With cost of living, inflation, and other such annoyances making things more expensive, for those looking to save money on their next TV purchase, we’ve rounded up the best cheap TVs we’ve tested.
To ensure there’s a variety of options whilst being mindful of price, the TV we have chosen do no surpass £1000 / $1000. Some are more fully featured than others, but at their core they all offer a viewing experience that we’d recommend.
When it comes to evaluating which are the best cheap TVs, we use the Spears and Munsil Ultra HD Benchmark disc to assess colours, skin-tones, brightness, local dimming performance and viewing angles. This is further complemented by measuring HDR brightness in which we use a colorimeter to test how bright a TV can go.
When it comes to sound, we’ll play clips from a range of TV series and films to assess whether or not a TV’s built-in speakers are sufficient. You can also have a look at our best soundbars list if you need some sound assistance, we also have a guide for the best cheap soundbar to keep the costs down there too.
Keep on reading to see which TVs made the list, but for more home entertainment guides, check out our rundowns of the best 4K TV, best OLED TV, best 55-inch TV and the best Dolby Atmos soundbar.
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Learn more about how we test televisions
Every TV we review is put through the same set of tests to gauge its picture performance, usability, and smart features.
Tests are carried out over several days and are done by eye but supported with technical measurements. Testing by eye involves an expert watching a wide range of material to understand and determine a TV’s performance in fields such as brightness, contrast, motion processing, colour handling and screen uniformity.
We’ll consider the design of the TV in terms of build quality, study the spec sheets and see if the TV’s connections are up to spec, as well as playing video and audio content to ensure that the set handles playback as it claims. We also take note whether a product’s compatible formats and features are in line with industry trends or not to gauge whether it’s relevant for you.
Comparison to other related and similarly priced products is also important, to see if it’s missing any vital features and whether it impresses as a whole. After all this, we’ll come to a judgement on how the TV performs as a whole.
Pros
- Impressive OLED images at a sharp price
- Three-sided Ambilight
- Titan smart TV OS with Freely TV over Wi-Fi
Cons
- Lacks flagship OLED brightness
- Menu navigation quirks
Pros
- Colourful, expressive picture
- Excellent processing
- Competitive smarts and features for the money
- Dolby and DTS audio
Cons
- Suffers with dark scenes
- Tepid bass performance
- Some clipping with HDR content
Pros
- Colourful performance (in the right mode)
- Slick Alexa integration
- Well stocked for apps
- Fire TV Ambient Experience
Cons
- Feet not the most accommodating for placement
- HDR performance could use more finesse
- Rough upscaling with 480p content
- Competition is cheaper
Pros
- Neat and tidy design
- Decent picture for the money
- TiVo offers plenty of entertainment options
- Affordable
Cons
- Underwhelming sound system
- TiVo not the most responsive
Pros
- Easy to set-up
- Decent enough HDR picture
- Fast input lag
- Alexa support
Cons
- Upscaling should be better
- Below average sound
- Fire TV interface favours Amazon content
- Weak viewing angles
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Impressive OLED images at a sharp price -
Three-sided Ambilight -
Titan smart TV OS with Freely TV over Wi-Fi
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Lacks flagship OLED brightness -
Menu navigation quirks
It wasn’t that long ago that you were expected to part with a hefty chunk of cash, well over £/$1000, to enjoy the luxury of an OLED TV. Nowadays however, there are quite a few entry-level OLED options that give you the depth that only this screen technology can provide, but at a far more reasonable price. For our money though, the Philips 55OLED760 is one of the best you can buy right now.
While it can be picked up in a smaller 48-inch variant, it’s the 55-inch model that we reviewed and which sits at £999 that provides the best value for money. Typically you’d have to wait for a major sales event like Black Friday to get a new OLED TV at that price, so being able to pick up at any time of year for that rate just makes it a must-buy for folks on the hunt to upgrade.
In spite of its relatively affordable price tag, the Philips 55OLED760 still brings the heat where it counts. Viewers get to enjoy phenomenal HDR which blends well with the deep blacks that really elevate whatever’s happening on screen. A quick screening of Joker Folie a Deux brought forth stunning detail in the shadows of Arkham Asylum.
What helps to give the TV an extra leg up on the competition is the inclusion of Philips’ Ambilight technology. This utilises Philips Hue lighting on the back of the TV to project an ever-changing palette of light to the wall nearby, mimicking the colours onscreen to create an almost ethereal viewing experience.
If you’re more of a gamer than a passive viewer then there’s a lot of gaming friendly features available as well. With a compatible console in tow, you can enjoy rich 4K gaming at 120Hz which is perfect for more fast-paced, action-packed titles, and the inclusion of AMD Freesync Premium prevents screen tearing which could otherwise ruin the experience in both single-player and online sessions.
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Colourful, expressive picture -
Excellent processing -
Competitive smarts and features for the money -
Dolby and DTS audio
-
Suffers with dark scenes -
Tepid bass performance -
Some clipping with HDR content
The Sony X85L first launched in 2023 but its staying power means it’ll be sticking around for the rest of 2025. If you look around, you can find this TV for £999.
