Best OLED TV 2023: the latest and greatest models, rated and ranked

If you're in the market for a premium TV, you're no doubt considering an OLED. In fact, if you've made it to this page, you've quite likely decided that an OLED TV is precisely what you're after. Good choice! OLED's perfect blacks, pixel-level contrast control and near-perfect viewing angles make it an astonishingly good TV technology, and most of the best TVs are OLEDs.

You may have heard that most OLED TVs use panels manufactured by LG, and that's true (it's LG Display rather than LG Electronics, for what it's worth), but that doesn't mean that all OLED TVs are equal. In fact, there are vast differences in the way different OLED TVs perform, partly because LG Display now produces a number of different panels (including super-bright new MLA OLEDs), but also because processing plays an enormous role in a TV's picture performance, from how it handles colours, contrast, sharpness, detail, motion and more.

Then, of course, you've got different HDMI feature sets to consider, and sound quality varies wildly.

And on top of all that, there is now another OLED panel manufacturer in town – Samsung, which is producing QD-OLED panels for use by it and other TV brands.

In short, there's lots of variation in the quality of different OLED TVs, as our extensive, independent testing proves. The good news is that we've whittled down all of those reviews in order to recommend only the very best OLED TVs at a variety of sizes and prices. If it's an OLED TV you're after, you'll find the perfect one below.

Written by

Written by

Alastair Stevenson

Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time he’s covered everything from the launch of the first OLED TV to the long-awaited arrival of HDMI 2.1 connectivity on tellies. An avid cinema fan he's always hunting for the best picture quality possible and loves nothing more than playing with TV that offers the oh so rare "as the director intended" performance we so rarely see these days.

The quick list

You can see a quick breakdown of all the TVs in this list with a short summary of what they’re best at and why we think they’re worth your money in the table below. Or, if you want more detail you can use the skip links to go to our OLED TVs in-depth entry, where we’ll offer more detail about our experience using it.

The best OLED TVs in 2023

Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best OLED TVs in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

Best overall

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Why we recommend it

The Sony A80L is the surprise of the year so far. It's based on 'traditional' OLED technology (i.e. it's not a QD-OLED or MLA model) so we broadly thought we knew what to expect, but it stunned us during our extensive test by offering a picture performance with a near-perfect balance of the spectacular and the subtle. It sounds good by TV standards, too, and the feature set will be strong enough for all but the most hardcore of gamers.

Design and features: The A80L looks very similar to the A80K it replaces, which is fine but the design is starting to look a little bland. It's a little thicker than rivals such as the LG C3, but partly that's down to its actuator-based sound system, which vibrates the whole screen in order to generate sound.

Around the back are four HDMI sockets, two of which are HDMI 2.1-spec and support 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. One of these is also the eARC port, and if you use that to connect a soundbar or AVR you'll have just one left for a games console or gaming PC. The TV also lacks support for Dolby Vision gaming, despite Dolby Vision being present for movies and TV shows.

The A80L uses the Google TV operating system, which packs in practically every app you could want, and the Cognitive Processor XR adds a new XR Clear Image feature, which is intended to be a more intelligent form of upscaling that understands content type and quality and applies processing accordingly so that images look closer to native 4K.

Picture quality: The seemingly effortless way it combines the spectacular with the subtle is quite extraordinary. The neon lights and holographic billboards of Blade Runner 2049’s downtown LA pop from the overall gloom of the city in brilliant fashion, but skin tones are handled with realism-boosting nuance and the seemingly hundreds of slightly different shades of grey that make up the bark of the tree at Sapper Morton’s farm are made clear to see.

The TV’s ability to subtly recreate different shades doesn’t come at the expense of dynamism, and contrast extremes such as the intro text at the start of the film emerge brightly from the pure black background. There’s a rare purity to highlights, too, such as Love’s white jacket and the light panels above her head in the records room of the Wallace Corporation.

All of these qualities combine to make an image that’s brilliantly solid and has a lovely three-dimensional feel. On top of all of this, detail is also outstanding, with clothing textures, skin imperfections and complex patterns all rendered crisply but without artificial definition.

Through our extensive suite of tests, our only complaint is that a bit of dark detail is missing when watching SDR content.

Sound: Through our tests, we find that the A80L sounds a bit bass-light, but that does mean that it stays composed even through our Blade Runner 2049 stress test. That slight lack of bass depth aside, the A80L sounds really rather good by TV standards. Put it in the Cinema sound mode and the spaciousness of the delivery is very impressive, yet this spaciousness combines with the sort of focus that can really only come from having the sound literally coming from the screen.

