Best 55-inch TVs 2023: smart, 4K, HDR and OLED models for every budget

The 55-inch TV is a real crowd-pleaser. Easier to accommodate than a 65-inch TV, which the average homeowner may well consider to be overbearingly big, but much more cinematically impactful than a 50-inch TV, this is the size to go for when you want to keep everyone happy.

This is also the size at which the very best performance and features become available. You can now get OLED TVs smaller than 55 inches, but they don't go as bright as their larger siblings. LCD sets, too, tend to lose a bit of tech when they get smaller than 55 inches.

In other words, if you go for a 55-inch TV, you've got almost endless options. The problem with having so much choice is that it can be incredibly hard to find the right TV for you. That's where we come in. We've tested hundreds of 55-inch TVs – every model of note, in fact – so we know the good ones and the bad ones.

You won't find any of the bad ones below. We've thrown those into the 'also-rans' bin, reserving only the best TVs at each price for your delectation, so scroll down to find your new TV.

Written by

Written by

Tom Parsons

Tom Parsons has been writing about TV, AV and hi-fi products for over 15 years. In that time he's had more 55-inch TVs than can easily be counted pass through his test room, making him supremely qualified to help you find your next TV. 

The quick list

The table below offers a quick look at all of the 55-inch TVs we recommend in this article. Every TV in it has been thoroughly and comparatively tested against its rivals by our team of experts in one of What Hi-Fi?'s bespoke test rooms, so you can trust our advice.

The best 55-inch TVs in 2023

Below, you can see our picks of the best 55-inch TVs currently available. Every set has been tested by our team of product experts to ensure it delivers great performance and value, so you can trust our buying advice.

Best overall

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The Sony A80L is the TV surprise of the year. It's based on 'traditional' OLED technology (i.e. it's not a QD-OLED or MLA model) so we broadly thought we knew what to expect, but it stunned us during our extensive test by offering a picture performance with a near-perfect balance of the spectacular and the subtle. It sounds good by TV standards, too, and the feature set will be strong enough for all but the most hardcore of gamers.

The A80L looks very similar to the A80K it replaces – which is fine, but the design is starting to look a little bland. It's a little thicker than rivals such as the LG C3, but partly that's down to its actuator-based sound system, which vibrates the whole screen in order to generate sound.

Around the back are four HDMI sockets, two of which are HDMI 2.1-specified and support 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. One of these is also the eARC port, so if you use that to connect a soundbar or AVR you will have just one left for a games console or gaming PC. The TV also lacks support for Dolby Vision gaming, despite Dolby Vision being present for movies and TV shows.

The seemingly effortless way that the A80L combines the spectacular with the subtle is quite extraordinary. The neon lights and holographic billboards of Blade Runner 2049’s downtown LA pop from the overall gloom of the city in brilliant fashion, but skin tones are handled with realism-boosting nuance and the seemingly hundreds of slightly different shades of gray that make up the bark of the tree at Sapper Morton’s farm are made clear to see.

The TV’s ability to recreate subtly different shades doesn’t come at the expense of dynamism, and contrast extremes such as the intro text at the start of the film emerge brightly from the pure black background. There’s a rare purity to highlights, too, such as Love’s white jacket and the light panels above her head in the records room of the Wallace Corporation.

All of these qualities combine to make an image that is brilliantly solid and has a lovely three-dimensional feel. On top of all of this, detail is also outstanding, with clothing textures, skin imperfections and complex patterns all rendered crisply but without artificial definition.

Through our extensive suite of tests, our only complaint is that a bit of dark detail is missing when watching SDR content.

In terms of sound, the A80L is a bit bass-light, but that does mean that it stays composed even through our Blade Runner 2049 stress test. That slight lack of bass depth aside, the A80L sounds really rather good by TV standards. Put it in the Cinema sound mode and the spaciousness of the delivery is very impressive, yet this spaciousness combines with the sort of focus that can really only come from having the sound literally coming from the screen.

While flagship sets with discrete speaker systems will sound even better, for a step-down model the A80L sounds very impressive. This should be a strong consideration for anyone with this sort of budget who is determined not to combine their new TV with a dedicated sound system.

Read the full Sony A80L review

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Best for gaming

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The 65-inch take on LG's C3, which we expect to perform in a very similar way to this 55-inch model, earned just the four stars, but that was for a very good reason: it wasn't a big improvement on the C2. This allowed rivals such as the Sony A80L to gain ground. But if it's gaming we're talking about, LG's effort is the better bet.

That's because, like the 42-inch model above, it has four HDMI 2.1 ports, meaning you can plug in multiple gaming consoles at once while still using one socket for a soundbar via eARC. Also like the 42-incher, it supports all the usual gaming features these ports allow (VRR, ALLM) along with rarer standards such as HGiG and Dolby Vision gaming (which the Sony doesn't support).

The other reason for its four-star review? Its high launch price. But that's since come down significantly. Even the fact it is similar to the C2 it replaces isn't really a big drawback, seeing as the C2 was a multi-Award winner.

