Best OLED TV 2023: the latest and greatest models, rated and ranked

If you're in the market for a premium TV, you're no doubt considering an OLED. In fact, if you've made it to this page, you've quite likely decided that an OLED TV is precisely what you're after. Good choice! OLED's perfect blacks, pixel-level contrast control and near-perfect viewing angles make it an astonishingly good TV technology, and most of the best TVs are OLEDs.

You may have heard that most OLED TVs use panels manufactured by LG, and that's true (it's LG Display rather than LG Electronics, for what it's worth), but that doesn't mean that all OLED TVs are equal. In fact, there are vast differences in the way different OLED TVs perform, partly because LG Display now produces a number of different panels (including super-bright new MLA OLEDs), but also because processing plays an enormous role in a TV's picture performance, from how it handles colors, contrast, sharpness, detail, motion and more.

Then, of course, you've got different HDMI feature sets to consider, and sound quality varies wildly.

And on top of all that, there is now another OLED panel manufacturer in town – Samsung, which is producing QD-OLED panels for use by it and other TV brands.

In short, there's lots of variation in the quality of different OLED TVs, as our extensive, independent testing proves. The good news is that we've whittled down all of those reviews in order to recommend only the very best OLED TVs at a variety of sizes and prices. If it's an OLED TV you're after, you'll find the perfect one below.

Written by

Written by

Tom Parsons

Tom Parsons has been writing about TV, AV and hi-fi products (not to mention plenty of other 'gadgets', even cars) for over 15 years. He's tested OLED TVs since the tech first hit the market and is an expert at picking the best-performing and value options for every type of buyer.

The quick list

You can see a quick breakdown of all the TVs in this list with a short summary of what they’re best at and why we think they’re worth your money in the table below. Or, if you want more detail you can use the skip links to go to each OLED TVs in-depth entry, where we offer more detail about our experience using it. 

The best OLED TVs in 2023

Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best OLED TVs in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

Best overall

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Why we recommend it

The Sony A80L is the surprise of the year so far. 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.

Design and features: 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-spec and support 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. One of these is also the eARC port, and if you use that to connect a soundbar or AVR you'll 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 A80L uses the Google TV operating system, which packs in practically every app you could want, and the Cognitive Processor XR adds a new XR Clear Image feature, which is intended to be a more intelligent form of upscaling that understands content type and quality and applies processing accordingly so that images look closer to native 4K.

Picture quality: The seemingly effortless way it 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 grey that make up the bark of the tree at Sapper Morton’s farm are made clear to see.

The TV’s ability to subtly recreate 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’s 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.

Sound: Through our tests, we find that the A80L sounds 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.

Value for money: The A80L is the step-down OLED in Sony's 2023 TV range and is quite aggressively priced for a brand-new TV. It's also been heavily discounted since launch, to a degree that's quite uncharacteristic of Sony. It will still likely cost you slightly more than the equivalent LG C3, but we feel it's more than worth that.

Read our Sony XR-55A80L review

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Best cheap and 42-inch

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Why we recommend it

LG's C-series OLED TVs are always the company's most popular, and the 42-inch C3 is the baby of the 2023 range. It's got a slightly less bright panel than the larger C3 models and it doesn't feature MLA or QD-OLED tech (which hasn't yet made it down to this sort of size), but it does boast the same exceptional feature set as well as the best overall picture quality available at this size. It's cheaper than its rivals, too.

Design and features: The 42-inch C3 has a different design to its larger siblings that makes it look more like a monitor or bedroom TV. This makes sense as LG markets it directly to gamers and those living in smaller spaces. 

The big design difference between it and its siblings is that it has two blade-like feet that take up less desk space rather than a pedestal. The positive is that these are easy to move around and take up less space; the downside is that we found there’s less room to place a soundbar under it.

Outside of that, it retains the same core features we love about the C3 range as a whole. Specifically, it features the same Alpha 9 Gen 6 processor as the 65-inch C3 and G3, and identical connectivity, with it sporting four PS5 and Xbox Series X/S-ready HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It can also handle Dolby Vision gaming (right up to 120Hz, in fact) and an HGiG mode for more accurate HDR gaming.

Picture quality: The OLED42C3 features the same panel as other 42-inch OLED TVs such as the Sony XR-42A90K. This panel is less bright than the one used for the best and brightest larger OLED TVs, and that's before you even consider the new MLA and QD-OLED technologies.

