The Best 55-inch TVs (2023 Reviews)

For most people, the perfect screen size for TVs is 55″ – they’re big, but not too big.

On top of that, almost all TV series include full-featured 55″ variants, which gives you a rather wide selection.

This can make choosing the best 55-inch TV somewhat overwhelming, but that’s where this buyer’s guide comes in!

These TVs offer the best value for price in their respective categories.

Check out the reviews below for additional information about them in order to make sure you’re getting the best model for your personal preferences!

If you want to view our changelogs for this particular buying guide, you can do so at the end of this article.

Best Budget 55-inch TVs

Looking for a cheap 55″ TV that’s actually good? You’ll find the best and most cost-effective models right here!

About The TV

The TCL 55S435 is the best 55″ TV you can get for under $400. It offers an excellent image quality for the price, as well as smooth gaming performance.

Image Quality

With a static contrast ratio of 6,000:1, the TCL S435 offers deep and inky blacks that make details in shadows really stand out, especially if you’re watching the TV in a dark room.

Peak brightness is not as impressive at mere 200-nits, but this is expected at this price range. So, if you have strong lighting in your room with plenty of windows, you’ll need to pull some curtains/blinders as the TV’s maximum brightness won’t be high enough to mitigate glare.

Further, the TCL 55S435 has a decent ~80% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage; it’s nothing to write home about, but you can’t really expect more at this price.

Features

This TV is also our top-recommended budget TV for gaming!

Thanks to its good ~18ms pixel response time speed and low ~13ms input lag, there’s only minor trailing noticeable behind fast-moving objects, while no delay is perceptible between your actions and the result on the screen.

Input lag is higher at 1080p, so we don’t recommend pairing this TV with 1080p consoles, such as PS4 or the Xbox One.

It supports 4:4:4 chroma, so if you connected it to a PC, it won’t have fringy text on colored backgrounds.

Additionally, the TV can prevent 24p judder from Blu-rays and DVDs, as well as native streaming applications but not from other sources.

Based on Roku TV OS, navigation through the user interface is smooth and easy.

Design & Connectivity

The TCL S435 TV has a fairly slim design with thin bezels and it supports VESA mount compatibility via the 200x200mm pattern.

Connectivity options include four HDMI 2.0 ports (HDMI4 with ARC support for Dolby Digital and DTS), both digital and analog audio jacks, two 8W built-in speakers, a USB 2.0 port, composite-in, tuner, Ethernet and WiFi.

Alternatives

The TCL S425 line-up from 2019 has a bit faster response time speed (12ms) and low input lag at 1080p, but it’s hard to find it at a reasonable price. It also cannot remove 24p judder from native streaming apps.

• Toshiba Fire 2020 (50LF621U21) – lower contrast ratio (4000:1), but higher brightness (350-nits) and faster response time (13ms). It cannot remove 24p judder from any source and has no 4:4:4 chroma support, so it’s a bad choice to be used as a PC monitor.

About The TV

For ~$100 extra, you can get a much better TV, the Vizio M7 Series Quantum!

Image Quality

While the Vizio M55Q7 has a bit lower contrast ratio (6,500:1) than the TCL S435, it has a 30-zone local dimming solution.

These zones can dim parts of the screen that needs to be dark, without greatly affecting the parts of the screen that should remain bright. Since there are only 30 zones, the effectiveness of local dimming will vary depending on the content.

If the bright and dark objects in the image are far apart, it can noticeably improve the viewing experience. In some cases, it can make the picture appear somewhat worse, so you’ll need to enable/disable this feature accordingly.

The Vizio M55Q7 TV can get quite bright at ~550-nits, making it suitable for rooms with more sunlight. It also has a wide 95% DCI-P3 gamut coverage for vibrant colors.

Features

We highly recommend this TV for gaming. It has a good ~12ms pixel response time speed and low input lag of around 11ms.

It even supports AMD FreeSync with a 40-60Hz VRR (variable refresh rate) range for tear-free gameplay with compatible devices (including Xbox consoles).

Additionally, using the ‘Clear Action’ feature enables the BFI (black frame insertion) technology, which, as the name suggests, inserts black frames between the regular ones to reduce the perceived motion blur at a cost of picture brightness.

The TV supports 4:4:4 chroma, it’s based on SmartCast OS, and it can remove 24p judder from Blu-rays, DVDs, and streaming apps via its Film Mode feature.

Design & Connectivity

The Vizio M7 Quantum TV has a rather slim design, thin bezels and 200x200mm VESA mount compatibility.

Connectivity options include four HDMI 2.0 ports (HDMI1 with ARC/eARC support for Dolby Digital/Atmos and DTS/X), a USB 2.0 port, both digital and analog audio jacks, two 10W built-in speakers, composite-in, tuner, Ethernet and WiFi.

