The LG NANO85 2020 is a 4k LED TV in LG's NanoCell lineup. It has decent overall performance with very good out-of-the-box color accuracy, but it doesn't perform well in dark rooms. It has a low contrast ratio, poor black uniformity, and its bad local dimming feature could be very distracting at times. However, with an IPS panel, it has wide viewing angles, and it has impressive reflection handling if you want to place it in a bright room. It has a quick response time, but there's duplication in motion, which could be distracting. Luckily, it has a low input lag, responding to your actions quickly.
Our Verdict
The LG NANO85 2020 is a decent TV for mixed usage. It performs best as a gaming TV or as a PC monitor thanks to its low input lag and good response time. It's not the best choice for watching movies in a dark room since it has a low contrast ratio, poor black uniformity, and a bad local dimming feature. Luckily with its IPS panel, it has wide viewing angles if you want to watch a show or the big game with a big group of people.
- Very good out-of-the-box color accuracy.
- Impressive reflection handling.
- Poor black uniformity and bad local dimming feature.
- Doesn't get bright enough in HDR to bring out highlights.
The LG NANO85 2020 is mediocre for watching movies. It has a low contrast ratio due to its IPS panel and the local dimming feature makes dark scenes look worse by lighting up zones around bright objects. It also has poor black uniformity, but it upscales 1080p content, such as from Blu-ray players, almost as good as native 4k content.
Very good for TV shows. The LG NANO85 2020 has impressive reflection handling and it has decent viewing angles. Unfortunately, it has some uniformity issues as the edges of the screen are darker, but it upscales lower resolution content, such as from cable boxes, properly without any issues.
Good for sports. The LG NANO85 2020 has a good response time, but there's some duplication in fast-moving content. It has impressive reflection handling and the viewing angles are wide enough to watch the game with a group of friends. Unfortunately, there's some dirty screen effect visible in the center, which could be distracting during sports.
The LG NANO85 2020 is a good choice for video games. The input lag is very low, it has a good response time, and there's a black frame insertion feature to help reduce motion blur. However, it's not a great choice for dark room gaming due to its low contrast ratio and poor black uniformity.
Mediocre for HDR movies. Even though the LG NANO85 2020 displays a wide color gamut, it doesn't get bright enough to bring out highlights in HDR. It has poor black uniformity and a bad local dimming feature, so it's lacking in dark room performance. It supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
The LG NANO85 2020 is decent for HDR gaming, mainly due to its great gaming performance. It has a low input lag and quick response time, but HDR content doesn't look good on it. It doesn't get bright enough to bring out highlights and it doesn't have good dark room performance.
The LG NANO85 2020 is great to use as a PC monitor. It has a low input lag, resulting in a responsive desktop experience. The viewing angles are wide enough if you want to put it in a meeting room and it displays proper chroma 4:4:4, which is important for reading text. It also doesn't have the risk of permanent burn-in, so you don't have to worry about the static displays.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 26, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Jul 08, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Apr 17, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Feb 11, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55 inch LG NANO85 2020 (55NANO85UNA) and we expect our results to be valid for the 49 inch (49NANO85UNA) and 65 inch (65NANO85UNA) models too. The European version, the LG NANO86, comes with a different stand, similar to the one on the LG SM8600.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their NANO85 2020 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | US Short Model Name | US Model | EU Short Model Name | EU Model | Notes |
| 49" | 49NANO85 | 49NANO85UNA | 49NANO86 |
49NANO866NA |
|
| 55" | 55NANO85 | 55NANO85UNA | 55NANO86 |
55NANO866NA |
|
|
65" |
65NANO85 | 65NANO85UNA | 65NANO86 |
65NANO866NA |
|
| 75" | 75NANO85 | 75NANO85UNA | - | - | Release in Sept. 2020 |
The unit we reviewed was manufactured April 2020 and you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The LG NANO85 2020 is an improvement from its predecessor, the LG SM8600, and it's a bit better than most low-end LED TVs. Also see our recommendations for the best LED TVs, the best budget TVs, and the best 55 inch TVs.
The LG NANO85 2020 is a bit better than the Samsung Q60T, but their differences come down to their different panels. The LG has an IPS panel, so it has better viewing angles, while the Samsung has a VA panel, producing much deeper blacks. Besides that, the LG has better reflection handling and quicker response time, while the Samsung gets brighter and has better out-of-the-box color accuracy.
The Samsung Q70T is a bit better than the LG NANO85 2020, but they use different panel types. The Samsung uses a VA panel, so it has a much better contrast ratio, while the LG has wider viewing angles thanks to its IPS panel. The Samsung gets brighter, has a lower input lag, and supports FreeSync VRR, but the NANO85 has a quicker response time.
The LG NANO85 2020 is a bit better than the Sony X800H. Both have IPS panels, so they both have low native contrast and wide viewing angles. The Sony gets brighter, has better out-of-the-box color accuracy, and lower input lag. Meanwhile, the LG has much better reflection handling, can remove judder from any source, and has a higher refresh rate.
The Samsung Q80T is better than the LG NANO85 2020, but they have different panel types with different characteristics. The Samsung's VA panel has a higher contrast ratio, and its local dimming feature is much better, so it's a better choice for watching content in dark rooms. It also gets much brighter in HDR and is a better choice for gaming because its VRR support works, which it doesn't on the LG. On the other hand, the LG has an IPS panel with a bit wider viewing angles, even though the Samsung has an 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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