The 3 Best TVs under $500 - Spring 2018
Reviews

Budget TVs won't have a fancy design and won't have great support for HDR content but they can still provide good picture quality and feature-rich smart platforms. Even more niche aspects like input lag and motion can still be quite good. As long as you aren't looking for fancy remotes or high-end build quality, you can still find some good TVs under $500.

We've tested 48 TVs and below are our top picks for TVs available under $500 in the spring of 2018.

Best TV under $500: TCL 55S405

TCL 55S405

SEE PRICE

Amazon.com

Usage Ratings - Version 1.2

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Test Benches: test

• 1.2: Winter 2018
• 1.1: Summer 2017
• 1.0: Winter 2015
• 0.9: Winter 2014
• 0.8: Winter 2013

See changelog and how ratings work

7.3

Mixed Usage

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What it is General purpose. The TV will be used for a variety of content and usages. Movies at night, TV shows during the day, video games from time to time, etc.

Score components:

• 22% TV Shows
• 22% Sports
• 16% Movies
• 16% Video Games
• 10% HDR Gaming
• 9% HDR Movies
• 6% PC Monitor

See our best recommendations

6.6

Movies

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What it is Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

Score components:

• 20% Contrast
• 17% Local Dimming
• 12% 1080p Input
• 10% Black Uniformity
• 8% Gray Uniformity
• 8% 4k Input
• 6% 24p Judder
• 5% Motion Interpolation
• 5% Stutter
• 3% SDR ABL
• 3% Pre Calibration
• 2% Post Calibration
• 2% 480p Input

See our best recommendations

7.1

TV Shows

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What it is TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

Score components:

• 29% Reflections
• 16% SDR Peak Brightness
• 11% Viewing Angle
• 9% 1080p Input
• 7% 720p Input
• 5% Gray Uniformity
• 5% 4k Input
• 5% Sound Quality
• 5% Smart Features
• 3% Motion Interpolation
• 2% Permanent Burn-In Risk
• 2% Pre Calibration
• 2% Temporary Image Retention
• 1% Post Calibration

See our best recommendations

7.0

Sports

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What it is Sports in a living room. The TV will be used to watch sports during the day, like football or hockey. Usually watched with a group, so from multiple viewing position.

Score components:

• 25% Reflections
• 20% Response Time
• 14% SDR Peak Brightness
• 11% Viewing Angle
• 10% Gray Uniformity
• 8% 720p Input
• 5% Sound Quality
• 4% Black Frame Insertion (BFI)
• 2% Permanent Burn-In Risk
• 1% Flicker-Free
• 1% Temporary Image Retention

See our best recommendations

8.3

Video Games

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What it is Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

Score components:

• 33% Input Lag
• 22% Response Time
• 6% 1080p Input
• 6% 4k Input
• 4% Contrast
• 4% Black Frame Insertion (BFI)
• 3% Reflections
• 3% Gray Uniformity
• 3% Sound Quality
• 3% Local Dimming
• 2% Black Uniformity
• 2% SDR Peak Brightness
• 1% Flicker-Free
• 1% Permanent Burn-In Risk
• 1% Pre Calibration
• 1% Stutter
• 1% Variable Refresh Rate
• 1% 4k @ 60Hz
• 1% Temporary Image Retention
• 1% Post Calibration
• 1% 1440p @ 60Hz

See our best recommendations

6.7

HDR Movies

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What it is HDR Movies and TV shows. The TV will be used to watch 4k UHD HDR content, with a wide color gamut and a high peak brightness. Either via UHD Blu-rays or HDR streaming.

Score components:

• 22% Contrast
• 14% Local Dimming
• 12% 4k Input
• 11% Black Uniformity
• 6% HDR Peak Brightness
• 6% Color Gamut
• 6% Color Volume
• 5% Gray Uniformity
• 4% Stutter
• 4% 24p Judder
• 3% HDR ABL
• 2% Motion Interpolation
• 2% Pre Calibration
• 2% Gradient
• 1% Post Calibration
• 1% HDR10
• 1% Dolby Vision

See our best recommendations

7.8

HDR Gaming

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What it is HDR Gaming. The TV will be used to play HDR video games using consoles that support it or on current generation gaming PCs. Xbox One S, PS4 Pro, GTX 10 series and AMD RX series graphics cards.