While that is a high price for a 55-inch screen, especially compared to the Samsung Q80D that also features on this list, for home cinema fans, we rate this model very highly.
It has a Full Array Local Dimming backlight that offers more precise black levels and brightness than a standard LCD TV, although we noticed it’s not the brightest out of the box. Our measurements showed that it produced 738 nits in Standard HDR mode – the Samsung Q80D is brighter – but compared to the rest of the TVs on this list, it is still one the brighter HDR TVs.
What really appeals with this Sony TV is its colour performance. It describes colours with terrific variety, producing a vibrant but still natural-looking image. Upscaling with HD and SD content is solid, and although there is some noise the X85L manages it well. Its motion processing is very good to the point where we didn’t even notice that it was on.
Sound quality is ok. It produces a crisp tone with voices but lacks bass. We’d suggest getting a soundbar to go with the X85L.
Gamers looking for a premium experience can count on ALLM, VRR, and HFR, while input lag is a solid 14.5ms. This TV plays nicely with a PS5 with its custom features that includes optimising the HDR performance for the best image quality.
For smarts, Google TV delivers all the streaming apps you’ll need, and we found the interface to be quick and responsive to use. The design is customisable, as the stand can be put together in two ways to allow for a soundbar or if you want to place it on a small surface.
This model will continue on throughout 2025, and we have a sneaky feeling the price could fall even lower once Sony’s new 2025 TV range goes on sale. If you’re after a less expensive alternative, there is the Amazon Fire TV 4-Series, though it’s not as bright in terms of picture and not as good in terms of home cinema features.
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Colourful performance (in the right mode) -
Slick Alexa integration -
Well stocked for apps -
Fire TV Ambient Experience
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Feet not the most accommodating for placement -
HDR performance could use more finesse -
Rough upscaling with 480p content -
Competition is cheaper
The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is part of Amazon’s own brand of TVs, and while it’s not perfect, it puts in a generally enjoyable performance across the board.
We’re not fans of the feet placement for the 65-inch version. They’re set at the edges which means you’ll need a wide surface to position the TV on.
The Fire TV platform presents plenty of apps is excellent, but the content is weighted too much towards Amazon’s own Prime Video. If you subscribe to other streaming services, it’s not as easy to find what else is available in our experience.
Alexa voice control is reliable, and you can choose to call up Alexa with the Voice Remote or hands-free (which you can switch off if you don’t want Alexa always listening). The Fire TV Ambient Experience turns the TV into an Alexa-powered smart display where you can keep track of the weather, play audio, and change the background so you’re not confronted by a big black screen when the TV is ‘off’. We liked it as it makes the TV more living room friendly.
The Fire TV Omni QLED features supports Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive. The image quality could be more consistent as HDR10/HDR10+ performance is not the most colourful; while its Dolby Vision IQ performance suffers from raised blacks. It’s also not the brightest for HDR content as we measured it a peak of 529 nits.
The built-in sound system provides a good sense of space to films and TV shows, though it is crisp in tone to a fault. Some sound modes fair better than others, but a soundbar will remedy that.
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Neat and tidy design -
Decent picture for the money -
TiVo offers plenty of entertainment options -
Affordable
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Underwhelming sound system -
TiVo not the most responsive
QLED TVs have come down in price alot from when they first entered the market, a premium option that cost thousands to what they are now, some of the most affordable TVs on the market.
Case in point is the Sharp 50GM6245K. It’s the very defintion of a budget TV that does a job but does so in a commendable way. The design is neat and tidy, with set-up of the TV pretty quick.
It comes with the TiVo interface, which has access to most of the big streaming services (although there’s no Apple TV). With Freely integration you get access to the UK catch-up apps as well.
As an interface it’s nice and easy to use navigate and the voice search works well in terms of finding results; though on this model we found that the responsiveness of the interface can be sluggish.
With three HDMI 2.1 inputs, don’t expect premium gaming features as the TV only supports refresh rates up to 60Hz, but its input lag is solid at 15.3ms and there’s ALLM support for putting the TV into its game mode automatically.
Picture quality is solid for the price. It’s not the brightest performance, not as bright as the Amazon Fire TV 4-Series, but there’s a pleasing sense of depth and richness to colours as well as very good levels of clarity and detail. You’ll enjoy watching TV and films on the screen, especially if they support Dolby Vision HDR.
The sound quality is fine, but the TV’s built-in speakers are limited by the amount of bass they can produce. We wouldn’t want to push the volume to high as this is not a TV that sounds great at higher volumes. We’d suggest getting a soundbar and there’s some good cheap soundbars that will improve the sound quality here.
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Easy to set-up -
Decent enough HDR picture -
Fast input lag -
Alexa support
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Upscaling should be better -
Below average sound -
Fire TV interface favours Amazon content -
Weak viewing angles
You know what you’re getting with Amazon and the Fire TV 4-Series (2024) is another example of solid combination of performance and value.