That said, it's still more than bright enough for almost all scenarios, and the perfect blacks and pixel-level contrast control make the image exceptionally dynamic. What's more, there is an inherent advantage that 'small' 4K TVs have over their larger brethren – pixel density. Because the pixels are more tightly packed, sharpness is increased, and the crispness of the OLED42C3’s delivery actually makes its 65-inch sibling look a bit soft.

Even against other 42-inch OLEDs that have the same inherent picture traits, the C3 comes out on top. This is a bold, impactful TV that delivers images with superb solidity and dynamism, but it's also very consistent and never makes you aware of the picture processing in play. It's also an absolute doddle to get looking its best – just use Dolby Vision Cinema Home for Dolby Vision content and Filmmaker Mode for pretty much everything else and you're pretty much sorted (though do by all means tweak further to taste).

Sound: LG’s 2023 OLED TVs have generally been very disappointing in terms of sound quality, and the omens weren't good for the 42-inch C3 when you consider that small TVs tend to sound weaker than their larger counterparts.

Sure enough, the small C3 is much less bassy than the 65-inch version, and it goes significantly less loud, too. On the plus side, that does make it less readily provoked into bassy distortion. That makes the Dolby Atmos mode more useable, which is good because it creates a nicely spacious sound, particularly for a TV this size, while also projecting voices effectively.

Unfortunately, the 42-inch C3 still suffers from a rather dull delivery. It's perfectly fine for everyday TV, but it doesn’t have the punch, weight or dynamic range to satisfyingly deliver a movie soundtrack. A soundbar is a must.

Value for money: The 42-inch C3 launched at a higher price than the equivalent C2 did last year, and given its very marginal upgrades, that made it look like slightly poor value for money. However, the C2 has now been discontinued and, conveniently, the C3 has been pretty heavily discounted. It's now very good value for money.

Read our LG OLED42C3 review

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Best premium

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Why we recommend it

The LG G3 is the first TV with Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech to pass through our testing rooms. This is a key new technology that rivals second-generation QD-OLED in its bid to offer the best and brightest picture available on OLED. During our checks, we found it delivers startlingly good picture quality, with the new tech letting the G3 offer detail that was completely lost on older sets, particularly during bright scenes.

Design and features: Taking it out of the box our reviewers were immediately amazed at quite how much the G3 looks like last year's G2 – to the point one team member struggled to tell which was which when we had them side by side in our labs and turned off. 

In fact, after more hours than we care to count with the set, the only big differentiator we noticed is that the G3’s screen, when turned off, has a slight bronze tint. This is due to the use of a new and significantly more effective anti-reflective coating on the G3.

But this is no bad thing as the design is still wonderfully modern and, outside of its size, discreet enough to slot into most moderately sized living rooms without dominating the space.

The only big issue we have is that it doesn't come with a regular tabletop stand. That's an optional extra. In the box you instead get LG's Zero Gap wall mount, which is a clear indication of how LG sees buyers setting it up. 

Connectivity and feature-wise it's excellently stocked. Like the older G2 and C2 lines, the new G3 has four HDMI 2.1 inputs that support 4K/120Hz, ALLM and VRR. For reasons we can't fathom, this amount of connectivity is still a rarity, even at the top end of the market and makes the G3 a fantastic option for buyers with multiple next-generation consoles and an external Dolby Atmos sound system.

Picture quality: The biggest changes to the G3 are all under the hood and relate to its picture quality. For starters, there's the fact it uses MLA, a new screen technology that aims to let the set off a max brightness of 2000 nits - more than double what we've experienced on many basic OLED sets.

But it also has a few atypical picture settings that are powered by its upgraded Alpha 9 Gen 6 processor. These include improved tone mapping, upscaling and HDR optimisation powers. 

Fancy specs aside, we're pleased to report that, after more hours testing the G3 than we care to count we can safely confirm it offers excellent picture quality and is a clear step up on the G3, C2 and most of the other sets we've reviewed recently.

Running it head-to-head with last year's G2, our reviewers were immediately met with a much brighter picture. Watching 2017's It in Dolby Vision the differences between the two were palpable. Details in reflective materials were more noticeable as were the glowing eyes of Pennywise in darker scenes. This led to a more immersive viewing experience, which is impressive as the G2 is still a very good performer, even in 2023.

