LG C5 paired with our trusty Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, the set immediately has a different character to both its 55-inch sibling and its key rivals. Watching Dune: Part 2 with the TV’s out of the box standard settings, as often happens, the set tries too hard.

Peak bright areas in the desert stand out too much as the C5 tries to show quite how bright it can go, while colours look a touch too warm. Motion handling is also very heavy-handed, with the fighters looking like dancing ballerinas, rather than aggressive knife-wielding warriors.

Thankfully, things rapidly improve as we fiddle with the settings, eventually settling on Filmmaker Mode, with the lowest Cinematic Movement option on, sharpening and judder reduction off and dynamic tone mapping on. Colour temperature, which is now tweaked using a slider control, rather than the less granular options of before, is left at its default for Filmmaker Mode.

Set up accordingly, the desert retains its sparkle, with the brightest part of the sky shining in a way OLEDs this price from even a few years ago can’t, but with significantly more detail.

Bright shading is strong, too, with a wonderful hue of blue transitioning to orange across the image.

Cloud clusters equally retain their shape, despite the added brightness, showing the difference pixel-level light control can make. Our only minor quibble is that colour temperature still looks a smidgeon too cool, but rapidly shifts the other way when we make minor adjustments.

Motion handling has also now regained its composure, with the actions of the on-screen characters taking on their intended weight, and a difficult scene in which a Fremen fighter launches a missile at an Ornithopter looks accurate, with no ghost frames or awkwardness seeping in.

We move on to one of our new favourite 4K Blu-ray test discs, Civil War. During the heated nighttime battle scene, the explosions look dynamic and truly pop out of the dark sections with zero bloom – as we’d expect from an OLED – but we see colour volume drop slightly, especially in characters’ skin tones.

This is particularly noticeable on close-up shots. While the brightest parts of faces pop and look wonderfully three-dimensional, the darker parts take on a greenish hue, losing all warmth, resulting in a flatter, less natural image than we like.

This is slightly annoying as the set otherwise handles dark scenes admirably. Switching to our Alien: Romulus test disc, the opening scene shows a giant spacecraft slowly creeping out of the pitch black vacuum of space. The image is full of detail with every nook and cranny of the vessel on display, giving us a wonderfully three-dimensional spectacle.

Playing Top Gun: Maverick, the skyline once again looks excellent, full of pop and detail, but an area of the aircraft carrier in the shadows looks slightly flat, losing some definition in areas that look wonderfully sharp on the Samsung S90F we’re testing it against (full review coming soon).

Yet, when we switch to Oppenheimer, the issue doesn’t repeat during a shadow-heavy scene where he is meeting politicians. The skin tones look natural, and the entire picture has a sharp, wonderfully three-dimensional quality, with every stitch of their suits visible.

Moving to our final, incredibly difficult, SDR True Grit upscaling test, the C5 performs well.

During the tricky opening, the dark lights in the night-time farm hold a nicely bright, distinctive spot, with the glow illuminating details well without introducing noise or oversharpening the falling, fluffy snow.

The intentional spaghetti western grain is retained as we move to a brighter scene, with the set not pushing too hard and oversharpening or flattening the very difficult picture.

Ultimately, while the 48-inch LG C5 displays a couple of niggling picture issues, it's superbly competent overall. And many users won't notice those issues at all.

Sound

The 48-inch C5 features the same 2.2-channel 40W speaker system as the outgoing C4.

On a set this size, audio quality is usually one of the main compromises you have to put up with. This is because their smaller dimensions impact how much air the speakers can move around. Based on our testing, this remains the case with the 48-inch C5.

Starting with the set in its standard audio mode, the C5’s performance is distinctly flat, with every part of the sound coming from the centre of the screen. Gunfire and soldiers’ shouts during Civil War lack their intended directional quality.

On top of this, while gunfire never sounds acidic as it does on the S90F, it lacks the bite you’d expect, and explosions in the distance show the C5’s low end doesn’t quite have the heft required to deliver the intended, bone-rumbling effect.

Sadly, this isn’t fixed when we switch to the AI audio mode. LG is making a lot of noise about the C5’s new AI audio powers, with its custom AI Sound mode that aims to “optimise the audio” to its users’ specific tastes. The set-up requires you to click through a process, picking options that “describe your preferences” before optimising the speakers to them.

Here, while the set noticeably tries to separate the frequency range more, it makes each part thin in the process. Gunfire takes on a nasal, fizzy quality, and sibilance creeps into dialogue while the low end all but disappears.

We get the best results switching to the set’s Cinema mode. But even then, the audio lacks definition.

Moving to an intense scene in Top Gun: Maverick, the audio remains flat. The boom of jet engines lacks precision and directionality, and voices aren’t suitably separated from background noise, making some conversations hard to follow.

This makes a soundbar or other speaker system an essential purchase for any serious movie fan planning to pick up the LG C5.

Verdict

The 48-inch LG C5 retains the Korean giant's legacy as one of the top small-ish OLED TV makers, but largely because it sticks very closely to the blueprint that made past C-series sets great, rather than any clever innovation.

If you’re yet to take the OLED plunge, then this is a solid option, especially if you’re short on space or cash-rich enough to justify one as a secondary, bedroom set.

But the lack of progress is beginning to show at this size, and it means that the 48-inch LG C5 isn’t the slam-dunk, no-brainer purchase it used to be – especially with Samsung and Panasonic nipping at its heels.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Features 5
• Sound 2

MORE:

Read our review of the 48-inch LG C4

Also consider the 48-inch Samsung S90F

Read our LG 65QNED93 review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

LG's C5 series of mid-range OLED TVs was hotly anticipated when it arrived earlier this year – and for good reason.

The C-series has a well-deserved reputation for delivering excellent picture quality and a comprehensive set of specs at an affordable price.

That said, we always recommend waiting before taking the plunge on the latest model.

That's still the case today, and those looking for a really serious LG OLED deal should probably jump over to our LG C4 deals page, as last year's model is now as cheap as it's ever likely to be.

But if you really want the latest model, the good news is that discounts have started appearing on the C5 as part of Amazon Prime Day.

Below, you will find the latest and lowest prices on every version of the LG C5, which is, as our LG C5 review attests, an exceptional TV.

• Shop all Prime Day deals at Amazon

LG OLED42C5 (42-inch)

Launch price: £1400 / $1399 / AU$2199

Apart from its own predecessor, there aren't a huge number of options out there if you want a 42-inch OLED, which makes the smallest C5 in the range a very tempting proposition if you're short on space.

The great thing about this TV is that it's just as well specced as its larger siblings, so while it's unlikely to go quite as bright (due to the increased pixel picth), you still get four HDMI 2.1 sockets, which have the necessary bandwidth to handle gaming at up to 4K/144Hz, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode).

It also has the same Alpha 9 AI Processor Gen8, which includes a host of AI-powered features to make interacting with your TV a less laborious experience.

Just bear in mind that it comes with a different kind of stand to the rest of the range, which means there's very little space to accommodate a soundbar without some of the screen being blocked.

LG OLED48C5 (48-inch)

Launch price: £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499

Probably the size that's most suited to the majority of people buying a new TV, the 48-inch C5 is something of a Goldilocks option.

Big enough to feel cinematic, but not so large that watching the news on it feels slightly ridiculous, it's hard to fault in terms of practicality (even if the pedestal stand does encroach on your soundbar space in front of it).

LG OLED55C5 (55-inch)

Launch price: £1900 / $1999 / AU$3299

The 55-inch C5 is the only model we've had the opportunity to review so far, but it certainly delivers in all the ways we've come to expect from this range.

The improvements over the C4 are surprisingly large, considering very little has changed in terms of hardware. This is a noticeably brighter and sharper performer.

LG OLED65C5 (65-inch)

Launch price: £2700 / $2699 / AU$4299

65 inches is where a TV starts to get really cinematic, and we always recommend going this big if you have the space and want a really engaging movie experience at home.

The 65-inch C5 should perform almost identically to the 55-inch model, which is superb, albeit with slightly less sharpness (thanks to the slightly reduced pixel density) but obviously greater scale.

LG OLED77C5 (77-inch)

Launch price: £3800 / $3699 / AU$5999

If you've got the space, a 77-inch TV is hard to resist, especially when it's got the perfect blacks and pixel-level contrast control of OLED, plus the awesome gaming specs of an LG.

The 77-inch C5 should perform in line with the 55- and 65-inch models, with a little more sharpness sacrificed in the name of additional cinematic scale.

LG OLED83C5 (83-inch)

Launch price: £5999 / $5399 / AU$7999

If you have the room and budget for an 83-inch OLED TV, you're a very lucky person indeed.

Honestly, 83-inch OLEDs are objectively worse value than smaller models – you're paying a lot of extra money over the 77-inch model for just six additional inches – but we can't deny how awesome it would be to have an LG C5 this huge.

The LG C5 is one of 2025’s top OLEDs. We know that because we reviewed it back in March, putting it head to head with its rivals in our dedicated test rooms.

Since then, we have used it as a frame of reference for competing TVs, with its bright, punchy and nicely accurate picture, and flawless app and gaming specifications making it an enticing option for any shopper.

The fact that it came out mere months ago, however, means it currently still carries a fairly hefty price tag. It may have now been discounted, but the 65-inch version will still set you back more than £2000 / $2000.

Meanwhile, the older LG C4, which remains an excellent option for movie and game fans, and which our reviewers are still very happy to recommend, has had its price plummet since the C5’s arrival. We’ve seen it go as low as £1199 this month alone.

This situation is bound to change, though; so when will our advice shift to recommending the C5 over its older sibling?

This guide details when we expect the C5’s price to drop further, based on our experience in covering past LG models and shopping events, including the fast-approaching Amazon Prime Day.

Past models’ pricing

Looking at the gallery detailing the price history of the 65-inch LG C2, LG C3 and LG C4 you can see a clear pattern, with there being three key periods when each model’s price has significantly dropped.

Amazon Prime Day

The first big drop for every model usually lands around July, in line with Amazon’s Prime Day sale.

And I’m expecting history to repeat itself with the C5. The only issue might be that, as we are still relatively early in the year, stocks of the C4 are still plentiful. Based on the pattern shown in the graphs, the older model will also get hefty discounts at the event as stores try to clear stock.

That means, while you will probably see every size of the C5 get a decent discount, especially on the LG Store if last year’s C4 savings are anything to go by, the older model will quite likely still represent a better deal from a performance-per-pound perspective.

Black Friday

Once Prime Day is out of the way, prices of OLEDs, new and old, tend to decline at a fairly steady rate until Black Friday – the yearly shopping event that happens at the end of November. You can see this pattern repeat on the C2, C3 and C4.

But, even here, I would advise caution before going straight for the C5. Unless there’s a huge spike in demand, I still expect prices for the C4 to be better outside very specific flash sales.

Some amazing deals do often happen in the run up to and during the event, but they tend to have time limits – and retailers frequently run out of stock fast if it's a particularly impressive discount.

This is why at this point in the year, our advice tends to fluctuate depending on the deals running at the time.

The New Year

Black Friday might get a lot of attention, but the biggest discounts on LG C-series OLEDs tend to arrive in the New Year.

There are many reasons for this, the main ones being the January sales and the fact that, for as long as we can remember, LG has unveiled its new C-series model at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

This inevitably causes most magpies to start ignoring the older model; as a consequence, prices drop markedly. It’s at this point we usually reconsider our buying advice.

Short of the anticipated LG C6 completely reworking the wheel, this will most likely be when we start recommending the LG C5 over its predecessor to most people.

A final word of advice

MORE:

These are the best 65-inch TVs we have tested

We rate the best Dolby Atmos soundbars money can buy

Our picks of the best TVs we have reviewed

If you’re on the hunt for a new OLED TV and don’t want to wait to see what deals Prime Day 2025 brings to the table, you are more than likely looking at the five-star LG C5.

There’s a good reason for that. Not only did the TV prove to be one of the best step-down models available when we tested it earlier this year, it has also had its price slashed recently.

Head to the LG Store and you can get the 65-inch LG C5 for £2099.98, a hefty £600 saving on its launch price.

In normal circumstances that would easily be enough for the What Hi-Fi? team to recommend the deal.

But if you are thinking about pulling the trigger on the deal right now, I would urge you to reconsider – at least for now.

Why? Because there are even better deals running that let you get the C5’s five-star, and still excellent, predecessor and an Award-winning Samsung Dolby Atmos soundbar system for less.

You can grab the 65-inch LG C4 for £1199 at Richer Sounds and Amazon, a £1500 discount on its launch price, right now.

Then the Samsung HW-Q990D is available for £773 on Amazon, a £926 saving on its cost when we reviewed it.

That means you can get an excellent 65-inch OLED TV, Dolby Atmos setup for £1972 – £127.98 less than a standalone, 65-inch LG C5.

Having helped review all the products mentioned here, trust me when I say the system is the better option.

Though the LG C4 is last year’s model, and the C5 is brighter and offers slightly better colour accuracy in some scenes, for our testers, it doesn’t justify the current difference in price.

Heck, we say as much in our review of the new set, where we say C4 owners definitely shouldn’t feel a need to upgrade.

But most importantly, the pairing of TV with soundbar system is better, because the C5’s speakers are middling at best. In testing we found a lack of general finesse and low end heft. As we say in our LG C5 review:

“We wish it had better built-in audio, but considering how often we say this about OLED TVs of this stature, we're not surprised that it misses the mark here.”

Which is why you will certainly want to invest in a separate sound system if you want a truly immersive home movie experience. Enter the Samsung HW-Q990D.

Though it is also an old model, having since been replaced by the newest Samsung HW-Q990F, which we are yet to review, the Q990D remains a fantastic option, especially at this discounted price.

Pairing a central soundbar with wireless satellite speakers and a subwoofer, the five-star performer remains a common recommendation. It offers a room filling, Dolby Atmos experience that will delight most buyers.

If you want better, in our testers' experience, you’ll have to pay considerably more for a full fat, multi-speaker Dolby Atmos system with proper roof-firing channels.

Which is why I, and the team, think most people will be better off investing in the C4 / Q990D combo, over the newer C5 on its own.

MORE:

These are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars we have reviewed

We rate the best OLED TVs

Our picks of the best surround sound systems

Last week was one of the busiest this year for What Hi-Fi?’s team of experts. As well as having to cover the High End Munich show, we also had to contend with surprise product launches from big name brands.

These included the follow-up to a long standing recommendation in our best wireless headphones guide and a fresh rival to one of our favourite new OLED TVs.

Here’s everything you need to know.

High End Munich delivered the goods

This year’s High End show was always going to be special, as it’s set to be the last to happen in Munich. The show is packing its bags and jetting over to Vienna from next year.

So we always expected brands to celebrate the end of an era with style. But boy, did they go all-out.

At the show, our team of experts on the ground were hit with more product launches and cool looking new high end speakers, amps, streamers and more than they could count.

These included Chord’s new flagship Ultima Phonostage, JBL’s latest range of high end Summit loudspeakers, the WiiM Sound smart speaker and WiiM Sub Pro subwoofer and more.

Read the full story: High End Munich 2025 highlights

Sony’s latest flagship headphones are great

Last week Sony unveiled its new WH-1000XM6 over-ear, wireless headphones. The new headphones are a big deal for two reasons.

First, because they’re the successor to the Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM5 that have sat at the top of our best wireless headphones guide for quite some time.

