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The 8 Best Smart TVs For Streaming - Winter 2024 Reviews

Updated
Best Smart TVs

All new 4k TVs have a smart platform that includes features and apps. Some manufacturers choose to use proprietary platforms, while others prefer to integrate third-party options like Google TV, Android, or Roku. No matter the case, the selection of apps is great, as most common streaming apps are available on almost all platforms. All smart platforms offer similar features, and choosing one over another depends on personal preference and how you feel while using it. You shouldn't get a TV only based on its smart platform either, as you still want something with good picture quality.

We've bought and tested more than 425 TVs, and below are our recommendations for the best smart televisions you can buy. Also, see our picks for the best Roku TVs, the best TVs, and the best 4k TVs. You can also vote on which ones you want us to buy and test. To learn more about the 2024 models, check out our 2024 TV lineup page.


  1. Best Smart TV

    The best smart television we've tested is the Samsung S90C OLED. It's an amazing TV with a great selection of smart features, including support for Bixby and Alexa voice assistants. This means you can choose your preferred platform and spend less time searching for content and more time enjoying your new TV. If you don't want to use voice assistants, its well-organized Tizen smart interface is fast and easy to use. It has a huge selection of streaming apps, so you can quickly find your favorite shows. Its QD-OLED panel is extremely colorful compared to WOLED panels from LG, making it one of the most vibrant TVs on the market alongside other QD-OLED TVs from Sony and Samsung.

    Like all OLEDs, the TV looks great in a dark room, but it's no slouch in a bright room either; it easily gets bright enough to overcome glare and bright lights, and its reflection handling is fantastic. Of course, you get perfect black levels when using it in a dark room thanks to its near-infinite contrast ratio, and there's no distracting blooming around bright objects in dark scenes. If you have money to burn, you could opt for the Samsung S95C OLED instead. It's Samsung's 2023 flagship option and is an amazing TV. It's brighter than the S90C, but for most people, it's not worth the significant price premium over its lower-tier sibling.

    See our review

  2. Best Smart TV For Home Theater

    Although the Samsung S90C OLED is the best choice for most users due to its incredible value proposition, if you want the best home theater experience possible and have money to burn, consider the more expensive Sony A95L OLED. Compared to Samsung's HDR10+ format, the Sony TV supports the more popular Dolby Vision HDR, so you'll enjoy the most advanced HDR experience possible from almost any source. Sony's processing does a better job following the content creator's intent, so the brightness and colors of HDR content look the way they're supposed to. It also offers better audio format support than the Samsung, including DTS:X passthrough over eARC, so you can simplify your connection to your audio-video receiver by running everything through your TV without sacrificing audio quality. Overall, you'll get the best HDR experience possible from more content with the Sony than you would with the Samsung.

    The Sony is also no slouch when it comes to smart features. It runs the built-in Google TV interface, which is slower than Samsung's Tizen OS but has more features and a wider selection of streaming apps. It supports hands-free voice control, so you can find your favorite content without the remote or use the voice assistant to control your other devices. Truly, if you're willing to pay its high price, the A95L might very well be the best TV around. It's available in three sizes: 55, 65, and 77 inches.

    See our review

  3. Best Bright Room Smart TV

    If you're looking for the best TV for streaming in a bright room, check out the Sony X93L/X93CL. Unlike our top two picks, this TV isn't an OLED, and as such, it doesn't look nearly as good in a dark room due to more blooming around bright objects in darker scenes, including around subtitles. However, it looks much better in well-lit rooms thanks to its bright mini LED backlight and excellent reflection handling, making it an excellent choice for a bright viewing environment. It's even bright enough to use outdoors but isn't weather-proof, so you'll need an appropriate enclosure.

    It has Sony's legendary image processing capabilities, so streaming content looks its best. As far as smart features go, it's identical to the Sony A95L OLED, with the same great Google TV interface. There's a huge selection of streaming apps, and the remote makes it easy to find your favorite content thanks to its built-in support for different voice assistants. The TV has an okay viewing angle and is good enough for a wide seating arrangement or if you like to move around with the TV on, although the image noticeably darkens at a moderate viewing angle. For those with deep pockets, the Sony X95L is the best LED TV on the market, but it is only available in an 85-inch size in North America. Plus, as amazing as it is, it's not worth the price increase over the X93L for most people.

