Different TV technologies are available at the consumer level, each with advantages and disadvantages. One of those technologies is a quantum dot layer that some TVs include, ensuring a wide color gamut. Other manufacturers have very wide color gamuts on their TVs without using quantum dots, but when a TV is branded as being a 'QLED,' a term which Samsung has been using for their quantum dot TVs since 2017, you know it has great colors. Although QLED has been mostly associated with Samsung, other manufacturers like Vizio, LG, Hisense, Sony, and TCL also produce quantum dot technology TVs, some under different names. You can learn about the difference between LED and QLED here.
Even though 2024 models are being released and starting to become available, they're usually not worth buying in the first few months as they're significantly more expensive than previous year's models, but they do eventually drop in price. On top of that, last year's models tend to drop to their lowest price point after the new models have been released. You can learn more about price changes in our article about when to buy a TV. You can also vote on which new models you want us to buy and test. To learn more about the 2024 models, check out our 2024 TV lineup page.
We've bought and tested more than 430 TVs, and below are our recommendations for the best QLED TVs you can buy. Also, see our picks for the best LED TVs, the best TVs, and the best movie TVs.
The best QLED TV we've tested is the Hisense U8/U8K. It's an excellent TV with impressive picture quality and a Mini LED backlight, which lets it display deep, uniform blacks with almost no noticeable blooming in dark scenes, so HDR movies look fantastic. Its QLED panel delivers a superbly wide color gamut and fantastic color volume, making colors bright, vibrant, and realistic. It also has fantastic reflection handling and exceptional peak brightness, so it looks great even in the brightest rooms. An improvement over the 2022 Hisense U8/U8H, the U8K has much better image processing than its predecessor, and it supports both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+. The cherry on top is its advanced DTS audio format support, so the content sounds and looks best, no matter its source.
It's a fantastic gaming TV, with HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on two of its HDMI ports for up to 4k @ 144Hz gaming. It supports all VRR technologies, has extremely low input lag, and has a good response time for a responsive gaming experience. It's one of the few TVs on the market that supports Dolby Vision at 4k @ 120Hz, which is great for Xbox Series X gamers. Unfortunately, the TV has a narrow viewing angle, so it's not a great choice for a wide seating arrangement. If you have deep pockets, Hisense has a limited-release super high-end product, the Hisense UX. It's better than the U8K overall but for a massive price increase. It's likely not worth it for most people.
The 2024 Hisense U8N is also now available. It features a new chipset and is supposed to have better contrast and an increase in brightness over its predecessor. Unfortunately, it's also quite expensive at launch. Unless you need the minor upgrades it has, you're better off buying the cheaper U8K while it's on sale.
Although not technically a QLED TV, this list would be incomplete if we didn't mention the Samsung S90C OLED. While the other TVs on this list use an LED backlight with a quantum dot layer to achieve a wider color gamut, the S90C uses an OLED backplane and a printed quantum dot color layer on all of its models except on the WOLED-equipped 83-inch size. This combination results in much better color volume than WOLED displays while delivering deeper, more uniform blacks than the other QLED TVs on this list that use LED backlights.
This TV certainly offers standout picture quality, even when compared to the Hisense U8/U8K, at a higher cost. Unfortunately, its low-quality content smoothing isn't as good as the Hisense, and it doesn't support Dolby Vision HDR or advanced DTS audio formats, making it a bit less interesting for home theater fans. Thankfully, it has a much wider viewing angle than the Hisense, so it's the TV to get for a wide seating arrangement. Like the Hisense, it supports every VRR technology to minimize tearing in games, and it supports up to 4k @ 144Hz on all four of their HDMI ports (120Hz on the 83-inch size). It has a near-instantaneous response time and even faster input lag than the Hisense, so it's a better choice for competitive gamers. If you have money to burn, you could opt for the Samsung S95C OLED instead. It's brighter than the S90C, but for most people, it's not worth the significant price premium over its lower-tier sibling.
There's also the newly released Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED. The TV has better HDR gradient handling, better low-quality content smoothing, and better HDR brightness. The improvements are minor though, and the TV is very expensive at launch, so the cheaper S90C is the better option to buy while it's still available and on sale. It's worth mentioning that Samsung has made the decision to release the same-sized S90Ds with both QD-OLED and WOLED panels. Since there isn't a simple way to determine what panel type you get, this choice is sure to confuse and disappoint customers.