Second, because they are a fantastic pair of headphones any music fan would do well to consider when shopping for a new set of cans, based on our testing.

Key upgrades include a new design with an improved hinge mechanism that makes them more comfortable to wear and easier to pack away. Under the hood there is also a newly developed 30mm ‘soft edge’ dome driver and completely new chipset.

The end result is a five-star set of wireless headphones that offer palpable improvements on their still impressive predecessor. Hence our reviewers’ conclusion:

“It feels like the Sony WH-1000XM6 have been a long time coming, and we are pleased to tell you they have been well worth the wait. They’re the best-sounding flagship pair we’ve heard from Sony to date, which is no mean feat.”

Read our in-depth Sony WH-1000XM6 review

The LG C5 OLED TV may have a fight on its hands

While our team of audio experts may have been squarely focussed on covering High End, our AV team had its own launch event to contend with.

Last week our intrepid senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, snuck off to Germany to get a hands-on look at Panasonic’s 2025 range of TVs.

And while this included some hands-on time with the Panasonic Z95B, which we originally saw at CES in January, it was the step-down Panasonic Z90B that caught his eye the most.

The set is a direct rival to the LG C5, which is the current recommended new model in our best OLED TV buying guide.

Featuring a new processor and higher max brightness, Panasonic claims the Z90B is its finest step-down OLED to date, and from what Lewis saw at the event, we’re taking that boast seriously.

If it delivers on even a fraction of Panasonic’s promises when we get it in for review, home cinema fans will be in for a serious treat when it launches later this year.

Read our full Panasonic Z90B hands-on preview

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These are the best stereo amps we’ve reviewed

We rate the best TVs money can buy

Our picks of the best headphones for serious music fans

Since our list of the best TVs was last updated at the start of March, we have tested no fewer than five new and important models.

It was inevitable that these new TVs would have an impact on our recommendations but, actually, only one has made the main list – though two of the others are now in the 'also consider' section.

First, though, let's cover the two that have missed the cut.

Hisense Canvas and Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini LED

We've been waiting years for a more affordable rival to the Samsung Frame to materialise, and with the Hisense Canvas TV, we thought we had finally got it.

Unfortunately, it's very poor in performance terms.

Sure, it does the digital picture frame thing relatively well, but the movie picture quality is well below what you would expect of a TV costing even half as much, and no amount of fancy artwork can make up for that.

On the other hand, the 55-inch version of Amazon's Fire TV Omni Mini LED is every bit as solid a performer as its 65-inch sibling.

Sure, it's a bit rough around the edges, particularly in terms of colour consistency and backlight control, but it's a good performer at its price.

It's not quite good enough to make the best TVs list, though, mostly because we feel you can get a not-much-worse performance for quite a lot less money by buying either the TCL P755K or non-Mini LED Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED, or a much better performance for not a whole lot more money if you go for the Samsung Q80D.

Sony Bravia 7

The Sony Bravia 7, though, has comfortably made the 'also consider' list. In fact, I'll level with you here and say that there are members of the team who feel it should be in the main list as the Best Mini LED model, in the place of the Bravia 9.

While it's true that the Bravia 7 is a five-star TV and the Bravia 9 is sitting on 'only' four stars, I feel that the Bravia 9 does things of which no other Mini LED TVs are capable. There are areas in which it's leaps and bounds beyond even the most advanced OLED models, too.

That's why I think it remains the best Mini LED model despite the four-star rating.

The Bravia 7 is obviously still a great TV at its price – it combines trickle-down technology from the Bravia 9 with Sony's excellent processing to really pleasing effect – but when you can buy a Bravia 8 OLED for similar money or an LG C4 for much less, it becomes a little hard to justify the Bravia 7 going into the main list.

Full disclosure, though: we could reverse this decision in the next update to the best TVs page.

LG G5

The LG G5 is, in most ways, an absolute stunner. It's the first TV we've reviewed that features new Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology, and this is clearly a big upgrade on the MLA panel technology of last year's top OLEDs, including the G4.

It's not the small, bright highlights that are most impressive (though those are a little brighter and more impactful); it's how much brighter screen-filling effects are, and the vibrancy and consistency of the colours, from the brightest to the darkest parts of the picture.

Add those qualities to a flagship OLED recipe that LG has been refining for years now, and you've got an absolutely stonking TV that significantly raises the bar for the rival models to come.

So why does the G5 only make the 'also consider' list rather than the main one? There are two reasons.

The first is that we uncovered a very unpleasant flaw in the way the G5 handles low-light Dolby Vision content via streaming. We understand a fix for this is now publicly available, but we haven't yet had the opportunity to test for ourselves whether this is indeed a complete fix and that it doesn't introduce any new problems.

And the second reason is that we recommend TVs (and all other products, for that matter) on a performance-per-pound basis, which always makes it hard for a brand-new, full-price model (particularly a flagship one) to take the place of a slightly older but significantly more affordable rival.

However, assuming the Dolby Vision fix works, once the G5 has dropped in price a little, it could well make the main list of the best TVs.

LG C5

As mentioned above, we generally don't like to add a brand new, full-price TV to the main list in the place of an older model that is still brilliant and significantly cheaper.

However, we are well aware that plenty of people simply must have a brand new TV, even if that means paying more than we think they really should. That's why, at this time most years, we add a 'best new' entry to our best TVs page.

We've done exactly that with this update, and it's the LG C5 that has taken the spot.

On paper, the C5 isn't much of an upgrade on last year's C4, but LG has managed to squeeze a little more brightness out of the panel, which makes for a more impactful HDR picture performance, and it has improved colour consistency and refinement.

Add in all of the usual LG usability traits and a flawless gaming specification, and you have a consummate all-rounder that is also, by brand new TV standards, superb value.

The are plenty of rivals still to hit our test rooms, inclduing the Samsung S90F and S95F, the Sony Bravia 8 II and Panasonic's OLED TV range, but the C5 is currently in the box seat to take the place of the Bravia 8 as the best TV overall once its price has dropped a bit.

To see the list in full, check out the What Hi-Fi? guide to the best TVs.

The new LG OLEDs are fresh in the shops, and, therefore, fresh out of the What Hi-Fi? test rooms.

As has become expected over the past few years, they are strong contenders in an extremely competitive marketplace.

This shouldn’t be a massive surprise, given that LG still makes the majority of OLED panels out there no matter the badge on the TV itself, but it is always reassuring to discover, each year, that eyes haven’t been taken off the metaphorical ball by the Korean giant’s fine engineering department.

With the LG ranges over the years, it’s the C-series that tends to hit the sweet-spot for us for providing the best bang for your buck.

The range-topping LG G5 is a remarkable piece of televisual technology, but – inevitably – you must pay a heavy price for the privilege of owning the very best.

The C5 may not feature the flashy new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel of the G5, nor indeed the MLA OLED technology of last year’s G4, but it does sport more than enough of its premium sibling’s capabilities to make up for most of those tech shortfalls; and, of course, at a far more affordable price.

The C5, then, is the hub around which we centre this amazing home cinema system.

The system

• TV: LG C5 (£1900 / $1999 / AU$3299)
• Soundbar: Sonos Arc Ultra (£999 / $999 / AU$1799)
• Console: Sony PlayStation 5 (£430 / $450 / AU$800)
• 4K Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB820 (£349 / $400 / AU$665)
• Set-top box: Sky Stream (from £15 per month / not available in US or Aus)
• Total price: £3678 / $3848 / AU$6563

LG C5

One of the joys of LG C5 ownership is the ease of set-up.

Quite a few of the best OLED TVs from other brands (we may be looking at you here, Philips) really give of their best only after a thorough rummage around in the settings menus.

While the results are undeniably spectacular once you get things just so, not everyone has the time or inclination to get so hands-on with their TV – and so never benefit from the best it has to offer.

No such worries with this LG.

If you are watching content in 4K (and why wouldn’t you be, whenever possible?), just stick the C5 in Filmmaker mode and you will be set up for some stunningly cinematic images – it’s as easy as that.

Of course, you can tweak things to fine-tune the image, but for most people, most of the time, there is little need.

Our verdict in our review of the C5 says it all really (as one would hope…): “It's probably the best TV for most people, as its exceptional picture quality and uncompromising feature set are certified crowd pleasers. It remains an excellent choice for gamers, too, and its Dolby Vision Filmmaker mode is a major bonus for film buffs.”

We do, however, go on to say, “We wish it had better built-in audio…” This is by no means an unusual complaint for a modern TV, and is still a major issue as far as getting a home cinema set-up to do the name justice.

A flat-panel TV’s sound, in our experience, simply cannot meet the standards of its excellent picture. Which is why you will see in pretty much all our TV reviews the recommendation to invest in a soundbar.

Sonos Arc Ultra

The Sonos Arc Ultra we propose for this system is, simply, the best soundbar on a performance-per-pound basis available. It trumps its multi-Award-winning forebear in every department, which is saying a lot.

If you want Dolby Atmos surround capabilities without having to go down the bulky separates route, this is pretty much the best option now available to you.

The Arc Ultra performs impressively on its own, but there is also scope for upgrading the package by adding a pair of Sonos Era 300s to act as rear surround speakers, and a Sonos Sub in the (relatively unlikely) event that you feel the need to boost the bass performance.

It is the Ultra’s improvements over its illustrious predecessor that really impresses. We wouldn’t have said that the original Arc’s bass was at all a weakness, but the Ultra takes things to a new level, with a tight, tuneful and expressive performance that makes the original sound fairly woolly in comparison.

The extra drivers over the original (the Ultra boasts a 9.1.4-channel configuration, up from the Arc’s 5.0.2) really pay off, with the spatial sound-effect placement particularly impressive.

As we say in the verdict of our full review of the Arc Ultra, when comparing it with the Arc: “It really is quite amazing how much more crisp, spacious, precise and detailed the Ultra sounds.”

The two central parts of this system work brilliantly together, with the sonic abilities of the soundbar beautifully complementing the images of the OLED screen. But what to feed this dynamic duo?

Sony PlayStation 5

It would be remiss not to take advantage of the C5’s gaming capabilities; its full complement of HDMI 2.1 sockets mean it will be future-proofed for many years to come, and can – for the hardcore gamer – deal with both of the current-generation console big boys.

We have selected the PS5 here over the Xbox Series X for a couple of reasons.

First, we think it pips Microsoft’s offering as an overall package; but second, the C5 has a handy trick up its sleeve: you can play Xbox games through the LG’s Xbox app – no console required.

You won’t quite get the performance of a full console, but it’s a really handy and fun way of getting some Xbox action without a large up-front cost.

Panasonic DP-UB820

While streaming is gaining in both popularity and 4K picture quality, we stand by our assertion that the very best performance comes from physical software; so we recommend investing in a Blu-ray player to get the best from this set-up.

If you have a PlayStation 5 with a disc drive, you might be tempted to use the console’s Blu-ray capability. We feel compelled to steer you away from this course of action.

The PS5’s drive is competent, but not up to the standards of the Panasonic DP-UB820 – and it can get almost intrusively noisy in action as well.

Better, we feel, to buy a digital-only PS5, and then invest the savings made towards the Blu-ray player – your TV and sound package deserve the best sources you can give them.

As we conclude in our review of the Blu-ray player, the Panasonic DP-UB820 delivers a hugely immersive and impactful picture, and backs it up with a strong audio performance.

Sky Stream

The final piece of our brilliant home-cinema package comes in the form of the Sky Stream puck.

If you are at all interested in viewing live sports, this is the cheapest way to view them in top 4K HDR quality; if the ultimate picture quality isn’t of such importance to you, you could quite easily forego the Sky Stream, and access Sky Sport and other packages via the TV’s Now app.

Our system verdict

Regular readers will, perhaps, be wondering where the Apple TV 4K – a product that regularly features in our home-cinema systems – has got to.

While the Apple streamer is still the option of choice for the very best video streaming quality you can get, the LG C5’s in-built apps (and it has pretty much everything you could wish for) are very well optimised for quality and perform excellently.

An Apple TV 4K, then, might be an upgrade to be considered in the future, but it is by no means a necessity for this wonderful set-up.

This, then, is a superb home-cinema set-up in its own right – and one that will stand you in good stead for years to come; but, crucially, it is also upgradeable in a number of ways, should the funds and desire arise. And that’s a win/win in anybody’s book.

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Looking for alternatives to any of the components in our system? Then check out our guides to the best TVs, best soundbars and best Blu-ray players

March was another hugely busy month for our home cinema and hi-fi reviews teams.

Over the month we tested everything from new premium OLED TVs to cutting-edge integrated amplifiers.

But, once the dust had settled, just six products impressed our reviewers enough to earn a coveted five-star rating. Here’s what you need to know about them.

JBL Charge 6

The Charge 6 is one of two new JBL Bluetooth speakers to earn a place in this month’s column. A successor to the JBL Charge 5, which our experts have long recommended, it had big shoes to fill.

Thankfully after weeks of testing our reviewers are pleased to report that it’s excellent. Key changes include a new, more intuitive physical button placement, upgraded water-resistance rating and – most importantly – improved sound quality.

During all of our tests, both in our listening rooms and the wild, the Charge 6 delivered a powerful, punchy sound with noticeably more detail than its predecessor. Hence our glowing recommendation:

“You may not feel the need to replace your small army of Charge 5s straightaway (or at least, wait for a good deal), but the Charge 6 has been improved in every way, and it is tempting.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full JBL Charge 6 review

JBL Flip 7

The JBL Flip 7 is the smaller, slightly cheaper sibling of the Charge 6. Like its larger sibling, it has had a wealth of design and hardware improvements.

These include a longer cylindrical design, new button placement and a host of quality of life improvements including the addition of Auracast. This lets you connect the Flip 7 to other compatible speakers wirelessly and run them concurrently in a “party mode”.

But the most important upgrades focus on its audio quality. The speaker now supports up to 24-bit/96kHz lossless audio and features JBL’s new 'AI Sound Boost' tech. This, says JBL, allows the unit to analyse its surroundings and optimise its performance in a bid to deliver a bigger sound and deeper bass.

Does it work? Based on our testing the answer is a firm yes. When compared with its predecessor, the Flip 7 delivers new levels of clarity and significantly more insight. This, along with its skilful handling of dynamics and rhythm, make it one of the best Bluetooth speakers we have tested in its class.

Score: 5/5

Read our full JBL Flip 7 review

LG C5 (OLED55C5)

LG’s C-series of OLED TVs has been a staple sight in our best TV buying guide for many years. The latest LG C5 set to pass through our viewing rooms is a great example of the breed.

It doesn’t have the fancy next-generation 4th Gen OLED panel tech seen on the premium LG G5, but it offers solid improvements on nearly all the areas we care about.

A smattering of improved colour volume in low light? Check. Improved peak brightness levels that make HDR content truly shine? Check. The same flawless gaming features, including four full speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, as previous generations? Check.

The combined package may not make it the best premium OLED TV from a pure performance perspective, but based on our testing it still makes it a fantastic value set that’s more than enough for most people.

Our only real gripe is that LG still hasn’t managed to nail its TVs' audio, so you should really budget for a soundbar if you don’t already own one.

