When you're shopping for a new TV, screen size is one of the first decisions to make. Bigger TVs are more affordable than they used to be, but that doesn't mean bigger is always better. In smaller living rooms and bedrooms, an oversized screen can feel like too much. That's why 55-inch TVs remain a good middle ground. They're big enough to make 4K resolution and HDR shine, but compact enough to fit comfortably in most spaces. If you're looking for the right mix of size, performance, and price, the best 55-inch TVs are a great compromise.
My team and I reviewed top models from all the major brands to find the best 55-inch TVs for different budgets and viewing needs. Right now, my top pick is the Samsung S90F. Its OLED panel delivers deep, inky black levels, excellent contrast, and wide viewing angles, making it a strong all-around choice for movies, shows, and games. If you want to spend less, the TCL QM6K is an excellent value. It can't match the picture quality of an OLED, but it still delivers vivid colors and a smooth smart TV experience at a much lower price.
Below, you'll find all of my picks for the best 55-inch TVs, whether you're upgrading your everyday streaming setup, watching sports every weekend, or putting together a home theater. These recommendations are backed by more than a decade of hands-on experience testing TVs and other home entertainment gear.
Our top picks for the best 55-inch TVs
Best overall: Samsung S90F OLED 4K TV - See at Amazon
Best on a budget: TCL QM6K QLED 4K TV - See at Amazon
Best premium option: LG G5 OLED 4K TV - See at Amazon
Best for bright rooms: Samsung S95F OLED 4K TV - See at Amazon
Best overall
The S90F is an excellent midrange OLED and one of our favorite TVs on the market. It delivers an impressive combination of pixel-perfect contrast and rich, vibrant colors.
What we like
What we don't like
Competition for the best 55-inch TV is fierce, but the Samsung S90F stands out as the winner. It delivers the best balance of performance and value of any TV in its class.
The S90F's QD-OLED panel combines OLED's infinite contrast ratio with quantum dots' advanced color capabilities. The result is a vibrant picture with deep black levels that disappear in a dark room. Black levels do lift slightly when hit with ambient light, but never to the point of distraction. And unlike LG's OLED models, Samsung's use of quantum dots gives this TV a slightly wider color range.
Brightness is another standout for this class. Our reviewer measured a peak of roughly 1,460 nits, which is excellent for a midrange OLED. HDR movies and shows pop with intense highlights and crisp detail, coming remarkably close to what you'd get from more expensive premium TVs. Even lower-resolution cable channels and HD YouTube streams appear impressively clean.
The S90F also features wide viewing angles, ensuring consistent color and contrast no matter where you sit. It's a top gaming TV, too, thanks to its low input lag and smooth 120Hz refresh rate (up to 144Hz with a PC). Plus, Samsung's smart platform includes the Xbox app, letting Game Pass members stream games directly to the TV without a console.
Although our reviewer had issues with Samsung's smart TV interface on older models, they found the S90F to be more responsive and consistent, with reduced lag and fewer hiccups. However, the system's organization is somewhat clumsy compared to more user-friendly offerings, such as Google TV or the Roku OS.
Read our full Samsung S90F TV review.
Check out our guide to all of the best TVs and best Samsung TVs.
Best on a budget
TCL's QM6K is the brand's entry-level Mini LED model. It offers great performance for its class, making it one of the best values out there for people who want a budget TV that doesn't sacrifice image quality.
What we like
What we don't like
The TCL QM6K is the best 55-inch TV for budget-conscious shoppers. Despite its affordable price, the QM6K boasts advanced picture quality features that many similarly priced models lack.
Notably, the QM6K features a QLED panel with a Mini LED backlight. Most TVs in this price range cut those features to keep costs down, resulting in low contrast, dim images, and a washed-out picture. The QM6K, however, has solid performance across the board.
The QLED panel produces a wide range of vivid colors, and the Mini LED backlight has local dimming to control contrast across multiple zones. This results in good black levels with minimal blooming (halos around bright objects). In fact, the QM6K handles blooming better than many pricier QLED TVs I've reviewed.
Of course, there are areas where the QM6K falls short. Its brightness is decent for a TV in this class, but not as high as midrange models. I measured a max of around 550-730 nits across different test patterns, which is better than most competing TVs in this price range. That said, high-brightness HDR content doesn't have the luster and pop that I've seen on more expensive TVs.
The QM6K's viewing angles are also a bit limited. Colors and contrast fade and distort if you sit off to the side of the screen. That said, the effect isn't as severe as it is on most budget TVs of this kind.
TCL also earns points for including a backlit remote, which other brands, such as LG and Samsung, don't offer. The remote supports Google Assistant, and you can use hands-free voice control. The QM6K's Google TV interface is smooth, and I encountered only minor hiccups while navigating menus.
The QM6K is also one of the most affordable TVs with a high-refresh-rate 144Hz panel. This enables smooth gaming when paired with a high-end PC that can handle high frame rates, and it supports full 120Hz with a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Read our TCL QM6K 4K TV review.
Check out our guides to the best TCL TVs and best budget TVs.
Best premium option
The G5 is one of LG's top-of-the-line TVs. It's among the brightest OLED displays available, offering premium picture performance and a handsome build with a flush wall mount.
