Best gaming TVs 2024: ideal companions for the PS5, Xbox and PC put to the test

Gaming is rapidly becoming one of the main ways in which most of us use our TVs, which is why, when shopping for your next OLED or affordable LCD, how well it’ll work with your PS5, Xbox Series X/S or PC may be a big item on your tick list.

Aware of this, TV makers have been adding a plethora of new gaming focussed features to their wares, many of which have catchy technical names like VRR and ALLM that you’d traditionally only see on specialist PC monitors. 

Here to help you get the right gaming TV for your specific set-up and budget, our home cinema reviewers have created this list, where we detail the top performing sets we’ve tried and tested. You can get a detailed description of how we test gaming TVs at the bottom of the page. 

The short version is, we run them through a comparative series of tests, where we check if all the features work as they’re supposed to with a current generation console connected. From there we put them through a series of real world checks to see how they perform in key areas, such as latency, picture quality and more – so you can trust our buying advice.

The quick list

Here's a quick breakdown of our picks for the best 4K TVs for gaming with a short summary and some of the key features that each offers. Want more details? Click the photo of the TV to drop down to the in-depth entry.  

Written by

Written by

Tom Parsons

I'm What Hi-Fi?'s TV & AV Editor, and I've been an avid gamer since the days of the BBC Micro. Gaming drives many TV technology enhancements and every TV I've ever bought – from a widescreen Sony Trinitron CRT in 2001 to a 32-inch HD-Ready Toshiba flatscreen for the launch of the Xbox 360 and on to my current 4K OLED – has been chosen with gaming in mind. Specs matter for gaming, so I'm looking for a TV that supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and I also expect very low input lag. Just as important, though, is overall picture quality, which needs to be brilliant but balanced, so that it can do justice to both the punchy, colourful games out there but also those grittier modern blockbusters. TVs that tick all of the boxes are rare, but I consider it my mission (or 'quest', if you prefer) to find them.

The best gaming TV overall

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The 42-inch LG C4 is the overall best option we recommend to gamers. There are quite a few reasons for this. First is the fact its small form factor means it is just about small enough to double as an actual PC monitor, or to use in your study/bedroom, which is where a lot of us do the majority of our gaming.

The second is its awesome stack of gaming features. There’s four full speed HDMI 2.1 inputs around the TV’s side, all of which will let any modern PC, PS5 or Xbox Series X console run at full speed – the latter being helped by the fact it supports the Dolby Vision Gaming HDR, which many sets don’t. 

By comparison, most OLED TVs only have two HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as an eARC, which leads to a lot of cable swapping if you have two consoles and a Dolby Atmos soundbar to connect.

Variable refresh rates and ALLM (auto low latency mode) are also on the cards and let the TV go up to a staggering 4K/144Hz – a fact appreciated by our editor who is a diehard PC gamer with a rig powerful enough to take advantage of the feature. 

As a final perk, webOS supports all the common gaming streaming apps, including GeForce Now and SteamLink, which both ran smoothly during our checks thanks in no small part to the C4’s advanced Alpha 9 Gen 7 processor.

But, third, and most important, the 42-inch LG C4 delivers stellar picture quality, both for gaming and movies. Testing the C4 we found it is a huge step up on its predecessor, the LG C3. Whether it was the moody, dim dystopian cityscape of Blade Runner 2049 or the bright apocalyptic desert of Mad Max: Fury Road, the 42-inch C4 delivered a dynamic, but accurate picture that left us utterly enthralled. 

Hence our reviewers’ conclusion: “The 42-inch LG C4 is the best small OLED TV money can buy right now.”

The only downside is that, like nearly all the sets in this list, you will want to invest in a soundbar as the speakers are very weak, even by inbuilt TV standards – anything with even a sniff of low-end heft drove them to distortion during our checks.