As we say in our review verdict:

“[The C5] is probably the best TV for most people, as its exceptional picture quality and uncompromising feature set are certified crowd pleasers. It remains an excellent choice for gamers, too, and its Dolby Vision Filmmaker mode is a major bonus for film buffs. We wish it had better built-in audio.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full LG C5 (OLED55C5) review

Gryphon Audio Diablo 333

The Diablo 333 is a integrated amplifier from Danish high-end brand Gryphon Audio. It is also something of a historical milestone, being the very first product we have reviewed from the brand, despite Gryphon launching all the way back in 1985.

The hefty 50kg unit continues Gryphon’s ongoing focus on delivering engineering purity and performance to the top end of the market. It comes loaded with a wealth of features and big numbers on its specification sheet to show it means business.

The most eye-catching of these is its ability to deliver 333 watts per channel into an 8 ohm load – which makes it, we think, the most powerful integrated amplifier to pass through our listening rooms in our half-century tenure testing hi-fi.

The focus on purity means the Diablo 333 needs careful partnering as its transparent nature will reveal the shortcomings of any hardware it’s matched with.

Thankfully, when it is partnered well we find it is devilishly good, with the unit delivering excellent stereo imaging and awe-inspiring levels of control and authority during our listening sessions.

Score: 5/5

Read our full Gryphon Audio Diablo 333 review

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Since Sony stopped making movie-focused 21:9 aspect ratio phones, audio performance is usually the main thing that gets us to recommend a handset.

Look at our iPhone 16 phone reviews and that’s undeniably a big part of it. But in March the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra bucked the trend and earned a wholehearted recommendation from our reviewers thanks to its stellar performance as a “home cinema in a hand”.

This is due to its atypical 6.9-inch Dynamic OLED display, which borrows a lot of the AI processing and upscaling smarts usually reserved for the company’s top-end TVs.

The catchily named new ProScaler technology aims to let the phone upscale 1080p content from the likes of Netflix, which mobile apps’ cap at that resolution.

The end result is an image that looks sharper, more accurate and is generally more immersive than the experience you will get on any other phone we have tested..

We would like the phone to have sounded slightly nicer for music, but there’s no denying the new tech works a treat for movie watching even with this minor shortcoming, hence our reviewers’ glowing conclusion:

“Samsung’s new flagship handset is simply begging to be taken on a long-haul flight or lengthy train journey. Its big, bold screen, rich colours and crisp details liken it to a pocketable OLED TV, making it a great companion for portable movie watching.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

Lumin U2 Mini

Music streamers are a growing category in the world of hi-fi. Last month we got a chance to test Lumun’s addition to the growing market, the U2 Mini.

Unlike many streamers, U2 Mini is designed for people who already have a digital to analogue converter (DAC) in their rack.

The reasoning behind this, says the manufacturer, is that most people in its target market will already have a DAC in their CD player or amplifier, so there’s no point doubling up on circuitry.

Beside that, the unit ticks all the boxes you would expect, with support for most mainstream services and hi-res 32-bit/768kHz PCM files and DSD512 playback.

Lumin is making noise about the U2 Mini’s new processing system which has been optimised to much better internal timing accuracy than rival products.

As a continuation of this focus, the unit doesn’t feature wi-fi, so you will need to place it near your router and cable connected to the internet.

That performance-focused, minor caveat aside, it is an excellent performer sonically. Paired with our reference hardware, the streamer delivered balanced, detailed and composed performance that delighted our reviewers.

This plus its intuitive, reliable app and comprehensive file support make it an easy recommendation for its intended audience.

Score: 5/5

Read our full Lumin U2 Mini review

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The LG C5 is the first OLED TV that we have reviewed in 2025, and it kicked the year off with a bang. Its exceptional picture quality and superb specification made it a five-star no-brainer for our reviewers, even if its sound performance was a bit underwhelming.

We are confident that this will be LG's most popular OLED. As we say in our review: "it's probably the best TV for most people, as its exceptional picture quality and uncompromising feature set are certified crowd pleasers." It continues the C-series' legacy of offering a brilliant mid-range OLED experience without breaking the bank, meaning it scores well on our performance-per-pound metric.

While it offers a pretty straightforward plug-and-play proposition that mostly involves sticking it into Filmmaker Mode and feeding it some 4K content (ideally a Blu-ray), there are some settings that we think you should change to ensure you get the best out of your new OLED TV.

1. Turn sharpness down to zero

If you're after an "as the creator intended" experience, the first thing we recommend doing is digging into the picture settings and turning sharpness down in the clarity section. Sharpness is set to 10 as standard; we suggest turning it down to zero.

This will remove most of the additional processing; however, there is some additional sharpness that comes as part of LG's AI picture processing, which cannot be disabled. The good news is that, to our eyes, it appears to be fairly subtle and does a good job of adding a little bit of beneficial sharpness to ensure the picture doesn't look too soft.

That being said, we do wish that LG would allow us to customise the picture manually in its entirety.

2. Try the TruMotion settings

This might sound as though we are contradicting our previous point, but it's worth taking a look at the TruMotion settings if you are finding judder to be an issue on your C5. We were complimentary of the C5's standard motion processing with these settings turned off, but we also found that the Cinematic Movement setting did an excellent job of ironing out any minor hitches we spotted without compromising on authenticity.

We would avoid the Natural and Smooth Motion settings like the plague, but Cinematic Movement doesn't seem to stray into the realm of the overly smoothed, nor does it introduce the soap-opera effect. Instead, the minimal processing it offers strikes a solid balance between addressing minor motion mishaps and not being too intrusive.

The good news with LG's 2025 OLED TVs is that 24fps pulldown now works correctly with motion settings turned off, meaning 24fps content shouldn't have observable judder despite the 144Hz panel featured on the C5. Cinematic Movement specifically targets 24fps content with a subtle amount of motion-processing via frame interpolation.

3. Enable dynamic tone mapping

A big draw of the LG C5 is its improved brightness – alongside some new AI features, one of the few upgrades over last year's C4. However, when watching non-Dolby Vision content in Filmmaker Mode, we found it tricky to appreciate the claimed luminance increase.

Once we delved into the settings, it became quickly apparent as to why this was the case. By default, dynamic tone mapping is switched off, which might be preferable for those looking for a more natural-looking image; but we opted to switch it on during our testing as it adds some much-needed pop to HDR content.

While it won't appeal to everyone, and it does have a very minor knock-on effect to contrast, we think it's a worthwhile tradeoff to achieve the extra punch and brightness that truly allows the C5 to shine.

MORE:

Read our full LG C5 OLED TV review

As well as our LG G5 hands on review

And check out the full 2025 LG OLED TV lineup

We've just reviewed the new LG C5, and as you'll know if you've already read our LG C5 review, it's a great TV.

It takes the C4's great performance and feature set and adds a little more brightness, crispness, and refinement. If the two TVs were the same price, it would be obvious to buy the newer C5.

But they're not the same price. The 55-inch LG C5 is still at its launch price of £1900, while the 55-inch LG C4 has just hit a record-low price of £900 at Amazon.

The C5 is maybe five per cent better than the C4, not £1000 better...

The two things I love most about the C4 are how easy it is to get it to deliver accurate, balanced picture quality and how incredible it is for gaming.

On the first point, you can put the TV into Filmmaker Mode and switch on the ambient light sensor and you'll get a really good picture with almost all content and in almost all kinds of ambient light. The TV will automatically switch to its 'best' Dolby Vision setting when you play appropriate content, too, so there's no extra effort needed there, either.

As for gaming, the C4 is close to unbeatable. All four of the HDMI inputs are 2.1-spec, and they all handle 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. There's also a great HGiG mode that makes it a doddle to get the best out of HDR games, and Dolby Vision gaming is supported. More importantly, games look awesome and play super-smoothly.

The only downside to the C4 is that its sound is pretty poor, but that's a trait it shares with most TVs, including the C5. I heartily recommend using some of the money you're saving with this deal to add one of the best soundbars – many are currently available with big discounts.

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Here are all of the best TV deals currently available

And these are the best TVs

The What Hi-Fi? reviews team finished testing the LG C5 last week.

After comparative testing in our dedicated viewing rooms we gave it a five-star rating and reported:

“LG's latest C-series OLED TV delivers a rich, punchy and crisp image that's easy to enjoy, while its four HDMI 2.1 sockets continue its legacy as a go-to gaming TV.”

This is, of course, good news, as C-series OLEDs have been staple sights in our best TV, best OLED TV, best gaming TV and best 40-inch TV guides for more than half a decade.

It also explains why, if you’re after a new OLED TV, you may well be hovering over the pre-order button on the LG Store.

But before you do, as a reviewer who has helped test every C-series OLED since the line launched, I have one bit of advice: unless you’re an early adopter who insists on only buying the latest model, you are probably better off waiting.

Here’s why.

We don’t recommend new TVs straight away for a reason

What Hi-Fi? always reviews with performance-per-pound in mind. This means that while we have a baseline standard we expect any product to hit if it’s going to get a recommendation, our advice does shift over time.

This is particularly true of OLED TVs, which tend to get hefty discounts once they have been on sale for some time.

This is why, as I noted many moons ago covering this exact debate about the LG C2 and LG C3, we don’t often recommend buying new TVs straight away.

This remains true of the LG C5, which costs a lot more than its outgoing sibling the LG C4 right now.

You can pre-order the 55-inch LG C5 we reviewed for £1900 / $1999 and the 65-inch LG C5 for £2699 / $2699 on the LG Store.

There are benefits to pre-ordering, including a free (three-star) LG USC9S soundbar. In isolation the price is also impressive in that it matches the C4’s launch RRP. Most electronics’ launch prices are going up due to inflation.

But we at What Hi-Fi? would still recommend investing in a discounted LG C4 instead if you need a new OLED this very second.

If you shop around you can find some stellar deals on the C4. For example at the time of publishing the 55-inch LG C4 was selling for just £1099 / $1199 and the 65-inch C5 for £1499 / $1499 on Amazon.

That’s not to say the C5 isn’t better. It delivers higher peak brightness levels and much better colour volume, particularly during low-light scenes. But, for us, it’s not a big enough upgrade to justify that much extra cash.

Even if you’re dead-set on the C5 being your next TV and have no interest in the C4, I would still recommend waiting: C-series OLEDs in particular follow a pattern when it comes to price.

Look at the graph tracking LG C4 prices on Amazon below and you can see that they tend to get their first big discounts at the end of June / start of July.

And they then plummet the year after, when LG announces its new models for the year at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

I expect the pattern to repeat with the C5, so it’s worth waiting. For a couple of months’ patience you could save a lot of money.

MORE:

These are the best LG TVs money can buy

Our picks of the best 65-inch TVs

We rate the best OLED TVs we have tried and tested

If you’ve read any TV product page or advert in recent years, it's likely you will have come across the term “nits”.

The nit is the latest measurement that manufacturers have jumped on as an easy way to communicate a TV’s superiority.

That’s why this year you will see everything from next-generation Mini LED sets to step-down OLEDs throwing big nit counts around, like the Billy Big screens they think they are.

That was certainly the case with the LG C5 I recently helped review with senior staff writer, Lewis Empson. LG is selling the set’s Brightness Booster engine – which does what it says on the tin – as a key reason to buy the C5.

In some ways I get the appeal. As with megapixels on cameras, or clock speeds on CPUs, having an easy to understand “bigger is better” number to differentiate your product from its rivals is a nice thing to have for marketers.

And the nit-count is actually a valid stat in some instances. The short version of what a nit is, is that it's a measurement of luminance. Fun fact: a single nit is roughly the luminance of a single candle.

So having a higher number of nits, when the technology is put to good use, can have a serious impact on operating and peak brightness – two factors that help to inform things such as light detail, contrast and HDR performance.

But the focus here should be on the “when put to good use” part, as it is just one ingredient in the recipe for solid picture quality.

It's a fact that was well showcased by the LG C5 during testing. While the TV is certainly moderately brighter than the LG C4, it wasn’t that part of the picture that made me and Lewis go “wow”.

Rather, it was the combined efforts of a wealth of subtle improvements to the TV’s handling of colour, contrast and general light control that led to one of the most three-dimensional movie-watching experiences we have seen on a C-series to date.

A good example of this came when watching Blade Runner 2049 on our 4K Blu-ray test disc.

During the first scene, we found the C5’s colour reproduction to be improved over the C4, with skin tones in particular looking more pleasant, and colour volume being much better throughout what is an incredibly dark scene.

Key details including wrinkles in the sofa in the near pitch black farmhouse’s lounge retained colour variations lost on the step-down OLED models we reviewed last year.

The combined effect led to much better contrast, with a wider separation and range of colours between the lightest and darkest parts of the picture making everything look more solid, three-dimensional and generally true to life.

As we say in the review:

“Subjects stand out against the background to striking effect, with sharp, yet never over-etched or artificial-looking edges.”

Had LG simply gone brighter and ignored all the other optimisations, the improvements wouldn’t have been as palpable.

So there you have it: in my opinion, the LG C5 is a great example of why you shouldn’t base your next TV purchase purely on its nit count.

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Most of us may be schlepping it back to work, but to help get over those Monday blues, the What Hi-Fi? team has penned a fresh entry into our weekly Rewind news digest.

In it we once again detail the most interesting, and important, developments in the world of hi-fi and home cinema.

It was another big week for the team, with our reviewers finishing the testing of the LG C5 OLED TV, more than a few surprise audio announcements from the Mobile World Congress (MWC) expo in Barcelona, and fresh hi-fi from some big name brands.

Here’s what you need to know.

A bit of music history turned 60

The Moog synthesiser may not be a household name to the masses, but it is a hugely influential piece of music technology that played a key part in many iconic songs – some of which we still use to test hi-fi to this day.

So when it turned 60 last week we couldn't resist the urge to write a celebratory piece detailing our favourite test tracks featuring the Moog.

Read the full story: 7 top test tracks that celebrate the iconic Moog synthesizer

The world’s first wi-fi earbuds appeared

Mobile World Congress isn’t a show you normally associate with audio news, but last week Qualcomm and Xiaomi used the Barcelona show as the launchpad for the world’s first wi-fi earbuds.

The two showed off the new Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro which will be the first buds to feature Qualcomm’s S7 Pro chip.

This is interesting as it features wi-fi connectivity that, in theory, lets the buds stream 4-bit/96kHz lossless audio at a bandwidth of up to 4.2Mbps. That's more than double the bandwidth of Bluetooth 5.

Read the full story: The world's first wi-fi earbuds are here... but there's a catch

We finished testing LG’s latest OLED

Last week our home-cinema reviewers finished testing the new LG C5 OLED TV – which is a direct successor to the Award-winning LG C4.

We have had to hold off giving it a star rating, as we still await final pricing details from LG. Our comparative tests, however, reveal that it is certainly a top performer, offering better peak brightness, colour volume and motion handling than its predecessor.

Read our LG C5 review

Bang and Olufsen revived a retro-classic

Bang and Olufsen unveiled its fifth new collaboration with fashion house Saint Laurent last week.

The Beogram 4000c Series Saint Laurent Rive Droit Edition, says B&O, “reimagines the established Beogram 4000 Series” turntable for a contemporary audience.

While it looks cool, you’ll have to have a surplus of cash and luck on your side to get your hands on this extremely limited edition; the 10 that have been made are set to retail for £27,000 / $30,000.

Read the full story: Bang & Olufsen has given its iconic Beogram 4000 Series turntable a stylish rebirth – but good luck getting one!

