Our pick
Hisense U8H Series
The Hisense U8H matches the excellent brightness and color performance of much pricier LCD TVs, and its Google TV smart platform is a welcome addition. But it’s available in only three screen sizes.
The Hisense U8H gathers many advanced TV technologies—quantum dots for richer color saturation, a mini-LED backlight with local dimming for better black levels and overall contrast, and a 120 Hz refresh rate for improved motion—and it utilizes them to splendid effect. (Check out TV features, defined for explanations of those terms.) This TV comes equipped with the latest iteration of the Google TV platform and does a great job with HDR video, thanks to its impressive peak brightness and color saturation (and compatibility with all the major HDR formats). The U8H also has all the necessary features to excel as a gaming monitor, with two high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs that allow for 4K 120 Hz gaming from the newest Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Other than being limited to three screen sizes—55, 65, and 75 inches—the U8H’s only major drawback is a somewhat narrow horizontal viewing angle, which can cause the image to look washed out when you’re sitting too far off to the side; this is a common issue for many LCD TVs.
Upgrade pick
Samsung QN90B Series
The Samsung QN90B offers a cleaner, more refined picture than our top pick, as well as wider viewing angles in a larger range of screen sizes.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $1,598.
The Samsung QN90B is the direct successor to our previous upgrade pick, the QN90A, and it continues the tradition of offering high-end LCD performance across a large range of screen sizes. Like the Hisense U8H, the QN90B is equipped with quantum dots, a mini-LED backlight, and a 120 Hz refresh rate, which combine to deliver excellent performance for TV shows, movies, and video games. Unlike the U8H, however, the QN90B is available in six screen sizes—from 43 to 85 inches—and offers comparably superior video processing and better off-angle viewing than our top pick. And this may justify its higher price tag to videophiles and enthusiasts. Although it’s not compatible with the Dolby Vision HDR format, the QN90B is compatible with the other major high dynamic range formats, and its high peak brightness and rich color make it an excellent choice for viewing HDR video. You also get Samsung’s redesigned Tizen smart-TV platform and four high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs, which is great news for gamers who own more than one current-gen gaming console. But if you want the QN90B’s range of advantages compared with our top pick, be ready to pay hundreds more for the same size screen.
Budget pick
Vizio M-Series Quantum X
The Vizio M-Series Quantum X keeps its price tag low by ditching the more robust mini-LED backlighting systems used in our top picks, but it still delivers solid picture quality—especially for gamers. However, it comes in only three screen sizes.
If you’re looking to keep costs low, but you still want a bright LCD TV with a 120 Hz refresh rate to cut down on motion blur and deliver a better gaming experience, the Vizio M-Series Quantum X (MQX) has a lot of the same performance-enhancing features as our top pick: quantum dots, an LED backlight with local dimming, and a 120 Hz refresh rate. However, it eschews the mini-LED backlighting systems you get on our Hisense and Samsung picks; this lowers the price but comes with some drawbacks. Though this Vizio TV supports all the major HDR formats and produces a very respectable 4K HDR image, the lack of mini-LEDs means it isn’t as bright and has less precise backlight control compared with our other picks. Also, you get only one full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 input. Vizio’s SmartCast platform, while serviceable, isn’t our favorite smart-TV interface, but it includes most of the popular video services. The Vizio M-Series Quantum X is available in a smaller, 50-inch screen size that sells at an especially budget-friendly price, as well as in 65- and 75-inch sizes (but not 55 inches). If you want to save even more money and you don’t need the 120 Hz refresh rate, you might consider one of our favorite budget LCD TVs instead.
