The Best TVs Right Now: Eight Sets Worth Your Money

Four questions do most of the work. Where is the light in your room, and is it a window you can see reflected or just ambient brightness? The first favors a matte anti-reflection panel, the second favors a glossy one with good rejection. Which HDR format does your library use — Dolby Vision, HDR10+, or both? No flagship supports both. How many current-generation consoles or gaming PCs do you own, because HDMI 2.1 port counts still vary wildly at the top end. And finally, how big? Several of this year's most interesting panels only exist above 65 inches, and some brands change panel technology by size.

The LG G6 is the all-round pick. Measured at roughly 2,471 nits peak HDR in Filmmaker Mode, it pairs a second-generation Primary RGB Tandem panel with the Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor, supports Dolby Vision, and offers four HDMI 2.1 ports at 4K 165Hz with 8.9ms measured input lag. Its reflection handling keeps black tones convincing in lit rooms. The Samsung S95H answers with higher measured peak brightness at about 2,739 nits, a matte Glare Free panel that erases mirror reflections completely, a 4.2.2-channel 70W sound system and HDR10+ instead of Dolby Vision.

Not everyone needs a flagship, and this is the year the step-downs got serious. The LG C6 inherits the same Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor as the G6, which reviewers credit with forcing a brighter, richer picture out of a conventional OLED panel, along with better upscaling and shading. The 77 and 83-inch versions, branded C6H, get the Primary RGB Tandem panel outright. Below that, the LG B6 is the entry point: a straightforward WOLED panel with four HDMI 2.1 ports and 4K 120Hz gaming support, plus Dolby Vision game mode. For dark-room film watching, it delivers most of the OLED experience.

This is the year LCD fought back. The Hisense UR9 is the first mainstream RGB mini-LED set most US buyers will actually consider, with measured peak brightness around 3,345 nits in Filmmaker Mode, 91.5 percent BT.2020 coverage, an 80W Devialet-tuned 4.1.2 speaker array, a 180Hz native refresh rate and a Dolby Vision 2 Max update promised for late 2026. The Samsung R95H takes the same idea upmarket with Micro RGB branding, a dedicated Micro RGB AI Engine Pro, Wireless One Connect and 4K 165Hz gaming. The Sony Bravia 9 II chases mastering-monitor accuracy at very high brightness, up to 115 inches, but fits only two HDMI 2.1 ports.

The TCL QM8L is the set that makes the rest of this list look expensive. It uses TCL's SQD mini-LED approach — Super Quantum Dots paired with a five-nanometer color filter — rather than an RGB backlight, and measured peak brightness of roughly 4,500 nits on some tests, with around 2,000 nits in Filmmaker Mode. It covers 89.3 percent of BT.2020, offers four HDMI 2.1 ports, 144Hz plus 1080p at 288Hz for PC gaming, an anti-reflective coating with genuinely wide viewing angles, Bang & Olufsen audio and Dolby Atmos FlexConnect. A Dolby Vision 2 Max update is scheduled for late 2026.

Skip last year's flagships unless the discount is severe, because the brightness gains this year are real and measurable rather than marketing. Skip the largest sizes of some OLED ranges without checking the panel first: the LG G6's 97-inch version uses an older panel, and Samsung's 83-inch S95H uses a W-OLED rather than QD-OLED because QD-OLED is not manufactured that large. As for waiting: Dolby Vision 2 is the format to watch. TCL, Hisense and Philips have committed to it on some 2026 sets, while LG has confirmed it has no plans to support it this year and Samsung does not support Dolby Vision at all.