Spend less, get more: The best budget TVs of 2024

It's exceedingly rare to find a QLED television for less than £1,000, so when Samsung releases the Q65C - a 50-inch QLED television that's below £450 - it most certainly catches our eye. And you'll be getting one of the best-looking sets on the market in our opinion. Samsung certainly knows its stuff when it comes to build and design.

For colour, the Q65C certainly doesn't lack boldness or vibrancy - QLED TVs are decisively our favourite TV technology in terms of sheer beauty, and the Q65C is yet another example of why Quantum Dot technology is just so powerful. Perfectly built for wall mounting, with a truly flush back, or for simply positioning comfortably on a table - the Q65C is both visually pleasing to watch and in its aesthetic beauty.

The Q65C is, at its heart, a mid-range QLED television - it doesn't have the bells and whistles of the Samsung 55-inch QN95C 4K Neo QLED TV at double the price, with enough brightness to sear your retinas, but what it does do is pretty exemplary.

Hisense is consistently ruling the roost of the budget television market - with an enormous range of low-price, solid-quality televisions that are cheaper than the competition by hundreds of pounds, but out of Hisense's entire budget catalogue, none are quite as affordable as the 50A6KTUK.

Packed with AI picture optimisation, motion smoothing, HDR and even Game Mode support for some additional smoothness, the 50A6KTUK offers some genuinely impressive 4K visuals and exciting features to keep you on the edge of your seat, and at its price - you really can't knock the value. Perfect for wall mounting, the Hisense 50A6KTUK has practically non-existent bezels that melt away when you're absorbed in a series or amidst the chaos of your go-to FPS shooter, for its price, there are high-end TVs with thicker bezels and uglier designs.

Hisense's 50A6KTUK smart TV has a solid screen, impressive ultra-thin bezels and heaps of features that make it feel far more premium than its price tag. Other than a slightly slow operating system at times, if you need an affordable upgrade to your home cinema setup, you really cannot fault it.

Philips has consistently made some of the most astonishing budget televisions on the market in recent years, and the PUS8108 is perhaps one of their most excellent designs so far. Packed with colour, beautifully designed and engineered with Ambilight functionality, and at a great size - the Philips PUS8108 is one of the very best cheap TVs we've come across so far this year, and its brilliance is no mystery.

Along with HDR10+ (which is rare amongst budget televisions) and Dolby Vision, which isn't even in some high-end displays, Philips' PUS8108 truly looks the part at its price - movies and television shows appear exciting, full of life and detail, and when paired with Ambilight, it's truly difficult to look away.

Sound on the Philips PUS8108 is also a little lacking, despite having a plethora of sound-throwing programs and extras to boost its fairly small speakers - it's just not enough to bring that cinematic boom and rumble that the screen deserves. That said, the Philips PUS8108 is one of the best-looking smart TVs in its price range - in large part thanks to its non-existent side bezels that give the screen an ethereal, boundless look while absorbed into a film.

If you primarily use your TV for watching movies or binge-watching shows on streaming services, you'll definitely appreciate the LG LED UR78. Its 55-inch panel has 4K upscaling, so you can enjoy superb resolution on content that wasn't originally made in 4K.

Alternatively, if you prefer to go the authentic route, Filmmaker mode automatically adjusts settings to match what the movie or show was originally meant to be viewed as, so you can see it in its ideal form. It's only one of a handful of features designed to boost performance with movies as well as TV shows. Alongside HDR for more colours, you get AI-driven sound for better performance with dialogue and more. There's even a Game Optimiser mode for superior motion and clarity.

Other than the slightly wide placement of the stand's feet, the UR78 is a fuss-free experience, and that's in part due to its webOS. Some budget TVs can feel clunky to navigate, but that's not the case here. Everything is simple to understand at a glance and things are exactly where they feel they should be, so no more getting lost in menus. Your movie nights will be getting quite the upgrade with this.

Samsung's CU8000 consistently tops our lists as one of the best budget UHD TVs on the market, and there's no mystery as to why. Using some clever post-processing to sharpen and enhance colours without the need for pricey QLED or OLED TV technology, the CU8000 has a wonderful warmth and beauty that reaches far beyond its price point.

At 50 inches the CU8000 is undoubtedly a fantastic 4K TV under £500 - and yet, as with competing brands - its value doesn't come at a significant cost of quality. From its solid Crystal UHD screen to the breathtaking build quality, which is rarely ever sub-par with Samsung, home cinema builders can expect nothing but quality from the BU8000, which isn't easy at its price.

Of course, there are some minor nitpicks we can spot from the get-go, the screen itself, while excellent at its price, can appear dull at times - though it is rare, and its average refresh rate isn't the most exciting for gamers, yet at its size for its price - these criticisms are easily left on the wayside.