Dynaudio promised us "the biggest upgrade in active hi-fi in over a decade"

Finishing off this week’s Rewind, Dynaudio unveiled its new Confidence 20A active speakers.

The Danish audio brand is making some big claims about the new active speakers, claiming they will offer "the biggest upgrade in active hi-fi in over a decade".

We haven’t had them in for testing yet, but they are built on the same foundation as the four-star, passive, Conference 20 we reviewed in 2021, so the punchy messaging has caught our attention.

Read the full story: Dynaudio's Confidence 20A active speakers boast "the biggest upgrade in active hi-fi in over a decade"

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We rate the best OLED TVs

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Since joining What Hi-Fi? I’ve had the good fortune to help test some of the top OLEDs on the market.

Last year this included running the Sony Bravia 8 head-to-head with the A80L and A95L and then doing the same with the LG C4, LG G4 and older LG C3 and LG G3.

And during my latest re-enactment of Groundhog Day, I just did the same in helping test the new LG C5, and have come to one firm conclusion: the step-down OLED market is stagnating.

For the third year in a row, the new C-series OLED from LG is an important but modest upgrade on its predecessor.

Jump over to our 55-inch LG C5 review and you’ll see the key changes are important, but there are only incremental improvements to peak brightness, slightly better colour volume and tweaks to its motion handling.

This means that it is undeniably better than the C4, but not to the point you should think about upgrading if you’re on an LG C3 or above.

Sound familiar? It should. We saw the same modest incremental improvements comparing the C4 to the C3 and Bravia 8 to the A80L last year.

How can you say that and still give so many step-down models perfect five-star ratings and Awards, you ask?

Because despite this they are the best option for most people from a performance-per-pound / dollar perspective.

The sets may not have huge upgrades, but they’re still more than good enough TVs for “most people” and will meet the demands of everyone but the most ardent of cinephiles.

We said as much in our LG C5 review, where senior staff writer and lead tester Lewis Empson reported:

“We are willing to compliment its rich, dynamic and detailed picture, and its practically flawless feature set is still a benchmark in the world of OLED TVs – which means this will likely continue the C-series’ reputation as the go-to recommendation for most people.”

By comparison, as evidenced by TV & AV Editor Tom Parsons’ hands-on preview session with the LG G5, the rate of innovation, particularly around peak brightness, is moving at an astronomical pace in the flagship OLED space.

To summarise, during his demo it was dazzlingly bright and looked incredibly impressive as a result. But with the 65-inch LG G5 retailing for £3300 / $3300, the C5's prices are also mighty.

Which is why we tend to still recommend the step-down OLED models. And unless LG really mucks up and prices the C5 at a much higher RRP than past C-series models, or the G5 knocks it out of the park when we get it in for review, this trend could well continue in 2025.

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These are the best OLED TVs we’ve reviewed

We rate the best 65-inch TVs

Our picks of the best TVs money can buy

This week, I had the pleasure of helping our senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, review the LG C5 – which is undeniably one of this year’s hot-ticket items for home cinema fans.

If you have looked at any of our best TV, best OLED TV, best 65-inch TV or best gaming TV guides in recent years, you’ll know the C-series has been on something of a hot streak.

Since the LG C2, a TV I still use at home, the C-series has carved out a strong record for delivering excellent value for money.

This was showcased last year by the 65-inch LG C4, 48-inch LG C4 and 42-inch LG C4, which all earned perfect five-star ratings from our reviewers when we put them head to head with rivals in our dedicated viewing rooms.

Common positives include flawless gaming specifications, competitive motion-handling and nicely punchy, but authentic picture quality. Which is why I stick by my verdict of the 42-inch LG C4 – and this sums up my experience with most screen-sizes in the range:

“Though its audio isn't the best, it delivers a wonderfully punchy, immersive viewing experience despite its small form factor, with noticeably higher peak brightness than its older rivals.”

And having tested the 55-inch LG C5 with Lewis, I can confirm the new model continues this trend in many ways. We can’t give it a final star rating as we still await final pricing details, but from a performance perspective it lives up to the C-series legacy in two key ways.

First, because it is a small, but clear improvement on the outgoing model. As with the C4 when compared with the LG C3, the C5 is brighter than its predecessor, has slightly improved motion-handling and better colour volume / accuracy.

Throughout testing this let it offer a more immersive, entertaining and warm picture, regardless of what content we threw at it.

Second? Because, like many C-series TVs, its audio performance is distinctly average. Featuring a basic 2.2 in-built speaker arrangement with no subwoofer, the TV’s audio lacks any low-end heft.

Forget our low-end Blade Runner 2049 scene-two stress test; the C5's speakers struggle even with the engine noise of Maverick's motorcycle in Top Gun: Maverick.

There is also no real sense of directionality here, either. It's simply a fact that you will need a proper sound system or soundbar to get a truly great movie-watching experience.

Being fair to LG, this is true of pretty much every TV right now. Go through any of our recent TV reviews and you will almost certainly find some reference, in the audio section, to the need to budget for a sound system.

But the experience of going through the same old pattern on such an otherwise accomplished TV makes me return to a common thought. It's an argument I have made many times before: wouldn’t it be better if the TV didn’t have any speakers?

This is a common practice, of course, with computer monitors. Because you will in all probability invest in separate speakers, or a headset, there is no need to include built-in speakers. So it’s better not to have any, and to charge slightly less.

I’d like to see the same on TVs, with companies making a cheaper, speaker-free version of their sets. This would be an undeniable boon for people who already have decent sound systems, or a cost benefit that could go towards allowing the buyer to reinvest the savings in a soundbar.

Even if the model was only £100 / $100 cheaper, that would still get you a long way towards a Sonos Ray which, trust me, sounds miles better than most built-in speaker systems, including the C5’s.

For me, the move just makes sense, and I wish TV manufacturers would start doing it.

MORE:

These are the best soundbars we have tested

We rate the best surround sound systems

Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

LG’s popular C-series TVs have long been the go-to, easy-to-recommend OLEDs that suit people’s needs and exceed their expectations. Its success is due to a simple yet thoroughly effective formula that pairs exceptional picture quality with an uncompromising feature set, all while undercutting its flagship G-series TVs and mid-range OLEDs from rival brands such as Sony and Panasonic.

It’s no wonder that LG has seen such success with its prior C-series models, but it has been using this formula for quite some time, and with the OLED market constantly evolving to include new panel technology, we can’t help but wonder if LG is resting on its laurels. Clearly, we needn’t worry too much, as the C4 proved to be an improvement over the C3 despite having minimal upgrades on paper, and that also appears to be a similar situation with the C5, which we have before us today.

The OLED55C5 doesn’t feature the flashy new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel of its bigger brother, the G5, nor does it get the MLA OLED technology of last year’s G4, but it’s here to prove that we needn’t write “traditional” OLED TVs off quite yet. And despite having a fairly diminutive list of upgrades over its five-star predecessor on paper – in fact, LG only really highlights a claimed brightness increase and new AI-focused software features – the C5’s under-the-hood upgrades are what really make it another compelling mid-range OLED TV.

Price

The LG OLED55C5 that we have before us today costs £1900 / $1999 (we're awaiting pricing for Australia). That's the same price as its predecessor. While a price decrease would have made this TV a sweeter deal, we certainly prefer this outcome over a higher price tag.

Taking a look at the wider OLED TV market, many manufacturers are still to confirm pricing for their 2025 mid-range OLED models, meaning we can't draw any direct comparisons with the upcoming Philips OLED810 or Samsung's S90F. However, we do have some benchmark TVs from 2024 that we can compare it with, such as the Award-winning Sony Bravia 8.

The 55-inch Bravia 8 launched at a steeper £2199 / $2000 / AU$3495, but it can now be found for closer to £1499 / $1400 / AU$2995. While that price disparity may seem like a slight on the C5, we've historically seen LG OLEDs drop drastically in price during their annual life span. For instance, the 55-inch C4 is now widely available for just £1199 / $1200 / AU$2195, and we expect to see the C5 follow a similar pricing pattern.

Build

It’s a good job that LG nailed the design of its mid-level OLED TVs with 2022’s C2, as it has kept an almost identical aesthetic for the following three generations. We’d struggle to distinguish the last four generations from one another if it weren’t for LG slightly adjusting the colour of the stand each year.

It’s worth noting that the C5 comes in six screen sizes: 42, 48, 55, 65, 77 and 83 inches. The tabletop stand is swapped out for dual blade-style feet on the smallest model, while the largest version is bundled with a wider stand to accommodate the broader frame.

The C5 retains the supremely slender side profile across much of the chassis, with a modest boxout that houses the connections and processing components near the bottom of the rear panel. On the front of the TV, we’re treated to slender bezels around the display and a narrow, central pedestal-style stand that is both stylish and slightly obstructive to those who wish to position soundbars below their TV, due to the fact it tapers outwards.

Moving away from the TV’s chassis, we have LG’s Magic Remote. This has been updated with a new AI shortcut button, and the input button is now a more generalised shortcut to take you to all connected devices, encompassing everything from games consoles and Blu-ray players to smart lightbulbs and LG’s ThinQ-enabled smart home appliances.

Unfortunately, the Magic Remote remains a disappointment, as it still doesn’t feature backlit buttons, and the clunky, plasticky build is beginning to grow tiresome, especially when the likes of Sony and Philips bundle in premium metal remotes with backlit buttons and rechargeable batteries. The pointer function remains, with a Nintendo Wii-style gesture system, which can be useful for inputting passwords, providing you have a steady hand. Those purchasing the C5 outside of the UK are treated to a more streamlined and modernised remote; we can only hope it comes to future LG OLED generations on this side of the pond.

Features

The C5 features a near-identical feature set as its predecessor. That, of course, means four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets capable of handling up to 4K/144Hz signals with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). This has been a noteworthy strength of LG OLED TVs for quite some years now, and it ensures the C5 remains ahead of much of the competition. For reference, we’ve had confirmation that Panasonic and Philips’ respective upcoming 2025 OLEDs will still feature just two of these sockets.

As for panel technology, we’ve already established that there is a new kid on the OLED block, but the C5 is consistent with previous C-series generations by sticking to a WOLED display – none of the fancy new four-stack brightness-boosting panel architecture here. Are we surprised? No, but we can’t help wondering if there was a surplus of unused MLA panels out there that could have found a home in this step-down range or if the now defunct production lines for those panels could have been put to good use.

Regardless, LG claims that the C5 is brighter than its predecessor, though it won’t share exact numbers relating to nits. We do know that its Brightness Booster engine is helping to squeeze every bit of luminance out of the OLED panel, though. As was the case with the C4, there is no heatsink in the C5. It’s worth noting that not all sizes of the C5 are made equal, as the brightness upgrades won’t be felt quite so greatly at the smaller 42- and 48-inch sizes – but we can delve deeper into that when we review those sizes of the C5.

HDR support comes in the expected formats: HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG – it should come as no surprise that the Samsung-derived HDR10+ format is absent. Dolby Atmos immersive audio is also supported via the HDMI eARC connection. As for built-in audio, the C5 features a 2.2 channel 40W speaker system with downward-firing drivers, which is an identical setup to its predecessor.

Powering the C5 is LG’s Alpha 9 Gen 8 processor, which unlocks a plethora of AI-focused features, including an intuitive chatbot system that can help you diagnose and troubleshoot problems with your TV in practically an instant. Want more vivid colours or for dialogue to be clearer? A press of the AI button and a request to boost colours or make speech clearer will fix those issues, and LG has implemented a large language model so that you don’t have to memorise and single out specific commands to achieve the settings you desire.

There is also a nifty voice recognition feature, which also comes courtesy of AI, that allows the TV to switch profiles seamlessly when you speak into the remote. A quick and painless setup process allows you to assign your voice to your profile; from there, you can speak into the remote, and the TV will automatically switch to your profile to show you personalised content recommendations if another person’s home page is currently on screen.

Speaking of the home screen, the C5 uses webOS 25, LG’s latest operating system. It doesn’t appear to be a radical departure from last year’s software version, aside from the aforementioned AI additions and some new gaming-centric apps, such as the Xbox app, which allows you to stream console-quality titles by simply connecting a Bluetooth controller directly to the TV. Elsewhere, the operating system supports a wide range of international and domestic streaming apps, including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX.

Picture

LG made strides in the picture department with the C4, which looked destined to win our TV Product of the Year Award last year before being pipped at the post by the Sony Bravia 8. A large draw of the C4 was its unfussy nature; whack it into Filmmaker mode and feed it some 4K content, and the chances are it would impress – so does the C5 keep this ethos alive?

We’re pleased to report that it does indeed, and while the C5 isn’t worlds apart from its predecessor in terms of picture performance, it’s a simply exquisite TV for watching movies. We stick with Filmmaker Mode (now imbued with the power of Dolby Vision HDR for the relevant content) for our testing, as it remains our preferred picture mode to deliver an accurate and balanced picture. Note: Dynamic tone mapping is switched off by default, and we would highly recommend switching it on for HDR10 content to experience the full brightness upgrade that the C5 offers.

We pair it with our trusty (and sadly discontinued) Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player and plenty of our favourite reference discs including Blade Runner 2049, Top Gun: Maverick and Pan, as well as John Wick: Chapter 4 on Netflix for Dolby Vision testing, and True Grit on Blu-ray to assess the C5’s upscaling capabilities. We also have the Sony A80L on hand as our reference TV to compare the LG too – we know that this isn’t the latest offering from Sony; however, it’s still widely available for purchase, and it remains a five-star TV in our eyes.

Starting with Blade Runner, there is a veritable feast of positive picture attributes. The C5’s colours are rich and punchy yet never look overdone or unnatural. Low light colour volume is a particular strength of the C5, as the tense confrontation between Officer K and Sapper Morton at the start of the film shows us. The dimly lit farmhouse appears atmospherically dingy, however, the brown sofa and orange armchair still feature rich hues and colour variation that our competing Sony set doesn’t quite capture.

This is also evident with skin tones. Both Ryan Gosling and Dave Bautista are presented with lively-looking skin tones, with a touch more red to their cheeks that makes all the difference. Both look slightly washed out and pale on the cooler-leaning Sony, though we suspect that the warmer-toned nature of the LG helps.

The picture's solidity and three dimensionality is also tested with Blade Runner, and we’re pleased to report that the LG is dangerously close to the Sony, which is renowned for its excellent contrast. Subjects stand out against the background to striking effect, with sharp, yet never over-etched or artificial-looking edges.

We’re most intrigued by how the C5 handles the extra brightness, and, unfortunately, there is no better film to explore this upgrade than Pan, which is mastered to a higher than usual nit count. Our testing sequence features a magical pirate ship gliding along a sea and then flying to an island, passing a few suspended bubbles of water on the way. Simply put, the C5 presents this scene with stunning brightness and lavish colours, and while it may not rival the highs of the QD-OLED or Micro Lens Array OLED sets available, it's evident that LG has pushed the limits of ‘traditional’ OLED even further than before.

The centre of each floating bubble of water glows with a vibrant greenish-blue hue, and the sunlight shimmers through the ship’s sails, illuminating the fabric patchwork to striking effect. Our reference Sony set is no slouch here, but in comparison with the C5, it almost looks dull. The combination of higher brightness, punchier colours and sharper details are tough to argue against, and while the Sony can be praised for looking slightly more natural, we think the LG looks more cinematic and engaging.