The Hisense U7K is the best lower mid-range QLED TV we've tested. It's an impressive TV with a similar Mini LED backlight to the Hisense U8/U8K, although it has fewer dimming zones and isn't as bright, and its contrast isn't quite as good. Still, the cheaper Hisense has a very wide color gamut, excellent contrast, and superb black uniformity, so it's a tremendous choice for watching HDR movies as they really pop in a dark room. It also has fantastic reflection handling with very good HDR peak brightness, so it's no slouch in a bright room. Unfortunately, it has a narrow viewing angle, just like its higher-tier sibling. However, it still supports Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ formats, as well as advanced DTS audio formats, so you can take full advantage of whatever content you're watching.
It has the same good image processing as the U8K, making it a cost-effective home entertainment TV. The built-in Google TV platform is easy to use and has a ton of apps you can download, so you don't need to buy an external streaming box. It has a great selection of additional gaming features, including VRR support to reduce screen tearing and up to 4k @ 144Hz on its two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports. In some ways, it's an even better gaming TV than the more expensive Hisense due to its faster refresh rate, leading to a slightly more responsive gaming experience overall.
2024's Hisense U7N is now available and is supposed to have some improvements like better contrast and increased brightness. It's also very expensive at launch, so unless you need those incremental upgrades, you're better off getting the cheaper U7K while it's still available and on sale.
The best budget QLED TV we've tested is the Hisense U6/U6K. It's a well-rounded option with surprisingly good picture quality. This Hisense has excellent contrast, so dark scenes look amazing in a dark room, with little blooming around bright areas of the screen. It also has good peak brightness in SDR and decent reflection handling, so glare isn't an issue in a brighter room. It has an excellent color volume, making this TV very colorful overall. It's bright enough in HDR for a pleasant viewing experience, and just like the Hisense U8/U8K and Hisense U7K, it supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR, although it doesn't support advanced DTS audio formats as those models do.
Unfortunately, its image processing is significantly worse than on the higher-tier Hisense TVs, so there's visible digital noise when watching low-bitrate content from streaming platforms. Still, it's a great TV for gaming, as it has superbly low input lag and VRR support for a responsive, nearly tear-free gaming experience. Unlike its more expensive siblings, it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which is disappointing for gamers wanting to take full advantage of their Xbox Series X, PS5, or recent gaming GPU. Finally, like the other Hisense TVs, it runs the latest Google TV interface, and it supports hands-free voice control through either Google Assistant or Alexa to quickly open your favorite apps or search for content.
There's also the newly released Hisense U6N. It's supposed to have incremental upgrades like better contrast and brightness, but it's also quite expensive near its release. Since the upgrades it offers are minor, you're better off spending your money on the cheaper U6K while it's on sale.
We recommend a PFS Phosphor TV, the Hisense A65K, for the best cheap TV. It's just as colorful as TVs with quantum dot technology but at a lower price point. It delivers decent overall picture quality, with good black uniformity, but lacks advanced features like local dimming. It can't get bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room, although it does well in a moderately lit room with its good reflection handling. HDR content looks acceptable, with visually appealing saturated colors, but it's not bright enough to bring out the content creator's intent. If this matters, a more expensive model like the Hisense U6/U6K is better.
It's still a cheap TV, though, and it has limited picture processing capabilities and fewer features than the more expensive models on this list. It doesn't process low-quality content as well as on other TVs, although thankfully, its upscaling capabilities are good. This cheap TV offers gamers a few features: a good response time, extremely low input lag, and VRR support. For the price, the Hisense A65K is an attractive package, although, unfortunately, it's a Costco exclusive.
May 10, 2024: Mentioned the newly released Hisense U6N, Hisense U7N, and Hisense U8N in the 'Best Budget QLED TV,' the 'Best Lower Mid-Range QLED TV,' and the 'Best QLED TV' categories, respectively. We also refreshed some text throughout for accuracy.
Mar 14, 2024: Refreshed the text, mentioned the upcoming Samsung S90D in the 'Best QD-OLED TV' category, and updated the text in the introduction.
Feb 16, 2024: Confirmed that picks are accurate and available, updated intro text, and clarified that the TCL Q5/Q550G QLED is a Best Buy exclusive.
Dec 20, 2023: Clarified that the 83" Samsung S90C OLED uses a WOLED panel versus QD-OLED on the smaller sizes, mentioned the Hisense UX in the text, and added the Roku Plus Series QLED to the Notable Mentions.
Oct 26, 2023: Replaced the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED with the better Hisense U8/U8K as 'Best QLED TV'. The Hisense U7K is now our 'Best Lower Mid-Range QLED' pick, and the newer Hisense U6/U6K replaced the older Hisense U6/U6H.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best quantum dot technology TVs to buy for most people with different tastes. We factor in the price (a cheaper TV wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), and availability (no TVs that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our TV reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no TV is perfect, most TVs are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.