The 3 Best 4k TVs Under $500 - Summer 2022 Reviews

The best TV you can get for under $500 is the Hisense 55U6G. It's a great overall TV that's versatile for a variety of uses and environments. It displays deep blacks and has a decent local dimming feature that further deepens any blacks in the dark, making it an impressive choice for watching movies in dark rooms. If you prefer watching content in a bright room, visibility won't be an issue as it has great peak brightness to combat glare and decent reflection handling.

The built-in Android TV platform makes it easy to stream your favorite content. Sadly, it has a narrow viewing angle, and it isn't ideal for wide seating areas because the image looks inaccurate from the sides. You can get it in a variety of sizes, including a 50 inch model, if you want the best 50 inch TV under $500.

If you prefer something smaller, then the Samsung UN43AU8000FXZA is the best small TV under $500. The 43 inch model performs like the 65 inch model we tested, which is decent overall, but it's not as versatile or as good as the Hisense U6G. It doesn't have any trouble upscaling lower-resolution content, which is important for watching DVDs and cable channels. It has good out-of-the-box accuracy that makes colors look accurate without even calibrating it.

Like the Hisense, it displays deep blacks in dark rooms, but it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve the contrast, and it doesn't get bright enough to fight glare, so it isn't the best choice for well-lit rooms. Also, because highlights don't pop in HDR, its overall HDR performance is limited, and you won't get a satisfying HDR experience from it.

If you have a wide seating area, then the LG 55UP8000PUA is the best TV in this price range for your needs. It has a different panel type than the Hisense U6G and Samsung AU8000 and has a wider viewing angle, meaning the image remains accurate as you move off to the sides. This makes it a good choice for watching sports or TV shows in wide seating areas.

The included LG webOS platform has a ton of apps you can download, and the Magic Remote has a point-and-press feature that makes it easy to navigate through the interface so you can stream your favorite content quicker. Although it has good reflection handling if you want to use it in a room with a few lights around, it has low SDR peak brightness. Also, it has a low native contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray in the dark.