Budget VA 55-60" TV for movies and PS4

NexxCat

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Hey everyone.

I know there are a lot of threads here asking for similar sized TVs, so I hope you don't mind me asking as well :)

My current TV is a Panasonic TX-40DS500B, purchased refurbished, 4 years ago, for £250. It's used in my bedroom, almost exclusively with a darkened room (at night, or with blind drawn during the day). I don't use any external amp or speakers and I have paired it with a 4k Fire TV stick for all the smart features I need (the Panasonic apps struggled with some 1080p content). It still serves me just fine, but I've got an itch to upgrade to something bigger.

I'm currently window shopping for a potential upgrade:
  • Viewing distance from TV whilst in bed is 2.4M.
  • My absolute maximum budget would be ~£700, but something around £500 would be preferable (and keep me out of the dog house ;) )
  • Primary use is movies over Netflix / Amazon Prime and videos from YouTube.
  • Secondary use would be gaming on my PS4 (non-pro and no desire to get a PS5 any time soon).
  • HDR isn't a requirement. I'd be far happier with a TV which performs really well in SDR content, than one which has good HDR but subpar SDR.
  • My current TV is wall mounted. The centre of the mount is 62cm from the edge of a wall and the centre of the TV can sit 5cm either side of that. Meaning a TV could be a maximum of ~130cm wide.
  • Preferably a VA panel. I've used both VA and IPS in the monitor world and prefer VA.
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts anyone would like to share!
 
Have you seen the best buy guide here?

If you could stretch to something like the Sony XH9005 then you'd get a great TV for your preferences.

TVs tend to come at 55" and 65". 60" is a rare size, although some low tier models do have 60" panels. Those will be comparable more to the TV you own, rather than being an upgrade (size aside of course).

If you want a 65" rather than 55" you are really pushing the limits of getting a decent TV at 65". I'd advise upping the budget if that's the case rather than buying something lower range.
 
Have you seen the best buy guide here?

If you could stretch to something like the Sony XH9005 then you'd get a great TV for your preferences.

TVs tend to come at 55" and 65". 60" is a rare size, although some low tier models do have 60" panels. Those will be comparable more to the TV you own, rather than being an upgrade (size aside of course).

If you want a 65" rather than 55" you are really pushing the limits of getting a decent TV at 65". I'd advise upping the budget if that's the case rather than buying something lower range.
I have read through your guide, yes :)

I really should have titled the thread 55-58 as I've been looking at some of the 58" Philips sets.

Pushing to an XH9005 (which seems to be ~£770) is a bit far, but certainly something to keep in consideration. 65" is too big for the space I believe. Not to mention the difficulty of getting it up the stairs to the bedroom :p

Any thoughts on something lower in price if you completely ignore the HDR aspect? Can you tell a FireTV stick not to use HDR? I know from reading that most built-in smart TV apps will basically force it on.

Edit: Apologies, I just realised you linked to the 2019-2020 guide. I'll give that a look! Thanks!
 
Its a tough choice if you want to spend less. Perhaps the Samsung 55Q70T would be good. Its a bit on the expensive side to what you get but its practically the only sub 65" TV using a 120hz VA panel apart from the XH9005.

Otherwise, its probably best to spend less rather than more. The 58" Philips TVs are decent budget options, just make sure you aren't overpaying on them. They shouldn't be anywhere near the £550-600 mark.

With TVs there's jumps in quality at certain price points, which is part of the reason why I made the guide. So many £350 TVs are going to perform just as good as £600, sometimes even 700 ones.

So really you want to aim to spend little, or more to get a sweet spot for value for money. Prices also fluctuate a lot, so what's good value today, may be different tomorrow.
 
Its a tough choice if you want to spend less. Perhaps the Samsung 55Q70T would be good. Its a bit on the expensive side to what you get but its practically the only sub 65" TV using a 120hz VA panel apart from the XH9005.

Otherwise, its probably best to spend less rather than more. The 58" Philips TVs are decent budget options, just make sure you aren't overpaying on them. They shouldn't be anywhere near the £550-600 mark.

With TVs there's jumps in quality at certain price points, which is part of the reason why I made the guide. So many £350 TVs are going to perform just as good as £600, sometimes even 700 ones.

So really you want to aim to spend little, or more to get a sweet spot for value for money. Prices also fluctuate a lot, so what's good value today, may be different tomorrow.
Fantastic advice, thank you very much :)
 
After doing a lot of research, the Sony 55XH9005 does seem to be the best option available to me right now. Is there any difference between the 3 models you recommend? (55XH9005 / 55XH9096 / 55XH9296). I simply can't justify the extra ~£200 to get to the 55XH9505 or a 55" OLED (plus burn-in scares me).

