2019 Gift Guide: Our Top 10 Favorite TVs

By on November 18, 2019

Ahhh… it’s that time of year. Awkward family gatherings, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, shopping for TVs…

TVs have long been the centerpiece of Black Friday and holiday sales. Their big flickering displays have the wow factor and people love to (literally) fight over them.

What is it about the venerable TV that bedazzles us after so many decades? Is it the 4K, 8K, HDR, HLG, HDMI 2.1, 120Hz, OLED, QLED, Ultra HD, Smart LED alphabet soup that seems to grows every year?

Whatever it is, TVs are one of our favorite product categories on Ben’s, and if you must pick just one alphabet soup feature, then pick OLED. OLED is the best TV panel on the market, and because it’s so good, we have two LG OLED TVs on our list this year.

Now let’s take a look at our top 10 favorite TVs of 2019. Watch for price drops and deals on Ben’s in the coming weeks (set deal alerts here)!

Best of the Best

1. LG B9 Series 4K HDR Smart OLED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″ and 65″.

Street prices: $1,200 (55″) and $1,800 (65″).

HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz.

Smart TV Platform: webOS.

AI: LG ThinQ AI with built-in Alexa and Google Assistant.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.0, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD decoder.

Pros: LG OLEDs still have the best picture quality (PQ)/black level, period. Most affordable 2019 LG OLED series. Low input lag for gaming. Supports 1440p @ 120Hz HDR. webOS is an excellent Smart TV platform.

Cons: High price, but the 55″ size is getting closer to that $1,000 mark. Burn-in is a possibility, but remote. No HDR10+.

Buy on Amazon Check Deals on Ben’s

2. LG C9 Series 4K HDR Smart OLED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″, 65″ and 77″.

Street prices: $1,500 (55″), $2,100 (65″) and $5,000 (77″).

HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz.

Smart TV Platform: webOS.

AI: LG ThinQ AI with built-in Alexa and Google Assistant.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.0, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD decoder.

Pros: Better picture processor than B9 series (α9 Gen 2 vs α7 Gen 2). Low input lag for gaming. Supports 1440p @ 120Hz HDR. webOS is an excellent Smart TV platform.

Cons: The higher price tag than the B9 series and for some, negligible PQ improvement. (See for yourself!) Small potential for burn-in. No HDR10+.

Buy on Amazon Check Deals on Ben’s

3. Samsung Q80R Series 4K HDR Smart QLED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″, 65″, 75″ and 82″.

Street prices: $1,300 (55″), $1,700 (65″), $2,300 (75″) and $3,500 (82″).

HDR: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz.

Smart TV Platform: Samsung Smart TV (Tizen OS).

AI: Bixby, built-in voice assistant. Also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant devices.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI, 2 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD decoder.

Pros: Fantastic picture outside of OLED. Good for gaming: low input lag and support for AMD FreeSync.

Cons: High price. No Dolby Vision.

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That’ll Do Nicely

4. Vizio P Series Quantum X 4K HDR Smart LED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 65″ and 75″.

Street prices: $1,500 (65″) and $2,200 (75″).

HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz.

Smart TV Platform: SmartCast 3.0 with built-in Chromecast.

AI: Compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri devices.

Connectivity: 5 x HDMI, 1 x USB, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS.

Pros: Fantastic, high-end picture quality with excellent full array local dimming. Low input lag. Has Apple Airplay 2 compatibility.

Cons: No variable refresh rate. No HDMI 2.1. No HDR10+. No Dolby Atmos. Does not support 1440p. No Bluetooth.

Buy at Costco Check Deals on Ben’s

5. Sony BRAVIA X950G Series 4K HDR Smart LED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″, 65″, 75″ and 85″.

Street prices: $1,000 (55″), $1,500 (65″), $2,500 (75″) and $4,000 (85″).

HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz.

Smart TV Platform: Android TV (Android 8.0 Oreo).

AI: Built-in Google Assistant.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI, 3 x USB, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.2, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD decoder.

Pros: Best non-OLED choice for movie watching. Full array local dimming. As always for Sony, excellent design aesthetic. Android TV is good Smart TV platform. Apple Airplay 2 and HomeKit compatibility.

Cons: Sony premium price. No HDR10+. No HDMI 2.1.

