The 6 Best Budget TVs - Spring 2020
Reviews

The best budget TV we've reviewed so far is the Hisense H9F. This TV delivers incredible performance with features that are usually found on much pricier TVs. It sports a VA panel that can produce deep and inky blacks, and it looks even better with its full-array local dimming enabled, which is great for dark room viewing. This TV is also well-suited for bright rooms thanks to its incredible peak brightness and excellent reflection handling, but unfortunately, it has rather poor viewing angles, so it's not the best choice for large rooms or wide seating arrangements.

Motion handling is truly exceptional on this TV. It has a 120Hz refresh rate and a fast response time, and its black frame insertion feature helps to further reduce motion blur. Sports fans may be disappointed by its uniformity issues, though, as there's noticeable dirty screen effect that can be distracting. It has a low input lag for gaming and it can display chroma 4:4:4 properly if you want to use it as a PC monitor. However, it doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology and it doesn't have an 'Auto Low Latency Mode' either.

With Android TV as its operating system, you shouldn't have any issues navigating its user-friendly interface. The Google Assistant is on board as well, so you can use voice control to look for content or ask for information like the weather. Overall, if you're shopping on a limited budget, this is an impressive TV that you should consider.

If price is your primary concern, then the best cheap TV we've tested so far is the TCL 3 Series/32S325 2019. It's a mediocre TV overall. There's no HDR support or any advanced motion handling features like motion interpolation or a judder removal option. On the upside, this TV will serve you well if you're looking for a secondary TV, especially for a room where space is limited. It delivers a mediocre picture quality with deep blacks in a dark room, but can't get very bright so it's more suitable for a dim room like a garage.

This TV has a 1080p resolution and doesn't support native 4k. The 32" model is limited to a 720p resolution (except for the 32S327 variant). On the upside, all models run the same Roku smart TV interface found on the higher-end TCL models. The Roku interface is smooth, easy-to-use, and gives you access to a large number of apps to cover any need.

Overall, this TV can't compete with higher-end models, but it's great as a secondary TV where top picture quality isn't required.

Since prices fluctuate significantly around this time of year, it's hard to pinpoint the best value for size TV; however, the TCL 5 Series/65S525 2019 is a very strong candidate for this title. Despite being in the budget category, it's a 65 inch TV with a fairly premium look thanks to its very thin bezels and metal accents. It features a wide color gamut, which is important for displaying HDR content and delivers deep, uniform blacks, even without having a local dimming feature.

This TV should have no difficulty overcoming glare in bright rooms thanks to its good peak brightness for SDR content, though unfortunately, it doesn't get quite bright enough for HDR content to pop the way it should. This is a great TV for gamers, however, thanks to its outstanding low input lag and great response time, resulting in a responsive gaming experience with only a short blur trail behind fast-moving objects.

Unfortunately, the image degrades at an angle, so this may not be the best option for watching sports with a big group of people. It's also not the best choice for watching HDR content, as it can't get quite bright enough for it to pop, though it still does a decent job, especially for this price point. Overall, this is a good TV for most uses and offers great value for its price.