    See our review

  4. Best Upper Mid-Range Smart TV

    If you want an OLED that is more versatile than the Samsung S90C OLED but isn't nearly as expensive as the Sony A95L OLED, check out the upper mid-range LG C3 OLED. It uses a WOLED panel, which isn't as bright or as colorful as the QD-OLED found in the Samsung or Sony OLEDs above, so highlights don't pop as much in HDR, and colors aren't as vivid. But, the LG offers the same near-infinite contrast that OLEDs are known for, making it a fantastic choice in dark rooms. In terms of its smart features, LG's proprietary webOS smart platform is excellent, as it's easy to use, and navigating through it feels smooth. LG's remotes are unique because they have a point-and-press feature, similar to a Nintendo Wii remote, that lets you easily choose apps and settings in the menu, saving you the hassle of scrolling through everything with a directional pad. The webOS smart platform also allows customization with different profiles, so you can have a different layout than someone else at home.

    The C3 is available in a ton of sizes: from as small as 42 inches to as big as 83. For something a bit more premium, you could also go for the LG G3 OLED, as its amazing HDR peak brightness partly makes up for WOLED's color disadvantage compared to QD-OLED. Like the C3, it's a great home theater choice with its advanced audio and video format support. It's expensive but cheaper than the A95L, making it a good premium alternative for home theater aficionados.

    See our review

  5. Best Mid-Range Smart TV

    If you'd like an OLED but don't need four HDMI 2.1 ports or high HDR peak brightness, the LG B3 OLED is a great mid-range TV and can serve as an excellent entry point into the OLED market. The TV has all the features of the more expensive LG C3 OLED, but the B3 is dimmer and has only two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports. It still delivers outstanding picture quality, especially in a dark room, with its near-infinite contrast ratio delivering deep, inky blacks with no distracting blooming.

    Like the C3, this TV has a wide color gamut and is extremely accurate without any calibration, so movies look as the content creator intended. Of course, it's not nearly as bright as any of the OLEDs above it, but it's also significantly cheaper. Just like its more expensive sibling, it has Dolby Vision HDR and supports DTS advanced audio formats, with very good image processing, making it a fantastic mid-range home theater OLED. Finally, it runs the same great webOS smart interface as the more expensive LG, with the same point-and-press smart remote. The TV is available in 55-inch, 65-inch, and 77-inch models.

    See our review

  6. Best Lower Mid-Range Smart TV

    If you want high-end performance but don't want to spend high-end prices, or if you watch content in mostly bright rooms, check out the Hisense U7K. It's cheaper than anything recommended up to this point but delivers picture quality that is almost as good as the Sony X93L/X93CL. 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 great, and it supports both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ for the best HDR experience possible, as well as advanced audio formats, like DTS:X over eARC, for the best sound when watching content on physical media. Even better, the U7K has very good image processing overall, making it a cheaper option for a home entertainment setup than the more expensive models from LG and Sony.

    Unfortunately, its viewing angle is sub-par, making it a bad choice for a wide seating arrangement. 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 available in four sizes: 55, 65, 75, and 85 inches. If you want a brighter TV, go for the higher-tier Hisense U8/U8K. The U8K is incredibly bright but has the same features as the U7K.

    See our review

  7. Best Budget Smart TV

    If you want to save money, the best budget smart TV we've tested is the Hisense U6/U6K. Compared with the Hisense U7K, the main trade-off is that it doesn't get as bright, so highlights don't pop as much in HDR, which is normal for a budget-friendly model. It also has worse reflection handling, so it's better to use in a dark room, where it displays deep blacks thanks to its full-array local dimming feature. Unfortunately, there's some blooming around bright objects. It upscales content well, has good HDR gradient handling, and is very accurate overall, so it displays most content the way its creator intended.

    Like the U7K, it runs the Google TV interface, which is very simple to use once you're used to it, and has a great selection of streaming channels. The included remote supports voice control, which is great if you want to find content quickly. The TV even has an integrated microphone for hands-free voice control, which you can turn off with a switch if you're worried about privacy. If you're a Costco member, you might want to consider the Hisense A6/A65K instead. It's just a bit worse than the U6K but significantly cheaper.

