Looking for a small OLED TV? I strongly recommend one above all others right now

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix, Drive To Survive)

If you’re shopping for a small-ish OLED TV during Cyber Monday, I have some good news.

Not one, but three of the best 48-inch OLED TVs I had the pleasure to help review this year have had decent discounts.

Why this set, when we gave this year’s best premium 48-50in TV What Hi-Fi? Award to the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B, not the Samsung? It’s all to do with our hallowed performance-per-pound metric.

We always factor this into our buying advice, and while the Samsung may not be as good at full price, with the Z90B offering a bit more control and generally authentic picture, the Panasonic is currently retailing for £1099 at Richer Sounds (save £400). And at that price, it’s too expensive.

The improvements don’t merit spending that extra £310. The Samsung offers excellent picture quality in its own right, and it has better gaming specifications than the Panasonic, offering four full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs.

The Z90B has only two sockets that can run modern game consoles at full speed – and one of those doubles as the eARC connection required for a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

As we say in our S90F review:

“This is an excellent 48-inch OLED overall – one of the best we have tested, despite the slight colour exaggeration. For your money, you’ll get a bright, punchy, smallish OLED capable of delivering a fun home-movie experience full of pop. Add to this flawless gaming specifications and excellent app support, and you get a TV that we are happy to recommend.”

If you’re wondering why I’m not pushing you to the 48-inch LG C5, over the Samsung, there are two simple reasons. First, the S90F is £110 cheaper, with the 48-inch LG C5 selling for £899 at Amazon.

And second because, having had the two side by side, I can confirm the Samsung offers a slightly better picture. Though it does occasionally overbake colours compared with the C5, the S90F manages to retain colour volume during low-light scenes a lot better than the LG, making it a better option for most movie fans, in our opinion.

If you want a 48-inch OLED TV right now, then, I strongly recommend taking advantage of Amazon’s current deal on the Samsung S90F while stocks last.

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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 Amazon Echo to government cyber security policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi? he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Outside of tech, he has a Masters from King’s College London in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, is an enthusiastic, but untalented, guitar player and runs a webcomic in his spare time.

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