While flagship sets with discrete speaker systems will sound even better, for a step-down model the A80L sounds very impressive. This should be a strong consideration for anyone with this sort of budget who is determined not to combine their new TV with a dedicated sound system.

Value for money: The A80L is the step-down OLED in Sony's 2023 TV range and is quite aggressively priced for a brand-new TV. It's also been heavily discounted since launch, to a degree that's quite uncharacteristic of Sony. It will still likely cost you £100 or so more than the equivalent LG C3, but we feel it's more than worth that.

Read our Sony XR-55A80L review

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Best cheap and 42-inch

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Why we recommend it

LG's C-series OLED TVs are always the company's most popular, and the 42-inch C3 is the baby of the 2023 range. It's got a slightly less bright panel than the larger C3 models and it doesn't feature MLA or QD-OLED tech (which hasn't yet made it down to this sort of size), but it does boast the same exceptional feature set as well as the best overall picture quality available at this size. It's cheaper than its rivals, too.

Design and features: The 42-inch C3 has a different design to its larger siblings that makes it look more like a monitor or bedroom TV. This makes sense as LG markets it directly to gamers and those living in smaller spaces. 

The big design difference between it and its siblings is that it has two blade-like feet that take up less desk space rather than a pedestal. The positive is that these are easy to move around and take up less space; the downside is that we found there’s less room to place a soundbar under it.

Outside of that, it retains the same core features we love about the C3 range as a whole. Specifically, it features the same Alpha 9 Gen 6 processor as the 65-inch C3 and G3, and identical connectivity, with it sporting four PS5 and Xbox Series X/S-ready HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It can also handle Dolby Vision gaming (right up to 120Hz, in fact) and an HGiG mode for more accurate HDR gaming.

Picture quality: The OLED42C3 features the same panel as other 42-inch OLED TVs such as the Sony XR-42A90K. This panel is less bright than the one used for the best and brightest larger OLED TVs, and that's before you even consider the new MLA and QD-OLED technologies.

That said, it's still more than bright enough for almost all scenarios, and the perfect blacks and pixel-level contrast control make the image exceptionally dynamic. What's more, there is an inherent advantage that 'small' 4K TVs have over their larger brethren – pixel density. Because the pixels are more tightly packed, sharpness is increased, and the crispness of the OLED42C3’s delivery actually makes its 65-inch sibling look a bit soft.

Even against other 42-inch OLEDs that have the same inherent picture traits, the C3 comes out on top. This is a bold, impactful TV that delivers images with superb solidity and dynamism, but it's also very consistent and never makes you aware of the picture processing in play. It's also an absolute doddle to get looking its best – just use Dolby Vision Cinema Home for Dolby Vision content and Filmmaker Mode for pretty much everything else and you're pretty much sorted (though do by all means tweak further to taste).

Sound: LG’s 2023 OLED TVs have generally been very disappointing in terms of sound quality, and the omens weren't good for the 42-inch C3 when you consider that small TVs tend to sound weaker than their larger counterparts.

Sure enough, the small C3 is much less bassy than the 65-inch version, and it goes significantly less loud, too. On the plus side, that does make it less readily provoked into bassy distortion. That makes the Dolby Atmos mode more useable, which is good because it creates a nicely spacious sound, particularly for a TV this size, while also projecting voices effectively.

Unfortunately, the 42-inch C3 still suffers from a rather dull delivery. It's perfectly fine for everyday TV, but it doesn’t have the punch, weight or dynamic range to satisfyingly deliver a movie soundtrack. A soundbar is a must.

Value for money: The 42-inch C3 launched at a higher price than the equivalent C2 did last year, and given its very marginal upgrades, that made it look like slightly poor value for money. However, the C2 has now been discontinued and, conveniently, the C3 has been pretty heavily discounted. The price can fluctuate somewhat, but we have seen it as low as £999, at which price it's superb value. Anything below £1099 is good, particularly when the 42-inch Sony A90K, which is a year older, still regularly costs almost £1500.

Read our LG OLED42C3 review

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The best premium OLED

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Why we recommend it

The TX-65LZ2000B is Panasonic’s flagship OLED, which puts it in direct competition with multiple uber-expensive sets including the 65-inch versions of the Sony A95K QD-OLED, the Europe-only Philips OLED937, the LG OLED65G2 and the MLA-based OLED65G3. But we recommend it over these sets for two key reasons – the industry-leading 'as the director intended it' picture quality and the impressive audio it delivered during our tests. 