    See our review

  8. Best Cheap Smart TV

    If you want something cheap that gets the job done, the Roku Select Series is one of the best TVs for tight budgets. It's a basic TV that delivers worse picture quality than the Hisense U6/U6K, but this is typical of cheap models. It also isn't as good in a dark room due to its lack of local dimming, although its contrast and black uniformity are certainly good enough for a pleasant dark room viewing experience. It doesn't get very bright in HDR, but it has decent reflection handling, so it can handle a few lights in a moderately lit room. Alternatively, its SDR brightness is good, so it's more versatile if you mostly watch SDR content. It's also at its best when watching high-quality 4k content, as its image processing is disappointing overall.

    As it's one of the two first-ever TVs made by Roku, it runs the Roku TV smart interface, which is extremely fast. It has wide streaming app selections, so you can easily find your favorite shows and movies. Its remote even has an integrated microphone for voice commands, which is great for a cheap TV. Even better, you can plug headphones into the remote for private listening, a great feature at this price range. Still, if you're a Costco member, get the Hisense A6/A65K instead. You can find it for a similar price to the Roku, but it's a bit better overall.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • TCL Q5/Q550G QLED: The Best Buy exclusive TCL Q5/Q550G QLED is a cheaper alternative to the Hisense U6/U6K. It doesn't have local dimming, so it doesn't look as good in a dark room and can't emphasize highlights in HDR content, but it's a bit brighter than the Hisense. The TCL is more interesting for gamers, as it does 1080p @ 120Hz and 1440p @ 120Hz with resolution halving on the 55- and 65-inch models. See our review
  • TCL QM8/QM850G QLED: The TCL QM8/QM850G QLED is an alternative to the Sony X93L/X93CL. The TCL is one of the brightest and most vibrant TVs on the market, so it looks amazing even in very bright rooms. Aside from that, the Sony is better overall, with much better upscaling and sharpness processing and significantly more accurate colors, so it respects the content creator's intent. See our review
  • Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED: The Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED is a great alternative to the Sony X93L/X93CL. The Samsung is a bit brighter and has a slightly wider viewing angle. Still, the Sony TV is better for streaming with its much better image processing and Dolby Vision HDR support. See our review
  • Roku Plus Series QLED: The Roku Plus Series QLED is an alternative to the Hisense U6/U6K. It offers slightly better image quality than the Hisense, but the Hisense has more features, has better image processing, and is the more accurate TV of the two. See our review
  • Sony A75L OLED: The Sony A75L OLED is a great TV and is a good alternative to the LG B3 OLED. Unfortunately, its price is too close to the better LG C3 OLED, making the Sony TV a tough value proposition. If you can find it for a price closer to the B3, the Sony is a tad better overall due to its better image processing capabilities and slightly brighter panel. See our review

Recent Updates

  1. Mar 08, 2024: Confirmed the accuracy and availability of our picks.

  2. Feb 08, 2024: Swapped the TCL Q6/Q650G QLED for the TCL Q5/Q550G QLED in the Notable Mentions and confirmed picks throughout are accurate and available.

  3. Jan 12, 2024: Verified our picks for accuracy and consistency and added a link to our 2024 TV lineup page.

  4. Nov 29, 2023: Replaced the Sony A95K OLED and LG C2 OLED with the newer Sony A95L OLED and LG C3 OLED. Also replaced the Hisense U8/U8K and TCL S4/S450G with the better LG B3 OLED and Roku Select Series, respectively. Finally, we added a 'Best Lower Mid-Range Smart TV' category for the Hisense U7K.

  5. Oct 31, 2023: Confirmed that our picks are available and updated the text to ensure proper linking to each product.

What Is A Smart TV?

A smart TV is a television connected to the internet that provides web-related features. There are built-in apps for streaming, and there's usually an app store where you can download your favorite apps. Built-in smart platforms are similar to streaming boxes from Apple and Roku, and while smart TVs were once slower, they've since equaled the performance of a streaming box.

Not only does almost every TV include smart features, but most of them are also pretty good. LG's webOS and TCL's Roku stand out for their quality. However, most shoppers will be pleased by the features of any of the smart platforms. Don't fret too much about features if you're shopping for a TV because the picture quality is still more important. Instead, focus on the picture quality or other features that complement your usage, and you'll get much closer to finding your perfect TV that way.

Learn more about smart platforms.

All Reviews

Our recommendations are based on what we think are the best TVs for streaming currently available with smart features. They are adapted to be valid for most people in each price range. Rating is based on our review, factoring in price, and feedback from our visitors.

If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our reviews of smart TVs. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no TV is perfect, most TVs are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.