Best 4K TV Buying Guide: Welcome to What Hi-Fi?'s round-up of the best 4K TVs you can buy in 2019.
Wondering where to start with a 4K TV? We've done the hard work for you, running the rule over all the major televisions we've tested to sort the wheat from the chaff. Here we're highlighting only the best of the best, so you know you're getting top bang for your buck.
After all, there's no better way to feast your eyes on all the Ultra HD content that's becoming more common - you can now watch it on Amazon, Netflix, Sky Q and BT Sport Ultra HD. Plus you can buy 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays. Basically, there's never been a better time to go 4K.
Below you'll find TVs of various sizes, budgets and technologies: from 43in edge-lit LCD models to 65in OLEDs, we've got a TV for every space and proclivity. So scroll down to find your next telly!
Last year's LG C8 was our TV Product of the Year, and its successor, the C9 is very much in contention for the same Award this year. The panel itself is broadly the same, but extra processing power and AI smarts has brought unexpected picture improvements, making the best even better. Contrast is glorious, colours are rich and vibrant, and detail levels are exemplary. Considering it's around the bottom of the 2019 range in terms of its speaker system, it sounds really rather good, too - although we would, as ever, recommend buying a quality sound system to do justice to the fabulous picture.
Also check out the OLED65C9SLC, which is the same but for the design of the pedestal stand.
Read the full LG OLED65C9PLA review
The Philips 50PUS6703 is a 50 inch TV with 4K and HDR support, as well as Philips' eye-catching Ambilight picture technology, all for less than £450. What’s more, it goes beyond simple specs by offering picture performance that’s genuinely superb for the money. It can be a little bit fussy to use but there's no arguing with the value.
Read the full Philips 50PUS6703 review
Only the very best will do for Samsung. That’s why, despite its 2018 4K flagship being the best TV it had ever produced, with a performance way beyond that of any other backlit set, Samsung fixated on the few flaws that prevented it from winning a What Hi-Fi? Award. Sure enough, the new Q90R QLED is every bit the belter that the Q9FN was, but with practically all of its flaws fixed.
The Q90 is a backlit TV that goes almost as black as an OLED and has OLED-like viewing angles, while retaining its own advantage of greater brightness. It also boasts brilliantly judged colours and excellent dark detail, not to mention an excellent operating system packed with apps. Better than OLED? It's mighty close.
Read the full Samsung QE65Q90R review
Our favourite TV of 2018 is still great and still available. This 55in model started out life at £3000, but can now be yours for well under £1500. The new C9 is better, but the C8 still produces an image that’s wonderfully bright, punchy and detailed, and manages to maintain that black depth and naturalism we've come to love from OLED. At this price, it's an amazing buy.
Read the full LG OLED55C8PLA review
This Sony TV has pedigree, building on the success of previous generations to deliver Award-winning performance. Despite the relatively affordable price there's a fair amount of trickle-down from flagship sets on here, so it's not short of processing power. 4K and HDR is supported, with Amazon, Netflix, iPlayer and more on board, all within an Android TV interface, which is OK if not as impressive as LG's or Samsung's operating systems. HDMI, USB and optical inputs are here, too. But it's the picture that really impresses, most notably in terms of colours and contrast.
Read the full Sony KD-49XF9005 review
What a time for couch potatoes to be alive. This 2018 LG 4K OLED TV can now be yours for just under £1200 - a very attractive price for a television that's capable of delivering such a stunningly good picture. The 55in C8 in this list boasts a more powerful processing engine and does deliver a better picture, but if you're running to a tight budget, this B8 model is irresistible.
Read the full LG OLED55B8PLA review
It can be hard to generate excitement around midrange TVs. But there are rare occasions when they throw up something rather special – a television that combines some of the best features of the top-end with a price that’s affordable to more people. That’s what we’ve got on our hands here. Strong colours, smooth motion processing, impressive black levels. It may not be a bells and whistles OLED, but this Sony LCD set is a great all-round option. And look at that price for a 65-inch screen.
Read the full Sony KD-65XF9005 review
Within the C8's elegant table-top stand lies a wide, recessed and ridged channel that helps direct the sound from the downward-firing speakers out towards the listener. The speakers and the TVs connections (including four HDMIs) are all contained inside a wide, chunky enclosure that takes up around a quarter of the TV’s back panel. There's support for HDR 10 and Dolby Vision, too. Ultimately there's a jaw-dropping level of detail and clarity on show here, with punchy bright whites and colours, good viewing angles, and decent motion processing.
Read the full LG OLED65C8PLA review
Sony's flagship Master Series OLED TV aims to get closer to the content creator's intention than ever before. And it does a mighty fine job of doing so. If the combination of brilliant motion processing, excellent detail levels and impressive upscaling isn't enough to convince you to give this TV an audition, the Sony KD-65AF9 has an extra trick up its sleeve: Its next-gen acoustic surface tech delivers some of the most impressive sounds we've ever heard from a flatscreen TV. You can even use the TV as the centre speaker in a surround sound system thanks to the standard speaker terminals on its rear.
Read the full Sony KD-65AF9 review
It’s strange how a 43in screen TV is now considered on the small side. These days, as TV manufacturers are more concerned with pushing next-gen flagship tellies, we rarely receive anything smaller than 49in for review. The few models we have seen were rather disappointing affairs too – so much so, that we couldn’t find one worthy of a 2018 Award.
This Philips 43PUS6703 is also short of Award-worthy, but it's still one of the best 'small' TVs of the last few years, with a punchy, detailed and natural picture by prevailing standards. Just don't buy it for its HDR performance.
Read the full Philips 43PUS6703 review