What we like
What we don't like
LG's G5 OLED is one of the most impressive high-end TVs I've tested. Its image quality edges out most competitors, and it gets incredibly bright for a display of this type.
I measured a peak luminance of 2,410 nits using a 10% test pattern with the TV set in Filmmaker Mode. That's a big leap over the older LG G4, which maxed out at around 1,500 nits. Such high luminance allows the G5 to deliver more impactful HDR images. When paired with high-brightness HDR movies, like "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Aquaman," the TV simply stuns, delivering a nearly unrivaled combination of bold highlights, rich colors, and deep black levels. This is the kind of image quality that TV nerds like myself geek out over.
Like all OLED TVs, the G5's viewing angles are wide, so the picture doesn't degrade much when you sit off-center. This is great for rooms with seating on the side of the TV. The G5 is also equipped with advanced gaming features, including a high 165Hz refresh rate when paired with a PC, which enables smooth motion.
The G5 uses LG's webOS interface for smart TV features, and it works just fine. It offers access to many streaming apps and has cool features like Voice ID, which automatically switches user profiles based on who speaks to the TV. On the downside, webOS tends to emphasize sponsored content and shopping recommendations more than I'd like, but most of these ads can be disabled in the TV's settings menu.
The G5's design complements its premium picture quality, featuring a sturdy build, a thin profile, and a flush wall mount included in the box. But people who'd prefer to attach the G5 to a traditional TV stand have to buy one separately, since the set doesn't include one.
Check out our guides to the best LG TVs and best TVs for picture quality.
Best for bright rooms
The S95F is one of the brightest OLEDs we’ve ever measured, and it has a unique matte screen that nearly eliminates reflections. However, the anti-glare display causes black levels to lift when hit with light.
What we like
What we don't like
Though OLED TVs aren't traditionally known for great bright-room performance, Samsung's S95 Series is a very notable exception. The 55-inch S95F OLED combines two features that make it especially effective in sunny spaces: a matte screen and surprisingly high brightness.
While most competing displays use glossy or semi-glossy panels, the S95F's matte finish significantly reduces glare and reflections, which is particularly useful when watching TV in a bright room. If your space gets a lot of natural light, this TV can be a game changer. Its wide viewing angles also maintain consistent colors and contrast, even when you're sitting off to the side — perfect for group watch parties or big game nights.
There is one tradeoff, though. The same matte coating that helps fight reflections also lifts black levels in bright rooms. That means dark scenes look hazier and flatter when the lights are on. Typical TV shows and sports content won't suffer much, but if you often watch dim movies in daylight, you might notice the difference. It really comes down to whether you value glare reduction over high contrast.
In dark environments, however, the S95F's black levels appear as deep and inky as those of any OLED, and overall picture quality is stellar, right up there with top rivals from Sony and LG. The TV also delivers excellent brightness. I measured a peak of around 2,170 nits, which isn't just fantastic for an OLED but quite good for any display type.
The S95F's premium design matches its performance. It's thin with a minimalist profile and uses Samsung's One Connect Box to neatly manage inputs, eliminating clutter on the back of the screen. Gamers will also appreciate the TV's high 165Hz refresh rate for PC play and built-in Xbox Game Pass support for streaming games.
Read our Samsung S95F 4K TV review.
Best 55-inch TVs, compared
| Samsung S90F | TCL QM6K | LG G5 | Samsung S95F | |
| Best for | Most shoppers who want excellent picture quality without paying flagship prices | Budget shoppers who still want Mini LED contrast and high-refresh-rate gaming | Home theater enthusiasts who are willing to pay extra for top-tier image performance | Bright rooms, sports, and group viewing, where glare can be distracting |
| Skip this if | You want Dolby Vision or have a room with lots of ambient light | You want high-impact HDR brightness or wide viewing angles | You want the best value or need an included tabletop stand | You're on a budget or prioritize the deepest black levels in bright rooms |
| Typical price | $1,200 | $550 | $1,900 | $1,900 |
| Panel type | QD-OLED | QLED | OLED | QD-OLED |
| Backlight | N/A | Mini LED with local dimming | N/A | N/A |
| HDR support | HDR10, HDR10+, HLG | HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG | HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG | HDR10, HDR10+, HLG |
| Smart TV OS | Tizen | Google TV | webOS | Tizen |
| HDMI | Four HDMI 2.1 | Two HDMI 2.1, two HDMI 2.0 | Four HDMI 2.1 | Four HDMI 2.1 |
| Refresh rate | Up to 144Hz | Up to 144Hz | Up to 165Hz | Up to 165Hz |
How we test 55-inch TVs
To find the best 55-inch TVs, our reviewers conducted hands-on tests informed by more than a decade of experience covering home entertainment gear.
We typically focus our testing on 65-inch TVs, since that size is considered the industry flagship. That said, overall performance is usually the same for a specific TV model across larger sizes. For instance, the 55-inch and 65-inch versions of LG's G5 OLED share identical specs and features, with screen size being the only real difference.
