The Best Budget TVs of 2024

The market for budget TVs has exploded in recent years, with features typically reserved for high-end models making their way to more affordable offerings. So, if you’re shopping for a new TV, keep the more budget options in mind.

What to Look For in a Budget TV in 2024

Shopping for a budget TV can be tricky. You want to ensure that you get the best value for your budget while being ready to make some compromises. Here are the crucial features to remember while picking your next budget TV.

Screen size will be one of your crucial decisions, as larger sizes are often pretty expensive and may not fit your budget. Even if you get a giant TV within your budget, it may not have the technologies you need for good picture quality. So, it’s better to strike a balance between screen size and the included features.

TV technologies such as quantum dots , Mini-LED backlighting , and full-array local dimming are not very common in budget TVs, but their presence helps a TV deliver an excellent picture quality. So, it’s great if you can get them.

If you’re a serious gamer, you’ll want access to a high refresh rate TV screen, variable refresh rate (VRR) support, low input lag, and at least a couple of HDMI 2.1 ports.

In other features, while most budget TVs support basic HDR, support for dynamic HDR formats such as Dolby Vision can help you get the most out of HDR content available on the Blu-rays and streaming services.

Finally, stick with 4K TVs unless you have a very low budget. There are plenty of affordable 4k TVs and 4K content to enjoy on them.

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Best Budget TV Overall: Hisense U6N

Hisense’s U6 series has emerged as the home to some of the best budget TVs, and its 2024 model—the U6N—is no exception. It’s an excellent value for money and has a starting list price of $600. It’s also often on sale, allowing you to get it for even less.

It’s a 4K LED TV in the company’s ULED lineup, featuring quantum dots for impressive color reproduction. It also brings local dimming and Mini-LED backlighting for superior contrast and high peak brightness . That said, it doesn’t get as bright as more expensive models, so you can’t expect the same level of HDR performance. Still, you get excellent picture quality with vibrant colors. There is also support for all popular HDR formats, including Dolby Vision andHDR10+ .

There are four HDMI ports for connecting your consoles, PC, AV receivers, and other devices. One of these ports also doubles as an eARC port , which can pass high-quality, uncompressed audio, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X , to your connected soundbar or AV receiver.

Although it’s missing HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K 120Hz gaming, it’s a solid TV for some casual games. It has a low input lag, VRR from 48Hz to 60Hz, and a fast response time. You can also enjoy 1080p and 1440p gaming at 120Hz, but you won’t get VRR support for these combinations. So, if you are serious about gaming, you’ll be better off with our gaming pick.

The U6N relies on the Google TV platform, at least in the US. It’s easy to use and has a solid selection of apps and games.

Unfortunately, as the Hisense offering uses a VA-style LCD panel, the TV has narrow viewing angles. While it has a decent upscaling performance, it struggles while smoothing lower-resolution content.

Best Budget Gaming TV: Hisense U7N

The U7N 4K LED TV sits one spot above the U6N in Hisense’s portfolio and is a solid option for folks who want an affordable gaming TV with all the advanced features. Although it has an LCD panel with a native refresh rate of 120Hz, it allows you to enjoy up to 144Hz gaming in 4K and 1440p.

The company has also included two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports for connecting your consoles or PCs and added support for all popular VRR technologies, including AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync . Gaming feels responsive, thanks to the TV’s incredibly low input lag and fast response time.

Another advantage of the U7N is its fantastic picture quality. Whether playing games or watching your favorite TV series on Netflix, everything will look amazing.

The TV uses quantum dots, full-array local dimming, and Mini-LED backlighting to deliver a bright, lifelike picture. Its HDR performance is solid, and you get support for all popular HDR formats.

Other highlights include ATSC 3.0 support for watching 4K broadcasts and Wi-Fi 6 for fast wireless connectivity.

The Hisense TV is also good at upscaling lower-resolution content, and using the built-in eARC port, you can pass any audio format through to your AV receiver or soundbar.

Sadly, like other LCD TVs with a VA-style panel, it has narrow viewing angles. The TV also suffers from light blooming. Otherwise, the Hisense U7N delivers a bang for your buck and is quite impressive.

