If you’re looking to get a new TV, you might want to consider upgrading to a smarter one. With a smart TV, you will instantly get access to thousands of paid and free movies, TV shows, and more. Some smart TVs even allow you to use voice commands to pause the movie you’re watching, find a new show, or even turn off your smart light bulbs. Here is our list of the best 4K smart TVs, including budget and high-end models for gaming, streaming movies and TV shows, and more.
All the smart TVs in this list are the latest 2020 models that all support 4K and give you access to the best streaming services, such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and more. Also, to help you compare prices, all the smart TVs in this list are 55-inch models. However, you can also find 65-inch, 75-inch, and even larger versions of most of them.
If you’re having trouble picking the right smart TV, make sure to check out our quiz below. By answering a few simple questions, you can find the perfect smart TV for you and your home theater. You can take the quiz by clicking the big blue button below:
Best Budget Smart TV: TCL 5 Series S535
The new TCL Class 5 Series is one of the best budget smart TVs because it comes with the easy-to-use Roku streaming service built-in. Plus, it works with Alexa and the Google Assistant, but you’ll have to manually connect it to your smart assistant before you can use voice commands to control your TV.
This budget smart TV offers excellent picture quality for its price. It supports Dolby Vision HDR (high dynamic range), which analyzes each frame to enhance the details in the shadows and highlights. Plus, it also has a full-array local dimming feature, which divides the screen into 48 different “zones.” Then it can dim the dark parts of the screen without affecting the bright areas. This makes the contrast look great for watching movies, especially in the dark.
The TCL 5 Series S535 has a special “Quantum Dot” layer, which enhances the brightness and intensity of colors. There’s even AI (artificial intelligence) technology that automatically adjusts the vibrance, clarity, and depth of images. This way, you will get vivid and accurate colors out of the box.
The biggest downsides of this smart TV are that it does not get very bright, and it doesn’t handle reflections very well. So, you might experience a fair amount of glare when if you put this TV in a very bright room. Also, it is not the best smart TV for handling motion, which means you might experience blur when you are gaming or watching sports or action movies.
Best Smart TV Under $1,000 for Watching Movies: Hisense H9G
The Hisense H9G uses the Android TV streaming service and comes with the Google Assistant built-in. This lets you download tons of apps from the Google Play Store, which makes it one of the best budget smart TVs for Android users. It also works with Alexa devices, but you will have to manually connect it to your smart assistant.
This 4K TV features Hisense’s proprietary ULED (Ultra Light Emitting Diode) technology, which scans the images on the screen in real-time to adjust the local dimming, brightness, color, and motion. There are 132 local dimming zones, which means this smart TV has one of the best contrast ratios, which will make your movies look amazing.
With a refresh rate of 120 MHz and its “Motion Rate 480” technology, the Hisense H9G provides smooth movement for gaming, sports, and fast-paced action scenes. Plus, it is bright enough that you can put it in any room and still see everything clearly.
This bezel-less 4K TV supports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos to give you a full cinematic experience. And with its far-field voice control technology, you won’t have to scream your voice commands at your TV from across the room.
One of the only downsides of this smart TV is that it doesn’t support eARC (enhanced audio return channel) passthrough. That means you won’t get the same audio quality when hooking this TV up to a soundbar as you would with the other models in this list. And while it supports over 1 billion colors, you might have to spend time changing the settings to get them as accurate as possible.
If you want to find an audio system to pair with your TV, check out our list of the best soundbars here.
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Best Smart TV for Streaming Movies and TV: Sony X950H
The X950H is Sony’s flagship 4K LED TV of 2020. This smart TV comes with Android TV built-in. Plus, it works with Alexa, the Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. It also has Chromecast built-in, and it supports AirPlay, so you can stream content right from your Android or Apple devices.
This 4K TV supports Dolby Vision, and it has higher HDR peak brightness than most smart TVs on the market, making it ideal for watching TV in a bright room. It is also great at handling reflections, so you won’t experience any glare.
The Sony X950H has excellent color accuracy out of the box, which means you won’t have to spend time changing any settings to calibrate them. It can also display more shades and hues of each color. And, with its “ X-Motion Clarity” technology, the colors will be vibrant, even when you’re watching at an angle.
All the features that Sony has added into their new TVs makes them one of the few manufacturers to carry IMAX Enhanced Certification. This ensures that you will have an immersive cinema experience at home.
However, this full-array LED does not have as many dimming zones as the previous TVs on this list. It also has a lower contrast ratio, which means it might not be the best smart TV for watching movies in dark rooms.
Best Smart TV for Gaming: Samsung Q80T
If you want to level up your gaming experience, the Samsung QLED Q80T Series is one of the best smart TVs you can get. This 4K TV supports FreeSync, which adjusts the frame rate of your TV to match the game you’re playing, so you get the smoothest gaming experience.
On the back of this smart TV, there is one HDMI 2.1 port, which supports higher frame rates at 4K resolution. That means you will be able to take full advantage of this TV’s 120 MHz refresh rate when gaming. Plus, this smart TV has a great response time, and it is nearly flicker-free. You can even hook it up to your computer and play games in 4:4:4 chroma, just like a computer monitor.
This QLED TV supports over 1 billion colors, and with its “Color Volume 100%” feature, you can enjoy realistic-looking colors at all different brightness levels. It will also automatically adjust the brightness of the image based on how light or dark your room is with the “Adaptive Picture” feature.
With upward and downward-facing speakers and Samsung’s “Object Tracking Sound” technology, you will hear audio coming from all around you. Plus, the “Active Voice Amplifier” feature automatically boosts dialogue, so you won’t miss a word.
This smart TV has Samsung’s Tizen streaming service and Alexa built-in. And, when you’re done watching your shows, you can set it to display the wall behind it. This way, your TV will intelligently blend into its surroundings, and you won’t have to stare at a big black screen all day. Or you can choose to display any of your photos or a famous painting, effectively turning your TV into a picture frame worthy of any art gallery.
Best Smart TV Overall: LG CX OLED TV
If you want the best 4K smart TV that does it all, you can’t go wrong with an LG CX OLED TV. This is the best smart TV for gaming, watching movies and TV shows, streaming, and everything in between.
This 4K TV has more than 8.3 million self-lighting organic light-emitting diode (OLED) pixels. Unlike LED TVs, OLED TVs don’t require a backlight for the pixels to be visible. Instead, the pixels can be turned on or off individually, which gives you the deepest, darkest blacks and a nearly perfect contrast ratio. This technology also powers the OLED Motion Pro feature, which reduces stuttering when watching sports or action movies.
The LG CX has Dolby Vision IQ, which detects how bright or dark the room is and adjusts the picture quality to suit your viewing conditions. However, this TV doesn’t get quite as bright as other models, so it might not be the best TV to put in a very bright room.
This model is an excellent choice for gaming, too. With response times as low as one millisecond, you won’t miss a beat while playing your favorite games. It also comes with FreeSync and G-Sync, which both help reduce lag and screen tearing when gaming.
The only real downside to this TV is that, like any OLED TV, you can “burn” images into the screen if you leave the TV on for too long with the same image being displayed. For example, if you pause your TV and fall asleep, you might see a ghostly background of that image, no matter what you are watching.
Once you choose a smart TV, check out our step-by-step guide on how to mount your TV on the wall.