Colors also felt more controlled and realistic, without ever losing their vibrancy. Skin tones in particular looked notably more true to life, based on our checks. The improvements rang true with further testing, with it offering best-in-class results, even when being tasked to play older content, like a non-HDR, 1080p Blu-ray of True Grit.

Sound: We'd always recommend any person spending this much on a TV should consider investing in a soundbar or external speakers as the physical dimensions of modern TVs inherently hinder their ability to deliver THE best audio experience possible.

This is particularly true of the LG G3, which during our tests provided distinctly dull audio compared to many of the other sets we test this price and size. Even against the G2 we found it wasn't a top performer, which itself isn't great for audio. 

Though Dolby Atmos mode delivers a wide and tall soundstage, the bass is less deep and bassy than the G2. Playing Blade Runner 2049 we also found its woofer can lack some precision.  

Value for money: If we were ranking this list by picture quality alone the G3 would be sitting at the top. But there's no getting around the fact it is very expensive and unless you're a purist who wants the best picture possible and has oodles of cash to burn we'd recommend the C2 above it. This is because it's so much cheaper and offers a much better performance-per-dollar ratio.

Read our full LG G3 review

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Best sounding

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Why we recommend it

The Sony XR-55A95K is one of the best sets we reviewed last year and, though it's going to be superseded by the newer Sony A95L, it remains a top option in 2023, particularly for buyers who don't want to invest in a separate sound system.

Design and features: Like most of the best TVs we test, Sony's designed the A95K to be as discreet as possible, with it having a matte black finish and outright tiny 7-8mm bezels around its sides. But what really impressed our reviewers is its intelligent stand design.

In its default, the stand sits behind the screen, letting you get an uninterrupted viewing experience with nothing blocking or distracting from the main screen. But if you're short on space it can also be flipped to sit in front of the screen, making it easier to get it to sit flush against a wall.

As an added extra, it also comes with a Bravia CAM, which on paper offers a number of perks when it's connected to the TV. These include video chat functionality, Ambient Optimisation Pro (which adjusts picture and sound settings based on the environment the TV's in), Proximity Alert,  Gesture Control and an Auto Power Saving Mode which detects when you’ve left the room and dims the screen. These sound useful but truthfully after a few embarrassing encounters with senior staff walking in on testers flapping their arms trying to get the gesture controls to work, we quickly stopped using the Bravia CAM.

Connectivity-wise it's also fairly by the numbers, featuring two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which doubles as an eARC. This is a common problem we experience on most of the non-LG OLED TVs we review, but it is an annoyance that means you can only connect one modern games console if you also plan to use a modern Dolby Atmos sound system.

Picture quality: Thankfully, the TV otherwise delivers a great performance. Picture quality is excellent, with the A95K's QD-OLED panel – which is designed to blend the best qualities of both OLED and QLED – performing brilliantly during our tests. 

Rogue One in Dolby Vision looks brilliant, with the depth and solidity of the image making the experience suitably immersive – our testers were particularly impressed during one scene where the Rebel Alliance U-Wing ship stood out brilliantly from the desert landscape of Jedha, offering a true sense of depth and scale.

A few months ago we'd also have listed it as offering some of the best detail levels you'll find in bright scenes on an OLED set thanks to its significantly higher max brightness levels – and to this day it is very impressive by this metric.

Running it against an LG G2, the A95K offered details during bright scenes, like sunrises and explosions, that were lost on the LG set. But compared to the new G3 it has lost its lead, for now. Pitched against its new MLA power rival, we found the newer LG TV had a slight edge, offering slightly more detail and noticeably higher bright peaks during our HDR checks in particular.

Sound: The stand-out feature that earned the A95K its ongoing place on this list, despite it coming to the end of its life and the G3 beating it on max brightness levels, is its amazing sound quality. The A95K uses Sony's bespoke Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology, which utilizes actuators that imperceptibly vibrate the whole screen to make sound.

This may sound a little odd, but having used a few sets that feature it, we can confirm it actually works brilliantly – though not to the point it'll match some of the best soundbars we've tested. 

This was particularly noticeable when we tasked it with playing the very tricky opening to chapter 2 of the Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray. This is a scene that 99 per cent of the TVs we review struggle with. Key repeated issues include a lack of power to the bass-heavy scene and distortion, which regularly creeps in. Here the A95K delivered a best-in-class performance with the audio carrying plenty of weight and the tricky bass notes retaining the punch they should.