If you want a big-screen OLED TV and don’t mind paying a premium, this is the one we currently recommend. It's worth bearing in mind that its successor, the Panasonic MZ2000, is now available, but we haven't yet fully reviewed that model and it's also vastly more expensive than the now-discounted LZ2000, so that remains our premium OLED recommendation for now.

Design and features: Panasonic famously designs its TVs with a pragmatic focus on performance over visual allure. This is why it’s one of the only sets at this price to still have a visible speaker grill. This made some of the experts at What Hi-Fi? favour the competing Sony A95K, which has a cooler design that integrates the TV’s speakers into the screen – yes you read that right.

But from a functiThe reason the Panasonic TX-65LZ2000B is included on this list is that it delivers the most accurate pictures we’ve seen on an OLED this year, making it a perfect choice for cinephiles who want to see movies as the director intended.ts we test outside of LG’s, only two of the LZ2000's four HDMI inputs are 40Gbps HDMI 2.1 sockets that can handle 4K/120Hz and VRR gaming signals. One of these connections is also used for eARC, so if you need that in order to output sound from the TV to a soundbar or AV amplifier, you’ll have just one top-spec input left for a console or gaming PC. That said, buyers of the LZ2000 are perhaps less likely than most to feel the need to add a dedicated sound system.

Picture quality: The reason the Panasonic TX-65LZ2000B is included on this list is that it delivers the most accurate picture we’ve seen on an OLED this year, making it a perfect choice for cinephiles who want to see movies as the director intended.

Whether it was blockbuster movies, such as Blade Runner 2049 and No Time To Die, or popular TV shows such as The Book of Boba Fett and Slow Horses, everything looked completely correct and accurate on the LZ2000B. Our testers were particularly impressed with skin tones, which uniformly looked natural and convincing.

Though some of the QD-OLEDs we tested it against, such as the Samsung S95B and Sony A95K, offered higher brightness during our tests, none held the same authenticity in their image. The same remained true when playing old content – with its advanced upscaling making older TV shows such as Peep Show look sharper and more realistic than any of the other sets on this list. 

Sound: The Panasonic LZ2000B has the best built-in speakers of all of the current TVs we’ve tested. Though the large bar does mean it’s one of the bulkier-looking sets, the audio on offer is a cut above. 

During our checks, we found the Panasonic created a soundstage wider than anything else we’ve experienced on a set this size and price, with effects stretching far to the left, right and above the set. This was particularly noticeable in Blade Runner 2049 where Joi’s disembodied voice is entirely spatially separated from K’s during a scene in his apartment.

The only slight downside is that, like most TVs, its woofers can slightly struggle during difficult scenes. On a couple of occasions, our testers noticed minor, but audible distortion while playing the bass-heavy The Batman. 

Value for money: The Panasonic LZ2000B is a fantastic TV that offers a wonderfully authentic picture for cinephiles who want that 'as the director intended' experience from the comfort of their own home. Its large speaker system is also one of the best on the market, but it is considerably more expensive than the average OLED TV. That said, it has been heavily discounted since launch so represents better value now than it ever has before. It won't be available for much longer, though, so buy soon if you don't want to miss out entirely.

Read our Panasonic TX-65LZ2000B review

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Best 8K

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Why we recommend it

To be clear, broadly speaking we don't recommend that you invest in an 8K TV at the moment. There's practically no 8K content that's worth watching – and none even confirmed as being on the way. But, if you want to use 8K and OLED in the same sentence when describing your TV to friends, the LG OLED77Z2 is the set to get. Featuring a giant 77-inch OLED screen, the Z2 is the only 8K OLED TV we’ve tested – Samsung’s competing QE75QN900B uses a Mini LED panel instead.

Design and features: If you’re looking for a show-stopper TV that screams “I’m the future” and causes envious glances the moment people enter your home, the Z2 isn’t it. In fact, it looks a lot like the LG G2 featuring plastic casework over the panel’s rear and a very utilitarian front with a slightly thicker frame around its screen. The main design difference is that, unlike the G2, the Z2 features attachable feet.

Under the hood, it’s also a different beast to LG’s other models. Though its chip is based on the a9 Gen 5 AI processor seen in the G2 and C2 OLED Evo models, LG says it’s a 'modified', more powerful, 8K version. The set also comes with unique picture algorithms and custom heat dissipation technology – though LG declined our request for details about how exactly that works and is different from the ones seen in its other OLED sets.

Connectivity-wise it is fully stacked. LG’s loaded it with four HDMI 2.1 sockets that are capable of supporting 8K/60Hz signals, should 8K sources ever appear. Like LG’s other sets the inputs also support 4K/120Hz signals from the Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and high-end gaming PCs. Support for VRR and ALLM is also included. 

