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Best OLED TV of 2025

For the ultimate in TV picture quality, you have to go OLED. Here are the best ones we've tested.

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Written by  Ty Pendlebury
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Ty Pendlebury has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about TVs and home entertainment.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
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One of the most significant improvements to picture quality has been the introduction of OLED technology. An OLED TV can create perfect black levels with infinite contrast, as well as excellent color and great motion control. It's a technology that lends itself well to gaming from consoles such as the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, as well as watching HDR TV shows and movies. We have tested the latest OLED TVs side-by-side in our TV lab, with brands such as LG, Samsung and Panasonic. These are the models we recommend.

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The best OLED TV

The best OLED TV for most users is the LG C Series -- either the C4 or C3. Both are very similar, and both TVs achieve the best balance of picture quality and price among OLED TVs we've tested. We're including only the C4 on the list below since the C3 is older and more difficult to find, but if you do find a new one, it's worth considering. If you can spend more and want the best possible picture quality that money can buy, then the Samsung S95D is a fantastic TV, especially in bright rooms.

It's worth noting that all of the TVs listed below came out in 2024. A new crop of 2025 OLEDs are starting to arrive in stores, and we'll be testing them this spring and updating this list accordingly. We expect those new OLED TVs to remain much more expensive than older versions, however.

Best OLED TV overall

LG's midrange OLEDs offer the best picture for the money, with the C4 being the most recent model from 2024. It has all of the features you need including 4K/120Hz gaming support, Dolby Vision and onboard streaming. Yet, as the C4 is very similar to the older C3 the model you should get is the one that's cheapest at the time.

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Best OLED picture quality

Compared with LG, it took Samsung many more years to get into its groove when producing OLED televisions. Yet, based on the performance of the S95D we're here to tell you the effort was worth it. Not only is this TV great at beating reflections, but it offers deep, saturated colors and plenty of contrast. Will it be beaten by a 2025 TV? We'll have to wait and see.

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Best high-end LG OLED TV

LG's G series has shown appreciable improvements in picture quality every year, and the G4 is no different. It's worth noting that I've seen the 2025 G5, and it is even brighter again. Those goalposts keep moving around!

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Best OLED TV sound quality

After taking a few years off, Panasonic is back with one of its best TVs yet: the Z95A. It boasts excellent picture quality, thanks to OLED, and it also includes a dedicated speaker system. While a separate soundbar will sound even better, the Panasonic is worth a look if you want a single TV that combines the best sound and picture quality, no matter the price.

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Factor to consider when choosing an OLED TV

Best of CES  LG G5 OLED TV

The 2025 LG G5 television appeared at CES in January.

James Martin/CNET

Screen size: OLEDs are available in sizes from 40 inches to 97 inches, and there are probably even bigger TVs coming in the future. One of the best pieces of advice we can give is, if you can afford it, always buy a TV one size bigger than you think you need. While 65 inches is the norm right now, TVs will keep getting bigger year after year, and you might consider buying a 77-inch to prevent an upgrade in the near future. However, if you're buying for a bedroom or a games room, then you could look at TVs 55 inches or under.

Consider older models: At the affordable end of OLED, the yearly model updates aren't as dramatic when compared with the flagships. For TVs like the LG B4 or even C4, for instance, it makes sense to compare prices on last year's model and get whichever is cheapest. In the meantime, 2025 models have just started appearing in stores and so you should expect to see 2024 prices to start falling as well.

HDR formats: While it's not completely necessary, compatibility with Dolby Vision is a plus. Of course, Samsung doesn't support the Dolby format and instead offers its own version it calls HDR10 plus, and this is gaining in popularity. In the end, though, almost every 4K TV supports HDR 10, and this will work just fine.

Gaming: If you're a gamer then having gaming-enhancing features is a bonus, and these includes a dedicated gaming mode (for turning off processing and reducing lag), 120Hz or higher support and even gaming apps such as Xbox Game Pass, Amazon Luna and Steam Link.

Operating system: With the introduction of the Philips Roku TV most types of smart TV interfaces are now available on OLED televisions. Whether its Google TV, Roku or one of the manufacturer-specific systems opting for a popular smart TV interface gives you the most choice when it comes to apps and on-demand content.

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