Best TVs of 2022: Smart TVs from LG, Samsung, TCL, and more
Whether you’re looking for one of the best TVs money can buy, or simply want to score an excellent deal on a great set that won’t break the bank, we know that even beginning to understand what models to look at can be extremely intimidating. But not to worry: We’re here to help you make sense of all the best TVs on the market. As for right now, we think the 65-inch LG G2 Evo Gallery Series 4K OLED TV is the best TV you can buy.
With its stunning LG OLED Evo panel, the G2 delivers the best color volume and black levels we’ve seen on any TV — bar-none. And in terms of the overall G2 experience, great color and contrast are merely scratching the surface of what this 2022 OLED can do. And while the LG G2 is our current top pick, it carries a premium price tag, which puts it out of reach for many.
But the good news is that many of the best TVs of 2022 are far more affordable. And even if they can’t quite match all of the G2’s attributes, some come very close.
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65-inch LG G2 Evo Gallery OLED
The best overall TV
- Class-leading brightness
- Outstanding color accuracy
- Perfect black levels
- Top choice for gamers
- Top-notch design
- Disappointing stand-mount option
Why you should buy this: It’s remarkable in every conceivable way, from brightness and color to optimized gaming features and web performance. Who it’s for: Whoever wants to sink their teeth into one of the best TVs that money can buy.
Why we picked the 65-inch LG G2: Year after year, LG continues to deliver the most impressive OLED TVs, and somehow, they continue to one-up themselves when it comes to picture quality, design, and overall performance — and 2022 is no exception. Whether you’re a film fanatic, sports buff, or heavy-duty gamer, the LG G2 is the TV to buy if you want a TV that can do it all.
Available in four sizes (55-, 65-, 75-, and 83-inches), the G2 OLED is the latest model in LG’s Gallery Series, with the “Gallery” moniker referring to the fact that this TV is designed to look like a wall-mounted painting. In fact, LG is so determined to get the G2 on your sheetrock that you won’t even find a pedestal or set of feet in the box (you can purchase the stand separately). From regular cable TV channels to jaw-dropping 4K HDR content, you’re not going to beat the picture you’ll get with the G2.
Blacks are inky and deep, colors are rich and abundant, and thanks to the Evo panel, this TV gets nice and bright, too. On top of four HDMI 2.1 inputs, AMD FreeSync, NVIDIA G-Sync, and variable refresh rate (VRR) support for all your next-gen gaming needs, along with support for HDR10, Dolby Vision IQ, and HLG formats, the G2 is also loaded with the best version of LG’s WebOS system to date. Simply put: your Netflix and Hulu streaming has never looked and felt so good.
Sure, OLED TVs don’t always deliver the brightest picture, and if your TV gets a lot of use during daylight hours, something like the Samsung S95B may be a better overall fit. But we’re betting that for most viewers, the brilliance and clarity delivered by the LG G2 will be plenty.
65-inch LG G2 Evo Gallery OLEDThe best overall TV
Riley Young/Digital Trends
65-inch Samsung S95B
A solid runner-up
- High overall brightness
- Excellent color brightness
- Superior contrast
- Perfect blacks/uniformity
- Great for gaming
- First-gen technology
- Size limits
Why you should buy this: It’s a state-of-the-art TV that combines the color volume and unbeatable contrast of a traditional OLED with the off-the-charts brightness of QLED lighting. Who it’s for: Those looking to own and experience some of the latest and greatest picture technology in the 55- to 65-inch range.
Why we picked the 65-inch Samsung S95B: It’s hard to put any TV up against the 65-inch LG G2 (our top pick), but the Samsung S95B may actually be better than the G2 for some specific viewing situations. For starters, the S95B is a QD-OLED set (although Samsung is just referring to it as OLED), which means that it essentially combines a traditional OLED panel with the powerful luminosity of the brand’s tried and true “quantum-dot” QLED backlighting.
It’s the perfect combination of brightness, color, and contrast, even if you’re doing most of your TV watching in a bright room. The S95B also features four HDMI 2.1 inputs, eARC capabilities, VRR support up to 4K/120Hz, and the ability to decode a number of HDR formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. Like any first-gen engineering, Samsung probably has design elements, specs, and various bells and whistles to tweak in the years to come, but right out of the gate, the QD-OLED experience is TV-watching like we’ve never seen.
