Over the past few weeks you may have spotted a trend on the What Hi-Fi? homepage. Specifically, an increasingly long list of Mini LED TV reviews appearing.
And, while we can safely confirm that OLED TVs remain the dominant force in the upper echelons of our best TVs guide, three in particular have shattered expectations and completely changed our buying advice in the mid-range and affordable areas of the market – especially if you’ve decided to make the jump to Mini LED.
Here’s what you need to know about them.
The TCL C7K is the best Mini LED for most people
TCL didn’t have the best year in 2024, with the TCL C855K, TCL C755K and TCL C655K all earning four-star ratings, placing them firmly in the middle of the pack.
But, this year the brand has come out all guns blazing, delivering some of the finest Mini LED TVs we’ve tested. And while the flagship TCL C8K may dominate the headlines, it’s actually the TCL C7K that impressed us the most.
This isn’t to say the C8K isn't great. We gave it five stars as it is a fantastic performer with better connectivity, more dimming zones and higher peak brightness levels than its step-down sibling, the C7K.
But these benefits don’t quite justify the increase in cost between the two, which is why we think C7K is actually the best option for most people, especially from a performance-per-pound/dollar perspective.
This is especially true given how strong the C7K is when it comes to picture quality. For starters, during our checks the TV proved capable of going explosively bright. But second, and more importantly, it offers radically improved light control.
This was a key weakness we repeatedly flagged reviewing last year’s TCL sets, with their focus on showcasing how bright they could go leading to distracting fluctuations and a slightly flat and pale image, during certain test scenes.
By comparison the C7K looked nicely three dimensional, retaining oodles of contrast and solid dark detail during all our checks. Hence our reviewers' verdict: “Super-aggressive pricing, much-improved Mini LED backlighting and expansive Quantum Dot colour make the TCL C7K a performance-per-pound champ.”
If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, the Sony Bravia 7 has you covered
If you’re looking to spend a little more, or for some reason the TCL C7K doesn’t catch your eye, then we’re pleased to report the Sony Bravia 7 is a top performer and our new recommended mid-range Mini LED TV.
The TV is the step-down option to the firm’s Bravia 9 TV, which remains the “premium” option we recommend in our main best Mini LED TV buying guide.
Despite not featuring as many dimming zones or Sony’s Acoustic Surface audio tech, during our testing the Bravia 7 still managed to impress.
Featuring Sony’s XR Backlight Master Drive panel tech and Quantum Dot colour system, the TV delivers a controlled, balanced, authentic movie watching experience. This makes it a fantastic option for people that primarily watch movies and value an “as the director intended” experience.
Hence our verdict: “The Bravia 7 gets much closer to the quality of Sony’s Bravia 9 flagship than expected and is, as a result, one of the best mid-range TVs available.”
Our only word of caution is for gamers with multiple current-generation games consoles as the set only has two HDMI 2.1 inputs capable of running a 4K/120Hz, one of which doubles as the eARC required to attach a Dolby Atmos soundbar.
Be prepared for a fair amount of cable swapping if you have multiple boxes and an Atmos soundbar, as a result.
Pigs have flown and we’ve found a good cheap Mini LED TV
Finding any good cheap TV worthy of What Hi-Fi?’s hallowed five-star rating is difficult. We’ve chronicled the challenges we face keeping our best cheap TV guide updated with actually good recommendations many times before.
Which is why we were blown away when we found a cheap Mini LED set to recommend last month in the shape of the TCL C6KS.
Despite costing less than £500, the set comes with a capable Mini LED panel that offers solid peak brightness levels.
Thanks to a clear focus by TCL to make the panel never push too hard, it also handles demanding dark scenes surprisingly well, offering suitably consistent blacks and dark detail to keep most movie fans fully immersed in what’s playing out on screen.
As we said in our review: “TCL’s 50-inch C6KS just shouldn’t be as good as it is for this price – it’s hands-down one of the year’s biggest bargains.”
But, be warned, while it is fantastic considering its price, there are a few performance issues. For starters, the set can struggle with motion in movies especially, with an unintended blur effect occasionally rearing its ugly head during testing.
It also doesn’t have any HDMI 2.1 inputs, which means next generation gamers won’t be able to run their consoles at full speed. But for the price, we’d argue these issues are more than forgivable and the C6KS remains the best cheap TV we’ve currently tested, regardless.
MORE:
These are the best 65-inch TVs we’ve reviewed
We rate the best OLED TVs money can buy
Our picks of the best soundbars for movie fans
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