Best TVs of 2024 | Top OLED & QLED TVs to Buy
Uh, wow, are we actually wrapping up 2024 already? Feels like I was just doing this video for 2023, and yet here we are again. It's time to talk about the best TVs you can buy and which one might be best for you. Welcome back, everyone! I'm Caleb Denison, and I'm going to say something now that I also said at this time last year: it's been a great year for TVs. As I've been reviewing TVs this year, we've seen more premium features and premium performance trickling down to lower models, which is a good thing. Balancing that
out, though, is the fact that TVs overall got a bit more expensive in 2024. Still, as we wrap up 2024 and move into 2025, prices are now dropping. We've got holiday sales coming up, and soon after that, prices will start to drop permanently. So, whether you're seeing this video right before the holidays or well into 2025, what I have here for you are the smartest TV buys. Sure, those 2025 models are right around the corner,
and those will be very exciting, I'm sure. But I'm going to keep saying what I've been saying for all of 2024: the smartest move you can make is buying the prior year's model. With 2023 TVs running out of stock at this point and prices on 2024 TVs dropping, these are going to be the best TVs to buy. Which reminds me—and I think I said this
last year as well—a quick reminder that this list is just the best of the best. There are other really great TVs out there, and I'll do another video about those, but we have to whittle down all the choices somehow. So, I'm sticking to my personal favorites. These are the TVs that I recommend to my friends and family. Sound good? Okay, let's get into it. Let's start with QLED TVs, and then we'll migrate to OLED TVs. Now,
if you're not familiar with the difference between QLED and OLED, I've got a video for that too. Link down in the description, and we'll go ahead and pop it up for some of you here—ding! But here's a real basic breakdown between these two TV types. QLED TVs are LCD TVs with LED backlights and quantum dots that combine to make bright, colorful images. QLED TVs are better than non-QLED LCD TVs for HDR, or high dynamic range content, and there's a ton of HDR content out there now—coming from streaming services and 4K Blu-rays. We're even seeing some HDR content coming through cable and satellite channels, and it's gorgeous stuff. Anyway, simply put, QLED TVs are the best of the LCD TV camp.
OLED TVs are a different kind of technology, where each pixel makes its own light—there’s no LED backlight required. Because of that, they have perfect black levels, which is the basis for amazing contrast. And contrast is what our eyes pick up most easily. They also have really wide viewing angles, which means you can sit well off to the side of the TV, and it looks just about as good as it does if you sit right in front of it. Now, it used to be that OLED TVs couldn't get quite as bright as LCD TVs, but now they punch right up there in terms of brightness—enough brightness, anyway, for most folks in most usage situations. Still,
OLED TVs tend to be more expensive than their similarly featured QLED counterparts. And while a lot has been done to prevent burn-in, OLED TVs can experience burn-in if you watch the same channel for 6 to 7 hours a day, every single day. If you're a "TV on all day" kind of person, I'd suggest skipping OLED for a QLED instead. With that out of the way, let's dig into the best QLED TVs. I'm going to start with what I think is the best value in TVs on the market today: the Hisense U7N. This TV marks that point of diminishing returns. I mean, you can spend more,
and you will get a little bit more, but the U7N looks so good, most people won't want for more. I think most folks looking at the U7N side by side with, say, the step-up model, the Hisense U8N, might see a difference but would have a tough time seeing $250 worth of difference—or at least would have a tough time seeing themselves needing that $250 worth of difference. That's why I tend to recommend this TV so often. There is just one caveat, though: the U7N that Hisense loaned me to review had a bit of what we call "dirty screen effect." I have a video about what that is right here.
Now, this isn't something everyone is sensitive to, but no TV is totally immune to it. They all have some degree of it—it's kind of a luck-of-the-draw thing. I'm going out of my way to mention this because it's my stance that if you get a unit you aren't totally thrilled with, try not to get discouraged—exchange it! This TV is good enough to go through that effort, in my opinion. Chances are, the replacement will be in fine shape. Now, my friends, we move on to OLED TVs. I’ve got to tell you, OLED TVs are just my personal favorite. They aren’t the right choice for everyone, as I mentioned earlier, but if watching movies and TV is an important part of your life and is a real treat for you, then an OLED TV is going to make that treat as sweet as it can be.
I want to start off our best OLED TV list with the two OLED TVs that I think most people should buy. They aren’t the absolute best of the best, but OLED TVs start at a baseline of awesome. The LG C4 and the Samsung S90D are the two OLED TVs I think most folks should consider buying. While they are still expensive relative to QLED TVs, the LG C4 and Samsung S90D offer outstanding performance for prices well under the ultra-premium OLED TVs that I’m going to show you next.