In spite of its affordable price tag, the Fire TV 4-Series produces a solid HDR performance. Colours are varied in tone and shade in a film such as Across the Spider-Verse compared to the Sharp GM6245K.
Levels of sharpness and detail are generally good, though there isn’t enough brightness or black level performance to offer the best contrast at this affordable price. This set doesn’t support Dolby Vision, which would have been a helpful addition.
The Fire TV 4-Series packs in plenty of smart features for the money, with Alexa voice control, the ability to keep track of smart home devices around the home such as cameras.
There’s plenty of streaming apps to delve into with all the major ones covered as well as the UK catch-up apps, and there’s cloud gaming with Amazon Luna available.
The Fire TV 4-Series is a solid offering for the money, and it’s worth keeping an eye out for the price during sales promotions as it drops significantly, turning a good TV into a bargain.
FAQs
If you’re after a 55-inch set then the Samsung Q80D would suit the bill. Picture quality is by far some of the most impressive we’ve seen on a TV below £1000, with the Tizen interface including a wide range of streaming apps and its gaming input lag is very good. When it first launched it was over a £1000, but drops in price have made it an excellent value TV.
Test Data
| Philips 55OLED760 | Sony KD-55X85L | Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED | Sharp 50GM6245K | Amazon Fire TV 4-Series (2024) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contrast ratio | Infinity | – | – | – | – |
| Input lag (ms) | 13 ms | 14.5 ms | 10.1 ms | 15.3 ms | 10.1 ms |
| Peak brightness (nits) 5% | – | 742 nits | 462 nits | 307 nits | 429 nits |
| Peak brightness (nits) 2% | – | 738 nits | – | 220 nits | 429 nits |
| Peak brightness (nits) 10% | 760 nits | 743 nits | 534 nits | 360 nits | 429 nits |
| Peak brightness (nits) 100% | – | 614 nits | – | 370 nits | 429 nits |
| Set up TV (timed) | – | – | – | – | 90 Seconds |
Full Specs
| Philips 55OLED760 Review | Sony KD-55X85L Review | Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Review | Sharp 50GM6245K Review | Amazon Fire TV 4-Series (2024) Review | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK RRP | £1199 | £1399 | £999 | £379 | £549 |
| USA RRP | Unavailable | – | – | – | – |
| CA RRP | Unavailable | – | – | – | – |
| AUD RRP | Unavailable | – | – | – | – |
| Manufacturer | Philips | Sony | Amazon | Sharp | Amazon |
| Screen Size | 54.6 inches | 54.6 inches | 64.5 inches | 49.5 inches | 54.6 mm |
| Size (Dimensions) | x x INCHES | 1228 x 56 x 709 MM | x x INCHES | 1117 x 280 x 745 MM | x x INCHES |
| Size (Dimensions without stand) | 708 x 1228 x 58 MM | 784 x 1228 x 336 MM | 853 x 1451 x 87 MM | 648 x 1117 x 80 MM | 1236 x 90 x 718 MM |
| Weight | 17.2 KG | 17.4 KG | 21.2 KG | 9.7 G | 11.5 KG |
| ASIN | B0F24VHMK4 | B0BX6N4BYP | B09N6RZB35 | B0DSLM1PPW | B0CZBG2XGQ |
| Operating System | Titan OS | Google TV | Fire TV OS | TiVo | Fire TV OS |
| Release Date | 2025 | 2023 | 2023 | 2025 | 2024 |
| Model Number | 55OLED760/12 | KD-55X95L | QL65F601U | 50GM6245K | 4K55N400U |
| Model Variants | – | – | – | 50GM6245E | – |
| Resolution | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 |
| HDR | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Types of HDR | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ Adaptive | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision | HDR10+ Adaptive, HDR10+ Gaming, Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10, HLG | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision | HDR10, HLG |
| Refresh Rate TVs | 48 – 120 Hz | 40 – 120 Hz | 48 – 60 Hz | 50 – 60 Hz | 50 – 60 Hz |
| Ports | Four HDMI 2.1, digital audio output, two USB ports, Ethernet, terrestrial/satellite | Two HDMI 2.0, two HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, two USB, composite video input, digital audio output, terrestrial/satellite inputs | Three HDMI 2.0, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, two USB ports, optical audio out, 3.5mm audio out, IR out, and an input for cable/aerial connection | – | Three HDMI 2.0, HDMI 2.1, USB, digital optical out, Ethernet |
| HDMI (2.1) | eARC, ALLM, VRR, HFR | ALLM, eARC, VRR, 4K/120Hz | eARC, VRR, ALLM | eARC, ALLM | eARC, ALLM |
| Audio (Power output) | 20 W | 20 W | 24 W | 24 W | 16 W |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | – | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Colours | – | – | Grey | Black/Silver | Black |
| Display Technology | OLED | LCD, Direct-LED (Full Array Local Dimming) | QLED | QLED | LCD, Direct-LED |
