The 4 Best TVs Under $300 - Winter 2022 Reviews

The Hisense 43R6090G is the best TV under $300 that we've tested. It's an okay TV overall, with an amazing contrast ratio, good reflection handling, and excellent low input lag for gamers. Unlike most of Hisense's TVs, it runs the Roku smart interface, which has a huge selection of streaming apps, including many free ones, so you're sure to find your favorite shows and movies to watch. It also supports casting from supported devices, so even if you can't find your favorite streaming service, you can cast it from your phone.

This TV upscales older content well, and it has surprisingly good accuracy out of the box, but this can vary between individual units. Although it lacks a local dimming feature, it looks great in a dark room, thanks to its outstanding black uniformity and deep blacks. It's decent for gaming, with low input lag and a decent overall response time, but it lacks advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate support or HDMI 2.1, so it's best for casual gamers.

Unfortunately, this TV isn't as well-suited for a bright room, as it can't get bright enough to overcome glare, despite its good overall reflection handling. It also has narrow viewing angles, so it's best enjoyed from directly in front. Overall, it's best-suited for a guest room or office, especially in a basement, but it's an okay TV for the price.

The best small TV under $300 is the TCL 32S335. It's a very basic TV, and unlike the other TVs on this list, it's limited to a 720p resolution. This is fine for watching cable TV or DVDs, but it's a bit limited for watching movies. It's still an okay choice for an office or guest bedroom, and the built-in Roku TV interface is great for streaming content.

Roku is easy-to-use, and the app store has a ton of apps you can download. It has a composite input if you want to connect older devices like DVD players, but you need an adapter, and it doesn't come with one. Its VA panel has a high native contrast to display deep blacks but surprisingly poor black uniformity, and overall, it's not as good as most VA panel TVs for dark room viewing.

Sadly, it doesn't support HDR, which is expected for a 720p TV, and it doesn't get bright, so it's best to avoid placing it opposite a bright window. Our unit has inaccurate colors out-of-the-box, and there's no way to calibrate it, but this can vary between units. Motion also looks blurry because there's black smearing with fast-moving dark objects. Besides these issues, it's a reliable small TV under $300.

The best TV under $300 for wide seating arrangements is the Hisense 43A6G. It's an okay all-around model whose 43 inch model has the same panel type as the 65 inch model we tested, so our results should be valid for the smaller size. As with the other picks in this recommendations, it's slightly over $300, but it's worth the price increase.

It uses an IPS-like panel with wide viewing angles, so the image remains accurate when viewing from the sides, which is great if you have a wide seating arrangement. It's decent for watching TV shows because it upscales 720p content well, and while its peak brightness is disappointing, it still has decent reflection handling. It comes with Android TV, which like many of the other smart platforms, has an excellent selection of apps through the Google Play Store, and the built-in mic in the remote gives you access to Alexa and Google Assistant.

The main downside to a TV with an IPS-like panel is the low contrast ratio. This means that blacks look gray when viewed in a dark room, and it has disappointing black uniformity, and there's no local dimming feature to improve it. If you don't mind spending a bit more on something bigger, the 50 inch model should have a VA panel with higher contrast, but that means it has worse viewing angles. Overall, this is one of the best TVs under $300.