Value for money: Because the Sony A95K is coming to the end of its life, thanks to the imminent arrival of the A95L, we've seen some deals start to emerge, though it is still very expensive. This is a key reason it's not our best overall TV, with it still carrying a fairly premium price tag despite its age.

Read our full Sony XR-55A95K review

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Best QD-OLED

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Design and features

The S95B is one of the prettiest sets on this list, which is an odd thing to say about a TV. But, the moment our testers got it out of its box, they were wowed by how incredibly thin it is – it measures in at just a couple of millimetres deep, which is so thin it actually made its main rival the Sony A95K look a little on the chunky side when placed side-by-side.  

This is the only non-LG TV on this list to feature four HDMI 2.1 ports with full fat 4k/120Hz, HDR, VRR, and ALLM support – which makes it fantastic for gamers with a PS5, Xbox Series X/S or top-end PC that also want to connect a decent audio system.

Picture quality: The Samsung S95B does not deliver a subtle picture – if you value accuracy over ‘wow’ factor, the Sony A95K is the better option. But following our checks, we can safely confirm the Samsung S95B’s high maximum brightness delivers one of the most memorable and punchy pictures our reviewers have ever seen.

The main difference between it and the other sets on this list is that the Samsung S95B offers best-in-class contrast. The moment we powered it up the S95B instantly delivered the ultra-deep blacks OLED is famous for, but with higher levels of brightness. This let us spot more details in the picture, particularly during brighter scenes, that weren’t present on the other OLEDs on this list.

Colors aren’t the most accurate we’ve seen, with some team members feeling that skin tones could look a little too warm, but otherwise the picture is one of the punchiest and most immersive we’ve seen – even when we ran it head-to-head with Sony’s A95K, which also uses a QD-OLED panel. This is why, if you want to see HDR movies at their punchiest and most vibrant, it’s the set we currently recommend.

Sound: The S95B delivers surprisingly good sound, considering its slender dimensions. During our checks, the OTS system did a surprisingly effective job of giving the audio a sense of direction, especially with Dolby Atmos mixes.

The biggest surprise was how its sound held a forward dimension – rather than everything sounding as if the action is happening behind the TV, which happens on some sets; dialogue in-particular sounded like it was coming from the people speaking on screen. The only downside is that, like a lot of TVs, it doesn’t have a terribly powerful low end, so we found that big scenes, such as the opening of Dune or certain scenes in BladeRunner 2049, didn’t have the impact we’d have liked. We’d recommend investing in a soundbar, as a result.

Value for money: The Samsung S95B launched with a premium price tag but it has been heavily discounted since launch. That's largely why we recommend it over the newer S95C – though do stay tuned for the also-new but slightly more affordable S90C. Still, if pure affordability is high up your list of priorities, there are better value options further up this list.

Read our Samsung QN65S95B review

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What we look for in an OLED TV

There's a huge amount to consider when choosing a new OLED TV, but the biggest things are the money and space that you have available.

How big it is: Size really does matter with TVs. Are you looking for a theater-like experience in your living room? Then you need to get the biggest OLED TV you can afford. If your budget is limited, it might even be worth sacrificing a little bit of picture quality and some next-gen features for a few extra inches of screen real estate.

Alternatively, you might have a specific size of TV in mind and an appetite for the best picture quality available. In that case, you need to prioritize performance and, if desired, next-gen features (more on which below).

Luckily, OLED TVs are now available in sizes ranging from 42 inches right up to a monstrous 98 inches, so you've got plenty of choice.

Picture quality: Whenever we look at a TV the first thing we check is picture quality. Having a decent OLED panel is only one factor that informs this. The biggest decider, however, is how it's set up and what processing the company making the TV adds to it. That's why there are such big differences between every TV we test, even if many use the same panel.

Sound quality: Are you planning to combine your new TV with a dedicated sound system? You probably should, because most OLED TVs sound only decent, and a picture that's amazing deserves sound that matches. That said, if you're determined to keep things neat and rely on the in-built speakers, check our reviews to make sure that they're good – there are some models that have very innovative and strong-sounding audio solutions.

Gaming features: 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 doing so will usually save you a lot of cash.

How we tested OLED TVs

How we test OLED TVs

Testing a TV, OLED or otherwise, 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're 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 on the TV's many processing modes and individual settings.

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London, 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 above, or on any other Best Buy page, you can be assured you're getting a What Hi-Fi? approved product.

Q&A

• 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