The C3 retains the elegant design of the C2 but adds a new processor for even better visuals and more advanced audio upmixing. The webOS 23 operating system is simpler than last year's version too, and easier to navigate, and it brings a more sophisticated Game Optimizer menu complete with a dedicated sound sub-menu. 

Picture quality is refined, subtle and plenty detailed, and that goes for games as well as movies and TV shows. Some highlights are a little brighter than the C2's, and there's a healthy amount of shadow detail throughout. The sound is still a poor relation to the picture, but that's easily fixed with a decent soundbar. If you want gaming on a big screen, this is the TV for you.

Read the full LG C3 review

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Best cheap

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While you can add a Fire TV stick to any TV, wouldn't it be easier if Fire TV was built into the TV from the off? Amazon certainly thinks so, which is why it now produces a whole range of Fire TVs. Top of that range is the Omni QLED.

You won't be surprised to learn that while this is a flagship product for Amazon, it’s still very much a value-oriented proposition. What you might not expect is that it's really rather good, both in terms of performance and features.

This isn’t a performance in the same league as that offered by flagship sets from the big boys – but the quality and balance that have been achieved at this level is very impressive.

Colors are vibrant and punchy when they need to be but subtle and pale when that is what’s called for. Skin tones at times look just a little richer than is perhaps entirely true to life, but only marginally so, and they certainly don’t look unnatural when viewing the TV in isolation.

Some TVs at this level attempt to mask their affordable origins with lots of active processing that's designed to make each scene look more impactful. Such processing, however, often actually highlights those sets’ limitations. The Omni QLED takes a much more consistent and considered approach to contrast that is less striking but significantly more watchable, particularly over the course of a movie. Its even-handed approach means you are less distracted by what the TV is doing and are therefore much more engrossed in the film.

It’s a generally similar story where detail and sharpness are concerned. In neither regard is the Omni QLED mind-blowing, but it delivers an image that is reasonably insightful and solid without veering into the realms of exaggeration.

Inevitably, Amazon’s Omni QLED isn’t perfect. It doesn’t have the pure peak brightness to provide a dazzling rendition of the latest and greatest HDR movies, but that’s understandable at this level. However, while detail levels are decent, they could be better, particularly in darker images, even at this price. Also, while motion is pretty smooth and mercifully free from the soap opera effect and fizzy artefacts (assuming you stick to mild or no motion processing), it can be a bit smeary at times

Amazon has kept things simple on the audio front, avoiding the temptation to attempt fancy Dolby Atmos processing and the like, and once again we feel that is a wise decision. Yes, the sound is narrow and small in scale compared with that offered by more premium TVs – and there is no attempt to push sound outwards to the sides or up from the television’s chassis – but it is also direct and clear.

On the features front, you're getting a 4K QLED display with the app-packed and user-friendly Fire OS operating system with baked-in Alexa control (you can turn the TV's mics off entirely if you prefer). Somewhat surprisingly, VRR and ALLM are also supported, though 4K 120Hz is off the menu.

All told, by getting the basics right in terms of picture and sound quality while providing an impressive feature set for the price, the Omni QLED makes itself an easy TV to recommend to those on a tight budget.

Read our full Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED review

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Best premium

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The A95L is the successor to the A95K, arguably the best TV of last year if you don't take price into account. One of the two first QD-OLED TVs launched, it trumped its Samsung S95B rival by deploying its brightness-boosting, vibrancy-adding Quantum Dots in a more considered and authentic fashion – and by offering a far superior sound system to boot.

The promise of second-generation QD-OLED panels is an even brighter and more efficient performance, but we were just as excited to find out how the team at Sony could refine the performance further with an extra year of experience with the new panel technology. Having now put the Sony A95L up against pretty much every other TV you might be considering, we can safely say that it is, with very little doubt, the very best TV you can currently buy.

Playing the super-bright Pan 4K Blu-ray, the A95L's additional brightness and color vibrancy over the step-down Sony A80L and even the MLA-boosted Panasonic MZ2000 are immediately clear in the first scene's streetlamps and headlights, which are reproduced with a more intense and accurate yellow glow. The moon over London, meanwhile, is not only brighter on the A95L, but it also has some subtle pink shading and lots of texture detail that is missed by rivals. This is precisely the sort of picture element that QD-OLED is designed to excel at.

There's no loss of black depth, though, with the grimy streets of Victorian London being both oppressively dark and packed with shadow detail. What's more, the A95L also reproduces colors expertly in these darkest parts of the picture so that skin tones remain accurate and lifelike where other TVs allow them to go a bit pale.

The extra contrast afforded by the brighter highlights helps to reinforce edges and textures, giving everything an even more solid and three-dimensional appearance, yet this is also masterfully combined with an even greater degree of subtlety. The lights shining on a tiled wall reveal all sorts of subtle shades on the A95L, and as Peter peers into a bottle in Mother Barnabus's office, the little ship inside is resolved with fabulous fine detail and excellent solidity.

What's perhaps most impressive is the way that the A95L achieves all of its pop and dynamism without eroding subtlety or authenticity in the way that Samsung's S95C QD-OLED is occasionally guilty of.