Picture quality: While there's no worthwhile native 8K content doing the rounds, our testers were very impressed with the Z2’s overall picture quality.

Watching The Batman 4K Blu-ray in Dolby Vision, dark scenes were full of subtle detail lost on many of the cheaper OLED sets we’ve tested. The bright video billboards of Gotham Square also retained their detail and sparkled over the otherwise dark cityscape. Overall the results delivered lovely depth and solidity to the picture.

Running the 4K Blu-ray of Drive, the Cinematic Movement motion processing option handled the film's multiple panning shots with finesse, with our testers reporting no additional artificiality to the picture.

Colours were also well-handled throughout our tests. The only minor issue our reviewers noticed throughout testing was a very gentle boost to the greens of the fields and hills of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, streamed in 4K HDR10 via the Apple TV app, which makes the picture 'just a smidge less authentic' than the results we got on the Sony A95K we ran it against. 

Sound: On paper, the Z2 has the same audio system as LG’s G2. Specifically, it comes loaded with a 60W, 4.2-channel, down-firing arrangement. But bizarrely, actually using it in our test rooms, our reviewers found the Z2 sounded miles better than the G2.

Stress testing it with the bassy opening to chapter two of Blade Runner 2049, in which K flies over LA to the police precinct, the Z2 offered much weightier audio than the G2. This was indicative generally of the extra detail, clarity and directness that made watching movies on the Z2 noticeably more engaging.

Value for money: The LG Z2 is a fantastic TV that offers wonderfully punchy, immersive picture and audio quality. It’s also the only OLED on the market that supports 8K resolutions. But if you were to ask us if it’s good value, our honest answer would be not at the moment. The premium 8K adds makes it the most expensive set on this list, and hard to recommend to anyone but early adopters, due to the shortage of content mastered at its max resolution. But, if you really want 8K and OLED, then it’s the best, and only, option at the moment.

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Best 77-inch

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Why we recommend it

If you have the space for a 77-inch TV and want a wonderfully immersive OLED that doesn’t require you to remortgage your house, the LG OLED77C2 is the one to get.

Based on our testing it boasts all of the stellar features of the 65-inch model C2 and newer C3, but it comes with a larger 77-inch screen. In fact, the only reason we don’t list it as the best overall is that, based on our experience, 77 inches is a little too large for most living rooms and it’s notably more expensive than its 65-inch siblings.

Highlights include the amazing picture quality that’s full of contrast and natural colours, plus the best gaming feature set you’ll find on any 77-inch TV, regardless of price.

Design and features: The LG OLED77C2 shares the same design as the 65-inch model, which is no bad thing. The set has a wonderfully slim profile and is surprisingly lightweight, to the point it can easily be set up without breaking your back, based on our experience. 

Under the hood, it’s powered by webOS 22, which means you’ll have access to pretty much every mainstream streaming app under the sun. The only ones we noticed that were missing were fairly specialist ones such as the horror-focussed Shudder and anime-focussed Crunchyroll. 

It’s powered by the same Alpha 9 Gen 5 processor as the other C2 models, which keeps the UI running smoothly and offers a wealth of features including AI upscaling and support for Dolby Vision IQ.

Connectivity is also equally impressive, with it featuring four HDMI 2.1 sockets with support for 4K/120Hz gaming, VRR and ALLM. Once again, this makes the TV one of the best options for next-generation gamers, with many competing sets even this size being limited to two inputs – one of which is used for eARC, meaning you can only have one console attached to it at any one time without sacrificing performance.

Picture quality: The 77-inch LG C2 offers fantastic picture quality for the money, based on our testing. Colours held a wonderful naturalness with skin tones in The Mandalorian in Dolby Vision looking wonderfully detailed.

This continued with every check we did, with every movie and show we played featuring incredibly deep blacks and wonderfully immersive colours that retained a lovely naturalness that was completely devoid of the exaggeration we see on many cheaper sets.

The only slight downside is that it doesn’t quite match the maximum brightness levels of the G2 when we ran the two head-to-head in our test rooms. This is because the G2 features an additional heatsink that allows its panel to be pushed harder and therefore brighter.

Sound: LG’s C2 line of TVs is excellent when it comes to features and picture quality and for the money, we’ve struggled to find a better overall option that fits most people’s needs. But based on our experience they’re no pack leader in one key area – sound quality.

This remains the case with the LG OLED77C2, which suffers from similar low-end issues to the 65-inch model. During our checks, the drivers began to suffer from an audible buzz when playing particularly bassy soundtrack elements, such as those at the start of chapter two of the Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray or on The Batman. You will want to invest in a soundbar or speaker system if you want the best big-screen movie experience possible.