Rounding out our 4K Blu-ray tests with Top Gun: Maverick, we can assess motion. The LG handles fighter jets and Tom Cruise speeding down the road on his Kawasaki motorcycle with ease, and in our testing the set doesn’t appear to add any judder or stutter at all. It strikes a fine balance between looking natural and effectively combating any noticeable hitches, earning it plenty of brownie points from us.

Moving on to John Wick: Chapter 4 in Dolby Vision on Netflix, we get another insight into how the C5’s extra brightness headroom can impact low-light scenes. In the action-packed portion of the film that takes place in the Osaka hotel, we see a conversation play out on the rooftop under the cover of night. While there is some neon accent lighting in the scene, it's mostly dark, which the LG has no trouble handling. Colours remain punchy, and the subtle lighting illuminates the parts of the actors’ faces that are turned towards the light while casting the remainder in shadow; overall, it looks natural and effective. The Sony, on the other hand, appears to lack finesse, and to our eyes, it overbrightens the faces of the characters to compensate. Pair that with the cooler colour temperature, and faces appear a bit gaunt.

The rest of the sequence looks marvellous on the C5. Dark details are well presented, as we can differentiate between Wick’s black suit jacket, black shirt, and black tie with ease, even in the shadowier portions of the scene. The rich colours and slick motion also mean that the various art fixtures, flashy neon lights and spectacular feats of gun-fu (that's martial arts mixed with guns for the uninitiated) all look as stylish as we’d hope.

Taking things down to HD and SDR with True Grit on Blu-ray, we’re impressed by how much detail the C5 retains. The snowfall at the beginning doesn’t stray into looking fuzzy or blocky, while the fabric textures on the old western outfits are nicely detailed. The enhanced brightness is even apparent here, as the glaring sun beaming down on the Wild West town at the start of the film is replicated with the necessary intensity.

Sound

LG’s C-series TVs haven’t traditionally scored the highest marks when it comes to built-in audio quality, though the company did make some improvements with last year’s TV to make it more competitive amongst its peers from other brands. So, how does the C5 fare?

We deem the C5 to sound merely fine. It delivers dialogue with enough clarity for day-to-day use, and while it's not superbly dynamic, we appreciate that it's making an effort. Voices have some warmth and presence to them, and are outwardly projected enough to make them audible.

There is a semblance of atmospheric effects, with background murmurs in Officer K’s run-down apartment building coming across with decent detail, though we can’t really commend the C5’s upward-firing projection, as height effects seem to stick to the top edge of the TV’s chassis.

What’s really missing is a sense of low-end heft, as the booming Flight To The LAPD track that plays over Officer K’s descent into the dystopian rendition of Los Angeles seen in Blade Runner 2049 feels lightweight. Cranking the volume up to add some more oomph does garner some results, but it also introduces crackling into the mix.

We also can’t really find a nice thing to say about the AI Sound mode, which seems to perform in a way that backtracks the improvements we saw on the C4. It sounds aggressively harsh, with an unpleasantly abrasive edge that makes dialogue and effects sound forced – we’d recommend steering clear.

Ultimately, you’ll want to pair the C5 with a decent Dolby Atmos soundbar if you want a sound to match its impressive picture quality.

Verdict

Now that we know how much it costs, we have no trouble recommending the LG C5. It's probably the best TV for most people, as its exceptional picture quality and uncompromising feature set are certified crowd pleasers. It remains an excellent choice for gamers, too, and its Dolby Vision Filmmaker mode is a major bonus for film buffs.

We wish it had better built-in audio, but considering how often we say this about OLED TVs of this stature, we're not surprised that it misses the mark here. Overall, the C5 delivers everything we were hoping for, even if it's not a generational leap over its predecessor.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 3
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the LG C4

Also consider the Sony Bravia 8

Read our Philips OLED809 review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and affordable flatscreens tried and tested

Philips has announced its new range of OLED TVs, and one of the headline sets is the OLED810. Pitched as a mid-range offering, it's a direct rival to LG's all dominating C-series but it packs Ambilight tech for a more immersive (and spectacular) experience.

Wondering how it stacks up against the latest in LG's C-series, the C5? You've come to the right place. While we've yet to review Philips' model, we have thoroughly put its rival through its paces in our LG C5 review, and can also call our experience with each model's predecessors, plus a deep dive into the specs and features, to offer some early comparative analysis.

Both are set to go on sale later this year. Read on to find out which you should start saving for.

Philips OLED810 vs LG C5: price

Neither Philips nor LG has announced pricing yet, so we'll have to go on previous models' prices to get an idea of what to expect.

The 65-inch LG C4 launched at £2700 / $2699 / AU$4299, while the same-size Philips OLED809 cost £2099 (it's not sold in the US or Australia). The Philips is cheaper at other sizes too: the 55-incher is £1599, the largest 77-inch option goes for £3499, and both the 42- and 48-incher launched at £1399. You can see how much cheaper these prices are than the C4 in the table below.

Obviously these are last year's models, so the 2025 prices won't be exactly the same. And these have come down since launch, so if you can wait a while, you should find the C5 and OLED810 significantly discounted even a short time after launch. But we would expect the 2025 launch prices to be broadly in line with last year's.

Philips OLED810 vs LG C5: design

In terms of design, the LG C5 doesn't do much new. In fact, it looks almost identical to the C4, regardless of which angle you inspect it from. It's still a very slim TV, with the main electronics bulge making up a relatively small part of the rear.

The main new addition is a new Magic Remote, which is slimmer and longer than the previous version yet still retains most of the main buttons and the pointer functionality. Unfortunately, this new Magic Remote isn't coming to the UK, so Blighty-based C5 buyers will be stuck with the old version.

We haven't been up close with the OLED810 at the time of writing, but we do know it has an "ultra-thin, black metal bezel" along with a metal 'pill' swivel stand in a satin chrome finish. This should make accessing the sockets at the back of the TV pretty simple. The 77-inch model has metal 'soap bar' arch feet in satin chrome instead. Which is fair enough – we wouldn't fancy swivelling a TV of that size.

Philips OLED810 vs LG C5: features

By building on the C4's feature set with some notable improvements, we found the C5 to be a mid-ranger to be reckoned with – though we've held back our star rating until a final retail price is available.

It'll come as no surprise to hear that much of the C5's feature set is the same as its predecessor's. It again boasts a standard WOLED screen (although it is brighter than the C4's), with no heatsink or MLA technology (which LG has dropped altogether for 2025). The Brightness Booster feature is, however, lacking from the 42- and 48-inch models, and we don't have concrete figures of exactly how much brighter this model is compared to last year's.

It's equipped for 4K content at refresh rates of up to 144Hz, which will only be of use to hardcore gamers with a suitably hench PC. Those of a PS5 and Xbox Series X bent can use one of the four HDMI 2.1 ports to access 4K/120Hz gaming with VRR and ALLM. You can also play Xbox games without a console using Game Pass.

LG's Alpha 9 AI Processor Gen8 lets you switch profiles using voice recognition, with each user's personalised settings loading straight away. And an AI chatbot can help troubleshoot issues with your TV (because who keeps the manual, eh?).

As is standard for LG TVs, the C5 supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG, but not Samsung's HDR10+ format. Dolby Atmos is also supported via the HDMI eARC connection when paired with a capable soundbar or home cinema receiver.

The jewel in Philips' crown is Ambilight tech, which no other TV maker offers. The OLED810's three-sided Ambilight will match the colours on the screen, spilling light onto the wall behind and making the picture more immersive. It's a divisive technology, but one of which we are fans.

The OLED810 comes in all the same sizes as the C5 bar 83 inches – Philips' step-down OLED maxes out at 77 inches. Its new "higher output OLED_EX panel" promises a peak brightness of 1500 nits at the 55- to 77-inch models.

We can expect plenty of AI skills courtesy of the 9th Gen P5 AI processing. Adaptive Intelligence (which classifies content into different categories using AI) can now learn from additional data such as trained in-frame analyses, META data, source info, full frame analysis and environment sensing to optimise the final picture to match the content more seamlessly.

Colour reproduction is also optimised more accurately using the new AI Adaptive Gamut Enhancer feature. This extends colours to make them more vibrant but without affecting skin tones. It can also be set to different tastes, such as natural, balanced and vibrant.

The game bar has been updated and now has an auto-detection ability for the most popular titles. Gamers can tweak custom settings under their dedicated profile so they can be loaded automatically the next time you play. The game bar also has an enhanced colour helper mode to select colours from a wider palette for more accurate results.

Lastly, you can share phone photos to the big screen more easily using the new Moments App.

Philips OLED810 vs LG C5: picture

Our comprehensive testing of the LG C5 reveals exceptional picture quality that builds upon the strengths of its five-star predecessor. In Filmmaker Mode (now compatible with Dolby Vision HDR), the C5 delivers a balanced, accurate image that requires minimal adjustment to impress. For HDR10 content, enabling Dynamic Tone Mapping (which is off by default) is recommended to experience the full benefit of the C5's brightness improvements.

The C5's colour reproduction is a particular highlight, too, offering rich, punchy hues that remain natural and authentic. Low-light colour volume is especially impressive – dimly lit scenes maintain colour depth and variation where competing sets might struggle. Skin tones appear lively and realistic with a natural warmth that avoids the cooler, sometimes washed-out appearance seen on some competitors.

The LG C5 also demonstrates excellent image solidity and three-dimensionality, with subjects standing out against backgrounds with precise yet natural-looking edges. The brightness enhancements are most noticeable in HDR content with higher nit mastering, where the C5 pushes the boundaries of traditional OLED technology. While not matching the luminance capabilities of QD-OLED or MLA panels, it represents a significant advancement.

Motion handling is another area where the C5 excels, managing fast-moving objects with remarkable stability and without introducing judder or stutter. The set strikes an ideal balance between natural motion and effective processing.

In dark scenes, the C5 maintains excellent shadow detail while preserving colour integrity. Black suits, for instance, show clear differentiation between similar dark tones, even in shadowy environments. Upscaling performance is similarly impressive, with 1080p content rendered with commendable detail and texture.

As for the as-of-yet unreviewed Philips, its AI improvements sound very interesting, and if they can help the OLED810 improve on the OLED809, it should be a delight to the eyeballs.

The OLED809 prioritised wow over authenticity, but if you were willing to spend a bit of time tinkering with the settings, it also delivered a very natural picture. As we said in our review: "during bright scenes the levels of detail, colour accuracy and range the OLED809 offers match if not beat the best OLEDs we’ve tested at this price." Come on, OLED810, don't let us down.

Philips OLED810 vs LG C5: sound

LG's TVs generally don't sound great. Neither do most TVs, but given their stunning picture quality, the disparity seems even worse on LG's sets.

With that in mind, the LG C5 features a 2.2-channel 40W speaker system with downward-firing drivers – identical to its predecessor's audio configuration. In our testing, the C5's sound quality was determined to be adequate but unexceptional. Dialogue comes through with sufficient clarity for everyday viewing, and there's a modest attempt at creating atmospheric effects, though height elements struggle to project beyond the TV's upper edge.

The most notable weakness is bass response, with the set lacking low-end impact during scenes that should deliver substantial weight and presence. Increasing volume can help somewhat but risks introducing distortion. The AI Sound mode proved disappointing, too, introducing harshness that counteracts improvements seen in the C4 model. In fact, What HiFi? Editor in Chief Alastair Stevenson has penned his thoughts on why the LG C5 is a great example of why he wants OLED TV makers to ditch built-in speakers altogether.

In short, as with most of our TV recommendations, you'll want one of the best soundbars to do the C5's excellent picture justice.

The Philips OLED810 features an integrated 70W 2.1 sound system (though this is reduced to 50W for the 42-inch model). A digital crossover controls the distribution to the two-way left and right speakers, plus a dedicated triple-ring, rear-facing bass driver – all supported by four passive radiators. It's a similar arrangement to its predecessor, which we described as "a capable performer".

We look forward to experiencing the OLED810's audio for ourselves, to see how it fares against LG's offering.

Philips OLED810 vs LG C5: early verdict

Based on our thorough testing of the LG C5 and specs of the Philips OLED810, both models appear to offer compelling packages for mid-range OLED buyers. The LG C5 delivers a rich, engaging picture with excellent contrast, natural yet vibrant colours, and improved brightness over its predecessor. Its comprehensive gaming features and intuitive AI enhancements also further strengthen its appeal.

The Philips OLED810 counters with potentially higher peak brightness, the unique Ambilight experience, and historically more competitive pricing. Its enhanced AI processing and more powerful audio system could provide additional value, particularly for those who don't plan to add a separate sound system.

Final judgment awaits full pricing details of both models and testing of the Philips OLED810. For now, the LG C5 has demonstrated that conventional WOLED technology still has room for meaningful improvement, setting a high bar for its competitor to match or exceed.

We'll update this once we've tested both TVs. Stay tuned!

MORE:

Philips unveils its 2025 Ambilight OLED TVs with substantial brightness upgrades and AI aplenty

LG G5 vs C5: what's new with these 2025 OLED TVs?

Check out the best TVs you can buy

January is here which means the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2025) in Las Vegas is well underway, bringing with it a wealth of new home cinema and smidgeon of hi-fi launches.

Live on the ground our team of experts are fighting through the hordes of competing tech press and buyers at the show to get an opening hands on look at all the new tech, which this year includes everything from cutting edge new MicroLED TVs to affordable turntables.

In this live blog we’ll be constantly updating you with all the latest news, images and our team on the ground’s hands-on impressions of the new home cinema and hi-fi products. So make sure to keep checking back regularly!

CES 2025: the biggest home cinema and hi-fi reveals so far

• Onkyo returns to hi-fi with the launch of Icon Series separates
• LG's 2025 OLED TVs unveiled – we've been hands-on with the LG C5
• Hands-on with the Samsung HW-Q990F Dolby Atmos soundbar and Samsung S95F flagship QD-OLED TV
• HDMI 2.2 has been revealed
• Hisense launched the "world's first consumer-ready" MicroLED TV
• Hot-off-the-press is our full Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds review

Live updates

LG’s new OLED TVs came with a few big surprises

CES 2025 kicked off with a big launch from LG, which unveiled its G5, C5, B5 and M5 OLED TVs.

At a technical level the G5 and M5 are in most ways the most interesting. The G5 because it replaces the award winning, brightness boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) screen tech we liked so much on last year’s LG G4 with new ‘Brightness Booster Max’. It’s also the first G-series to be offered with a 48-inch option – a fact that delighted our editor. The M5 is interesting because it’s a new completely wireless OLED from LG that shares most of the core DNA as the G5.

But it was the LG C5 that our intrepid staff writer, Lewis Empson, managed to get an in person demo of at the show. And while it may not a appear to be a huge upgrade on last year’s model based off its specifications, he came away with a positive impression of the set reporting:

"We're looking forward to getting the C5 into our TV testing space to ascertain exactly how much of an upgrade it is over the C4. Signs are pointing in the right direction, with its brighter panel and excellent feature set, but we're also concerned that the C5 is an incremental upgrade, much like how the C3 was to the C2.”

Read his full LG C5 hands-on preview here.

JBL’s Tour One M3 flagship wireless headphones are stuffed full of fancy features

It's Harry here, jumping in to update the live blog as CES 2025 continues to drop products and make earth-shattering announcements at an alarming pace. My fingers can only type so fast...

