The best OLED TVs to buy in 2023

Pros: Uses quantum dots for expanded color range and volume, around 1,000 nits peak brightness, Xbox Game Pass support, competitive price 

Cons: Doesn’t support Dolby Vision, smart TV interface isn’t the best

Samsung’s S90C is the best OLED TV there is for the money. In fact, we think it’s the best TV for most people overall. It uses quantum dots to produce a brighter image with better color performance than a typical OLED.

The S90C is basically a slightly tweaked version of our previous pick, the 2022 S95B 4K TV. But while this new 2023 set doesn’t offer a big upgrade over last year’s model, it doesn’t need to. Dollar for dollar, the performance you get here simply beats other OLEDs from LG and Sony that sell for the same price.

Like all OLED displays, the S90C has deep black levels, wide viewing angles, and an infinite contrast ratio. But what makes this model stand out in its price range, is its exceptional brightness, color range, and color volume. Thanks to quantum dot tech, the S90C has a peak brightness of around 1,000 nits, which is a nice step up from the 800-nit max of a typical OLED. 

Even better, the TV can maintain rich, vivid colors across different brightness levels better than a standard OLED, like LG’s C3. This means that high dynamic range (HDR) content really pops. HDR10 and HDR10+ videos look stunning through streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs. On the downside, it’s disappointing that Samsung still doesn’t support Dolby Vision.

Smart TV capabilities are also solid but not the smoothest we’ve seen. There’s also a cool Gaming Hub that lets you use services like Xbox Game Pass to stream games without a console. And new for this 2023 model, you can game at up to 144Hz when paired with a computer. 

Though there are better looking OLED TVs, you have to pay a lot more to get better performance than the S90C. When it comes to overall value, the S90C is simply unmatched. 

Read our Samsung S90C 4K TV review.

*The 83-inch S90C does not use quantum dots, so that size is not expected to offer the same color performance as smaller models.

Pros: Affordable, Dolby Vision support

Cons: LG’s C- and G-Series OLEDs can get brighter and have better processing

The LG B3 is the most affordable 2023 OLED TV on the market. Though its processing isn’t as advanced and its panel isn’t as bright as LG’s latest C- and G-Series TVs, it still provides all of the contrast, black level, and viewing angle benefits that OLEDs are known for.

At a max of around 600-700 nits, the B3 can deliver solid but not fantastic brightness. Though extreme highlights won’t pop with the same intensity you’d see on a more expensive set, the TV’s pixel-level contrast still delivers better overall HDR performance than any QLED display. However, the B3’s dimmer image does makes this model less ideal for living rooms that let in a lot of light.

And despite its lower price, the B3 still manages to pack in HDMI 2.1 support and a 120Hz panel. This means the TV can support advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate (VRR) and 120 frames per second gaming. 

On the downside, the B3 doesn’t offer much of an upgrade over last year’s B2. But while it launched with a higher retail price, the B3 is now frequently on sale for around the same price as the B2. If you do happen to find the older B2 in stock for a great discount, we recommend snagging it, but otherwise the B3 is the better buy.

And though no longer part of the company’s current lineup, you can still occasionally find LG’s even cheaper A2 OLED TV in stock at Best Buy. The 48-inch model is only $550, which is a fantastic price. But keep in mind, the A2 has a dimmer image than the B3 and it only has a 60Hz screen.

Pros: Supports Dolby Vision, comes in many screen sizes

Cons: Brightness and color performance can’t match more expensive OLEDs

The LG C3 is an excellent all-around 4K display. It isn’t the absolute best OLED TV on the market, but it provides impressive performance in its class. It’s also available in a lot of screen sizes so buyers with different space and budget needs have plenty of options to choose from.  

Picture quality is on par with other midrange OLEDs, but at a peak of around 800 nits, the C3 lacks the extra brightness that LG’s G-Series TVs provide. It also can’t match the color volume found on OLED TVs with quantum dots, like the Samsung S90C or Sony A95L. 

But while HDR highlights might not shine quite as intensely, image performance is still exceptional. And unlike Samsung OLEDs, the C3 supports Dolby Vision to produce the most accurate high dynamic range image the TV is capable of. It also supports 120Hz gaming when paired with a PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC. 

The C3 uses LG’s webOS smart TV platform, and the interface works well enough. The Magic Remote lets you navigate using traditional directional buttons or by pointing the remote at the screen to move a cursor.

Though the C3 only offers a minor upgrade over last year’s equally great C2 model, the C3 is often on sale for even less than that older TV. Unless you happen to find the C2 at a big discount, the C3 is the one to get.

Pros: Brightest OLED TV so far, wide color range and volume with quantum dots, best-in-class picture accuracy and upscaling, Dolby Vision

Cons: Expensive, 120Hz support is limited to just two HDMI ports

Sony’s OLED TVs are known for their high-end picture processing, which enable them to deliver the most accurate image on the market. The A95L is the company’s latest and greatest model, and it’s the best OLED TV you can buy for a premium home theater experience.  

