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Although the trend has started to change, 55 inch remains one of the most popular sizes when shopping for a new TV. Almost all new TVs are available in a 55 inch size, so you have a ton of choices available, but this is starting to change, and some new TVs aren’t available below 65 inches now. Whether you’re looking for a basic budget TV or the most advanced OLED on the market, there’s a 55-inch TV that meets your needs.
We’ve tested over 230 TVs, and here are our recommendations for the best ones available in a 55 inch size.
LG OLED55C9: The best 55 inch OLED TV
Type: OLED
Sub-Type: WRGB
Sizes: 55″, 65″, 77″
The LG OLED55C9 is the best 55” OLED TV we’ve tested so far. Like all OLED TVs, it delivers exceptional picture quality, with inky, uniform blacks, wide viewing angles, and an outstanding color gamut. It has outstanding motion handling, with a nearly instantaneous response time, perfect for gaming.
This is an extremely future-proof TV. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports, which will eventually support high frame rate 4k content (4k HFR), great for the future generation of game consoles and gaming PCs. It also supports eARC, delivering extremely high-quality audio from your connected devices to supported receivers, greatly simplifying the connection process.
Unfortunately, OLED TVs aren’t perfect for everyone, though, as there’s a possibility of permanent burn-in, and the brightness of the screen changes with different content. Overall, though, this is an impressive TV that should please most people.
Samsung QN55Q80R: The best 55 inch LED TV
Type: LED
Sub-Type: VA
Sizes: 55″, 65″, 75″, 82″
The Samsung QN55Q80R is the best 55-inch LED TV that we’ve tested so far. This is an impressive 4k TV with great picture quality and outstanding motion handling. It’s one of the brightest TVs on the market and has an impressive full array local dimming feature.
This is also an impressive gaming TV. It has excellent low input lag and an impressive array of gaming features, including support for AMD’s FreeSync variable refresh rate technology. It isn’t as future-proof as the LG C9, though, as it doesn’t have any HDMI 2.1 ports and doesn’t support eARC.
Unlike the LG, this TV has no risk of burn-in, and there is significantly less variation in peak brightness with different content. It doesn’t look as good in a completely dark room, though, and there is still some blooming around bright objects in dark scenes.
Sony XBR55X950G: The best 55 inch TV for color accuracy
Type: LED
Sub-Type: VA
Sizes: 55″, 65″, 75″, 85″
The Sony XBR55X950G is the best 55-inch TV for color accuracy that we’ve tested so far. This is a great 4k TV with great motion handling, very good picture quality, and amazing out-of-the-box color accuracy. In fact, with the most accurate pre-calibration settings, this is the most accurate TV on the market.
This TV has an excellent response time, resulting in extremely clear motion, great for gaming or watching sports, but there is some noticeable dirty screen effect. It doesn’t have any of the advanced gaming features found on the LG C9 or Samsung Q80R, but it still delivers a great gaming experience overall.
Unfortunately, unlike the LG and the Samsung, the image on the 55” and 65” sizes of this TV degrades when viewed at an angle. The larger sizes have an additional optical layer that’s supposed to improve viewing angles, but we don’t know how it performs.
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Samsung QN55Q70R: The best 55 inch gaming TV
Type: LED
Sub-Type: VA
Sizes: 55″, 65″, 75″, 85″
The Samsung QN55Q70R is the best gaming TV available in a 55 inch size that we’ve tested so far. It delivers an impressive gaming experience with an extremely fast response time and outstanding low input lag.
Like the Samsung Q80R, this TV has an impressive array of additional gaming features, including support for AMD’s FreeSync variable refresh rate technology. It also has an optional game motion interpolation feature – great for smoothing out the frame rates of low frame rate games without adding significant input lag.
This TV has worse viewing angles than the Q80R, and it has worse reflection handling. On the other hand, it has a much better contrast ratio, and despite the worse local dimming feature, it’s the better choice for late-night gaming in a dark room.
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Hisense 55H9F: The best budget 55 inch TV
Type: LED
Sub-Type: VA
Size: 55″, 65″
The Hisense 55H9F is the best TV available in a 55 inch size that we’ve tested so far. Despite the budget price, this is an impressive 4k TV with great picture quality, excellent motion handling, and great smart features. Like most recent Sony TVs, it runs the very easy-to-use Android TV 8.0 smart interface and has access to the Google Play Store, which has one of the widest selections of apps.
This TV has excellent peak brightness, an outstanding contrast ratio, and a decent local dimming feature. It has excellent low input lag, great for gamers, but it doesn’t have the more advanced gaming features found on the Samsung Q80/Q80R.
Unfortunately, this TV has only decent uniformity. There is significant dirty screen effect, which can be distracting when watching sports, and the image degrades when viewed at an angle.
This guide may have been updated. To see all measurements and the current recommendations for 55” TVs, please go here.