Alternatives

• Vizio M7Q 2020 – a bit lower contrast ratio (5000:1) and brightness (500-nits), but a wider 99% DCI-P3 color gamut; hard to find at a reasonable price though
• TCL 50S535 – higher contrast ratio (7500:1), a bit lower peak brightness (400-nits), can remove 24p judder from any source, but has no HDR10+ or FreeSync support
• Hisense 50U6G – higher peak brightness (750-nits), but lower contrast ratio (5000:1) and no FreeSync

Best Mid-range 55-inch TV

If you’re looking for something better than the Vizio MQ7, but still under $1000, we highly recommend the following TV or one of the alternatives we’ll mention.

About The TV

For all the gamers out there, the TCL R646 is the cheapest TV with 120Hz support at 1080p, 1440p and 4K UHD for an enjoyable and responsive gaming experience.

On top of that, it has a decent response time, low input lag, high contrast ratio, and strong peak brightness, making it a great pick for both gaming and everyday use!

Image Quality

The TV’s native contrast ratio of 8,500:1 may not be impressive at this price range, but through the use of local dimming, it can reach up to ~19,000:1.

As there are only 128 dimming zones, some halo/bloom effect will be noticeable when bright objects are surrounded by dim areas, so depending on the content you’re watching, you might prefer to disable it.

Regardless, even without local dimming, you get decent blacks and shadow details, while enabling it can still greatly improve the HDR viewing experience, depending on how sensitive you are to the blooming artifacts, and how often they occur.

Moving on, the TV has a mini LED backlight and it’s capable of high 1200-nit peak brightness for vivid and eye-catching highlights.

The colors are vibrant with ~95% DCI-P3 gamut coverage.

Features

Thanks to its fast ~11ms pixel response time speed, there’ll be very little visible trailing behind fast-moving objects, while input lag is imperceptible at only ~9ms at 120Hz.

Additionally, the TV supports backlight strobing via the LED Motion Clarity feature, variable refresh rate (FreeSync and G-SYNC Compatible) with a 48-120Hz range, and framerate smoothing at both 30FPS at 60FPS for the soap opera effect.

It’s based on Google TV OS, 4:4:4 chroma is supported, and you can eliminate 24p judder from any source.

Design & Connectivity

The TV looks modern and thin with 300x300mm VESA mount compatibility.

Connectivity options include four HDMI ports (two HDMI 2.1 and two HDMI 2.0; HDMI1 with ARC/eARC support for Dolby Digital/Atmos and DTS/DTS:X), two USB 2.0 ports, a digital audio jack, two 10W built-in speakers, composite-in, tuner, Ethernet, and WiFi.

Alternatives

• Hisense 55U8G – Not as high contrast ratio (8000:1), but higher peak brightness (1600-nits) and a bit faster response time speed (9ms). Other specs are very similar.

Best High-end 55-inch TVs

Looking for the absolute best 55-inch TV? Here are our top-recommended models!

About The TV

Interested in an OLED TV? The LG OLED55C1 offers the best value for the money!

Image Quality

Unlike LED-backlit TVs, OLED models don’t require a backlight to produce the image. Instead, each pixel is self-emissive; so, when the TV needs to show black, the pixels simply turn off.

This results in true inky blacks and basically infinite contrast ratio, which makes for an incredibly immersive viewing experience, especially in dark rooms.

Peak brightness is also very good, capable of reaching up to 800-nits, though notably lower than that of competing LED TVs at this price range.

Another advantage of OLED technology is color reproduction with a wide 97% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, as well as wide 178° viewing angles, which make the image flawless from basically any angle.

The main downside, however, is the risk of image burn-in. If you leave the TV on for a very long time, static elements, such as TV channel logos, can ‘burn in’, leaving a permanent afterimage. Sometimes, the afterimage would go away in time, which is called temporary image retention.

As long as you’re careful, this won’t be an issue as there are plenty of built-in features, such as screensavers and pixel refreshers/shifters.

You can still game for hours or watch your favorite movie marathons, you just have to keep this issue in mind.

After watching any content for a long time that has fixed static elements, for instance – news banners, just shuffle through different channels for a while so that the pixels ‘refresh’ or run the manual pixel refresher. In fact, after four hours of cumulative use, this feature will automatically run after you turn off the TV.

Features

OLEDs are also praised by gamers thanks to their instantaneous (less than 1ms) pixel response time speed, which eliminates all ghosting behind fast-moving objects.

Additionally, the LG C1 has low ~6ms input lag and supports 120Hz at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K – making it the perfect display for gaming.

It also supports backlight strobing at both 60Hz and 120Hz, framerate interpolation at both 30FPS and 60FPS, and all variable refresh rate technologies (AMD FreeSync, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, and HDMI 2.1 VRR).

It’s based on WebOS, supports 4:4:4 chroma, and can remove 24p judder from any source.

Design & Connectivity

The LG OLED55C1 is exceptionally thin and it supports 300x200mm VESA mount pattern.

