The 7 Best 55-Inch TVs - Fall 2023 Reviews

The Samsung S90C OLED is the best 55-inch TV that we've tested. It's a premium TV with fantastic overall picture quality and a huge selection of smart features sure to please anyone. It has great peak brightness and perfect, inky blacks for some of the most vibrant HDR viewing experiences. It doesn't have Sony's top-tier processing capabilities, but it's no slouch in that department and is certainly good enough for most viewers, except for movie enthusiasts. Unfortunately, unlike the Sony A95K OLED, the Samsung TV doesn't support advanced audio and video formats, so there's no DTS support, and the TV is limited to the less commonly used HDR10+ format rather than Dolby Vision HDR. However, for most buyers, this is the best-looking 55-inch TV they can get for the price, bar none.

Thankfully it's a standout performer for gaming, with full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth support on all four HDMI 2.1 ports, all of which support up to 4k @ 144Hz, which is amazing for high-end PC and console gamers. The Samsung S95B OLED is extremely similar overall but without official 4k @ 120Hz support. It's still widely available, but its 55-inch size tends to be sold for about the same price as the 55-inch S90C, so it's not worth it unless you find it on a clearance sale.

If you want the best home theater experience, the Sony A95K OLED is the best 55-inch smart TV for movie enthusiasts. It's significantly more expensive and a bit worse for gaming due to its higher input lag and having only two full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports limited to up to 4k @ 120Hz. However, it has a similar QD-OLED panel to the one found on the Samsung, so it's equally colorful and vibrant, and it has some of the best image processing on the market; this ensures you'll get the best HDR experience from almost any source, no matter its quality, which is important for the best possible movie-watching experience. It also supports advanced audio and video formats, like DTS and Dolby Digital HDR, and combined with the TV's processing, it's a standout performer for a home entertainment setup.

There's no real alternative to this TV; Sony stands alone with its processing capabilities, and this model is their current highest-end option. If you want a Sony OLED for its processing but don't care about high peak brightness or vibrant colors, consider the Sony A80L/A80CL OLED. It has a WOLED panel instead of the QD-OLED panel found in the A95K, so it looks more like a slightly dimmer LG C2 OLED but with Sony's excellent image processing.

If you're not in a completely dark room, a brighter LED TV like the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED is better than the Samsung S90C OLED. Although higher-tier OLEDs can now output impressive peak brightness levels, LED TVs like this Samsung can still reach even higher peak brightness levels in HDR and SDR and maintain these peaks for longer. Besides brightness, this TV delivers excellent picture quality, with very deep blacks, thanks to its Mini LED local dimming feature, which improves the appearance of dark scenes and further brings out bright highlights.

Of course, Mini LED isn't as good as OLED technology for a dark room, as there's some distracting blooming around bright highlights in dark scenes, but it's still very good and is sure to please most people. Overall, it's a great TV for almost any use. It has a great selection of gaming features, including HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four HDMI inputs, meaning you can enjoy 4k @ 120Hz gaming on the Xbox Series X, PS5, or a recent PC graphics card. Its predecessor, the Samsung QN90B QLED, is getting harder to find, but it's very similar to the QN90C overall, so go for it if you find it for a lower price than its successor.

The best 55-inch upper mid-range TV is the LG C2 OLED. Like the top two TVs on this list, it's a premium TV with an OLED panel that delivers stunning picture quality, especially in dark rooms. However, it lacks the DTS audio format support of the Sony A95K OLED or its successor, the LG C3 OLED. OLEDs are unique because they can turn individual pixels off, resulting in a near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks in dark rooms, and there isn't any blooming around bright objects either, which explains their prevalence on this list. The C2, like other OLEDs, has a wide viewing angle that keeps the image consistent from the sides, which is ideal if you have a wide seating area as everyone can enjoy a pleasing image.

Its fantastic reflection handling and good SDR peak brightness make it a good choice if you want to use it in a well-lit room. It has decent HDR peak brightness that makes small highlights stand out and respects the content creator's intent. Unfortunately, like other TVs with LG's WOLED panel, it isn't as bright or colorful as TVs equipped with a QD-OLED panel, like the Samsung S90C OLED or the A95K, but it still looks good. And most importantly, it's well-priced. The C3 is a bit brighter and has better image processing with DTS audio format support, but it's sold for about the same price as the Samsung S90C OLED, so it's not as good of a deal as its predecessor is.

If you want high-end performance but don't want to spend high-end prices, check out the Hisense U8H. It's far cheaper than anything recommended up to this point but delivers impressive picture quality. It has a great Mini LED backlight, letting it simultaneously provide incredibly bright highlights and deep blacks, with barely any blooming around bright objects in dark scenes. HDR content looks incredible, and like the Sony A95K OLED, it supports Dolby Vision HDR for the best HDR experience possible and advanced audio formats, like DTS:X over eARC, for the best sound when watching content on physical media.

Blacks aren't quite as deep and inky as they are on OLEDs, and it has a much worse viewing angle than even the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED, so it's not as versatile overall. It runs the Google TV interface, which is fast and easy to use, and it has a great selection of streaming features, so you're sure to find your favorite shows. It's great for gaming thanks to its two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports, which are great for 4k @ 120Hz gaming on the Xbox Series X, PS5, or on a recent PC GPU.

The TCL 5 Series/S555 2022 QLED is a great choice if you want something on a budget. It's a great TV for the price, with surprisingly good picture quality. It looks great in a dark room thanks to its superb contrast and decent full array local dimming feature, so dark scenes look amazing, with very little blooming around bright areas of the screen. It's just as good in a bright room, thanks to its great peak brightness in SDR and decent reflection handling, so you don't have to worry about glare.

It's a great TV for gaming, as it has superb low input lag and variable refresh rate support, so the action on-screen is in-sync with your movements on the controller, and there's very little screen tearing. Unlike the Hisense U8H, it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which is disappointing for gamers wanting to take advantage of the capabilities of recent consoles and PC GPUs. However, it's still great for visually-intensive games on consoles that target 4k @ 60Hz in their 'Graphics' mode.

If you want a basic TV and want to spend less, the Hisense A6H is the best cheap TV we've tested that's available in a 55-inch size. As expected for the price, it's a simple TV with limited picture quality and few extra features, but it's a great choice for an office or guest bedroom. Like the Hisense U8H, it runs the Google TV interface with a huge selection of streaming apps. It has a wide viewing angle, which is great if you watch TV while walking around, as the image remains consistent when viewed from the sides.

Unfortunately, unlike the other TVs on this list, it's not a good choice for a dark room. It has a low contrast ratio, and by going with a cheap TV, you're losing out on advanced features like local dimming to improve the appearance of dark scenes. It also can't display a wide color gamut, so although it supports Dolby Vision HDR, it's not a good choice for watching movies in HDR in a dark room, as dark scenes are distracting due to the raised blacks.