Read the full LG OLED42C4 review

A top tip when buying the C3

A top tip when buying the C3

Alastair Stevenson

The LG C4 is the best small OLED I've personally tested this year, especially for gamers. The small unit features all the connectivity you need to run multiple consoles at full speed with a Dolby Atmos Sound bar attached and impressed me so much, I'm keeping an eye out for one during Black Friday for my home office. Our only big gripe is its weak audio, which is why we recommend investing in a separate soundbar alongside it, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

Best large gaming TV

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If you’re after something a bit bigger, then the 65-inch LG C4 is the TV to get. The TV shares all the same core DNA that makes the 42-inch model great. Four HDMI 2.1 inputs capable of 4K/144Hz are included, making it easy to get multiple current generation consoles, a PC and Dolby Atmos soundbar up and running at full power with no cable swapping required. 

Speaking of PC compatibility, there’s the same 144Hz max refresh rate which, combined with its ALLM and VRR features, will let it play games at an incredibly high number of  frames per second, creating a wonderfully smooth and reactive experience, based on our checks.

WebOS24 and the same Alpha 9 Gen 7 processor are also on board and let you easily run gaming feature apps including GeForce Now and SteamLink with zero issue. 

And on top of all that, though its size means it has a lower pixel density than the 42-inch model, during our side by side checks we found the larger C4 offers improved picture quality in a few key areas. 

Colours, particularly during dark scenes, feel slightly warmer, and the TV offers slightly better light control giving the image more three dimensionality. This small difference was particularly noticeable on horror titles and military online shooters, where the two factors gave a slightly elevated sense of realism. 

Our reviewers’ conclusion says it all:

“The C4 is a surprisingly large upgrade on the uncharacteristically dull C3 of last year. Big improvements to brightness and sharpness make for an image with lots of pop and dynamism, and the rich tone and vibrant colours are a delight – but LG has tempered all of this with realism, consistency and authenticity.”

The only reason it’s not top of this list is that, due to the location most people play games and the lower price, we feel the 42-inch is slightly better for gamers from a performance-per-pound/dollar perspective.

Read the full LG OLED65C4 review

Best cheap gaming TV US

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The 65-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is the best gaming TV on a budget we've tested that's currently available in the US, where the TCL below is unfortunately not available. Though it's missing the ability to play games in 4K/120Hz, considering the amount of screen real estate and its otherwise competitive feature set it's still a strong value option for any PS5 or Xbox Series X/S owner.

For gamers, outside of its price, the big selling point of the Omni QLED is its support for ALLM and VRR, and its dedicated Dolby Vision game mode. ALLM aside, these aren't features we see at this price very often. The 11ms of input lag that we measured also makes it incredibly responsive compared to many of the other gaming TVs on a budget that we've tested at this level.

If that isn't enough to tempt you, it also offers generally decent picture quality considering its price. There's a slight lack of detail in darker areas, and motion can occasionally be a bit smeary, but whether it was Rogue One in Dolby Vision or Blade Runner 2049 in HDR10, the TV offered best-in-class performance for its price. This is why our testers concluded:

"It’s telling that members of our test team, who are spoiled on a daily basis by the latest OLED TVs, agreed that they would be happy to have the Omni QLED at home. There aren’t many TVs at this price that they would say that about."

Best cheap gaming TV UK

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At this price, even a modestly-specced 65-inch TV would look pretty attractive, but this one is that and then some. In fact, it has most of the gaming features you could ask for, making it very attractive to anyone looking to get their gaming kicks on a big screen that costs less.

It's a bit chunkier than a lot of TVs at this size, and not evenly thick throughout, so it's not the neatest proposition if wall-mounting. But the bulk houses plenty of features, including two HDMI 2.1 sockets (out of four total HDMIs) capable of handling 4K games at 120Hz. Its Game Master Pro 2.0 system supports VRR in the AMD FreeSync and ‘basic’ HDMI flavours, and it has ALLM switching so the TV will always turn to its fast-response Game mode when a game source is detected.

There's even a dedicated gaming menu, with helpful signal information and game-specific features such as an Aiming Aid, multiple game picture presets, and the facility to adjust the brightness of dark parts of the picture without overcooking the brightness elsewhere.

And when it comes time for telly? You'll be equally well served, with support for all the main HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, although you do get some minor clouding with some images. Google TV handles the software side of things, and TCL will even gift UK customers who are missing some catch-up services a free Roku streaming stick to fill the gaps.

