The 6 Best 55 Inch 4k TVs - Spring 2021 Reviews

The LG OLED55CXPUA is the best 55 inch TV with an OLED panel we've tested. It can individually turn off its pixels, resulting in an infinite contrast ratio and perfect black uniformity, making it an ideal choice for watching movies in dark rooms. It's very well-built and comes with a unique center-mounted stand. It also has wide viewing angles if you have a wide seating arrangement.

It's packed with features that are geared towards gamers. It has a 120Hz refresh rate with variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing. It has low input lag and a near-instant response time that results in smooth motion. It upscales lower-resolution content without any issues, like from cable boxes or Blu-rays. It has outstanding reflection handling and has decent brightness, but it's best to avoid placing it in a room with direct sunlight. Lastly, it has impressive out-of-the-box color accuracy, so you may not need to get it calibrated to enjoy it to the fullest.

Sadly, it has the risk of permanent burn-in, which is common among OLED TVs. We only expect this to be an issue if you constantly watch the same content with static elements, like the news, but it shouldn't be a problem if you watch varied content. It displays a wide color gamut for HDR content, but it may not get bright enough to make some highlights pop the way they're supposed to. Overall, it delivers excellent picture quality, making it the best 55 inch smart TV we've tested.

The Samsung QN55Q80TAFXZA is the best 55 inch TV we've tested with an LED panel. It's one of the flagship models from Samsung's 2020 QLED lineup, delivering excellent picture quality and a ton of extra features in a simple but premium design that should look great as the centerpiece of any living room.

Thanks to Samsung's 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer, you get a balance between contrast and viewing angle. It's a VA panel, so it has a great contrast ratio, and while it's not as high as other VA panels, it's enough to produce deep, uniform blacks. The trade-off is that you also get wider viewing angles than you'd expect on a VA panel, allowing you to watch from an angle without the image looking too washed out. The TV also has an excellent response time, so motion looks clear with minimal motion blur for fast-moving content like sports or video games.

However, more serious gamers may be disappointed that when 'Game Mode' is enabled, the TV's local dimming and HDR brightness perform significantly worse. On the upside, it has a low input lag, VRR support, and an HDMI 2.1 port. All things considered, this is one of the best 4k TVs you can get in a 55 inch size, and most people should be happy with it.

The Hisense 55H9G is the best 55 inch TV for watching HDR content that we've tested. It has a simple design that fits into most settings, with a unique stand that supports the TV well. It has a high contrast ratio that's greatly enhanced by a full-array local dimming feature, allowing it to produce deep blacks for a fantastic dark room viewing experience.

It supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision and delivers an excellent HDR experience. It has a great color gamut with outstanding coverage of the commonly-used DCI P3 color space, and it gets very bright, enough to make highlights stand out the way that the creators intended. It handles reflections amazingly well in bright rooms and overcomes glare easily. It has an excellent response time to deliver clear motion in fast-moving scenes and an optional Black Frame Insertion feature that further improves clarity.

Sadly, like most VA panel TVs, it has narrow viewing angles, so it isn't ideal for large rooms with wide seating arrangements. It has a 120Hz panel; however, it doesn't have any HDMI 2.1 ports and can only display a 4k signal at 60Hz. If you want to game with it, it supports the next-gen consoles in HDR and has very low input lag. Its Android TV interface is relatively user-friendly, and you can summon the Google Assistant through voice control if you need help. Overall, it's a versatile TV that performs well in nearly every type of content and one that most people should be happy with.

The Hisense 55H8G is the best 55 inch 4k TV that we've tested in the budget category. It's a well-rounded TV with thin bezels that give it a premium design, and it should look good in any setup. It's well-built and comes with Android TV, which has an excellent selection of apps available to download but may not be the easiest to use at times.

Its VA panel allows it to produce deep blacks thanks to its excellent native contrast ratio. It has a full-array local dimming feature that further deepens any blacks, and it has decent black uniformity, making it a great choice for watching movies in dark rooms. Even if you want to watch TV in a well-lit room, it gets bright enough to combat glare and has decent reflection handling. If you want to use it for watching HDR content, it supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, displays a wide color gamut, and has okay HDR peak brightness.

Unfortunately, our unit has some uniformity issues with dirty screen effect in the center, which could get distracting during sports, but also may vary between units. It also has narrow viewing angles, but that's expected from an IPS panel. Although it lacks any gaming features like VRR support, it still has a quick response time that results in smooth motion and very low input lag. It supports 4k @ 60Hz gaming in HDR on the PS5, but not on the Xbox Series X. Regardless, the Hisense is the best budget 55 inch TV that we've tested.