As Black Friday approaches, there's one question on the minds of savvy TV buyers: will there be any great deals on the LG C5?
It's little wonder there's so much interest in the C5.
LG's C-series OLED TVs have long been the benchmark when it comes to the combination of performance, features and price, and this year's C5 is a real upgrade on last year's C4 – at least in the larger sizes.
All sizes of the C5 have already seen significant discounting and can be bought for a lot less than they launched for. But will they drop even lower for Black Friday at the end of the month?
I track the prices of the best TVs right through the year, and a look at the price history of last year's C4 suggests that yes, the C5 should get even cheaper for Black Friday.
But how low might it go? Let's break it down, size by size.
LG C5 42-inch (OLED42C5)
- Launch price: £1400
- Current price: £949
- Predicted Black Friday price: £899
The 42-inch version of the C5 isn't much of an improvement on the 42-inch C4, and that means it isn't quite as accomplished as the versions that are 55 inches or larger.
That doesn't mean the 42-inch C5 is a bad TV, though. On the contrary, it's the best TV of its size that we've tested all year, delivering balanced, consistent picture quality right out of the box, plus an unbeatable suite of gaming features.
It's a great option for smaller rooms, and is even just about compact enough to work as a desktop gaming monitor.
The 42-inch C4 dropped to £888 during Black Friday last year, so I think it's fair to expect a drop to £899 for the C5. Seeing as it's already available for £949, it could go even cheaper.
Read our full LG OLED42C5 review
LG C5 48-inch (OLED48C5)
- Launch price: £1500
- Current price: £1049
- Predicted Black Friday price: £999
Like the 42-inch model, the 48-inch version of the C5 is very similar to its predecessor. In this case, that actually means you can buy an even better TV – namely, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B.
But the 48-inch C5 is still an excellent, five-star TV in its own right, offering the same enjoyable picture quality as the 42-inch model, but at a more engaging size.
The 48-inch C4 hit £999 during Black Friday last year, and the C5 isn't much more expensive even now. I wouldn't be surprised if this one hit £949, but £999 is still a great price.
Read the full LG OLED48C5 review
LG C5 55-inch (OLED55C5)
- Launch price: £1900
- Current price: £1199
- Predicted Black Friday price: £1099
This is where the C5 series gets really good. Despite the on-paper specs being largely unchanged, the 55-inch C5 is a solid step forward from its predecessor in terms of picture quality.
There's increased brightness, dynamism and solidity to the image, and more accurate, more consistent colours. Best of all, you get this exemplary picture without the need to dig deeply into the settings.
As with every other C5, the 55-inch model has four HDMI 2.1 sockets that all support 4K/120Hz gaming (and 4K/144Hz, for that matter), as well as VRR and ALLM. This is a gloriously good gaming TV.
The sound is a bit of a letdown, but that's par for the course with OLED TVs. Budget for a soundbar and you'll be set.
The 55-inch C5 dropped to £1099 during Black Friday last year, and I expect the C5 to go at least that low.
Read the full LG OLED55C5 review
LG C5 65-inch (OLED65C5)
- Launch price: £2700
- Current price: £1699
- Predicted Black Friday price: £1499
While we haven't published a dedicated review of the 65-inch version of the LG C5, we did look at it as part of our Awards comparisons, and can confirm that it performs just as expected.
By going for 65 inches rather than 55, you sacrifice a small amount of sharpness on account of the decreased pixel density, but gain much more in cinematic scale. Otherwise, the TVs perform the same.
If you have the room and budget for the larger set and you're serious about home cinema, I recommend going for it.
Last year's 65-inch C4 hit £1495 during Black Friday, and I think the 65-inch C5 will drop to around the same price this year.
LG C5 77-inch (LG OLED77C5)
- Launch price: £3800
- Current price: £2799
- Predicted Black Friday price: £2399
Again, we haven't run a dedicated review of the 77-inch version of the LG C5, but we have seen it in action at various events over the course of the year, often alongside its smaller siblings, and the performance looks perfectly consistent.
Again, you will lose a little pixel density and therefore sharpness by going up to this size, but the increase in cinematic scale is pretty massive at this level.
The 77-inch C4 dropped to £2399 during Black Friday last year, and while the 77-inch C5 has a little way to go to hit that level, I think it will get there this year.
LG C5 83-inch (LG OLED83C5)
- Launch price: £5999
- Current price: £3999
- Predicted Black Friday price: £3549
Honestly, going up to 83 inches with an OLED TV is not a great move from a value point of view. The additional six inches of screen real estate adds absolutely loads to the price – £1200 at the time of writing.
Why is that? It's all to do with the added complexity of manufacturing OLED panels this large, and the apparently high failure rate at the factory.
But while the 83-inch C5 isn't the most sensible option, it sure is the most exciting. This is the absolute largest size you can buy, and while the additional six inches doesn't sound like a lot, it makes a big difference to the cinematic spectacle of a movie night.
Prices of the 83-inch C5 are currently tracking a bit higher than they were for the C4 this time last year, but I still expect it to hit a similar level – around £3549 – for Black Friday.
FAQ
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday always takes place on the Friday straight after Thanksgiving in the US. That means that this year, Black Friday will be on 28th November.
But while Black Friday is officially just one day, Black Friday sales start earlier each year. Expect to see Black Friday deals right through November, with the number ramping up through the week leading up to Friday, 28th November, and hitting fever pitch on that day.
The deals won't stop then, either. Expect them to continue through the weekend and into Cyber Monday.
Where should I buy an LG C5 on Black Friday?
While Amazon is the biggest/loudest retailer through Black Friday, loads of smaller rivals get in on the action, too – and they can actually provide better deals.
If you're after an LG C5, keep a keen eye on specialist retailers Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks and Peter Tyson in particular, as they tend to compete heavily with one another during sales events.
They often even release short-term voucher codes that take extra money off products such as premium TVs.
Of course, we'll be reporting on the Black Friday deals live, so you can always stay tuned to us if you don't fancy doing the legwork yourself.
MORE:
Check out all of the best Black Friday deals we've found
Here are the best TVs you can buy, and here are the best soundbars
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