So where do you put one of the top 55-inch TVs? You already have a space in mind most likely, but we often recommend them as living room TVs for folks living in apartments or dorms, or a second set for a bedroom if you plan on laying in bed to watch TV at night. (Not sure which size is right for you? Our ‘what size TV should you buy’ guide can help.) There are plenty of options to choose from, but whether you’re looking for a premium smart 55-inch TV with incredible picture quality, an outdoor TV that can survive the elements, or a budget set that will save you a bundle, we’ve got advice backed up by hours of in-house lab testing and in-depth evaluation.
The best 55-inch TVs in 2022
The LG C2 OLED TV is this year’s set to beat. Not only is it the best OLED TV thanks to an impressive display panel, but a premium design, maximum versatility and great smart TV platform hit all the high marks, too. The panel itself is impossibly thin, measuring 0.1-inch thick across the top half of the TV. The component compartment extends out on the bottom half of the back chassis, but it’s still very sleek overall. We can’t say our test results for this LG C2 OLED TV review showed significant improvement over last year’s C1 OLED (found lower on the list) — but, to be fair, there wasn’t much room to improve. Instead, what makes this one of the best TVs of the year is that it offers fantastic picture quality for the price. Read our full LG C2 OLED review. The Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV combines Samsung’s highly refined quantum dot technology with the tight control of mini-LED backlighting, resulting in one of the best TV displays you’ll ever see. Brilliant color and unmatched brightness make for superb performance, and Samsung pairs that with a bounty of smart TV functions and genuinely intelligent features, like a solar-powered remote control that eliminates the need to swap out batteries – delivering eco-friendly design and unbeaten convenience at the same time. The whole thing is packed into a gorgeous 1-inch-thick design that contains a huge array of smart features, potent Dolby Atmos sound and some of the best performance we’ve ever seen. HDMI 2.1 connectivity comes standard, along with gamer-friendly features and impressive 12.6-millisecond lag time for an unparalleled gaming experience. It’s the best 55-inch TV we saw last year — and Samsung will have to go some to top it in 2022. Read our full Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV review. The LG C1 OLED offers an amazing OLED display, a full complement of HDMI 2.1 ports and the best gaming performance and features you can get. If you have a PS5 or Xbox Series X and don’t want to splash out on the LG G2 or wait for the LG C2, this is the one to go for. Of course it’s great for everything else, too, offering rich picture quality with impeccable contrast and sharpness and superb HDR. Oh, and it also looks great. It’s one of the best TVs we saw in 2021 and the good news is that its successor, the LG C2 OLED, is now rolling out. We’re currently testing it and will have a full review soon. Read our full LG C1 OLED TV review. If you want impeccable quality and next-gen capabilities, we love the Sony Bravia XR A80J. This 4K OLED is absolutely packed with futuristic technologies: HDR, a 120 Hz refresh rate, ATSC 3.0 tuner, Google TV streaming and Sony’s own Bravia Core service, Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology… the list goes on. Sure, not everyone will need everything here, but it’s nice to have the option. Just as importantly, it also excels at the basics — contrast is superb, colors are rich and varied, viewing angles are impressive and it handles upscaling well. Sound is also excellent and Google TV is a big upgrade on the older Android TV. Against that, the XR A80J requires a little more tweaking in order to look its best; it’s fine out of the box, but to really reach its full potential, you’ll want to play around with various modes. It’s not the cheapest and other sets beat it purely based on picture quality, but as an all-round package the A80J is a great choice. Read our full Sony Bravia XR A80J review. The 2022 LG G2 is the best OLED TV you can buy right now, improving upon last year’s G1 in almost every regard. Brightness, in particular, is far better than on the 2021 set: in our testing it hit 590.54 nits compared to the G1’s 412.05. That’s still below the Sony A80J’s 713.65 result, and some way beneath what you’d get from a QLED such as the Samsung QN90A at number one in this list, but it’s way above most OLEDs. Of course you also get the deep blacks this screen tech is famous for, while the G2’s color accuracy and color gamut also fared well in our testing. The G2’s almost bezel-less design is in keeping with its status as one of LG’s ‘Gallery’ series TVs, and it’s also well equipped with ports; you get 4 HDMI 2.1 sockets here. LG’s WebOS smart TV platform has most of the apps you’d look for, if not quite all of them, while it excels as a gaming TV thanks to its low lag times and specialized game mode. The LG C2, which we’re currently testing, may end being a better purchase for most people, but until then this is the best OLED TV you can buy. Read our full LG G2 OLED TV review The 55-inch TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) offers enormous value for it’s affordable price, offering premium picture quality and a great smart TV experience for much less than the competition. The 2020 follow up to the 2019 TCL 6-Series, the R635 ups the ante with mini-LED backlighting in addition to QLED. The result is impressive color and brightness, with some of the best HDR performance we’ve seen on anything this side of an OLED display. But TCL keeps delivering more, like THX Certified Game Mode, which makes the 6-Series one of the best gaming TVs available, even for yet-to-be-released consoles like the PS5 and the Xbox Series X. From the design’s smart touches, like cable management in the stand, to the always-solid Roku TV platform, the TCL 6-Series R635 was the best TV value of 2020, and is still great now. Read our full TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635) review. The TCL 5-Series Google TV (55S546) might be the smartest smart TV we’ve seen, with a combination of smart TV features, solid performance and great value for your dollar. Building on the foundation of the already-good 5-Series, the move to Google TV gives the affordable 4K smart TV a more premium smart TV platform, one that offers personalized and customizable suggestions, a huge assortment of smart features, and deep Google