65-inch Samsung S95BA solid runner-up
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Sony Bravia XR A95K
The best-performing TV
- Next-level color purity
- High color brightness
- Wide color gamut
- Perfect black levels
- Great sound
Why you should buy this: When it comes to picture quality, motion clarity, and bells and whistles, there’s no TV that’s going to look and run better than the Sony A95K Series.
Who it’s for: TV fans that aren’t willing to wait for the next generation of QD-OLEDs, and would rather own the very best of the tech TV you can buy right now. Why we picked the Sony 65-inch XR A95K: Before the above-mentioned Samsung S95B, the QD-OLED red carpet was officially rolled out with Sony’s Bravia XR A95K Series.
Available in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes, the A95K Series is, no questions asked, the very best-performing TV that money can buy. In our hands-on review of the A95K, we were simply blown away by every measurable spec you can house under a picture quality umbrella — from peak white and color brightness to overall color volume, contrast, motion capabilities, and depth. Because this is a QD-OLED TV, color-emitting quantum dots work in unison with the TV’s self-emissive OLED screen, resulting in extremely pure and lifelike imagery with deep contrast, but also with the brightness-induced knockout punch of a traditional QLED TV.
And because OLED panels use those self-emissive pixels that can be turned on and off individually, this means that when a movie or TV show calls for a dark screen, you’ll be getting the best-looking blackness a TV can produce. Our own senior editor at large, Caleb Denison, put the A95K through its paces for his review (which you should definitely read), testing the A95K’s capabilities with HDR, SDR, and 4K Blu-ray content, all with astonishing results. The A95K is also an excellent TV for gaming, and while you won’t find the integrated gaming hub controls of Samsung and LG TVs, the A95K still delivers 4K/120Hz, on top of VRR support and an Auto Gaming Mode.
The A95K also runs on Google TV for all things smart, delivering a seamless and user-friendly experience for all things Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Yes, it’s expensive, but this is the ultimate case of “you get what you pay for,” as the Sony A95K can handle anything you throw at it (save for the remote) with style and jaw-dropping performance.
Sony Bravia XR A95KThe best-performing TV
Dan Baker/Digital Trends
65-inch LG C2
Another great LG OLED
- Slick new design
- Improved peak brightness
- Excellent black levels
- Solid color accuracy and gamut
- Great for gamers
- Some peak brightness artifacts
- Complex smart TV system
Why you should buy this: You want your TV to be packed with the most cutting-edge picture tech and want these many deliverables from a respected brand name. Who it’s for: Those looking for a premium picture and excellent features that aren’t willing to dip into complete flagship territory.
Why we picked the LG C2 OLED Evo: When LG rolled out its new OLED Evo panels on a handful of 2021 models, we were beyond impressed with what the new hardware meant for TV-watching, especially certain types of movies. With promises of OLED-flavored contrast linking hands with the type of brightness only seen on the most powerful QLED sets, the Evo engineering delivered an all-immersive, at-home cinema experience that looks fantastic in even the most brightly-lit rooms.
Fast-forward to present day where LG is rolling out a number of its 2022 models, one of which being the much-loved LG C2 OLED Evo. While not considered a flagship set, the C2 builds upon a number of the amazing picture features and other add-ons that we loved about its predecessor, the LG C1. Available in sizes from 55 inches up to 83 inches, the 65-inch C2 is the perfect middle-ground size for most homes.
And in terms of design and tech, LG really notched things up this year. The C2 features a totally reworked WRGB screen with chart-topping peak brightness marks, four HDMI 2.1 inputs for all our next-gen entertainment sources, and an improved Alpha 9 Gen 5 processor that delivers breathtaking colors, adaptive brightness control, and incredible upscaling. Gamers will appreciate the inclusion of Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, with both technologies banding together to create the ideal TV for high-bandwidth, action-oriented gameplay from today’s leading consoles and PCs.
While the sound isn’t something we’d sing the praises of, LG made good on its promise of a revamped and reimagined C series TV, and we couldn’t recommend the LG C2 OLED Evo more.
