If you’ve been waiting to buy one of the best budget TVs for football season but just haven’t found one that fills up enough of your wall, we’ve got some good news — TV maker Vizio is finally ready to hit the gridiron with its 2023 series of cheap 65-inch and 75-inch TVs that won’t deflate your wallet.
Simply called the Vizio Quantum 4K QLED Smart TV, the series will available in a large 65-inch version that will sell for $499 (links to Walmart) and an extra-large 75-inch screen size for $699 (links to Walmart).
In terms of features, the Quantum 4K QLED offers Dolby Vision Bright+, a full-array LED backlight and active pixel tuning plus Variable Refresh Rate and up to 120FPS at 1080p for gamers who want higher frame rates. Finally, in terms of sound, the Quantum 4K has Dolby Audio DTS:X and Virtual:X on-board as well as Dolby Atmos and DTS-X pass-throughs if you connect it to one of the best soundbars or a speaker system.
If you stream your sports instead of watching them on cable or over-the-air, Vizio says the Quantum 4K QLED will have Wi-Fi 6 as well as support for Airplay 2.0 and Chromecast. It will also come stocked with Vizio’s latest smart platform, Home Screen, which recently gained the ESPN app.
Analysis: Are Vizio’s 2023 TVs a cheaper alternative to Hisense or TCL TVs?
While Vizio is definitely setting the pace when it comes to cheap 75-inch TVs, the competition isn't far behind — the Hisense U6K offers many of the same features for $799. The main differences between the two models are that the Hisense uses Google TV and a Mini-LED backlight while Vizio uses its own Home Screen platform and is stuck with full-array LED.
Having seen both briefly at various events this year, I was more drawn to the Hisense than the Vizio, though neither of the two have undergone Tom's Guide's rigorous testing suite yet. Hopefully, though, that will happen in the next month.
The other option in the mid-range TV world is the TCL QM8, one of the brightest TVs we've yet to see this year. It's arguably much more expensive at $1,300 for the 65-inch version, but we'd bet good money that the QM8 would beat both the U6K and Vizio Quantum in most key performance metrics.
In spite of its strong competition, however, Vizio does look like it's bringing down the prices of big-screen TVs to a new affordable level — one that we expect could drop even more when we come to this year's Black Friday shopping holiday.
As long as you temper your expectations — don't expect a Samsung S95C OLED level of performance from a $700 TV — the Vizio could be worth a spot in your living room this season. That said, if you already have one of our best TVs in the living room, the Vizio could also be your second string TV that lives down in the basement.
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