Assistant integration that makes it a viable center for the entire home of connected gadgets. But it also offers a step up in other aspects of the TV. From color quality to lag times, the 5-Series Google TV is a more polished version of the 5-Series TV, delivering an excellent QLED 4K display, a slick remote control, and a surprisingly wide array of gaming features for a 60Hz TV. For a smart TV that sells for under $1,000 for most size options, it’s easily one of the best TVs on the market. Read our full TCL 5-Series Google TV (S546) review. The TCL 5 Series Roku TV does what TCL does best, delivering a surprisingly great mix of features and performance at an excellent affordable price. With the 50-inch model selling for less than $500, you get the superb color and brightness of QLED, as well as Roku’s user-friendly smart TV interface, which puts thousands of apps right at your fingertips. In addition to the excellent color accuracy and full color gamut offered by the QLED display, it offers top-of-the-line HDR support, with Dolby Vision in addition to basic HDR10 and HLG formats. With input lag clocking in at 13.1 milliseconds, it’s also one of the best affordable gaming TVs you can buy. And it’s roughly half the price of Samsung’s equivalent QLED TV, making it one of the best values in smart TVs. Read our full TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535) review. The Hisense U8H Mini-LED TV is all about bringing high-end features to a mid-level price bracket. To wit, it’s packing a light sensor for Dolby Vision IQ that can raise or lower the brightness to match the ambient light in the room and a Mini-LED panel that has up to 528 local dimming zones. Its peak brightness exceeds any TV around that price, and its color reproduction is as good as some of this year’s best TVs. Not only does it have some smart-looking specs under its belt, it has some killer additional features — there’s two HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K@120Hz and on-board Google TV 11 with Chromecast Built-in. Around back you’ll find a hefty sound system that delivers bass in spades, though it could be a bit stronger in the mid-range. Of course, there’s also an ATSC 3.0 tuner inside, too. The bad news? As powerful as a TV as this is, Hisense’s upscaling and motion processing skills aren’t on par with that of LG, Samsung or Sony’s, which means some scenes you’re going to notice poor motion smoothing and color banding. If those terms don’t mean much to you, these issues won’t ruin your experience — but videophiles might notice them and they can turn an otherwise positive experience into a sub-par one. Read our full Hisense U8H review. The Hisense U7G Android TV is being marketed as a TV built for gaming, and the specs make it easy to see why: The Quantum Dot display boasts good color and sharp images, the panel’s 120Hz refresh rate will handle the most demanding game console output, and a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports offer the best connectivity you can get for high-frame rate gaming. And any TV that’s good for gamers will usually do pretty well at everything else. Handling both Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus formats, it’s got some of the best HDR support available, and Dolby Atmos sound means it has the audio to match. It impressed us in our testing, and it’s more affordable than you’d expect given the feature set. Gamer or not, the Hisense U7G Android TV is a solid 4K smart TV. Read our full Hisense U7G Android TV review.
How to choose the best 55-inch TVs for you
Our TV buying guide breaks down the key factors that should go into purchasing a new set, as getting a TV is an investment. It’s a piece of tech you’re likely to own for several years, which is why you want to make sure you’re picking the best 55-inch TV for you. Size: First figure out whether you’re locked into a 55-inch set. Just because it’s the biggest size that fits on your wall or TV stand doesn’t mean that it’s right for the room. Similarly, consider if a 65-inch TV would better suit your space. Price: Expect to pay about $500 for a good 55-inch 4K TV. The Insignia 55-inch 4K Fire TV Edition above is the absolute cheapest we’d recommend based on our catalog of TV testing. But if you have a tighter budget, check out our best TV deals for some alternatives. Keep in mind performance will take a hit in lower price ranges, though. HDR: If you want the most colors, get one of the HDR sets with Dolby Vision compatibility above. This technology is able to deliver more colors, more contrast levels and increased brightness. It could make a set a bit more costly, but it guarantees you’ll still be satisfied with TV as the Dolby Vision format seems to be gaining momentum. Ports: Another thing to consider is port offerings. Some of the sets above sport 3 HDMI ports, while some have 4. In general, more ports is better, especially if you have a collection of input devices like soundbars or game consoles. If you’ve narrowed down your TV shopping by brand, price range or screen size, check out our picks for the best TVs in each. Best TVs | Best 4K TVs | Best smart TVs for streaming | Best TVs for gaming The best TVs under $1000 | The best TVs under $500 Best TV brands | Best Samsung TVs | Best TCL TVs | Best LG TVs | Best Roku TVs | Best Google TVs | Best OLED TVs | Best QLED TVs | Best 8K TVs | Best HDMI 2.1 TV | Best TVs with ATSC 3.0 | Best TVs with Chromecast The smallest smart TVs | Best 43-inch TVs | Best 50-inch TVs | Best 55-inch TVs | Best 65-inch TVs | Best 70-inch TVs | Best 75-inch TVs | Best 85-inch TVs And don’t forget to watch out for the latest TV reviews.
How we test the best 55-inch TVs
Testing the best 55-inch TVs is a thorough process. We put every TV through our custom lab test, measuring color gamut, color accuracy and brightness to objectively see which sets are the best for these key indicators. We also test for lag time, measuring to the millisecond how long it takes for content to travel from the original source to the screen. We use these results to make numbers-based comparisons about color and display quality. We spend hours with each set to see how our lab results translate into anecdotal performance. We also compare competing sets using a range of content across several sources. With that information, we can tell you which TVs look best, sound best and offer the best viewing experience. Of course, we also consider the smart TV functions and apps for each TV, looking at everything from the remote control design to the voice interaction.
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