The LG C5 is much lighter than it’s rivals, and that’s good news for the environment as well as your back

Features
By published

Lightness has benefits far beyond ease of wall-mounting

The 55-inch LG C5 OLED TV photographed on a wooden stand. In the corner of the photo is a green logo that says 'Sustainability Week'.
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix (Drive to Survive))

LG's C-series OLED TVs are among the best performance-per-pound TVs you can buy. Nothing new there.

But, since 2022, there's been one way in which they trounce their rivals – weight.

The 65-inch version of 2021's LG C1 weighed 32.6kg.

The following year's 65-inch C2, though, was a much fitter 16.5kg.

Weights have crept up a little since then, with this year's 65-inch C5 coming in at 18.8kg, but that's still significantly less than rivals.

The 65-inch Sony Bravia 8, for example, weighs 23.2kg, while the 65-inch Samsung S90F is 22.5kg.

There are obvious practical benefits to this lighter weight – it makes building, moving and wall-mounting the TV much easier – but it's a big deal for sustainability, too.

That's because the lighter a product is, the lower the carbon emissions involved in its transportation.

In fact, LG "expects to lower carbon emissions by 84,000 tons across manufacturing and transportation – equivalent to the CO2 absorbed annually by a 30-year-old pine forest the size of 11,000 football fields".

The lightness of LG's C-series OLEDs is a strong contributing factor to that figure, but so are other initiatives, such as the use of shipping freight over air freight wherever possible.

It's the weight element that really appeals to me, though, because I see it as a real bonus for the buyer as well as one for the environment.

I'd like to see LG's rivals take a similar approach. They all have environmental initiatives of their own, of course, but some weight loss on top would be a bonus for everyone.

Quality has to be maintained, though. The LG C5 is as handsome as it is light, and build quality is very good.

Sound, though, is a weakness, and one wonders how much the thinness and lightness are factors there.

Still, I'd very much likely to see brands such as Sony and Samsung give it a crack.

Here's hoping lightness becomes a TV battleground in the near future.

MORE:

Check out all of our Sustainability Week coverage

Filmmaker Mode isn’t just great for picture quality – it’s great for saving energy, too

Here are the best TVs you can buy right now

Tom Parsons
Tom Parsons

Tom Parsons has been writing about TV, AV and hi-fi products (not to mention plenty of other 'gadgets' and even cars) for over 15 years. He began his career as What Hi-Fi?'s Staff Writer and is now the TV and AV Editor. In between, he worked as Reviews Editor and then Deputy Editor at Stuff, and over the years has had his work featured in publications such as T3, The Telegraph and Louder. He's also appeared on BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Sky Swipe. In his spare time Tom is a runner and gamer.

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.