The 5 Best 4k TVs Under $500 - Winter 2022 Reviews

The Hisense 55U6G is the best TV under $500. It's great all-around with performance that matches more expensive options, and it delivers great picture quality in both dark and bright rooms. Both the 50 and 55 inch models are under $500, and they should each perform like the 65 inch variant we tested. It comes with Android TV built-in, which has a ton of apps available through the Google Play Store.

This TV is impressive for watching movies because it has a VA panel with a high native contrast ratio, and the local dimming feature does a decent job at improving the picture quality in dark scenes. If you want to watch HDR content, it supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, so you don't have to worry about which format your content is in before streaming it. It displays a wide color gamut, and although its HDR brightness is just okay and some highlights won't pop, HDR content still looks great. It also gets bright enough in SDR to combat glare and has excellent reflection handling, meaning visibility won't be an issue.

Like other VA panel TVs, it has narrow viewing angles, so it's not a good choice for wide seating arrangements. It also doesn't have extra gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth or variable refresh rate (VRR) support, but it offers an impressive gaming experience thanks to the low input lag and quick response time. If the lack of extra features doesn't concern you, then it's one of the best TVs under $500.

The best TV under $500 available in a small size is the Samsung UN43AU8000FXZA. This 43 inch entry-level TV is decent overall and is well-rounded enough for most people. We tested the 65 inch model and expect our results to be valid for the 43 inch model, too. There's also a 50 inch variant that you can get for just over $500 if you need something bigger.

It has great smart features as the built-in Tizen is easy-to-use, and the menu navigation feels smooth. The remote has a mic for voice control, making it easy to play your favorite content. This TV has a VA panel with a high native contrast ratio for deep blacks when viewed in a dark room, but there's no local dimming feature to improve it. Although its SDR peak brightness is just okay, it has great reflection handling, so it performs well in rooms with a few lights around too. The out-of-the-box accuracy on our unit is good, but this can also vary from unit to unit.

Unfortunately, motion doesn't look the best because it has an only okay response time, and it's particularly slow with dark transitions, leading to black smearing with dark objects. There's a backlight strobing feature to try to reduce persistence blur, but it creates image duplication. There's also a motion interpolation feature, but that also doesn't work well overall. If you don't need any of these extra motion settings and need a simple 43 inch TV, you should be happy with this.

The LG 55UP7000PUA is the best TV under $500 that you can get for a wide seating arrangement. It's an okay overall TV that comes with LG's webOS smart system, which has a ton of apps available to download, but because it's an entry-level model, it doesn't come with the same Magic Remote as higher-end LG TVs. Although we tested the 65 inch version of this TV, our results are also valid for the 55 inch model, which is under $500.

It's a good choice for wide seating arrangements compared to other TVs in this recommendation because it has an IPS-like panel. This means that it has fairly wide viewing angles, and the image remains accurate when viewing from the sides, but it loses some accuracy at really wide viewing angles. It has a few extra features like motion interpolation for lower-frame-rate content, and it removes 24p judder from native sources and apps, which helps with the appearance of motion in movies.

Sadly, it offers limited performance for watching movies, whether they're in HDR or SDR. As it has an IPS panel, it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks appear gray when viewed in the dark, and naturally, for a low-cost TV, it lacks a local dimming feature. Also, it doesn't get very bright, but it still has decent reflection handling if you want to use it in a room with a few lights around. All in all, it's the best TV under $500 if you want the wide viewing angles.