Like Samsung’s OLED TVs, the A95L uses quantum dots to achieve a brighter, more colorful image than a typical OLED screen. And the A95L is the brightest OLED we’ve ever tested. We measured a peak of around 1,500 nits with the TV in its most accurate HDR preset. That’s about 500 nits higher than last year’s already impressive A95K 4K TV. This leads to more realistic contrast and details in specular highlights when watching HDR content that’s graded for peaks over 1,000 nits. 

And unlike Samsung’s OLEDs, the A95L also supports Dolby Vision, so it can more precisely render HDR images on a scene-by-scene basis. On top of all that, the A95L makes use of Sony’s proprietary image processing to optimize its picture and upscale lower quality content better than most competing TVs. This means you’ll get a cleaner, smoother image with fewer artifacts.

The A95L also features a premium design with a slim screen and convenient stand that can be set up in one of two different modes: high profile or low profile. High profile gives you enough space to fit a soundbar in front, while low profile allows the display to sit flush with your entertainment console. A backlit Google Assistant voice remote is included as well, and the A95L even comes with a webcam for video calls and gesture controls. 

Pros: 144Hz panel for PC gaming, Xbox Game Pass streaming support, bright and colorful HDR performance

Cons: No Dolby Vision support, expensive compared to similar S90C model

The S95C is one of the best Samsung TVs you can buy, and it carries over everything we love about our best overall pick, the S90C, while pumping up the brightness and slimming down its design. The cheaper S90C is an exceptional gaming TV in its own right, but the S95C delivers a slightly more premium experience for buyers willing to pay a bit more. 

Like the S90C, the S95C has a QD-OLED panel that can support VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), and up to a 144Hz refresh rate when paired with a compatible PC. This enables ultra-smooth gameplay if you have a computer that’s powerful enough to run games at 144fps. The TV also supports Samsung’s Gaming Hub that includes apps for cloud services like Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now so you can play high-end games without a console or PC. 

On top of that, the S95C delivers a higher peak brightness than the S90C. We measured around 1,360 nits versus the S90C’s 1,000 nits. This results in punchier highlights while playing HDR games or movies, and leads to better bright-room performance if you game in a living room that lets in a lot of ambient light. 

The S95C also has a more premium design with a uniformly thin screen that uses a separate One-Connect box to house of all its ports. This could make it easier to plug in your gaming consoles and hide cables since you can move the box out of sight.

For most gamers, we still recommend the cheaper S90C since it delivers most of the features you’d get on the S95C for a lot less money. But the S95C earns its spot here as a more premium alternative for gamers who want a high-end OLED TV that pairs perfectly with consoles, PCs, and cloud services. 

Read our Samsung S95C 4K TV review.

When we test the best OLED TVs we evaluate several factors, including peak brightness, overall high dynamic range (HDR) performance, smart TV features, navigation speed, and value. 

To measure the brightness of a TV’s panel we use an X-Rite iDisplay Plus colorimeter with the Spears & UHD HDR Benchmark 4K Blu-ray’s test patterns. 

We also watch the same assortment of demo movies and shows on each display to help test each TV’s overall image performance, with a specific focus on scenes that showcase shadow detail, specular highlights, color fidelity, and sharpness with native 4K, high definition (HD), and standard definition (SD) content through Blu-ray players, streaming services, and cable TV. 

What is an OLED TV?

OLED stands for “organic light-emitting diode.” Instead of using a traditional LCD panel with a backlight, like those found on QLED and LED TVs, OLED TVs are self-illuminating. This means that each pixel on an OLED can emit its own light or turn off completely, enabling an infinite contrast ratio. Because of this incredible contrast performance, OLED displays are among the best 4K TVs you can buy.

Though there are a few different types of OLED panels, they all share the same key benefits of pixel-level contrast and wide viewing angles. Some OLED subtypes, however, have extra perks that make them even more desirable. 

QD-OLED panels, for instance, have the added benefit of quantum dot technology, which enables them to produce an even wider and brighter range of colors. Sony and Samsung both use QD-OLED panels in their top TVs, like the S90C, S95C, and A95L. 

Though LG doesn’t use QD-OLED, it does use another advanced OLED panel tech called MLA OLED. MLA stands for Micro Lens Array, and OLEDs with this tech employ a layer of tiny convex lenses to boost their brightness capabilities. The LG G3 is the first consumer OLED to use MLA tech.

Should OLED TV buyers worry about burn-in?

Even the best OLED TVs are technically susceptible to an issue known as burn-in. If you leave a static image on an OLED TV for an extended period of time — a news station’s chyron bar, for example — a faint after-image can get stuck on the screen.

Though it can sound a bit alarming, burn-in is not a new phenomenon. Many past TV technologies have also been prone to this issue, including plasma and CRT displays. While OLED buyers should be mindful of this risk, OLED TVs have built-in measures to combat burn-in, including automatic pixel-shift modes and pixel-refreshers. 

Publications like Rtings have done long-term tests with many OLED TV models, and while the results do show that burn-in is possible in extreme use cases, the tests show that it shouldn’t be a problem for people with regular viewing habits. 

I’ve personally owned an LG CX OLED TV for two years, and the screen has no signs of burn-in. In my experience, as long as you don’t plan on watching the same cable news channel all day long, burn-in shouldn’t be a deciding factor when choosing whether to get an OLED TV.