LG, generally speaking, is not known for their budget televisions - a lot of their televisions are typically high-end, we're of course thinking of the C2 OLED TV, one our favourite televisions of last year - but that's not to say that LG is incapable of nailing a truly brilliant budget television - enter the UQ75.

With HDR10 and some excellent sharpness - the LG UQ75 offers what is a pretty fantastic user experience for the cost - colours and images are represented incredibly accurately, without being too exaggerated or underwhelming - it's a stunning balance that only serves to show the brilliance of modern 4K technology which is now so much more affordable than ever before.

In terms of design, the screen is fairly lack-lustre - the back panel and the bezels appear somewhat flimsy-looking with very little design flare or style to set it apart from other smart TVs. Plus, being an LED TV, it lacks the sheer vibrancy and great contrast levels of other models with technologies like QLED. And yet, we simply cannot stay away from this terrific LG TV. From its easy-to-use user interface to its solid display – it's a great example of what an affordable television truly should be.

Bezels are the black lines of the frame of a screen, monitor, or TV, and this TCL 65RP630K manages to have very thin ones. That's a great feature, as the less noticeable they are, the easier it is to get immersed in what you're watching. The addition of Dolby Vision further serves that design feature, as the colours will really pop with vibrancy, Even better, this is a 4K resolution TV, so you'll be even more immersed without an annoyingly thick bezel to distract your eye.

Just be sure to consider where you're placing this TV. It's lightweight, making it a solid option for wall-mounting, but if it's on a TV unit or stand you might want to be careful not to accidentally knock it while you're cleaning and tidying. We particularly like the inclusion of Roku as the operating system, as Roku are a firm favourite with some for its ease of use and massive app range.

Unbelievably at this price, it even has HDR for in Dolby Vision and HDR10 varieties for over a billion colours and exceptional colour accuracy. Lastly, it's a 65-inch TV - that's right, you can settle in and watch sports, TV or movies on this and the scale and detail will blow you away. It's a steal.

If you prioritise the sound of a TV more than the visuals, you might want to consider this model from Panasonic. It still sports a solid set of visual specs, but the sound is where the TX-55MX610B really shines. It has the always-brilliant Dolby Atmos, so the audio is rich and highly immersive; and Dolby Vision for enhanced colours thanks to HDR10.

We particularly love the inclusion of both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for voice control, making this TV one of the most usable here. There's a low-latency mode for gamers as well as a massive range of smart apps to keep you entertained all day long.

The size of this TV is likely to appeal as well. At 55 inches, it's neither too big nor too small; it's suitable for just about any room you could want to put it in. Factoring in the inclusion of Alexa for voice control and its sheer affordability, we think it's a great choice for those after a bedroom TV.

We mentioned a TV that favoured sound quality earlier, but for the best audio experience, you want a Sony BRAVIA TV. Dolby Atmos combines with a set of powerful X-balanced speakers to produce an experience that doesn't need a soundbar to impress. Bass-wise, it's one of the best out there. If you like to stick music on while you're working, now you can have your TV cover the room with all the sounds you want.

Gamers will love this for more reasons than sound too, as it comes with an auto low-latency mode and a dedicated gaming menu. Apps are well catered for as well, with all of the usual ones at hand for our on-demand and catchup content as well as streaming subscription services.

We're also impressed by the ports of this TV. It has a couple of USB connections, which is a nice luxury that not all budget TVs have, but it's the total of four HDMI ports that we really love. If you have multiple consoles or devices, this is a great hub for them. As an LED TV though, it won't have the sheer contrast and vibrancy of a QLED, but that's a minor niggle on a budget TV from a top brand like this.

Although the Fire TV operating system, is heavily Amazon-centric, it's not restricted to Amazon-made devices, with other brands having their own take on the Fire TV experience. But, for die-hard Amazon fans, this TV is hard to beat. Yes, as a Prime member, you'll have access to all of your subscription-based shows and movies, but everyone else will love it too – thanks to the wide range of content and apps available.
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This Amazon Fire TV 43-inch Omni QLED series TV packs a lot of features and a solid specification too. Apart from being a 4K resolution QLED screen, we also think this Fire TV is ideal for wall mounting. It's reasonably lightweight without being flimsy, and at 43 inches, it's pretty much the perfect size for any room.

You don't need to fret about struggling to see detail from further away either; it's a QLED screen, so the visible detail and vibrancy are excellent. As with many budget TVs, you may not find the operating system is as fast and responsive as high-end models, but that's a small price to pay for so much quality elsewhere. All in all, we think the Fire TV is an excellent all-rounder with a well-thought-out menu system, smart design and a set of connections that are well-placed and easy to reach.