Now, the LG C4 OLED uses what is called a W-OLED panel. This has a white subpixel to help boost the brightness, while the Samsung S90D OLED is made with a QD-OLED panel. Once again, I have a separate video explaining the differences between these two technologies if you want to check that out. I think color purists will appreciate the S90D QD-OLED. I also think fans of QD-OLED TV technology will prefer the S90D over its more expensive cousin, the S95D, because it doesn’t use a super-aggressive anti-glare system, so it tends to have slightly more luster to the picture. Either way, LG C4 or Samsung S90D,
you are getting tremendous picture quality for your money. Both have four HDMI 2.1 ports and attractive designs. Neither of them have especially amazing sound quality, though, so I would recommend a good soundbar system so you get sound as impressive as the picture. Otherwise, there’s kind of a disconnect between the picture quality and the sound quality. I should also mention that the LG C4 comes in a wider variety of screen sizes. You can start as small as 48 inches and work your way up to 83 inches. The Samsung S90D is only available in 55, 65, and 77-inch options,
so depending on your screen size needs, that could kind of make the decision for you. And now, we get to what I think are the absolute best 2024 TVs that you can buy. I’ll just list them out real quick and then we’ll dive slightly deeper into each of them, but you should know that all of these are just exceptional TVs. We have the LG G4 Gallery Series OLED, the Samsung S95D QD-OLED, the Sony A95L OLED, and a newcomer to the North American market—again—the Panasonic Z95A OLED. Yes, it is so awesome to welcome back Panasonic. Sorry, I’m a TV nerd. So, the LG G4 Gallery Series OLED. I guess we should start with the fact that this is, perceptually speaking, the brightest OLED TV that you can buy right now. You can get this TV in 65,
77, 83, and 97-inch screen sizes, and all but that big old 97-inch model have a special feature called MLA, or micro-lens array technology. MLA uses millions of tiny lenses to focus all of the light that the OLED pixels produce out into the room rather than letting some of it scatter inside the panel. The LG G4 is loaded with just about every gamer-friendly feature available on the market. It supports, I think, every version of HDR out there. The only
thing it doesn’t have that some of the other OLEDs do is an ATSC 3.0 tuner or NextGen tuner, which is kind of a drag—not because I think it makes a meaningful difference to most folks, but because it seems like a blemish not to have the latest over-the-air broadcast support. I should also mention that LG’s processing has gotten extremely good, and that helps the LG G4 stand right up to the best TVs ever made, including a couple of others on this list. Honestly, other than its lofty price, it’s hard to come up with a reason not to buy the LG G4. It’s just an exceptional TV. Next on this list is the Samsung S95D QD-OLED. Now, among some TV enthusiasts,
this TV has caused something of an uproar, which I think is completely unnecessary. Most of you out there are going to love that the S95D has the best anti-glare and anti-reflection handling that I’ve ever seen on a TV. If you’re going to put an OLED TV in a sun-soaked living room and watch it during the day, this is the best TV to get, OLED or QLED. And because it’s a QD-OLED,
its color brightness and color saturation are unmatched. I like the processing in the LG, Sony, and Panasonic options a little bit better, but there is no denying that this TV stands out as a uniquely ideal option for a lot of folks. Highly recommend. Next is a TV that made our list last year. It’s a bit of a holdover, but it remains one of the best TVs that you can buy, and a bunch of experts have ranked it as the best TV that you can buy two years running now—the Sony A95L OLED. This TV is kind of legendary. It offers the best picture quality I’ve ever seen in a TV up
to this point. But the A95L now has competition that it didn’t up until just a couple of weeks before I recorded this video, and that would be the also legendary Panasonic Z95A OLED TV. Now, the Panasonic Z95A uses an MLA OLED panel made by LG Display, just like the LG G4 I just talked about. The difference is in Panasonic’s professional-grade processing,
the onboard audio system, and the fact that it runs Amazon’s Fire TV OS platform. Now, at the time I’m recording this video, I have not finished my review of this TV, but my review will be out very soon, so you can check that for details. Still, I’m including the Panasonic Z95A because other reviewers that I respect overseas, who have had access to this TV and its predecessors, rave about it. There’s no question that it belongs on this list. The only question is whether it dethrones Sony and the A95L as the best TV on this list.
There you go, folks, the definitive list of the best 2024 TVs you can buy. Do you think there’s a TV I left out that should have been included? Let me know down in the comments. And hey, would you please slap this video with a like if you enjoyed it and think it might help others? I do appreciate it. Subscribe if you want to see more content like this. I’ll see you on the next one, and until then, here are two other videos I think you might like. Wow, guys, are we actually wrapping up 2024? Boy, that sounds so Instagrammy.
2024-11-29 16:18