Connectivity options include four HDMI 2.1 ports (HDMI3 with ARC/eARC support for Dolby Digital/Atmos), both digital and analog audio jacks, two 10W built-in speakers and a 20W subwoofer, three USB 2.0 ports, composite-in, tuner, Ethernet, and WiFi.

Alternatives

• LG OLED55A1 – A cheaper model with a 60Hz refresh rate
• LG OLED55C2 – A newer model with similar image quality and performance, however, it’s more expensive at the moment and lacks 120Hz BFI support

About The TV

If you don’t want to worry about OLED burn-in/retention and/or you want a brighter TV, we recommend the Samsung QN55QN90A as the best 55″ LED-backlit TV!

Image Quality

Thanks to its well-optimized 576-zone local dimming solution, the Samsung QN90A is capable of reaching a contrast ratio of up to 25,000:1, which is impressive.

Still, blacks still won’t be as deep and inky as that of OLED TVs.

On top of that, since there are ‘just’ 576 dimming zones across the entire 55″ screen, some haloing/blooming will be noticeable in certain scenes. Since the local dimming implementation is ‘aggressive’, it can lead to black crush, which results in detail loss in dark scenes; for instance, not showing a few small stars in a picture of a night sky.

Regardless, the contrast ratio is still very good for an LED TV, resulting in deep blacks, while the stellar 1800-nit peak brightness makes for incredibly vivid highlights. The colors are vibrant as well, with ~95% DCI-P3 gamut coverage.

Features

Moving on, the Samsung QN90A is great for gaming thanks to its fast ~9ms pixel response time speed and low ~6ms input lag.

It’s not as fast as OLEDs, so some rather minor smearing and overshoot will still be noticeable in certain scenes.

The TV supports backlight strobing at both 60Hz and 120Hz, as well as framerate interpolation at both 30FPS and 60FPS.

Variable refresh rate technology (FreeSync, G-SYNC Compatible) is supported too, and so is 4:4:4 chroma. You can prevent 24p judder from any source, while the TV is based on Tizen OS.

Design & Connectivity

The Samsung QN90A has a very slim design despite having a full-array local dimming implementation. The bezels are ultra-thin on all four sides and there’s a 200x200mm VESA mount compatibility pattern.

Connectivity options include one HDMI 2.1 port, three HDMI 2.0 ports (HDMI3 with eARC/ARC support for Dolby Atmos/Digital), two USB 2.0 ports, a digital audio jack, 60W built-in speakers (4.2.2 configuration), tuner, Ethernet, and WiFi.

Alternatives

The newer version, the Samsung QN90B has wider viewing angles and higher brightness for small highlights, but it doesn’t have as wide color gamut, as good local dimming, or as high brightness for larger bright windows as the QN90A. It’s still an excellent mini LED TV, but we recommend getting the QN90A if you can.

About The TV

Want an even better OLED TV than the LG C1? The Samsung S95B offers a few improvements, though it’s more expensive.

Image Quality

This TV is based on Samsung’s QD-OLED panel with an even wider 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and a higher brightness of 1,200-nits peak and 200-nits sustained, as opposed to 800-nits peak and 150-nits sustained on the C1.

So, you get more vibrant colors and brighter image quality. The QD-OLED TV also has a bit wider viewing angles, better factory calibration and better burn-in resistance.

It’s based on Tizen OS for smooth navigation and supports HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG HDR formats, but not Dolby Vision.

Further, the Samsung S95B supports variable refresh rate via FreeSync Premium, G-SYNC Compatible and HDMI 2.1 VRR technologies up to 120Hz, but BFI works only at 60Hz.

Due to its peculiar triangular RGB subpixel layout, there’s some fringing on small text and edges, but it’s not noticeable while playing games or watching videos.

Design & Connectivity

The TV has a slim design, but its screen coating doesn’t have a polarizer, which can cause the image to have a somewhat pink tint and raised blacks under direct lighting.

Connectivity options are abundant and include four HDMI 2.1 ports (e/ARC with Dolby Atmos/Digital support), two USB 2.0 ports, both digital and analog audio ports, Bluetooth, WiFi, RJ45, tuner and built-in 60W speakers (2.2.2 channel).

Alternatives

LG’s G2 OLED TV has a higher peak brightness than the C series. It can sustain around 180-nits and reach up to ~1,000-nits, but it doesn’t have quite as wide color gamut as the S95B. Due to LG’s better reflection handling, the G2 is better suited for brighter rooms, while the S95B is superior in dark rooms.

Conclusion

That’s it! If you still need help picking the best 55-inch TV for you, leave us a comment below!

Generally, even if you’ve got a limited budget, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the TCL 55S435, but we recommend saving up for the Vizio M55Q7-J01.

In case you can afford something pricier, we recommend the TCL 55R646.

Finally, for the best image quality and performance, there are the LG OLED55C1 – and the Samsung S95B.