Some of us (me, mainly) were quietly hoping for the long-awaited debut of the JBL Flip 7 or even the Charge 6 to knock the socks off Bluetooth speaker fans everywhere, but a new pair of wireless over-ears isn't to be sniffed at. The JBL Tour One M3 flagship cans are absolutely stuffed with features and fancy tricks, supporting Bluetooth 5.3 and 24-bit/96kHz high-res audio and packing in 40mm mica cone drivers. Oh, and you get a whopping 70 hours of battery life and a remarkable five hours of juice from a five-minute charge. Incredible stuff.

Perhaps the biggest draw of the new flagship cans is their Smart Tx wireless audio transmitter. Doing the same job as the transmitter found in some of JBL's much-talked-about smart charging cases (see the Tour Pro 3 buds, for example), the Smart Tx enables wireless streaming from a source which doesn't have Bluetooth, such as an in-flight entertainment system or an old telly. Pretty clever, right?

We had an early listen to Samsung’s latest flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar package

Samsung’s 2024 flagship soundbar package, the Samsung HW-Q990D was one of the best surround sound systems to launch last year. Which is why it earned high praise and a five-star rating from our testers and What Hi-Fi? Award.

Which is why we have high hopes for its follow up, Samsung HW-Q990F system which launched this week at CES 2025.

While the system’s design hasn’t had a big refresh Samsung’s loaded a number of key upgrades into the Samsung HW-Q990F – chief of which is the new wireless subwoofer, which has been reduced in size.

Thankfully, having fought past the crowds to have an early listen our team on the ground at the show came away with positive impressions of the unit, reporting:

“It's too early to say, but the Samsung HW-Q990F is already showing signs of being a promising sequel to an Award-winning Dolby Atmos soundbar package.”

Read our full Samsung HW-Q990F hands-on preview.

Onkyo announces its new Creator Series of affordable powered desktop speakers

Onkyo is just one of many brands using CES 2025 as a chance to show off some juicy new tech to the general masses. The Japanese company unveiled its budget Creator Series of desktop powered speakers at the Las Vegas expo, aimed at those users who crave quality and convenience but don’t want to fork out a huge wad of cash in the process. Enter the GX10DB and GX30ARC.

Both sets of speakers pack Class D amplification, with the GX10DB offering 34W of total power against the 50W of the GX30ARC. The GX10DB pairs a 7.6cm woofer with a 2cm tweeter, while the more powerful GX30ARC uses the same tweeter but boasts a larger 10cm woofer instead. That's to be expected, as the latter speaker is the more costly option at $299, a good $100 more than the $199 asking price of the GX10DB.

If you're worried about mounts and stands, don't be. Both new pairs come fitted with a speaker stand/base angled up at ten degrees to take into account your sitting position. You even get a handy remote control as standard and a monochromatic choice of black or white finishes – those icy white examples in the press pics look pretty sharp to us.

Onkyo returns to hi-fi with the launch of Icon Series electronics at CES 2025

Desktop speakers are all well and good, but the big Onkyo news is that the Japanese brand has returned to the world of hi-fi. Hooray! Onyko has also used CES 2025 to launch its new Icon Series of hi-fi separates, consisting of the P-80 network preamplifier, the M-80 power amplifier and the A-50 streaming amplifier. Happy days.

Onkyo filed for bankruptcy back in 2022, so to see them make a triumphant return to the hi-fi realm is extremely gratifying for long-term fans and followers. Now owned by the Premium Audio Company, Onkyo envisions that the Icon Series will continue the company's legacy of "delivering unparalleled audio experiences for audiophiles" as part of the brand's "bold new vision for the future".

Check out our news story for the full-fat details, but we can tell you in our potted version here that all of the new amps are equipped with Onyko's DIODRC tech which looks to reduce higher frequency noise and improve audio signal reproduction for a more authentic sound signature. The trio all feature the same 5mm front panel, and you even get lovely glowing VU meters under glass on the M-80 power amp. Ah, glowing VU meters...

All three newbies will be available in silver or black finishes, but they won't be arriving properly until Q4 of 2025. The Icon P-80 and Icon M-80 will cost $1999 each, while the Icon A-50 will cost $1499, and we'll let you know when we get further pricing for other regions. For now, though, we're excited to see if our wait for the return of Onkyo has been worth it. Fingers crossed!

Samsung’s latest flagship QD-OLED looks swish

The LG C5 is one of many new TVs we’ve looked at in the past 24 hours. Our staff writer, Lewis Empson also elbowed his way into Samsung’s showroom to have an opening look and demo of the Korean firm’s latest S95F flagship QD-OLED.

The TV is the follow-up to the Samsung S95D, which earned a five-star rating from our reviewers last year, and a direct rival to the LG G5, which also launched at CES 2025. The TV has a wealth of upgrades on last year’s model, but the headline upgrade is its new QD-OLED panel. Samsung hasn’t confirmed if the panel is a true new generation of the tech or modest refinement, but it does quote it as being 30 per cent brighter than its predecessor. Considering how bright we found the S95D could run, that's a pretty bold claim.

Viewing conditions at the demo were far from ideal, so we’re holding off any firm judgements for now, but from what we saw, it could be a big upgrade and we’re very keen to get it into our test rooms for the full review treatment.

Read our full Samsung S95F hands-on preview.

TCL wants to fix a recurring problem we have with Mini LED TVs

We had a mixed relationship with flagship Mini LED TVs last year, with most proving good, but not perfect. Which is why at CES 2025 we were pleased to see TCL make steps to fix one big recurring issue we have with Mini LED TVs with its latest QM6K television.

As well as the usual brightness improvements, the TV is set to launch with new Micro OD technology. We haven’t had a hands on with the TV yet, but the tech is interesting as it aims to reduce blooming, or the halo effect, as it’s sometimes called.

This is a distracting screen phenomenon where bright objects on a dark background suffer from an unintended glow effect. The tech works to reduce it by reducing the optical distance between the backlight and diffuser plate – a move that according to TCL improves uniformity by 86 per cent, resulting in a 67 per cent reduction in blooming artefacts.

While those numbers are oddly specific if the tech works this could help fix one of our biggest issues with Mini LED sets.

Read the full story: TCL announces first 'Precise Dimming Series' QD-Mini LED TV at CES

There's a new HDMI specification in town

HDMI 2.2 is official. That's right, if you've been closely following the evolution of the HDMI specification you'll know it's been a while since HDMI 2.1 made its debut - 2017 to be precise. And at CES 2025 we have finally been given more information on the specs of its successor.

So, what can you expect? Faster 96Gbps bandwidth is on the list together with Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), which promises to improve audio and video synchronisation, especially when using an AVR or soundbar. It also priomises support for higher resolutions and refresh rates (although no specifics were shared), alongside more immersive applications such as augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality.

Read the full story: HDMI 2.2 has been revealed – and it could be a big upgrade for next-generation OLED TVs and projectors

Hisense claims it’s made the world’s first “consumer-ready” Micro LED TV

Micro LED panel technology isn’t anything new. Over the past few years we’ve seen everything from giant, whole wall-sized units to transparent concept TVs featuring the panel tech – usually at CES.

But this year, rather than weird gimmicky features to get the headlines Hisense chose to launch what it calls the first “consumer-ready” TV featuring the panel tech. Specifically, it showed off a new 136MX MicroLED TV.

While it doesn’t have a price and there’s no sign it will actually launch or retail at a normal store, the TV is on paper exactly what Hisense describes – a normal TV with a Micro LED panel. The set features a similar CPU to Hisense consumer models, supports standard HDR formats, features regular HDMI 2.1 and eARC inputs and runs on the same VIDAA software as its normal Mini LED sets.

Read the full story: Hisense launches first “consumer-ready” Micro LED TV at CES 2025 – but should OLED be worried?

Technics celebrates its Diamond anniversary by launching new flagship earbuds – and we've already reviewed them

Technics is kicking off its 60th-anniversary celebrations at CES by launching new flagship wireless earbuds, the EAH-AZ100. And thanks to early access, our reviews team has been testing a pair for a month and has already reviewed them. You can read our just-published Technics EAH-AZ100 review, which details how they compare to the premium entries from class leaders Sony and Bose.

The EAH-AZ100 have been redesigned over their predecessors to offer a smaller, more lightweight shape; they sport brand-new Magnetic Fluid Driver technology; and they are packed with features, including Bluetooth Multipoint, Dolby Atmos spatial audio capabilities with dynamic head tracking, and support for the higher-quality LDAC codec, as well as Auracast support.

Technics has been savvy in keeping the price consistent from the previous flagship AZ80 earbuds while offering significant improvements across the board. Is it a gamble that has paid off? Read our EAH-AZ100 review to find out...

Panasonic drops TWO flagship TVs – one Mini LED, one OLED

Panasonic is sticking with the two-pronged approach for its flagship models, giving consumers the choice between OLED and Mini LED panel technology.

You can read the full details of Panasonic's 2025 TVs at CES 2025, written by our TV man on the ground, Lewis, or you can settle for this brief blog bulletin...

The big news for the OLED (Z95B) is that, like the new LG G5, it has dropped MLA-OLED panel technology in favour of the just-announced multi-layer OLED stack panel composition, which Panasonic is calling a "Primary RBG Tandem Panel". The promise is "unprecedented brightness, high contrast, and exceptional colour volume".

The return of the integrated Dolby Atmos sound system (not a common TV feature by any means) sees a supposedly sleeker design and bolstered audio performance.

As for the Mini LED (W95B), we can expect a significant picture upgrade over last year's W95A courtesy of 2.5 times more backlighting zones and more granular control over each LED, a newly developed colour gamut backlight system and the introduction of Hybrid Tone Mapping to enhance HDR performance.

A more budget-orientated LCD (W70) TV is launching exclusively in the US, too.

Read the full story: Panasonic unveils its latest flagship OLED and Mini LED TVs at CES

We took an early look at how the LG C5 compares to the older LG C4 OLED TV

Whenever a new OLED comes out, the more enthusiastic home cinema fans among us always want to know if it’s time to upgrade or how it compares to the previous generation. We only had an opening hands-on look at the LG C5, so it’s way too early to make any final conclusions. But to help offer an early inkling, our team on the ground put together a quick guide detailing the key differences between it and the older LG C4. In it we detail the technical differences and share some of our opening impressions of the C5, which we had a demo of at the CES 2025 LG stand.

Read our full LG C5 vs LG C4 comparison here.

Vicrola launched a new all-in-one vinyl system

Victrola chose CES 2025 as the launch pad for its new Wave all-in-one vinyl system.

Featuring a turntable with an Audio-Technica AT-VM95E cartridge included and stereo Victrola Tempo desktop speakers the system’s all any newbie will need to take their first dip into vinyl. But, as an added perk the system also has wireless smarts, with the package supporting Bluetooth 5.4, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, and Auracast.

While we’re yet to review it, so can’t comment on performance this could make it an enticing bit of hardware for an vinyl curious buyer when it launches in spring this year with a $399 / £399 / €499 RRP.

Kanto Audio's UKI tiny speakers could be a big deal

The What Hi-Fi? team has long championed the need for more small, but awesome sounding speakers as it's currently a very underserved market dominated by KEF and Ruark. Which is why we were delighted to see Kanto unveil its new dinky UKI desktop speakers at CES 2025.

Starting with the obvious, they’re outright tiny measuring in at 6.5in/16.5cm tall and 4.3in/11cm wide. For context that means they’re even smaller than our favourite compact powered speakers, the Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2.

Under the hood they feature a 1/4in (6.35mm) silk dome tweeter and a 3in (7.6cm) concave cone mid/bass drive – sadly there’s no word on amplification ratings yet. On top of that the addition of Bluetooth wireless connectivity as well as RCA line level input, a USB-C port, a subwoofer output and a 3.5mm headphone jack cabled inputs make them fairly flexible.

If they can deliver decent audio this could make them a great option for people short on space, or music fans looking for an affordable set to pair with the MacBook – especially as they’re set to be super cheap and retail for just £199 / $199 when they launch later this year.

Read the full story: These tiny, desktop-friendly speakers aim to offer "exceptional sound clarity" in an affordable package

Hi-fi hit upgraded with AV features and more

Chinese-based audio brand Eversolo is behind some of today's most intuitive, feature-packed and forward-thinking music streamers, and its latest arrival looks to build on the DMP-A6 we awarded four stars to.

The new DMP-A6 Gen 2 brings a smattering of upgrades to the well-designed and decent-sounding streamer, including HDMI ARC and Trigger-out connectivity for easier home cinema integration; an enhanced linear power supply that supposedly reduces noise levels; the ability to wake up the streamer through the app, without manual operation; improved colour accuracy for its six-inch touchscreen; and a "significantly upgraded” XMOS audio chip that can decode native DSD512 and PCM 32-bit/768kHz.

Eversolo certainly seems keen to keep the buzz around its streamers alive, so needless to say it is a brand we're keeping a close eye on.

Read the full story: Eversolo follows up its hi-fi hit with the upgraded DMP-A6 Gen 2 music streamer

If you're thinking about dipping your toe into vinyl this year then Victrola's new Wave budget Bluetooth turntable (above) could be one to consider. It supports Bluetooth 5.4, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, and Auracast and comes fitted with an Audio-Technica AT-VM95E cartridge. The asking price will be $399 / £399 / €499.

Victorla has also announced its new Harmony all-in-one turntable-based system with Bluetooth connectivity and matching speakers. The deck supports 33 ⅓, 45 and 78 RPM and comes fitted with an Audio-Technica ATN3600L cartridge. The whole package can be yours for a ridiculously low $199 / £199 / €249.

Two sets of potentially game changing headphones have caught our eye...

With CES 2025 just beginning to wind down a little, it's time to reflect on the best and brightest offerings from the Las Vegas expo. We saw plenty of budget earbuds and headphones revealed as part of the January showcase, and that's never a bad thing if the quality is up to standard, but it's two rather different, more premium sets that are setting our hearts all aflutter.

The first are the Technics EAH-AZ100, a premium pair of wireless earbuds that, following our recent five-star review, we feel could genuinely go up against the best that Sony and Bose have to offer. They're majestically clean and detailed to the point where we think they have their rivals beaten for clarity and textural insight, and if the Sony WF-1000XM6 are unveiled later this year, that could be a clash for the ages.

The second are the JBL Tour One M3 over-ears, a flagship set of cans that serve up 24-bit/96kHz high-res audio support, active noise cancelling and up to 70 hours (!) of battery life. They've also got the considerable boon of their clever charging "case" audio transmitter which allows audio transmission from "dumb" analogue sources provided they have a 3.5mm connection. They also have Auracast capabilities, something which could open up the Tour One M3 to a massive set of compatible wireless sources if the tech continues to take off.

CES might be winding down, but there's plenty to be excited about in the coming weeks and months, then.

Brands are changing the way they talk about Micro LED TVs

Micro LED concept TVs have been a staple sight at CES for a while. Over the past few years we've seen everything from giant sets measured in meters and feet rather than inches to see through concept sets with the panel tech. But, having done the leg work through the show and chatted to every TV maker we could, we noticed a profound change in the language used about Micro LED. Specifically, for the first time key brands including Samsung and Hisense talked about the tech being "ready".

Read the full story: Two huge Micro LED TVs launched at CES 2025 – could OLED finally get a proper rival?