Score components:

• 25% 4k @ 60Hz + HDR
• 15% Response Time
• 8% Contrast
• 7% Color Gamut
• 7% Color Volume
• 5% Local Dimming
• 4% 1080p Input
• 4% 4k Input
• 4% Black Uniformity
• 3% HDR ABL
• 3% HDR Peak Brightness
• 3% Black Frame Insertion (BFI)
• 2% Gray Uniformity
• 2% Gradient
• 2% Reflections
• 1% Variable Refresh Rate
• 1% HDR10
• 1% Dolby Vision
• 1% Sound Quality
• 1% Permanent Burn-In Risk
• 1% Flicker-Free
• 1% Pre Calibration
• 1% Temporary Image Retention
• 1% Post Calibration

See our best recommendations

8.0

PC Monitor

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What it is PC Monitor. The TV will be used as a PC monitor, from 2-3 feet away, either for productivity purposes or gaming. Sharp text is important, as well as a high resolution.

Score components:

• 28% Inputs
• 14% Viewing Angle
• 13% Response Time
• 8% Permanent Burn-In Risk
• 6% Reflections
• 5% Temporary Image Retention
• 4% 4k Input
• 3% SDR Peak Brightness
• 3% 1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
• 3% 4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
• 2% Contrast
• 2% Black Frame Insertion (BFI)
• 2% Curved
• 2% Gray Uniformity
• 2% 1080p Input
• 1% Local Dimming
• 1% Black Uniformity
• 1% Flicker-Free
• 1% Pre Calibration
• 0% Post Calibration

See our best recommendations

Sub-Type

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What it is: Type of display technology used by the TV.

When it matters: Different technologies have different performance and are suited to different uses

Good value: IPS maintains good color accuracy at an angle, but has a poor contrast ratio from in front. VA has great picture quality in front, but loses saturation at an angle. OLED maintains good color accuracy at an angle without any of the other issues seen with IPS and VA, as they keep good brightness and contrast at an angle.

: VA

The best TV under $500 is the TCL 55S405 4k LED TV. It isn't the brightest TV available, so bright room performance isn't great, but it produces decent picture quality. With the new 2018 models coming out soon, there are some great deals on the S405.

While it doesn't have a local dimming feature, it does have an optional black frame insertion feature which will help with motion, and it has excellent low input lag which is great for gaming.

It runs the excellent Roku TV smart interface, which has a great selection of smart apps available as well as hundreds of streaming channels. It also has built-in wireless streaming from phones and tablets, similar to Google's Chromecast.

See our review

Cheaper Alternative: TCL 49S305

TCL 49S305

SEE PRICE

Amazon.com

Type : LED

Sub-Type

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What it is: Type of display technology used by the TV.

When it matters: Different technologies have different performance and are suited to different uses

Good value: IPS maintains good color accuracy at an angle, but has a poor contrast ratio from in front. VA has great picture quality in front, but loses saturation at an angle. OLED maintains good color accuracy at an angle without any of the other issues seen with IPS and VA, as they keep good brightness and contrast at an angle.

: VA

Resolution : 1080p (except 28", 32")

If you want something cheaper and 4k isn't important for you, the TCL 49S305 is a good alternative. It isn't as bright but it has decent picture quality and good motion handling. It has the same smart features as the more expensive TCL S405.

See our review

Alternative With a Wide Angle: Sony KD43X720E

Sony KD43X720E

SEE PRICE

Amazon.com

Type : LED

Sub-Type

✕

What it is: Type of display technology used by the TV.

When it matters: Different technologies have different performance and are suited to different uses

Good value: IPS maintains good color accuracy at an angle, but has a poor contrast ratio from in front. VA has great picture quality in front, but loses saturation at an angle. OLED maintains good color accuracy at an angle without any of the other issues seen with IPS and VA, as they keep good brightness and contrast at an angle.

: IPS

Resolution : 4k

If you have a large viewing area or enjoy watching the big game with lots of friends, the limited viewing angle of the TCL S305 and S405 is a problem. The Sony X720E is a great alternative. It doesn't provide the best value for the money, as the 43" is more expensive than the 55" TCL S405, but it has an excellent wide viewing angle and is currently our best budget TV for watching sports.

See our review

Notable Mentions

• LG 55UJ6300. Bad picture quality for the price. See our review
• Samsung 40MU6300. Decent versatile TV, but a bit too expensive for its size. See our review
• Vizio E Series 2017. Good versatile TV, but more expensive than the TCL S405. See our review
• TCL S517. Decent versatile 4k TV, but more expensive than the S405 for similar performance. See our review

All Reviews

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best cheap TVs under $500 to buy for most people. We factor in the price (a cheaper TV wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors and availability (no TVs that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).

If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our reviews of TVs that are less than $500. 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.