There are some exceptions. TVs that use local dimming, such as the TCL QM6K, may have fewer dimming zones in smaller sizes, which can lead to minor differences in contrast. These changes rarely affect our overall assessment, but when they do, we call them out.
To test TVs, we evaluate picture clarity, contrast, brightness, color accuracy, viewing angles, gaming performance, smart TV software, and overall value. We measure HDR brightness with a colorimeter and use Spears & Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark test patterns or pattern generators to assess objective performance.
Of course, numbers only tell part of the story. We also spend plenty of time watching real movies and shows in both dark and bright rooms. Our test content spans 4K, 1080p HD, and standard-definition sources from Blu-ray discs, streaming apps, and cable TV, with specific scenes chosen to stress black levels, shadow detail, HDR highlights, and upscaling. Gaming tests are done using a PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2.
You can learn more about our review process in our breakdown of how we test tech products.
Meet the expert behind this guide:
Steven Cohen, senior tech editor: I've been covering home entertainment gear for over a decade, and I test the latest TVs year-round. I also studied film production, which means I'm a little obsessive about picture accuracy — I want movies and shows to look the way the director intended, not overly bright or oversaturated. When I review a TV, I use professional calibration tools and test patterns to measure performance, but that's only part of the story. I also live with every TV I test like it's my own — streaming movies, watching sports, and flipping through everyday shows to see how it actually performs in real life. I then take all that hands-on testing and translate it into clear, practical advice so you can find a great 55-inch TV for your budget.
Learn more about the Reviews team at Business Insider.
55-inch TV FAQs
Is 55 inches a good size for a TV?
A 55-inch screen is a solid choice for a variety of needs, and many of the best smart TVs are available in this size. A 55-inch set is still large enough to feel immersive in smaller living rooms, while offering a more compact alternative to 65-inch models that might be too large for some spaces. A 55-inch TV is also a good fit for a bedroom where you might want something smaller than what you've got in your living room, but not so compact that you have to sacrifice picture quality.
If you're shopping for a media console or mount to pair with a 55-inch TV, consider our guides to the best TV stands and best TV wall mounts for top recommendations.
How much should a 55-inch TV cost?
The best 55-inch TVs range in price, with entry-level models starting under $300 and high-end models costing $2,000 or more.
If you want a midrange 55-inch TV, you should plan to spend about $400 to $700. Several great 55-inch QLED models in that price range feature quantum dots, local dimming, and Mini LED backlights, delivering good contrast and peak brightness levels of up to 1,000 nits.
Shoppers who prefer a 55-inch OLED TV will have to pay more, with prices starting around $1,000. Although notably more expensive than their QLED counterparts, OLED TVs offer pixel-level brightness control, providing superior contrast and perfect black levels.
Many 55-inch TVs receive discounts throughout the year, but we typically see the biggest price drops during sales like Prime Day and Black Friday, as well as around major sporting events like the Super Bowl and March Madness.
How far should you sit from a 55-inch 4K TV?
The smaller a 4K screen is, the closer you'll need to sit to the display to see the full benefits of its resolution. On a 55-inch screen, to see the extra detail that 4K offers over 1080p Full HD, you'll want to sit around 4.5 to 7 feet from your screen.
Of course, you can sit farther away from your TV and still enjoy its image quality, but the recommended distance will let you see the best detail.
If you need to sit even closer to your TV or just have a small room to work with, check out our guides to the best 50-inch TVs and best 43-inch TVs.
For rooms where you need to sit farther from your display, we recommend choosing a larger screen to fully benefit from 4K resolution. Check out our guides for larger display models:
Do 55-inch TVs have good sound quality?
Even the best 55-inch TVs tend to have mediocre built-in speakers. Audio drivers integrated into most TVs are small and often placed in locations that can result in muddy sound with limited range, depth, and bass. For this reason, we recommend pairing your TV with a soundbar or full surround sound system to get the best audio quality for movies, TV shows, and video games.
For the most immersive experience, we suggest finding a system that supports Dolby Atmos, which can enable sound effects from all directions, even above your head. Performance varies by model, but entry-level Atmos systems can still provide a nice upgrade over your TV's built-in speakers.
Check out our various soundbar and speaker guides to see our top recommendations for different needs:
- Best soundbars
- Best Dolby Atmos soundbars
- Best budget soundbars
- Best soundbars with subwoofers
- Best Bose soundbars
- Best Sonos soundbars
- Best surround sound systems
Do you need a 55-inch TV with HDMI 2.1?
All of our picks for the best 55-inch TVs include HDMI 2.1 ports. This feature is most beneficial for gamers, but it's become standard on my midrange and high-end models.
An HDMI 2.1 connection enables a TV to receive 4K video signals at refresh rates higher than the previous 60Hz standard. High refresh rates enable smoother motion in video games that support them.
Most HDMI 2.1 TVs support 4K at 120Hz, and some models can even support higher refresh rates, such as 144Hz or 165Hz. Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X support 4K/120Hz modes, while high-end gaming PCs can support 144Hz and 165Hz output.
You'll need a compatible HDMI cable to send and receive an HDMI 2.1 signal from a source device to a TV. For top recommendations, check out our guide to the best HDMI cables.
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Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@bjinnox.com.