We had an opening look at how LG’s new flagship OLED compares to its predecessor

The LG G5 was one of the most interesting OLED TVs to come out of CES 2025.

Highlights include a new Brightness Booster Max technology that replaces MLA, completely new AI-focused chipset and atypically small for a flagship 48-inch size option.

Which is why our staff writer, Lewis Empson, took the time to muscle his way past the crowds and take an opening look at it during the show (hands-on preview incoming). Here to help explain its other big differences, and our early impressions of how they impact performance compared to last year’s five-star LG G4, we penned this guide.

Read our full LG G5 vs LG G4 guide.

Our team reveal the best of CES 2025

CES 2025 is coming to a close and our reporters on the ground are packing their bags and preparing for the flight home. But ahead of that they've penned this fantastic guide detailing the top audio and home cinema products they saw at the show. These range from fantastic new Mini LED and OLED TVs to a surprise launch from one of hi-fi's most iconic Japanese brands.

Read the full story: Best of CES 2025: next-generation OLED TVs, 5-star earbuds and a hi-fi surprise

LG’s OLED TVs are comfortably the most popular around, so each new range is hugely anticipated. At first glance, the four-strong 2025 range – which encompasses the M5, G5, C5 and B5 – looks a little uninspiring, with a heavy focus on AI over obvious picture quality improvements.

That’s not the whole story, though, because the new M5 and G5 are described as ‘Brightness Booster Ultimate’ models, whereas the previous M4 and G4 were ‘Brightness Booster Max’ models. While LG Electronics hasn’t specified it, it seems that this refers to the use of a new OLED panel technology that isn’t MLA.

Read on for more detail on that, the upgraded processors, new remote and more, or hop down towards the bottom of the page for a breakdown of the four new models.

New panel technology for even more brightness

MLA OLED technology has only been around for a couple of years, but it seems that LG has already had enough of it. While LG Electronics hasn’t confirmed it (the brand never actually acknowledged its use of MLA in the first place), a combination of industry reports and new performance claims clearly suggests the move to cutting-edge ‘Four Stack’ OLED panel tech for the new G5 and M5. This is said to enable these TVs to hit higher brightness levels and deliver more vibrant colours, and LG Elecronics is referring to it as ‘Brightness Booster Ultimate’.

LG is always a bit obtuse when it comes to quantifying picture upgrades, and it’s no different this year, with no specific nits figures being provided. What the brand has said is that the G5 is three times brighter than the B5 on a 10 per cent window (a white box that is 10 per cent the size of the screen, with the rest of the display black). Assuming the B5 is no brighter than last year’s B4 (and LG has made no claims to the contrary), we should be looking at a peak brightness of about 1800 nits when the TV is in an accurate picture preset such as HDR Filmmaker Mode, and significantly higher when in one of its less accurate and more vivid modes. For reference, last year’s G4 was clocked at about 1500 nits in the same circumstances, so we’re looking at a jump in peak brightness of about 300 nits, even for those of us who value picture accuracy. That’s not to be sniffed at.

LG is claiming an even bigger increase in full-screen brightness (a pure white image that fills the whole display), with the G5 apparently 40 per cent brighter than the G4 in that regard. So it should be able to deliver punchier highlights and be better at accurately reproducing overwhelmingly bright images such as those in the “lots of guns” scene from The Matrix.

There’s a 48-inch version of the G5, but it and the 97-inch model are less bright than their siblings

Exciting news for those who crave the finer things in life but don’t have a capacious living room: in a G-series first, the G5 will be available as a 48-inch model. Before you get too excited, though, it’s worth noting that the 48-inch and 97-inch versions of the G5 lack the new panel technology found in the 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch models, so they will go less bright and will likely be a little less vibrant in their colours. Still, perhaps the 48-inch G5 could challenge for the top of our list of the best 50-inch TVs (which also covers 48-inch models).

So, if the 48-inch G5 lacks the new panel technology, how does it differ to the 48-inch C5? That’s a good question: there’s the picture frame-style ‘Gallery’ design, of course, and a more advanced processor, which will likely result in some picture improvements. Like the larger models, it should have a heatsink, too, which would result in a brighter image, but that needs to be confirmed. We look forward to getting more detail on this new, smaller G5 in due course – and, of course, putting it through its paces in our test rooms.

The M5 is very much like the G5, but wireless

LG’ third-genertion M-series model follows the precedent set by its predecessors by essentially combining the panel technology and processing of the G5 with the Zero Connect Box that wirelessly transmits the picture and sound signals to the display. It is worth noting that the M5 has just three HDMI 2.1 inputs, whereas the other models in the range all have four. It also supports slightly lower refresh rates than the G5.

Speaking of…

The G5 supports 4K/165Hz gaming

With the exceptions of the 48- and 97-inch models, the G5 can handle refresh rates up to 165Hz, up from the 144Hz of the G4 and C4. The C5 and M5 stay at 144Hz, and the B5 at 120Hz.

It is worth remembering that no games console can currently go beyond 120Hz, so anything above that is only of use to gamers with seriously hardcore PCs. VRR is supported on all of the new TVs, right up to their respective maximum refresh rates.

Upgraded processors, but LG is being a bit vague on picture improvements

For the first time in a long time, LG isn’t introducing a brand new TV processor this year, and is instead upgrading last year’s processors. The flagship chip for 2025 is therefore the Alpha 11 Gen 2, which features in the M5 and G5, while the step-down C5 uses the Alpha 9 Gen 8 and the B5 gets the Alpha 8 Gen 2.

Our briefing was rather vague on the improvements coming with these upgraded processors, but LG did hint that the AI Picture Pro feature, which automatically enhances content through a combination of features (AI Super Upscaling, Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro and Object Enhancing by Visual Perception) has been enhanced for 2025.

On the sound front, LG has confirmed that the Virtual 11.1.2-channel upmixing it introduced with last year’s G4 will trickle down to this year’s C-series model, the C5, and that it’s AI Sound Pro mode has a Voice Remastering feature that intelligently boosts dialogue clarity without sacrificing the other elements of a soundtrack.

Heavy focus on artificial intelligence with LG AI TV

LG says it asked ChatGPT what some of the key technology trends for 2025 would be, and it unsurprisingly gave ‘Artificial Intelligence’ as the top result. That seems sort of like asking a dog the same question and getting ‘biscuits’ as the top result, but there we go.

Digging a little deeper, LG then asked what people actually expect from AI, and the top two results were ‘Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity’ and ‘Personalisation’. LG obviously isn’t really using ChatGPT for product development (at least, we hoped it’s not), but it is these areas that LG is focusing its AI attention on in 2025.

The new LG AI TV system has three categories: ‘Recognise You’, ‘Customise to You’ and ‘Care Around You’.

‘Recognise You’ is all about making the TV better at understanding who is using it at any given time. LG’s introduced multiple user profiles for its TVs in 2024, but switching between them was a manual process. The 2025 TVs, though, will have Voice ID, which will automatically switch profiles based on who issues a voice command. So, regardless of who was previously watching the TV, if you ask something such as “what should I watch?”, the TV will recognise your voice and present suggestions specific to you.

‘Customise to You’ refers to the fact that you will be able to customise various facets of the new TVs, from the home screen to the picture and sound settings. Again, these customisations will be specific to each user profile, so one person in the house could favour a vivid image and bassy sound, while another might prefer a more natural picture and more balanced sound. What happens when several people are watching TV together? That sounds like a recipe for a family feud, but let’s see once we get the TVs in for testing.

This personalisation also extends to the AI Concierge feature, which LG introduced last year. Now, with one press of the dedicated AI Concierge button on the remote, the AI Concierge will pop up on-screen and offer personalised suggestions. LG gives the example of a user who does yoga through their TV every morning – if they simply press the AI Concierge button at the start of their day, the pop-up on the screen will ask whether they want to start their yoga program.

LG is also introducing a feature called ‘Your Art’, which allows you to create art or edit photos using AI. Artificial Intelligence is also being added to search results provided by the TV, too, but only in the US and South Korea for the time being.

The final section of the LG AI TV system is ‘Care Around You’, which is focused on an AI Chatbot that is integrated into the TV. This is designed to solve common usage issues that might otherwise have an owner searching the internet or calling customer services, and guide the user to customisations they might want to make. For example, if a user says “make the screen sharper”, the AI Chatbot can offer alternative picture settings that will boost sharpness.

Finally, a new remote control – but not for all

LG is finally retiring its long-standing Magic Remote, and new models will come with the new AI Magic Remote. As you can imagine, AI takes centre stage, with a dedicated AI button sitting right where your thumb will naturally rest. Press this once to bring up the AI Concierge feature or hold it to issue voice commands.

LG says the new remote is also much slimmer and sleeker than the previous model. The reduction in size has been achieved primarily through the removal of the number buttons which, in the era of voice control and streaming, have become far less useful. The new remote does still feature the pointer and scroll functionality of the previous one.

There’s just one catch: LG’s briefing notes that ‘AI Magic Remote is not applied to UK, Italy, Singapore, Thailand’, so it seems that some of us will have to make do with the older remote for a little longer. We have approached LG for comment.

LG 2025 OLED TV range breakdown

So that's the overall technical outlook of LG's 2025 OLED TV range, but what about the specific models? Scroll down for a full breakdown.

LG M5 'Wireless' 4K OLED Evo TV

The third-generation M-series OLED, the M5 is essentially a G5 with wireless technology. Instead of running HDMI cables from your sources directly to the TV, you run them into the Zero Connect box, which then wirelessly transmits the video and sound signals to the display.

It is worth noting that the M5 has just three HDMI 2.1 sockets (every other model in the range has four), and that it can't handle 4K/165Hz signals – but it can handle 4K/144Hz, which is already beyond what most gamers will be able to output anyway.

Like the G5, the M5 is a Brightness Booster Ultimate TV. As discussed, we believe that this is LG Electronics' name for the new Four-Stack OLED panel technology that should result in significant upgrades to brightness and colour vibrancy compared with last year's M4 and G4.

LG M5 specs:

• Sizes: 65-inch, 77-inch, 83-inch, 97-inch
• Display type: Brightness Booster Ultimate (Four-Stack OLED) – except 97-inch model
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: Alpha 11 Gen 2
• Sound: TBC
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x3)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, 4K/144Hz (not 97-inch model), VRR, ALLM

LG M5 launch pricing:

• LG OLED65M5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED77M5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED83M5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED97M5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC

LG G5 4K OLED Evo TV

While it looks very much like the G4 it's replacing, the G5 seemingly features brand-new Four-Stack OLED panel technology, which should result in a brighter and more vibrant picture performance. LG claims that the G5 can deliver peaks that are three times brighter than those of the B5, below, and that it is 40 per cent brighter than the G4 for full-screen brightness.

For the first time, there will be a 48-inch G-series model, though it is worth pointing out that this and the 97-inch model won't go as bright as their siblings, suggesting that they don't have the fancy new panel technology.

The G5 is the only model in the new range to support 4K/165Hz.

LG G5 specs:

• Sizes: 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, 83-inch, 97-inch
• Display type: Brightness Booster Ultimate (Four-Stack OLED) – except 48- and 97-inch models
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: Alpha 11 Gen 2
• Sound: TBC
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x4)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, 4K/165Hz (not 48- or 97-inch models), VRR, ALLM

LG G5 launch pricing:

• LG OLED48G5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED55G5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED65G5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED77G5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED83G5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED97G5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC

LG C5 4K OLED Evo TV

Unsurprisingly, the C5 does not feature the Brightness Booster Ultimate technology of the G5 or M5. Neither does it get the MLA technology of last year's G4. In fact, picture performance upgrades over the C4 are hard to find in LG's pre-release information.

That said, the C5 does have a new Gen 8 version of the Alpha 9 processor, and LG has hinted that this features some of the more advanced processing (particularly of lower-quality signals) that debuted on last year's G4.

It's also worth noting that the C4 looked very similar to the C3 on paper but proved to be a big upgrade in testing, so we're not going to draw any conclusions about the C5 until we've had it into our rooms for comparative testing.

LG C5 specs:

• Sizes: 42-inch, 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, 83-inch
• Display type: Brightness Booster
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: Alpha 9 Gen 8
• Sound: TBC
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x4)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, 4K/144Hz, VRR, ALLM

LG C5 launch pricing:

• LG OLED42C5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED48C5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED55C5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED65C5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED77C5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED83C5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC

LG B5 4K OLED TV

The B5 is LG's entry-level OLED TV for 2025. It features a new Gen 2 version of the Alpha 8 processor found in last year's B4, but otherwise seems very similar to the TV it's replacing.

Again, specs rarely tell the whole story when it comes to performance, so there's every chance that the B5 is more of an upgrade than it at first appears. We will only know for sure once we have a sample in for testing.

It's a shame that LG hasn't seen fit to launch a 42-inch version of the B5, as that would have provided a new entry-point to the OLED range.

LG B5 specs:

• Sizes: 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch
• Display type: 'Standard' OLED
• Resolution: 4K
• Processor: Alpha 8 Gen 2
• Sound: TBC
• HDMI 2.1: Yes (x4)
• Gaming features: 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM

LG B5 launch pricing:

• LG OLED48B5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED55B5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED65B5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
• LG OLED77B5: £TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC

2024 is coming to a close and if you were to ask many of the home cinema team what's top of their Christmas wishlist to Santa… it wouldn’t be the subject of this opinion piece.

For me personally, that remains finding and making friends with Gizmo from Gremlins – don’t worry, I wouldn’t feed him after midnight.

But with the brightness boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) and Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) we’ve seen and been impressed by on numerous flagship TVs this year appearing on step-down models in 2025, such as the fabled LG C5, would be at the very least in our top 20.

There’s a good reason for that. Both technologies are fantastic and help key sets we’ve reviewed including the LG G4, Panasonic Z95A and Samsung S95D deliver wonderfully bright, five-star performances this year.

Not convinced by our five-star ratings alone? Here’s what we said about MLA’s impact on the LG G4:

“LG’s second generation MLA OLED tech improves on all the areas that made the first generation great. Highlights include stellar HDR performance, wonderfully immersive and accurate colours that are consistent from the brightest to darkest parts of the picture, and stellar motion handling.”

And the Panasonic Z95A:

“Playing our tried and tested Top Gun: Maverick 4K Blu-ray disc, the Z95A delivers a wonderfully punchy but truly authentic picture. The added punch of MLA makes the rippling reflections of the sun on the ocean sparkle in a way you simply don’t get on standard OLEDs, adding a wonderful three-dimensionality to the picture.”

The same was true with QD-OLED on the Samsung S95D, where our testers reported:

“Samsung’s latest QD-OLED hero isn’t just better than its already technically impressive predecessor – it’s so much better that it might just be one of those genuine ‘moments’ in TV development that alters traditional thinking about the roles different types of TV technology have in today’s AV world.”

So in summary, they are both very good upgrades that can radically improve an OLED TV’s picture quality. The only downside is that both technologies are still incredibly expensive.

As it stands, any TV with the tech is going to cost you well north of £1500 / $1500, even if you opt for a smaller size. The 55-inch LG G4 is currently selling for £1899 / £2199 on the company’s official store, for example.

Which is why, we’d hoped, after multiple years on the market, 2025 would be the year we’d finally see the two trickle down a price point and appear on the step-down models.