While less-bright HDR movies and SDR content don't show off the A95L's advantages quite as strongly, it's still a cut above its rivals with everything we watch during testing, particularly in terms of color vibrancy and accuracy.

For sound, the A95L uses a very slightly tweaked version of the 2.2-channel actuator-based sound system of the A95K. Two actuators vibrate the whole screen in order to produce sound, backed up by two regular woofers that add bass. This results in a level of directness that other TVs can't match, with dialogue that literally comes from the screen.

What's surprising is the way this sound system also extends the sonic presentation far to the sides and above the set, creating a very impressive pseudo-Atmos effect. On top of that, the sound is crisp, clear and detailed. Some extra bass weight and depth would be nice, but this is still very good sound by TV standards.

The A95L only has a couple of deficiencies and they will only bother hardcore gamers: there are still only two HDMI 2.1 sockets (one of which inconveniently doubles as the eARC port) and Dolby Vision gaming isn't yet supported (but is coming at a later date).

Those flaws are well worth putting up with, though, because the Sony A95L is an absolutely stunning performer.

Read the full Sony A95L review

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How we choose

When choosing a new TV, picture technology is almost always the most important factor.

Without a doubt, OLED has become the premium TV technology of choice, thanks to its perfect blacks, extraordinary contrast and exceptional viewing angles. QLED, which combines LED (or Mini LED) backlighting with ultra-vibrant Quantum Dots, is a strong alternative, though, largely thanks to being capable of greater brightness and punchier colors. Standard LCD TVs (often, confusingly, sold as 'LED' TVs on account of their LED backlights) are more variable in overall quality but, if you shop carefully, can offer excellent bang for your buck.

Sound is massively important, too. Are you planning to combine your new TV with a dedicated sound system? You probably should, because most TVs sound passable at best, even at the high-end. But if you are determined to keep things neat and rely on the in-built speakers of your new TV, check our reviews to make sure that they're at least good – there's no point in a great picture if the accompanying sound is rubbish.

If you're a gamer, it's also worth considering the next-gen gaming features of your prospective new TV. Xbox Series X and PS5 gamers can gain a competitive advantage on certain games if their TV supports 4K 120Hz, while VRR support can result in a smoother gameplay experience. ALLM, meanwhile, simply ensures that you automatically get the best visual experience from both games and movies / TV shows. If you're a more casual gamer or not a gamer at all, you can pretty much disregard these features, and it's likely that doing so will save you a lot of cash.

How we test

Testing a TV is a long and complex process because a modern TV simply does so much. Not only does it need to handle a variety of content resolutions – standard-def, 1080p, 4K and sometimes 8K – and both standard dynamic range and high dynamic range (the latter in a number of formats), all of which need to be specifically tested, it also has a sound system with various advanced settings and a full smart platform. A TV is an all-in-one device in the best sense, but that also makes it a challenging review proposition.

As part of our testing process we manually check that every major app – from Netflix to All 4, Prime Video to Spotify – is not only present, but also outputting in the video and sound formats that it should. Just because there's a Disney+ app doesn't necessarily mean it's working in Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos. In fact, in many recent cases it hasn't been.

We also connect both a PS5 and Xbox Series X in order to establish which advanced gaming features are and aren't supported, and on which of the TV's HDMI ports. Is 4K 120Hz supported? How about VRR? Is there a Dolby Vision game mode? Is there an HGiG preset for more accurate HDR tone mapping? We check all of these things, and measure input lag using a Leo Bodnar device.

We then test the TV's picture quality using a huge variety of content, from old DVDs to the latest 4K Blu-rays and plenty of streamed movies and TV shows in between. Every TV is tested against the best model at its price and size – we have a stockroom packed full of Award-winners for this very purpose.

We don't accept the out-of-the-box settings that a TV comes in either. While we intentionally don't go down the route of professional calibration (you shouldn't have to have your TV professionally calibrated in order to get the best out of it), we do spend hours adjusting settings using a mixture of test patterns and real-world content until we are sure we're getting the best out of a TV so that it has the best chance to shine.

While we almost always advise that a new TV is combined with a dedicated sound system such as a soundbar or AV amplifier, many people still prefer to stick with their flatscreen's built-in speakers, so we thoroughly test these too, using a wide variety of movie and music content and with great attention spent to the TV's many processing modes and individual settings.

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in Bath and Reading, where our team of expert reviewers do all of our testing. This gives us complete control over the testing process, ensuring consistency. What's more, all review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole rather than an individual reviewer, again helping to ensure consistency and avoid any personal preference.

The What Hi-Fi? team has more than 100 years experience of reviewing, testing and writing about consumer electronics.

From all of our reviews, we choose the best products to feature in our Best Buys. That's why if you take the plunge and buy one of the products recommended below, or on any other Best Buy page, you can be assured you are getting a What Hi-Fi? approved product.

Useful links

• Looking for a bargain? Here are the best cheap TVs
• Hardcore gamer? These are the very best gaming TVs
• Need a certain size? We've rounded-up the best 55-inch TVs
• Need something bigger? What about the best 65-inch TVs
• Want a future-proof TV? Here are the best 8K TVs