Looks like I can get it from RS for £769 plus get 1.6% cashback, and it should be OK on my current TV mount (which is rated to 25KG).
 
After doing a lot of research, the Sony 55XH9005 does seem to be the best option available to me right now. Is there any difference between the 3 models you recommend? (55XH9005 / 55XH9096 / 55XH9296). I simply can't justify the extra ~£200 to get to the 55XH9505 or a 55" OLED (plus burn-in scares me).

Looks like I can get it from RS for £769 plus get 1.6% cashback, and it should be OK on my current TV mount (which is rated to 25KG).
The XH9005 & XH9096 & XH9296 are all basically the same tv; maybe a different stand or something. XH9005 (and the other models) is a mid-range tv, not brilliant at HDR.

the XH9505 is head and shoulders above it, cracking TV, great HDR and very well regarded. Very much worth £200 extra.

Cheers
 
The XH9005 & XH9096 & XH9296 are all basically the same tv; maybe a different stand or something. XH9005 (and the other models) is a mid-range tv, not brilliant at HDR.

the XH9505 is head and shoulders above it, cracking TV, great HDR and very well regarded. Very much worth £200 extra.

Cheers
Thanks. I'm really pushing my budget here, was originally looking at £500-700 maximum. The 55" XH9505 is £999 pretty much everywhere and I'm honestly not sure I can justify the extra cost. I also want to avoid second hand, because if I'm spending this sort of money (which is a lot for me, and most people I imagine), I want to be covered by a warranty.
 
Thanks. I'm really pushing my budget here, was originally looking at £500-700 maximum. The 55" XH9505 is £999 pretty much everywhere and I'm honestly not sure I can justify the extra cost. I also want to avoid second hand, because if I'm spending this sort of money (which is a lot for me, and most people I imagine), I want to be covered by a warranty.
It is a lot of £££ but also a very good tv; if I was in the market for a tv, it would be my top pick. You might be happy enough with the XH9005/mid tier option, but given how important HDR is, I would either buy a very cheap tv (low tier, £300) or a great one (high tier, £995); the bit in between seems bad value to me.

I personally wouldn’t buy second hand either, seems too much risk and effort: my original tv had a fault about a year after I bought it, wasn’t economic to repair so they replaced it with a brand new one! I think I was a bit lucky but defo worth buying it with a good warranty.

Other option could be to go see one in situ, maybe help justify the spend?

if it helps your decision, the XH9505 is a tv from 2020 and as such is about as cheap as it will get: a new 2021 equivalent will be way more and won’t drop down in price much until 2022. So pretty much the best time to buy one, if you can justify the extra cost.

the other option would be to wait till Black Friday at least, possibly till feb 2022, when new 2021 tv prices are reasonable.
 
It is a lot of £££ but also a very good tv; if I was in the market for a tv, it would be my top pick. You might be happy enough with the XH9005/mid tier option, but given how important HDR is, I would either buy a very cheap tv (low tier, £300) or a great one (high tier, £995); the bit in between seems bad value to me.

I personally wouldn’t buy second hand either, seems too much risk and effort: my original tv had a fault about a year after I bought it, wasn’t economic to repair so they replaced it with a brand new one! I think I was a bit lucky but defo worth buying it with a good warranty.

Other option could be to go see one in situ, maybe help justify the spend?

if it helps your decision, the XH9505 is a tv from 2020 and as such is about as cheap as it will get: a new 2021 equivalent will be way more and won’t drop down in price much until 2022. So pretty much the best time to buy one, if you can justify the extra cost.

the other option would be to wait till Black Friday at least, possibly till feb 2022, when new 2021 tv prices are reasonable.
I buckled and bought the XH9505 :) Thanks to a tip from @mikeysthoughts I managed to get £50 off the listed price (they unfortunately wouldn't price match down to £900). Delivery should be Friday :)
 
That is a very good price and esp from a good retailer: I am sure you will come to love it.

👍
They were super nice on the phone, couldn't be happier with their sales gentleman. Also, thank you for all of your advice, it's going to be an exciting weekend :D
 
They were super nice on the phone, couldn't be happier with their sales gentleman. Also, thank you for all of your advice, it's going to be an exciting weekend :D
You are welcome - when I was looking for a Tv I got some great advice on here, so happy to pass on the help.

I before the tv arrives, plan something special that you will watch; for us it was a UHD of Blue Planet 2 (I think, was a few years ago!!) - was stunning!!
 

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