Best Buy 50 Inch 4k Tv |WORK|
If you're buying a TV below 32 inches and can save a lot of money on a Full HD model, by all means go for it (4K won't be a huge benefit at that sort of size anyway), but otherwise 4K is both worthwhile and, in all likelihood, your only option.
best buy 50 inch 4k tv
But what if a 50-inch screen is the maximum size of TV that you want or are able to fit in your room? We've got good news: while a true flagship TV might once have been out of the question, the arrival of 48-inch OLEDs means that's no longer the case. At the same time, competition is extremely fierce at these sizes and that means there are also lots of aggressively priced mid-range marvels available.
If you are a gamer, it's also worth considering the next-gen gaming features of your prospective new TV. Xbox Series X and PS5 gamers can gain a competitive advantage on certain games if their TV supports 4K 120Hz, while VRR support can result in a smoother gameplay experience. ALLM, meanwhile, simply ensures that you automatically get the best visual experience from both games and movies / TV shows. If you are a more casual gamer or not a gamer at all, you can pretty much disregard these features, and it's likely that doing so will save you a lot of cash.
We don't accept the out-of-the-box settings that a TV comes in either. While we intentionally don't go down the route of professional calibration (you shouldn't have to have your TV professionally calibrated in order to get the best out of it), we do spend hours adjusting settings using a mixture of test patterns and real-world content until we are sure we're getting the best out of a TV so that it has the best chance to shine.
From all of our reviews, we choose the best products to feature in our Best Buys. That's why if you take the plunge and buy one of the products recommended below, or on any other Best Buy page, you can be assured you are getting a What Hi-Fi? approved product.
One of the best parts of choosing a 46 to 52 inch TV is that you can opt for a smart TV with voice control. Compatible with voice assistants, you can ask your TV to search for something to watch or start a new movie, all without picking up the remote.
Our top 50-inch TV isn't technically a 50-inch TV, but at 48 inches, the LG C2 OLED is the best match. With an OLED panel it has the best contrast of any TV on the list, and although it's not as bright as a QLED, it's every bit as colorful.
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 TV we saw in 2021, and won the 2021 Tom's Guide Award for Best TV, and a second award as the best gaming TV of the year. Until we see 2022 TVs, this is the best TV you can buy.
Yes, the Samsung QN90A is the top 50-inch TV on our list, but if you don't have close to a grand to spend on a new TV, the TCL 5-Series Google TV delivers exceptional performance for its modest price point. With the 50-inch model selling for less than $500, you get the superb color and brightness of QLED, as well as the Google TV smart TV interface, which offers amazing content recommendations.
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 around 10 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.
The Toshiba C350 Fire TV is the 2021 addition to the small family of Amazon-powered smart TVs, offering good features and decent performance for its extremely affordable price. It's a decent example of the Fire TV template, combining good-enough 4K picture quality, impressively short lag times, and Amazon's great Fire TV smart features, like built-in Alexa voice control, a pretty big app store and (of course) an interface that puts Amazon's Prime Video service front and center. With the 50-inch model selling for under $400 (and likely much less during sales events), it's one of the smartest affordable TVs you can get.
Testing the best 50-inch TVs is a thorough process. We put every TV through our custom set of lab tests, 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 video 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.
As larger sizes have grown in popularity, manufacturers aren't making as many smaller models. While the 48-49-50 inch market segment has been somewhat neglected by most manufacturers in recent years, there's still a market for some good TVs in this size range. If you're looking for a TV in this size range, you'll likely still find one for your needs. They're available in a variety of price ranges, from premium models to more basic cheap models, so choosing the right one depends on your budget.
We've bought and tested more than 380 TVs. Below are our recommendations for the best 48-50 inch TVs. See our picks for the best smart TVs, the best 55-inch TVs for something bigger, or the best 40-42-43-inch TVs for something smaller. Most brands will start releasing their 2023 lineups soon, and although 48-50 inch TVs aren't as popular as they used to be, make sure to vote on which ones you want us to buy and test first. If you want to find out more about the 2023 models, check out our 2023 TV lineup page.
The best 48-inch TV we've tested is the LG OLED48C2PUA. It's an excellent TV that delivers stunning picture quality. HDR content looks incredible thanks to its wide color gamut and nearly infinite contrast ratio, resulting in deep blacks and bright highlights, with no distracting blooming around bright areas of the screen. It has fantastic reflection handling, so glare isn't an issue in a moderately-lit room, and its wide viewing angle makes it a good choice for a wide seating area.
If you're not in a dark room and don't care as much about the perfectly deep blacks of the LG C2 OLED, the best 50-inch smart TV in the mid-range category we've tested is the Sony XR50X90J. It's a 2021 model that's still widely available and offers great performance. Visibility isn't a problem in well-lit rooms thanks to its excellent SDR peak brightness, and the reflection handling is decent, so glare from windows or even lamps isn't an issue. Even in dark rooms, its contrast is incredible, and it has a great local dimming feature to further improve the contrast.
It comes with the Google TV smart platform, which is user-friendly and has tons of apps available to download. Its voice assistant feature makes it easy to open apps and search for content, allowing you to stream your favorite content easily. Even if you watch content from a cable box, it doesn't have issues upscaling lower-resolution content, making images look life-like. This TV was replaced by the Sony X90K in 2022, but sadly, the new model isn't available in sizes below 55 inches.
The TCL 5 Series/S555 2022 QLED is the best 50-inch TV in the budget category that we've tested. It's a great TV that delivers surprisingly good picture quality for the price and has a good selection of extra features without breaking the bank. It's great for watching movies in a dark room thanks to its superb contrast ratio and decent full array local dimming feature, but there's a bit more distracting blooming around bright highlights than what you'd see on a higher-end TV like the Sony X90J.
If you want a basic TV that won't break your wallet, the best 50-inch TV you can get for cheap is the Hisense A6H. It's a simple TV with limited picture quality and few extra features, but it's a great choice for an office, guest bedroom, or even a student dorm. It runs the Google TV smart interface, which has one of the widest selections of streaming apps available. It has a wide viewing angle, which is great if you watch TV while walking around, as the image remains consistent when viewed from the sides.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best 48-50 inch televisions to buy for most people in each price range. We factor in the price (a cheaper TV wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no TVs that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our 48-49-50 inch TV reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no TV is perfect, most TVs are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them. 041b061a72