The 5 Best TVs Under $300 - Spring 2020
Reviews

The best TV under $300 that we've tested so far is the TCL 5 Series/55S525 2019. It's a good overall TV, offering great value for its price thanks to its good picture quality and user-friendly features.

It has great out-of-box color accuracy, so you won't need to get your TV calibrated if you don't want to. It displays a wide color gamut, which is important for HDR content, although it doesn't get very bright in HDR and fails to make highlights pop. As is the case with most VA panel TVs, the contrast ratio is outstanding and the black uniformity is also great, making this TV an excellent choice for dark room viewing. Unfortunately, that comes at the cost of its viewing angles, which are poor, and you'll lose image accuracy when watching from the side. However, gamers will be happy with the extremely low input lag and impressive responsive time, resulting in clear motion.

Like any other TCL TV, this one has built-in Roku as its operating system, which is easy to use and has a huge selection of apps available, so you'll likely be able to find what you need. For its price, it's a great choice, making it the best TV under $300 that we've tested so far.

For the best value for the size, the TCL 4 Series 2019/55S425 is the best 4k TV under $300. This 55 inch 4k TV has decent picture quality and is currently just below $300.

This TV delivers deep blacks in a dark room thanks to the high native contrast ratio, but can't get very bright and doesn't have a wide color gamut to deliver a good HDR performance. The response time is fast and motion looks crisp. This is a great TV for gaming or use as a PC monitor, mainly thanks to the very low input lag that makes it feel very responsive. Just like the TCL 5 Series/S525 2019, this TV runs the Roku smart TV interface that's easy to use and has a large number of streaming channels.

Unfortunately, it isn't a good choice for a room with wide seating arrangements, as the image degrades quickly at an angle. It's more suitable for a dim room due to the poor brightness levels. Overall, this 55 inch TV is the best budget value for its size under $300.

The TCL 3 Series 2019/40S325 is the best budget TV under $300 that we've tested so far. It's a passable entry-level TV with a great contrast ratio, decent response time, and excellent low input lag, all of which make it great for gaming. The 32 inch model is limited to a 720p resolution (except for the 32S327 variant), but the larger models have 1080p native resolution.

This TV has a good selection of inputs, with three HDMI ports and a dedicated composite input (with the use of the included adapter). It has great smart features with hundreds of available streaming channels. This makes it an excellent choice for a secondary viewing location since you don't have to worry about having a separate streaming box.

Unfortunately, this TV can't get very bright, and the image degrades when viewed at an angle, which limits its versatility a bit. Overall, though, this is a great budget TV, and is one of the best 40 inch TVs under $300.