The 5 Best TVs Under $300 - Winter 2021 Reviews

The best TV under $300 that we've tested is the TCL 5 Series/43S525 2019. It's a decent model that has user-friendly smart features and good picture quality. It sports a VA panel that can produce deep and inky blacks, making it a good option for dark room viewing.

For a budget TV, the motion handling is good, the response time is reasonably fast, it can interpolate lower frame rate content up to 60fps to make motion look smoother, and it can remove judder from all sources. However, its backlight flickering can result in some image duplication. Input lag is exceptionally low for gaming or PC use, and it can display proper chroma 4:4:4. As for advanced gaming features, it doesn't have variable refresh rate support, but it does have an 'Auto Low Latency Mode,' so you can jump into the game faster without the hassle of changing the picture mode each time. It's better suited for a dark to moderately-lit room, as its peak brightness and reflection handling are just okay.

Unfortunately, it can't get bright enough to make highlights pop in HDR, which is a bit disappointing. However, it has great color accuracy out-of-the-box, impressive gradient handling to minimize banding, and a wide color gamut to produce vivid colors in HDR content. Like most VA panel TVs, it has fairly narrow viewing angles, so it isn't ideal for wide seating areas. On the bright side, it runs on Roku, a user-friendly platform with tons of apps. It isn't the most feature-packed model, but its the price, it's well worth a look.

The best 4k TV under $300 for gaming that we've tested is the Samsung UN43TU7000FXZA. It's an entry-level TV that performs reasonably well for most content. Like most Samsung TVs, it has a VA panel with a high contrast ratio, allowing it to produce deep blacks. It has okay reflection handling, but it doesn't get very bright, so it's better suited for a dark to moderately-lit room. It has sub-par viewing angles that cause the image to look washed out from the sides, which isn't ideal for large rooms with wide seating areas.

It upscales lower-resolution content well without causing any artifacts. The response time is okay, but it has a 120Hz backlight flicker that causes image duplication. On the upside, its somewhat slower response time results in fewer stutters in low frame rate content like movies. It has an exceptionally low input lag to provide a responsive gaming experience; however, the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, and it lacks VRR support to reduce screen tearing.

If you get your content mostly from streaming services, Samsung's Tizen OS is a good platform with plenty of available apps. The interface is user-friendly, and it runs smoothly for the most part. You have to put up with some ads and suggested content on the home screen, though, and there's no mic built into the remote for voice control. Overall, while it lacks advanced gaming features like VRR, it should satisfy most casual gamers on a tight budget.

The best smart TV under $300 that provides good value for its size is the Toshiba 50LF621U21. It's a simple and cheap TV that's often on sale at around $300 for a 50 inch, and if you don't mind spending a bit more, the 55 inch model isn't much more expensive either. It has built-in Fire TV that's easy to use and has a great selection of apps available to download.

It offers performance typical of most cheap TVs, but people should be fairly happy with it. Its VA panel provides an impressive contrast ratio and excellent black uniformity. Its peak brightness isn't bad and has good reflection handling, so it performs well in dim or moderately-lit environments. Fast-moving content looks smooth thanks to its great response time, and it has a low input lag for gaming. It does a good job of upscaling lower-resolution content, such as from DVDs or cable boxes, and even though there are some artifacts with native 4k content, most people won't notice it.

Unfortunately, our unit has bad out-of-the-box color accuracy, but this may vary between units. It has narrow viewing angles and fails to display a wide color gamut for HDR content. It doesn't display chroma 4:4:4 either, so it's not a good choice to use as a PC monitor. Regardless of these issues, this is one of the best TVs under $300.