Value for money: The 77-inch C2 has always been very good value for a TV of its size and ability, but that's even more the case now that it's a year old and has been significantly discounted. There is a replacement model, the 77-inch C3, but you would have to pay a lot more for that and the upgrades are slight. If you're in the market for a 77-inch OLED TV, we recommend going for a C2 while it's still available and discounted.

Read our LG OLED77C2 review

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What we look for in an OLED TV

There's a huge amount to consider when choosing a new OLED TV, but the biggest things are the money and space that you have available.

How big it is: Size really does matter with TVs. Are you looking for a cinema-like experience in your lounge? Then you need to get the biggest OLED TV you can afford. If your budget is limited, it might even be worth sacrificing a little bit of picture quality and some next-gen features for a few extra inches of screen real estate.

Alternatively, you might have a specific size of TV in mind and an appetite for the best picture quality available. In that case, you need to prioritise performance and, if desired, next-gen features (more on which below).

Luckily, OLED TVs are now available in sizes ranging from 42 inches right up to a monstrous 98 inches, so you've got plenty of choice.

Picture quality: Whenever we look at a TV the first thing we check is picture quality. Having a decent OLED panel is only one factor that informs this. The biggest decider, however, is how it's set up and what processing the company making the TV adds to it. That's why there are such big differences between every TV we test, even if many use the same panel.

Sound quality: Are you planning to combine your new TV with a dedicated sound system? You probably should, because most OLED TVs sound only decent, and a picture that's amazing deserves sound that matches. That said, if you're determined to keep things neat and rely on the in-built speakers, check our reviews to make sure that they're good – there are some models that have very innovative and strong-sounding audio solutions.

Gaming features: If you're a gamer, it's also worth considering the next-gen gaming features of your prospective new TV. Xbox Series X and PS5 gamers can gain a competitive advantage on certain games if their TV supports 4K/120Hz, while VRR support can result in a smoother gameplay experience. 

ALLM, meanwhile, simply ensures that you automatically get the best visual experience from both games and movies / TV shows. If you're a more casual gamer or not a gamer at all, you can pretty much disregard these features, and doing so will usually save you a lot of cash.

How we tested OLED TVs

How we test OLED TVs

Testing a TV, OLED or otherwise, is a long and complex process because a modern TV simply does so much. Not only does it need to handle a variety of content resolutions – standard-def, 1080p, 4K and sometimes 8K – and both standard dynamic range and high dynamic range (the latter in a number of formats), all of which need to be specifically tested, it also has a sound system with various advanced settings and a full smart platform. A TV is an all-in-one device in the best sense, but that also makes it a challenging review proposition.

As part of our testing process we manually check that every major app – from Netflix to All 4, Prime Video to Spotify – is not only present, but also outputting in the video and sound formats that it should. Just because there's a Disney+ app doesn't necessarily mean it's working in Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos. In fact, in many recent cases it hasn't been.

We also connect both a PS5 and Xbox Series X in order to establish which advanced gaming features are and aren't supported, and on which of the TV's HDMI ports. Is 4K 120Hz supported? How about VRR? Is there a Dolby Vision game mode? Is there an HGiG preset for more accurate HDR tone mapping? We check all of these things, and measure input lag using a Leo Bodnar device.

We then test the TV's picture quality using a huge variety of content, from old DVDs to the latest 4K Blu-rays and plenty of streamed movies and TV shows in between. Every TV is tested against the best model at its price and size – we have a stockroom packed full of Award-winners for this very purpose.

We don't accept the out-of-the-box settings that a TV comes in either. While we intentionally don't go down the route of professional calibration (you shouldn't have to have your TV professionally calibrated in order to get the best out of it), we do spend hours adjusting settings using a mixture of test patterns and real-world content until we're sure we're getting the best out of a TV so that it has the best chance to shine.

While we almost always advise that a new TV is combined with a dedicated sound system such as a soundbar or AV amplifier, many people still prefer to stick with their flatscreen's built-in speakers, so we thoroughly test these too, using a wide variety of movie and music content and with great attention spent on the TV's many processing modes and individual settings.

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London, Bath and Reading, where our team of expert reviewers do all of our testing. This gives us complete control over the testing process, ensuring consistency. What's more, all review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole rather than an individual reviewer, again helping to ensure consistency and avoid any personal preference.

The What Hi-Fi? team has more than 100 years experience of reviewing, testing and writing about consumer electronics.

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