Add bright pictures, excellent black levels for the price, and a high level of sharpness and clarity, and, even with a subwoofer that can sometimes be a bit buzzy, you've got yourself a gaming TV on a budget that can mix it with the big boys.

Read the full TCL 65C845K review

Best premium gaming TV

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If money is no object and you just want the best TV for gaming available, regardless of cost, then the LG G4 is our current recommendation.

Though it is much more expensive than its C4 sibling, the G4 comes with a few perks. The biggest is the inclusion of LG Display’s micro lens array (MLA) tech. This is a What Hi-Fi? Award-winning technology that helps the LG G4 deliver significantly higher peak brightness levels than its sibling, which has a basic OLED panel.

In fact, during our head-to-head checks we found the tech makes the G4 one of the brightest sets available in general, only being matched by the likes of the Philips OLED909, which also has MLA, and Samsung S95D, which has competing QD-OLED panel tech.

This lets the LG G4 offer a more immersive experience during bright scenes and games, especially in Dolby Vision Gaming HDR. Motion handling and dark detail levels are equally impressive and slightly a cut above what you’ll get on the C4 models featured higher on this list. 

Outside of this, its gaming specific features remain on a par with all LG’s other 2024 OLEDs. There are four full speed HDMI 2.1 sockets on board that can run games in 4K/144Hz if a powerful enough PC is attached, as well as the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S which are capped to 4K/120Hz. 

Hence our testers heaped praise on it, concluding:

The G4 is a clear step forward for LG TVs. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but LG’s second generation MLA OLED tech improves on all the areas that made the first generation great... This plus its excellent suite of gaming features make it a fantastic option for any home cinema enthusiast yet to invest in a next generation OLED.”

The only reason it’s not higher on this list is its price. The picture perks are welcome, but not quite as huge a leap as we’d like to fully justify the disparity in price between it and the C4. This is why we currently recommend the cheaper model to most gamers.

Read the full LG OLED65G4 review

Best Sony gaming TV

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The Bravia 8 is a TV with big shoes to fill as the successor to the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Sony A80L from last year. Thankfully, having put it through its paces against its predecessor and archrival, the C4, we can confirm it’s a fantastic gaming TV, especially for PS5 owners.

Featuring a base OLED panel, the key selling points are its stellar picture quality and best in class (by TV speaker standards) audio. 

If we were going from a raw picture-performance metric the Bravia 8 would be higher on this list. Whether for the incredible black level detail that will make any horror title shine or the wonderful peak bright segments of our tried and tested Pan test disc, the Bravia 8 delivered an authentic but vibrant and immersive picture that delighted our testers. 

The TV’s atypical sound system, which uses Sony’s proprietary Acoustic Surface Audio+, is also the best we’ve experienced on a TV this year. This uses underscreen actuators, rather than traditional speakers, to create a virtual surround sound. During testing we found that, while Sony has undeniably had to sacrifice low-end heft for greater control, the system works a treat, delivering balanced audio with a suitable amount of space between each element of the soundstage. 

This lets dialogue sound much better separated and audible over background noise than rival sets. For gamers. It also does a good job of giving the audio a sense of direction, letting our testers better hear where gunfire and the like was coming from on Atmos/surround-sound capable titles.

So why isn’t it higher on the list? That’s because for gamers specifically there are three minor issues that make the C4 holistically better.

First, the Bravia 8 only has two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as an eARC. So if you have two current generation consoles and a Dolby Atmos soundbar, you will have to do a lot of cable swapping – which is especially annoying as it has feet rather than a swivel stand mechanism. 

Secondly, unlike the C4, its max refresh rate is 120Hz, rather than 144Hz – though being fair, this will only be a problem for PC gamers.

Third, it isn’t available below 55-inches. So if you want to use it as a PC monitor or in a bedroom or study it’ll likely be too big. But even with these caveats it’s still a fantastic OLED TV and one well worth considering if you’re a Sony fan.

Read the full Sony Bravia 8 review

Best Samsung gaming TV

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