Black Friday week is upon us. As a consequence, as is the case every year, my inbox has been flooded with questions, many of which share a common theme: is it worth updating your TV during the event?
And I get why. TVs have always been a big ticket item during Black Friday. I still remember watching two men wrestle to get one of a select few flat screen TVs during one of the first Black Fridays I covered, when it was still a physical, in-store event many moons ago…
But this year, the question is a tricky one as the answer is entirely dependent on your personal circumstances and current set-up. Which is why I’ve taken the time to pen this guide offering my personal advice to shoppers this deals season.
It may be worth upgrading your TV if…
If you're still on an entry-level LCD and yet to make the jump to an OLED, or even Mini LED, then 2025’s Black Friday event is a good time to upgrade your set-up, even if you’re on a strict budget.
This is because, while OLED sets justifiably get most of the attention, 2025 has been a great year for mid-range and even entry-level sets – to the point, for the first time in years, we’ve managed to find a five-star, cheap TV worth recommending.
Specifically, the TCL C6KS. Regular readers will know that we’ve struggled to find a sub-£500 / $500 TV to recommend for many years. That’s why last year our best cheap TV guide was nearly entirely populated with four-star sets.
The TCL C6KS changed this when we got it into our viewing rooms earlier this year, with our reviewers uniformly agreeing it’s not only a five-star set, it’s also the best cheap TV we’ve reviewed, period.
The main highlight is its use of a Mini LED panel, which gives it significantly better contrast and HDR performance than the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED – its main rival and our former cheap recommendation.
Trust me, if you’re coming off a basic LCD set from even a few years ago, the C6KS will almost certainly offer a more immersive viewing experience. And with it currently enjoying a Black Friday price cut, letting you grab it for £349 at most retailers (save £71), it’s hard not to recommend it to any buyer on a budget.
My only words of warning are to budget for a soundbar. Even an entry-level option, such as the Sony HT-SF150, will offer better audio quality than its in-built speakers.
Gamers should also be aware it can only run at 4K/60Hz – so current generation consoles won’t feel as smooth or responsive as they do on more expensive sets capable of 120Hz refresh rates.
If you have a little more cash to spare, you should also consider the step-up TCL C7K. This is the middle child in TCL’s line and the Mini LED we recommend to most people, with its panel having more dimming zones, better peak brightness, more accurate colours and a higher refresh rate than the C6KS.
It’s also one of the best Mini LEDs we’ve tested, offering a perfect rung up the ladder for buyers who care about picture quality, but can’t quite justify splurging for an OLED – as evidenced by its What Hi-Fi Awards 2025 win and prime position in our best Mini LED TV guide.
The only downside here is that we haven’t seen a knockout deal on the unit yet. The best we’ve seen is a £50 saving at Currys, that lets you get it for £749. I’d expect it to drop at least another £100 during Black Friday, so it’s one to watch – but not pull the trigger on yet, in my mind.
If you’re currently looking at getting a new OLED model, then my advice is a little more heavily caveated.
If you’ve got a lot of cash to spare and are looking to get a top-end home cinema experience, OLED sets offer the best performance. Even the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed can’t match OLED's pixel level light control, which lets those panels offer perfect blacks.
And if you’re on an old LCD then even step-down OLEDs are worth considering. At the moment the big deals I’ve spotted are on the 55- and 65-inch LG C5. Specifically, you can buy the five-star 65-inch set for £1299 at Richer Sounds. That’s a £1400 saving and the best price I’ve seen on the C5 this year.
If you want something smaller, the five-star 48-inch Samsung S90F has also had a decent discount already, retailing for £828 on Amazon. Though it’s not the best small OLED I’ve tested this year, at this price it’s a very compelling option.
Both sets will offer palpable improvements on any LCD and are well worth considering if you’re keen to get your first OLED this year. But, if you already own an OLED released within the past few years, I have a word of warning.
If you own a recent OLED, hold fire unless you are willing to go flagship
Having helped review some of this year’s top TVs, I’d strongly urge any buyer with an OLED released in the past few years to avoid upgrading to anything other than a flagship.
This isn’t because this year’s step-down models are bad, it’s just that the performance bump you’ll get won’t justify the added expense – I said as much during Prime Day, where I detailed why I still don’t feel the need to upgrade from my LG C2.
Step-down models are getting better, but the improvements are incremental compared to what we're seeing on flagships – a smidgeon more brightness here, slightly better colour volume there etc. None of them have been upgraded to feature next-generation QD-OLED or Primary RGB Tandem OLED TV panels.
These technologies remain limited to flagship level sets. This means that if you want a true, blow-your-socks-off upgrade that you’ll notice straight away, even coming from an OLED, you’ll need to be willing to spend flagship-level money this Black Friday.
If you are, I’d personally recommend the Sony Bravia 8 II. Our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, describes the next generation QD-OLED TV as the best OLED he’s ever reviewed. And having sat in our viewing rooms comparing it to rival flagships, I agree with that sentiment, with it offering the best holistic performance available right now.
And as luck would have it, the Sony Bravia 8 II has already had its price slashed this Black Friday. You can buy the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 II for £1999 at Richer Sounds (save £200). My only word of caution here is that I am expecting it to go down a little more during Black Friday and that my recommendation is only for people on older step-down OLED models.
If you have a flagship released within the past couple of years, I’d recommend holding fire for at least another year – especially with the new RGB Mini LED tech set to launch in 2026 and promising to challenge OLED in the upper echelons of the market.
And that's a wrap on my advice to TV buyers thinking about upgrading during this year's Black Friday. On the off-chance I haven't answered all your questions jump over to our Black Friday 2025 Live Q&A. Drop your question there and I, or one of our other home cinema experts, will endeavour to get back to you ASAP.
Black Friday quick links
- Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
- B&W speakers: save £200
- Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
- Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
- Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
- Denon AV receiver: save £500
- Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
- ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
- Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
- LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
- JBL soundbar: now better than half price
- John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
- Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
- Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
- Sony headphones: now just £29
- TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
- Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
- Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75
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.