Buy on Amazon Check Deals on Ben’s

6. Samsung Q70R Series 4K HDR Smart QLED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 49″, 55″, 65″, 75″, 82″ and 85″.

Street prices: $800 (49″), $1,000 (55″), $1,200 (65″), $2,000 (75″), $2,500 (82″) and $3,500 (85″).

HDR: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz (except 49″—60Hz).

Smart TV Platform: Samsung Smart TV (Tizen OS).

AI: Bixby, built-in voice assistant. Also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant devices.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI, 2 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD decoder.

Pros: Good for gaming: low input lag and support for AMD FreeSync (except 49″). Good display size selection.

Cons: No Dolby Vision. PQ not as good as the step-up Q80R series (as expected).

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Penny Pinchers

7. Hisense H9F Series 4K HDR Smart LED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″ and 65″.

Street prices: $600 (55″) and $900 (65″).

HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz.

Smart TV Platform: Android TV (Android 8.0 Oreo).

AI: Built-in Google Assistant (via remote). Also compatible with Google Assistant devices.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI, 2 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS.

Pros: Excellent picture with great contrast, especially at this price point. Stylish design with razor-thin bezels. Full array local dimming. Android TV, same as used in Sony models. Low input lag for gaming.

Cons: Viewing angles not great. No Dolby Atmos. Not a premium brand name, which matters to some TV buyers.

Buy at Best Buy Check Deals on Ben’s

8. TCL 6 Series 4K HDR Smart QLED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″ and 65″.

Street prices: $600 (55″) and $800 (65″).

HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 60Hz.

Smart TV Platform: Roku TV.

AI: Roku voice control (via remote). Also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant devices.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI, 1 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: Dolby Atmos.

Pros: Roku TV is the best Smart TV platform. Very low input lag. Great picture quality rivaling top brands, especially at the price point. Full array local dimming and quantum dots.

Cons: Refresh rate is 60Hz. No Bluetooth. Not a premium brand name, which matters to some TV buyers.

Buy on Amazon Check Deals on Ben’s

First on the Block

9. Samsung Q900R Series 8K HDR Smart QLED TVs (2019)

Sizes: 55″, 65″, 75″ and 82″.

Street prices: $2,200 (55″), $3,000 (65″), $4,500 (75″) and $6,000 (82″).

HDR: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG.

Native Refresh Rate: 120Hz (except 49″—60Hz).

Smart TV Platform: Samsung Smart TV (Tizen OS).

AI: Bixby, built-in voice assistant. Also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant devices.

Connectivity: 4 x HDMI, 3 x USB 2.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, TOSLINK optical.

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS.

Pros: Trophy TV for early adopters. Outstanding picture quality and viewing angles. Upscales to 7680 x 4320 resolution (an eye-popping 33 million pixels). Upscaled 4K content outshines regular 4K TVs, especially on the larger display sizes. Great for gaming (low input lag, FreeSync) and sports (very fast response time, low motion blur). Premium design.

Cons: That price tag! No Dolby Vision. No Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD. Very little native 8K content out there… (that’s a big one).

Buy on Amazon Check Deals on Ben’s

10. HP Omen X Emperium 65 Big Format 4K Gaming Display (2019)

Size: 65″ only.

Street price: $3,800.

HDR: VESA DisplayHDR 1000 (similar to HDR10), NVIDIA G-Sync HDR.

Native Refresh Rate: 144Hz (overclocked).

Smart TV Platform: NVIDIA SHIELD TV with built-in Chromecast.

AI: Built-in Google Assistant (via remote).

Connectivity: 3 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, DisplayPort, SPDIF optical.

Audio: Analog soundbar.

Pros: OK, technically not a TV, but then who uses a “TV tuner” on a TV anyway? Anyway, this oversized monitor (the first NVIDIA Big Format Gaming Display) is totally focused on gaming, unlike a normal TV. Features G-Sync variable refresh rate and full array local dimming. Soundbar included. Cool red LED bar on back of TV.

Cons: Price!! Much cheaper and better options for regular TV viewing.

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About Joe Warner

I'm the senior editor of The CheckOut. I am an aficionado of shiny gadgets and classic Hollywood movies and can also tell you the names of the late '80s Swedish Davis Cup team members.

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