It's been an incredible year for OLED TVs, with huge leaps in performance having been achieved.
That's primarily down to the arrival of Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology and next-gen QD-OLED panel tech, but it's also thanks to some exceptional improvements in picture processing.
The four best and most important OLED TVs released this year are the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B on the Primary RGB Tandem side, and the Samsung S95F and Sony Bravia 8 II from team QD-OLED.
We've reviewed all four of them, and they are indeed excellent, with each one receiving 5 stars in our reviews.
They're also all now discounted in time for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, and prices are very similar – so which one should you buy?
Having run the 65-inch versions of all four TVs side-by-side, our expert reviews team has ranked them from fourth to first.
Brutal? Most certainly, but our priority is recommending to you the very best TV for your money.
So, let's get to it.
LG G5
To reiterate, all four of these TVs are superb, hence the five-star verdicts across the board, but there is a hierarchy, and in fourth place is the LG G5.
To reiterate, the G5 is an excellent TV. It’s arguably the most dazzling of the test, pushing brightness to occasionally astonishing degrees. It’s sharp, too, and it delivers colours with a nice mix of vividness and realism.
The G5 also boasts the best, most user-friendly smart platform (though we could do without the homescreen ads), and the most comprehensive gaming feature set, thanks to its array of four HDMI 2.1 sockets and support for every gaming feature one could require, including a Dolby Vision game mode.
But the G5 is also the worst-sounding TV on test, and while its earlier black posterisation issues have been fixed, some crushing of shadow detail has been introduced.
Ultimately, though, this is simply an excellent TV that’s beaten by even better competition.
Read the full LG G5 review
Panasonic Z95B
In third place, we have the Panasonic Z95B – another great TV that’s pushed down the rankings by even greater competition.
The Z95B is a big upgrade on the preceding Z95A, not least in the design department, with the new model combining Panasonic’s commitment to having speakers that fire in all directions with a newfound sophistication and slickness.
As ever with Panasonic, though, the Z95B’s greatest strength is its cinematic accuracy, which we find it delivers most appealingly in the True Cinema preset. This delivers a crisp and detailed picture with well-judged contrast and colours, and the shadow detail that the LG G5 misses.
Ultimately, though, while the Z95B is very good in its own right, both the Samsung and Sony are even better in the picture department, and the Panasonic’s sound, while clearly better than that of the average TV, perhaps doesn’t go quite as far as it should, given the bulk it adds and additional cost it presumably incurs.
Read the full Panasonic Z95B review
Samsung S95F
Now we get to the first of our QD-OLED models, and it’s the Samsung that misses out, though only just.
The S95F is a deeply impressive TV. It’s capable of producing awesome brightness and colours, but it’s also got an excellent Filmmaker Mode that combines those abilities with cinematic subtlety and restraint.
This is the best-looking and most stylish TV on test, too, with the excellent One Connect system reducing cable clutter and allowing the display part of the device to be awesomely thin. We feel this looks even better when wall-mounted than the picture frame-style LG G5.
The provision of four HDMI 2.1 sockets means even the most hardcore of gamers are catered for, and the Tizen operating system is packed with apps and pretty slick – though it does take some getting used to if you’re moving from a rival brand or older Samsung.
There are a few little niggles, including a little black crush and some minor oversaturation of reds, and the lack of Dolby Vision support is an ongoing frustration. The sound, too, while quite impressive for an essentially invisible speaker system, isn’t up there with the Panasonic or Sony.
Really, though, the S95F’s only significant problem is the presence of the even more accomplished Sony Bravia 8 II.
Read the full Samsung S95F review
Sony Bravia 8 II
Sony really has come up trumps with the Bravia 8 II.
It’s less of a dramatic upgrade in the brightness stakes than the other TVs here, but it’s beautifully bright in its own right, and it delivers that brightness in just the right way.
Its combination of inky blacks and shadow detail is second-to-none, too, so you get all of the dynamism you expect from OLED without missing anything you’re supposed to see in the gloomiest of movies.
But it’s the way these elements combine with Sony’s awesome processing to produce an image that’s sharper, more solid and more three-dimensional than any rival that is most impressive. And this depth and crispness doesn’t come at the expense of realism or cinematic authenticity. It really is some kind of voodoo that Sony has worked here.
The Bravia 8 II is the best-sounding TV on test, too, so while we do still recommend that you add a dedicated sound system (the Sonos Arc Ultra is a good starting point), those who are determined to use their new TV’s built-in speakers will be much better served by the Sony than any other here.
There are reasons that you might want to go for one of its rivals (two HDMI 2.1 sockets simply won’t be enough for some, for instance), but in terms of picture and sound performance, you really can’t beat the Sony Bravia 8 II.
Read the full Sony Bravia 8 II review
MORE:
Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now
Check out our Amazon Prime Big Deal Days live hub
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