Sadly all evidence suggests this isn’t happening. Jump over to our LG C5 rumour round up and you’ll see the latest sea of “leaks” suggest the C-series is only getting a very modest update to its AI processing. No MLA.

The Samsung S90E’s future is less clear as we haven’t seen any real credible rumours about it, but even the most optimistic reports suggest QD-OLED would at best appear on only a select number of the step down sets. On top of that, those with it wouldn’t be flagged or specially marked by Samsung – meaning if you buy one, it will be a lottery whether it has QD-OLED.

So all in all, it’s not looking good for MLA and QD-OLED coming down in price next year, which is a crying shame. Here’s hoping for 2026…

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It’s typical of this time of year to be retrospective: to look back on the highs and lows of the past 12 months and to pick and (social) post our favourite albums, movies and cultural moments. But it is just as inviting to look forward and, now that the bulk of Christmas Day planning is (hopefully) in the rearview mirror, past the 2024 threshold – whether that's to any anniversaries, planned holidays or new fitness goals. Or, if you are a What Hi-Fi? reviewer anyway, to the most exciting products you are going to be spending time with over the coming months.

Indeed, our hi-fi and home cinema editors have already lined up weeks of newly announced kit for the test team to sink their teeth into after the Christmas break and beyond, and bolstering that lineup will almost certainly be highly anticipated products due to break cover at CES 2025. There’s lots for us – and you, readers – to look forward to…

Technics SL-1300G turntable

Let’s kick off with a biggie that has just arrived at our testing facility and will be one of the first products our test team tackles in January: the latest direct-drive turntable from Technics that sits above the fourth-gen SL-1200GR2 we called “a joy” last year to take its place as the top-tier model in the company’s Grand Class series.

Announced in September at IFA 2024, the SL-1300G will be the testbed for Technics’ Delta Sigma Drive (ΔΣ-Drive) motor control software, which has been developed here to reduce the tiny vibrations inherent in a direct-drive motor design from affecting rotational accuracy. That isn’t the only on-paper highlight, either, with an advanced version of the brand’s staple iron core-less motor, a heavier three-layer platter and a new power supply all coming together to whet our appetite for possibly more Technics greatness. Watch this space in January, folks.

Ruark Sabre-R speakers

Ever since Ruark told us about its planned return to the speaker market, and especially once its Sabre-R speakers and R610 system had indeed been revealed in September, we have been eager to welcome the British company’s latest head-turners to our test rooms.

The Sabre-R, in particular, are certainly high on our reviewing wishlist considering it has been 20 years since Ruark wound down its once-formidable speaker business to concentrate on the radio and music systems that began flourishing in the early noughties. They certainly look the part, and we can only hope they sound it too. Time will tell.

Austrian Audio Full Score One headphone amplifier

Austrian Audio has been the statement newcomer in the headphone market in recent years (for the uninitiated, the company is made up of ex-AKG employees, so the engineering foundation is strong), and while our first tastes of their compelling sonics came via a handful of budget-to-mid-range over-ear headphones, in April we saw it was just as capable in the higher-end space with the “excellent” and “beautiful” The Composer.

The Full Score One is the Vienna-based brand’s debut headphone amplifier and a match for The Composer (and, naturally, other aspirational headphones). Austrian Audio says it was designed to be just as suitable for use at home as it is in high-end studio settings, and that it can handle low-impedance headphones down to 10 ohms as well as high-impedance pairs up to 600 ohms. Could it even be the duo’s ‘better half’? Our full review will go live in January.

Sony WH-1000XM6 wireless headphones

Plenty of high-profile products are expected to launch in 2025, including a third-generation AirPods Pro, a new Apple 4K TV and, dare we say it, a lossless Spotify tier, but top of the anticipation pile are Sony’s next flagship wireless headphones. And when they arrive, we will naturally be one of the first publications to receive a sample and publish a full review.

They will almost certainly be called the WH-1000XM6 (following the naming tradition set in 2017 by the WH-1000XM2) and will replace the current WH-1000XM5. Why the excitement? Because the XM5 remain the best-value noise-cancelling over-ears on the market, and we are as ever excited by the prospect of the benchmark potentially being lifted once more.

Bowers & Wilkins, Sennheiser and Bose have recently come closer than ever to knocking Sony’s WH-1000X model off their perch, so we’re expecting Sony to want to pull away again by squeezing out more performance and, who knows, even filling the gaps in their feature set by offering spatial audio with head-tracking for the first time. aptX support and a more premium design are on our Sony WH-1000XM6 wishlist, too.

VPI Forever Series Model One turntable

VPI has recently introduced a new Forever Series of spinners that, as hinted in the name, sport modular designs that can be upgraded over time. The first turntable in it is the Model One, which is on its way to What Hi-Fi?, ready to spin the new records our reviewers will receive from Santa.

So in addition to (we hope) more of VPI’s performance goodness (its Prime 21+ remains one of our favourite high-end record players), you get the added versatility and future-proofing not many designs offer. VPI says the Forever Series is a ‘platform’ you can work within, allowing certain parts such as the motor drive and platter module not only to be swapped out, serviced and adjusted but also upgraded to Model Two or Model Three specifications when those turntables are released.

Esoteric F-01 integrated amplifier

In March, the K-05XD SACD/CD player came into our test rooms as the first Esoteric product we had heard in years, and it left it with a five-star review and a verdict that read: "Without doubt one of the world’s finest SACD/CD disc spinners." It later received a What Hi-Fi? Award as our favourite Temptation (read: high-end) product we had heard in 2024, too. So you can imagine our haste to review another of the high-end Japanese company’s products, and despite its catalogue featuring, perhaps surprisingly, a handful or so more CD spinners, we’ve gone for something from another part of its eclectic electronics lineup.

What has now arrived at our testing facility, ready to go 12 rounds with our reviews team in the new year, is the F-01, a 30-watt per channel (into eight ohms) Class A amplifier and the superior of two integrateds Esoteric makes. Released around a year ago, the F-01 benefits from the preamp and power amp developments of the company’s flagship Grandioso X Edition designs and is, says Esoteric, the “finest” example of its kind.

B&W Zeppelin Pro Edition wireless speaker

The launch of any addition to arguably the most iconic wireless speaker of the past 20 years is going to prick up our hi-fi editor’s ears – not least one with ‘Pro’ in the name. Indeed, Bowers & Wilkins’ ‘Pro Edition’ Zeppelin will no doubt be winging its way to What Hi-Fi? Towers sometime in early 2025, keen to show our test team how it has improved upon the previous model we reviewed three years ago and called “talented sonically”.

Our only bugbear with that 2021 Zeppelin release was a few holes in the feature set, but the new Pro doesn't appear to share that shortcoming, with streaming features that include AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, aptX Adaptive Bluetooth and the like. Will the Zeppelin Pro Edition be the first in six years to fly higher than the class-leading Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation at this premium price point? We wouldn’t bet against it.

PMC Prophecy speakers

Announced just a few weeks ago, this is another speaker series we hope to take delivery of in the new year. Like the impressive Prodigy range it sits above, PMC’s new Prophecy lineup is stereo- and surround sound-friendly and, of course, another transmission-line design from the British company. (For the uninitiated, this design essentially sees the bass unit’s rearward output being sent along an internal path that absorbs it and uses it to enhance the drivers’ forward output.)

This time, however, that staple transmission-line technology has been significantly honed, as has PMC’s Laminair vent technology. Those supposedly substantial refinements are complemented by all-new drivers across the board. There’s even an interesting-looking flower-shaped waveguide for the midrange cone in the two larger three-way floorstanders.

While we can’t prophesise a verdict, considering how many PMC models have impressed us of late, our hopes here are certainly high.

ProAc Response D20R speakers

It isn’t just brand-new products that we are looking forward to testing next year either. Even though we at What Hi-Fi? review over 150 products every year (and see and hear even more), we sadly can’t review everything on the market! But if something we haven’t been able to review hangs around for a while and becomes successful, it’s likely to pique our interest in its later years. ProAc’s D20R speakers, for example, have been around for a decade and are the company’s best sellers – but we have never reviewed them.

Now that we have them in our testing facility, we will right that wrong early next year. Their price puts them in the firing line of the Spendor A7 that have won multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards, so it’ll certainly be interesting to hear how they fare. We certainly liked the Response D30R when we reviewed them 10 years ago, not to mention plenty of other ProAc models since.

LG C5 OLED TV

LG’s latest C-series OLED TV has become one of – if not the – most anticipated TVs of the year, such has been its consistent success in recent times. The mid-ranger won three of six 2024 What Hi-Fi? TV Awards in its C4 guise this year, so 2025’s successor, which will almost certainly be called the C5, will no doubt look to build on that success – and get one over on Sony’s Bravia rival, which took our most prestigious TV Award (Product of the year) a few months ago.

Micro Lens Array panel treatment and enhanced audio performance are two of the things we want to see from the LG C5 – they would both make the TV a more compelling option in the mid-range OLED market. We should find out what improvements LG has made at CES 2025 in January, although it isn’t until next year’s TVs go on sale around March/April that review samples are sent by manufacturers to AV journalists, so our full review will likely be a few months away still.

Sony Bravia 10 Mini LED TV

Sony surprised us in 2024, choosing not to launch a full new range of TVs headlined by an advanced OLED model, instead releasing only a trio of new sets top-most of which was a Mini LED model called the Bravia 9 (pictured). The flagship was mostly a good surprise – our TV testers called its dazzling brightness and vibrant colours “sensational,” but the fact that Sony’s Bravia 8 OLED was cheaper and actually superior in some aspects of picture quality was the barrier to it getting a five-star rating.

“We're certainly not writing off Sony's new Mini LED backlighting system, as a second-generation version could be truly brilliant,” concludes our Bravia 9 review. We don’t know for certain whether a next-gen Bravia (10) with a second-gen Mini LED system will surface, but if it does, as we think likely, our TV editor Tom Parsons thinks it has the potential to be the TV of the year.

Samsung S95F QD-OLED TV

As with the Sony and LG TVs above, we expect a new Samsung flagship model to surface next year due to the consistent annual refreshes of such TVs, but it hasn’t been confirmed and its model name has only been rumoured. Still, we do have rumours from reliable sources about Samsung’s 2025 flagship S95F, which would be the successor to the superb S95D of 2024 (pictured).

Unsurprisingly, they point to it being another QD-OLED so we can expect more “phenomenal brightness, contrast and colour”, although there could be two surprises: one good and one… not so good. The good news is that the flagship could be extending its size range to 83 inches, but on the flip side are rumours suggesting the model could be subject to Samsung’s ‘OLED panel lottery’ system, which essentially sees one of two panels being used for the same model, with the panel going unspecified.

We await Samsung’s typical TV announcement at CES 2025 next month mostly with anticipation for another fantastic TV but also a sprinkle of trepidation, then.

Fyne F500E speakers

Another two new arrivals at What Hi-Fi? that we cannot wait to crack on with are brand-new speakers – the F5E standmounts and 501E floorstanders from Fyne Audio’s recently announced F500E range. We are always excited by the prospect of good affordable hi-fi, and both models sit on the three-figure price spectrum. Surprising for that price is that their design is built around Fyne’s IsoFlare point source driver, which sees a tweeter placed in the throat of a mid/bass unit and has proven benefits over conventional configurations, such as even dispersion and better time alignment between the two drivers. It was once the preserve of the Scottish company’s premium speakers, but now the trickling-down of the technology means that all of the brand’s current speakers now feature IsoFlare drivers.

The range’s third and fourth models are centre channels, but let’s see how the range fares as hi-fi speakers before we get into their home cinema application.

Dali Epikore 3 speakers

In October, Dali finally took its high-end Epikore offering – which since the High End Munich show in May 2023 had only one member, the Epikore 11 floorstanders – from solo to series status with the launch of two more towers and a standmount. The latter is ready and waiting to be reviewed when our test team gets back from the Christmas break, and should hopefully continue the Danish speaker family’s impressive run of late, most recently carried by the mid-ranging Rubikore 2.

Unlike the Rubikore 2, this higher-ranging standmount sports the same new Evo-K hybrid tweeter module derived from the flagship Kore, marrying that with an 18cm mid/bass paper and wood fibre cone it shares with the range’s Epikore 7 tower.

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday are officially done and dusted for the year. That may be bad news for anyone who didn't find a heavily discounted OLED TV to pull the trigger on.

But, in the cold light of day, after more hours trawling stores and TV price history spreadsheets than I care to count, I’ve been left with one big question – why did the LG C4 get such big price cuts?

Specifically, we say massive, multiple thousand pound savings on pretty much every size of the LG C4 over the Black Friday event. Even at the eleventh hour at 11.59pm yesterday the 42-inch LG C4 was available for £888 on Amazon, a £511 saving on its normal price. Above it the 65-inch LG C4 sold for £1495 at Richer Sounds, a healthy £1204 saving on its normal price.

Why am I calling the C4 out specifically when other sets including the Sony Bravia 8, Panasonic Z90A and Philips OLED809 also got discounts? There’s two reasons.

First, it’s because the C4 had by far the biggest discounts, among all of this year’s step down range. The deepest we saw the 65-inch Bravia 8 fall by was £304, with it retailing for £1799 at Sevenoaks for a brief period over the weekend.

Second, because this isn’t the first time this has happened. The LG C4 has constantly gotten atypically early and deep discounts throughout the year. This started during Prime Day in June, where myself and Home Cinema Editor, Tom Parsons, were outright flabbergasted how much the C4 prices dropped, despite it only launching mere months ago.

So, back to my original question: why is the LG C4 getting such atypically good discounts?

There are a multitude of possible answers. It could be that LG and retailers just want to boost TV sales. 2023 was a bad year, with most analyst houses reporting back to back drops in TV shipments, and even the most optimistic forecast for 2024, including Counterpoint’s latest analysis, suggest OLED is still struggling despite a general recovery holistically.

So it would make sense to use a big name product, like the LG C4 to try and reverse this during big sales events – this would also be true to Black Friday’s origin, with the event originally being designed to help retailers get out of the red and into “the black” (profit).

But, I have a more entertaining conspiracy theory. Specifically, LG wants to clear stock fast as something big is coming next year. Something so big, it expects buyers won’t be in the C4 once it comes out.

In my head, the Award-winning, brightness-boosting micro lens array (MLA) tech LG’s been loading onto its flagship G-series OLEDs since 2023 making its way down to the C-series would be an awesome development.

Based on my experience helping review key MLA OLEDs this year, including the LG G4, Panasonic Z95A and Philips OLED909, that would be amazing news for home cinema fans.

The second generation MLA sets we’ve tested, particularly the G4 and Z95A are both excellent examples how tech can improve picture quality. To catch you up, MLA is a rival to Samsung’s QD-OLED that’s built by LG Display. It uses small lenses to radically boost OLED TV’s peak and max operating brightness. It’s a key reason modern flagships can often go beyond 3000 nits, where even a few years ago they’d struggle to go beyond 700 nits.

This can help radically improve general contrast and HDR performance and is a key step in overcoming OLED’s traditional perceived weakness – its inability to match LED’s brightness levels.

So seeing it trickle down to the C4’s price bracket would be an undeniable boon for home cinema fans that want the best picture possible, but can’t afford to spend £2000-plus on a TV.

Here’s hoping my hunch is right…

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