Best Budget TV Under $800: TCL 65QM751G

Although the Hisense U6N takes the top spot in our recommendations, TCL’s QM7 series is close on its heels. Its 65-inch model is a superb TV to consider under $800. It’s a well-built 4K TV chock-full of helpful features.

TCL has used a VA-style LCD panel with quantum dots, Mini-LED backlighting, and local dimming to offer a fantastic picture quality with inky blacks and a wide color gamut. The TV can get bright, resulting in fantastic HDR performance and decent reflection handling.

All popular HDR formats are compatible, and the TV does a good job of upscaling lower-resolution content.

The TCL relies on the Google TV platform, and it’s pretty capable, with a comprehensive app library, support for Google Assistant , Chromecast built-in, and an easy-to-use interface. You can access various cloud gaming services through their official Android TV apps.

Speaking of gaming, it’s a good TV for gaming thanks to its high refresh rate, VRR support, and low input lag. You also get two HDMI 2.1 and two HDMI 2.0 ports, including an eARC port.

Like our other recommendations, it has narrow viewing angles, making it not the best TV for watching content in a group setting.

If you are on a tight budget, Roku’s first-gen Select Series is your best bet for a good experience. You can get up to a 65-inch model of the TV under $500; even the 75-inch model sells for close to $500.

Although it lacks advanced features like local dimming, quantum dots, or Mini-LED backlighting, the Roku offering delivers decent picture quality with respectable contrast and brightness.

The Roku OS is among the easiest-to-use smart TV platforms. It is snappy and intuitive, and you can access all your favorite streaming services. The TV can also display HDR content with HDR10 , HDR10+, and HLG support, but Dolby Vision support is missing.

In other highlights, the TV’s low input lag helps with a responsive gaming experience, but the TV is missing VRR, a high refresh rate panel, and HDMI 2.1 ports. So it’s most useful for casual gaming.

Unfortunately, the Roku Select Series is poor at upscaling lower-resolution content, has narrow viewing angles, and can’t pass DTS audio formats to a connected soundbar or AV receiver.

Although it was hard to imagine getting a 4K TV under $300 until a few years ago, they are cheaper than ever. So, if you want a TV for a guest or dorm room, the 43-inch Amazon Fire TV 4-Series model is a pretty decent option. It by no means can compete with the most expensive televisions on the market, but it offers a good value for its price tag.

It’s a 4K direct-LED TV with a good contrast ratio. So, the image quality is decent, and blacks are deep in dark scenes. The TV also does a decent job of upscaling lower-resolution content. Plus, there is no stutter or judder in anything you watch.

The Fire TV 4-Series is also acceptable for casual gaming but lacks advanced gaming features.

As the name suggests, the Amazon Fire TV 4-Series uses the Fire TV OS, which has a pretty expansive app store with access to all popular streaming services, apps, and games. The Fire TV 4-Series also integrates the Alexa voice assistant deeply, allowing you to control your TV or compatible smart home devices.

Sadly, the TV doesn’t get very bright, resulting in less-than-ideal HDR performance. It also doesn’t support any advanced HDR formats and has narrow viewing angles.

FAQ

How do I find the best settings for my TV?

Unfortunately, there is no single resource for getting the best settings for all TV models. However, our guide on improving the TV’s picture quality is a good place to start. You can also check Rtings.com for the calibration settings for the TV models they review or consult fellow TV owners on popular TV forums online.

How do I clean my TV screen?

You can clean your TV screen with a dry microfiber cloth. However, if you encounter any stubborn smudges or stains, it’s okay to dampen the microfiber cloth with some distilled water. Don’t apply water directly to the screen or use harsh chemicals, as they can harm the coating on the screen.

Do I need to worry about burn-in on my TV?

Burn-in is a slight concern for OLED TVs as the organic material used in the display stack can degrade over time. It typically happens when you watch a lot of content with static elements on the screen for an extended period of time. You don’t need to worry if you watch varied content. OLED TVs also include various features to mitigate burn-in.

Can I get a budget 4K TV?

Budget 4K TVs are more common than ever. As you’ll see in our recommendations, you can even get a 4K TV for under $300 for a reputed brand. That said, you may not get a really large model that is super cheap.