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Budget TVs get a bad rap. Sure, they're not all winners, but there are some truly good value TVs out there for right around $500 (or less when they're on sale).
With 2026 models landing on store shelves in March and April, now's a great time to save on last year's mid-range TVs. At launch, these cost close to $1,000 — now they can be yours for as much as 50% off MSRP.
What to avoid when buying a budget TV
You might be tempted to look at this list and think, "You know what? I'm just going to go with the cheapest TV I can find. I'm sure it will be fine."
Please don't do that, unless you specifically need a TV smaller than 40 inches and you don't care about that TV's performance.
If you're shopping for a TV larger than 40 inches, stick to reputable brands with good warranties and good specs. To that end, not every TV you buy needs to have a 120Hz refresh rate and a full suite of HDMI 2.1 ports (though it's something we recommend for gamers), we do highly recommend buying a Mini-LED TV.
These TVs will deliver the best performance at this price point, and there are several amazing options out there from the likes of TCL and Hisense.
The full list: Best budget TVs in detail
Last year, the TCL QM7 was the best budget TV. This year, TCL took all that awesome technology and brought it down to the 6-Series that has now become the best budget TV on the market.
I like it for a few reasons. For one, it uses Mini-LED backlighting that offers improved brightness and contrast with less blooming. For another, it supports all the major HDR formats including HDR10, HDR 10+, HLG, Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision Gaming. Lastly, it's not going to blow a soundbar out of the water, but its 40W (2 x 10W, 1 x 20W) sound system is a lot better-sounding than anything else in this price range.
The 55-inch model starts at $550, so you don't have to break the bank to get a jaw-dropping 4K HDR TV. The QM6K will deliver the goods at a great price.
Read our full TCL QM6K Mini-LED TV review.
Best Budget TV Runner-up
The Hisense U75QG can't beat the QM6K when it comes to price, but in terms of picture performance, I've got to give it to the U75QG. It's brighter. It's more colorful. It's got features that gamers are going to love.
It's the whole package.
Our reviewer, Ryan Epps, said that the U75QG was "a better option over the flagship Hisense U8QG" which is high praise considering the latter is sitting at the number-two spot in our Best TVs guide. In our lab tests, the U75QG reached a peak brightness of 3,338 nits (a stone's throw away from the 3,916 nits on the U8QG) and a color accuracy score of 2.8. These are huge upgrades over the TCL QM6K.
Because this is still an LED-LCD TV under the hood, it's got some drawbacks like off-axis color desaturation, but it's a big leap in performance for a still-affordable price.
Read our full Hisense U75QG review.
Best Budget OLED
While the B5 OLED may not have impressed our reviewers as much as the LG B4 OLED from 2024, this 2025 budget OLED is still worth every penny (and then some).
The type of person who will get the most value out of this TV is someone who pays to watch their content in 4K HDR. This TV might not get very bright — especially compared to the Hisense model listed above — but its beauty is in its contrast. If you've never seen an OLED TV before, then you've never seen pure black.
Not only is it great for cinephiles, but the LG B5 is awesome for gamers as well. It uses a 120Hz native panel and offers an input latency of just 9.7ms. That's milliseconds, folks. In addition it supports VRR technology, too, in case you connect it to a gaming PC.
You'll want to keep this away from sunlight (nothing ruins this OLED TV's contrast faster than lots of ambient light) but if you've got some shades then this is the budget TV you'll want to invest in for 2026.
Read our full LG B5 OLED review.
Best Budget TVs Test Results
TV | Peak Brightness (tested) | Delta-E (tested) | Rec709 Color (tested) | Input Lag (tested) |
LG B5 OLED | 632 nits | 1.65 | 97.4% | 9.7ms |
Hisense U75QG | 3,338 nits | 2.8 | 99.58% | 9.8ms |
TCL QM6K | 695 nits | 1.0 | 99.50% | 13.1ms |
How to choose the best budget TV for you
Buying a budget TV definitely means making a few sacrifices (2,000-nit brightness on a budget TV? No way) but hopefully now you know that you can find the essential features at an affordable price. So what should you be on the lookout for when buying a budget TV model?
4K resolution: 4K resolution is so affordable, and the quality so much better than 1080p or 720p, that we always recommend going for 4K. Unless you're on a shoestring budget, getting a proper 4K TV won't even cost you much money, but you will notice the difference.
Screen size: You may not always be able to score a premium 65-inch TV for under $500, but you can still get a decent 55-inch model, so don't settle for some dinky 43-inch set unless it's the right size for the space.
HDR support: If there's one feature we recommend, it's high dynamic range (HDR). Even basic HDR support provides better color, brighter highlights and richer shadows, giving you a better picture in every respect. If you can find a set with Dolby Vision, that's even better, but you may pay more for that feature.
Connectivity: More HDMI ports are always better, so you don't find yourself having to awkwardly swap plugs on the TV every time you want to fire up a Blu-ray or jump into a game.
Gaming: For affordable gaming TVs, we recommend looking for sets with higher refresh rates of 60Hz, but the latest Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles can actually go higher. Lag time is another concern, so check out individual reviews to find sets that have a lag time of shorter than 20 milliseconds for the best performance.
What features are worth paying more for?
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
Budget TVs are great. They are. And yet, you might be wondering what you're missing by not spending the big bucks on a flagship model. Unfortunately, there are a few features that you just simply can't find on a budget TV model unless you're willing to flex the budget a bit.
Screen size: This one is a given. Unfortunately, you're not going to get a 75-inch or 85-inch TV for the same price as a 55-inch model. Bigger screens cost more money. It's like the law of gravity. Now, you can find a 75-inch TCL 4-Series for around the cost of a 65-inch 6-Series, but there are trade-offs in other areas to get that bigger size.
Class-leading picture quality: It's a shame, but you can't get class-leading picture quality on a budget. You can get close (see: the TCL 6-Series) but you'll never get an LG OLED or Samsung QLED TV's performance at the same price as, say, the TCL 5-Series. That means missing out on the best contrast, best color saturation, best upscaling and motion handling, and the best speed when navigating the UI.
Sound quality: Oof, we've all heard awful-sounding TVs and they can ruin the whole experience. While today's budget TVs do a lot of things well, sound quality isn't one of them. If you're going for something that's super cheap, expect weak and tinny sound from 10W speakers. The good news? You can buy a super cheap TV and then add one of the best soundbars later to get better audio.
How we test the best budget TVs
Evaluating TVs is about more than just kicking back to watch a movie. We lab test every TV, measuring color gamut, color accuracy and brightness to objectively see which sets are the best for these key indicators. We also test for lag time – a key detail for gaming – measuring to the millisecond how long it takes for content to travel from the original source to the screen. We use these results to make numbers-based comparisons about color and display quality.
We also spend time with each set for real-world evaluation and see how our lab results translate into more subjective performance. We also compare sets side by side and view samples from the latest movies, specialized test patterns that highlight strengths and weaknesses of each display, and a range of content across several sources. With that information, we can tell you which TVs look best, sound best and offer the best viewing experience.
Finally, we evaluate the smart TV functions and apps for each TV, looking at everything from the remote control design to the voice interaction.
We put all of that data together with our real-world testing and stack it against the price of the TV. The result is a score that we feel best represents the totality of that model, and how well it stands up against its contemporary rivals. A TV that scored highly five years ago may not score as highly against a newer model, but we do our best to update reviews when newer models become available.
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