Best 50/55inch TV for ~£600? Decision Hell.

[thorntonreed]

Hi guys, hoping someone can help make my mind up... I've read seemingly all the reviews of every TV on sale this year and several forum posts, and still not sure what to go for... Basically decision paralysis.

I'm upgrading from a 10 year old, 40" LCD Samsung 1080p. So I suspect whatever I buy will be a significant improvement aside from being bigger!

Will be mostly used for Netflix/Prime, some gaming. May upgrade to a ps5 at some point, so anything that would get the best out of that is good but not a priority. Watch a fair bit of sport so anything with motion blur etc. is a big con for me.

I think 50" would be the right size, but would consider 55, especially as I've noticed some Samsung models actually have better specs jumping from 50 to 55. One issue with that is that my TV stand is 91cm wide, so this rules out any TVs with legs right at the ends. I'm not a big fan of that trend aesthetically anyway, but can't believe that some manufacturers didn't consider that it's pretty normal to have a smaller stand than the entire width of the TV (grumble over).

I am a Samsung fan, in terms of my budget and their reliability they might be best fit. But open to any other brand. I do get good discounts on Samsung's via work too.

Initially was eyeing up Samsung 50 AU9000 (£560). Seems a good all rounder for the price. But I think potentially I can spend a bit more to get something better. I do need to draw the line somewhere though, I see a lot of Sony's being recommended on here but they are currently starting at around £850ish which I can't really stretch to. Other Samsung's I've looked at are 55" Q80A (£640, £150 less currently than JL etc). I can get 50/55" Q60A/Q65A for under £550, which seems a good deal but I'm willing to spend a bit more for something better, like the Q80A presumably is. Beyond that but currently OOS are 50" QN90 (£750) or QN94 (£775). Based on reviews I'm not sure that stretching my budget is worth vs a bigger 55" Q80A.

Are there other TVs out there under £700 or that might drop below that on BF, which would be better than Q80A?

I'm going to wait until black Friday before pulling the trigger but suspect most "deals" are already out there as BF starts a month early these days.

 

[Dodgexander]

No, with a limited budget you can't beat the Q80A, next best is probably the Sony X90J which is both more expensive, and not as bright.

You can basically place the Q80A in the same box as the smaller 50" QN94A/QN90A as the smaller sized TVs don't get as bright. So aim for 55" minimum unless you're happy getting a lower spec TV.

BF is the first time prices start to become reasonable on newly released TVs, but its not the best time to buy. A few months ago you could have bought the 49" or 55" Sony XH9505 which is a tier above the Q80A, but timing isn't great right now, so its normal for money this time of year not to stretch as far as it did on last years clearance 2020 models.

TVs lower than the Q80A are not worth considering at all in my opinion, a waste of money since none have adequate HDR hardware. The Q80A only just makes that mark, but won't be as striking as some the higher end Samsung models like the QN95A (55"+). I'm glad you didn't opt for the AU9000 as its just awful, awful value for money.