Buying a 4/5+ year old second hand OLED tv

[Fade In]

I'm looking to buy a second hand OLED tv in the next week or so. There are a few in the classifieds, including one or two that are 4 or 5 years old or older.

I don't know too much about OLEDs aside from the risk of screen burn, but have read a few comments recently where people have said you shouldn't buy one more than a couple of years old.

If I spend £400/£500/£600+ on an OLED tv from say 2016 or 2017, is it a bad move to make?

Obviously most of these won't have any kind of warranty remaining. As long as I'm careful with preventing screen burn, are there any other common issues that come up for OLEDs 4/5+ years old?

I love OLED panels due to the deep blacks, but not wanting to spend several hundred pounds on something that's likely to fail within a couple of years.

 

[mikej]

A 5 year-old OLED is going to be at least halfway through its theoretical lifespan - possibly more (in terms of pixel wear / brightness) if it's been used more than average. It'll also have little to no burn-in prevention features so the risk of 'screen burn' will almost certainly be a lot higher than on more recent models.

That said - if you were able to run test slides to confirm the colours and uniformity were good, that there was no sign of uneven wear and the price was right, then it might be worth a gamble ?

With brand new, lower-end 55" models dipping below £1000, when you say £600+ for one that's 4-5 years old, presumably that must be for a larger (65") high-end, second-hand model ?

 

[fluxedman]

I would avoid the 2016-2017 models, the quality control and ABL/ASBL tech apparently is much more improved from 2018-2019 OLED models, basically meaning that burn in issues should be much improved.

I also think these sellers are ditching their OLED older models, since they know that burn in may occur, wont be surprised if they take the £500-600 and take out £300-400 and get the latest and best OLED.

If you do also go for it still, great advise above also but maybe also check with LG if they can offer an OLED panel swap service for the model you maybe going for, that way if you do get issues you can swap the panel for £200-250.

Id still say wait for black friday deals or just before Feb/March when the new series of TVs is arriving they take off a good few hundred off the TVs sometimes, you may bag yourself a bargain. Keep an eye for open box deals or refurb deals even.

 

[gibbletts]

I'm looking to buy a second hand OLED tv in the next week or so. There are a few in the classifieds, including one or two that are 4 or 5 years old or older.

I don't know too much about OLEDs aside from the risk of screen burn, but have read a few comments recently where people have said you shouldn't buy one more than a couple of years old.

If I spend £400/£500/£600+ on an OLED tv from say 2016 or 2017, is it a bad move to make?

Obviously most of these won't have any kind of warranty remaining. As long as I'm careful with preventing screen burn, are there any other common issues that come up for OLEDs 4/5+ years old?

I love OLED panels due to the deep blacks, but not wanting to spend several hundred pounds on something that's likely to fail within a couple of years.

The maths don't add upp, pay £500 for something with no guarantee that could fail at anytime or £1000 for new with guarantee doesn't make sense to me.

 

[richolmes72]

I bought a new 65” b7 in 2018 and then a 55” c7 second hand in 2020 and a 77” g7 second hand in 2021, I then sold the 65 as that was replaced by the 77. All from the forums and all with warranty. I’d happily buy again, but only from the forums, wouldn’t risk eBay Etc..

The 2016 models seem to command a slight premium as they were the last 3D ones So I’d stick with 2017.

Not a huge amount has changed on these since, things like Alexa, eARC, HDMI 2.1, better processor. But fundamentals are similar.

The key thing is the price being right. A 65” b7 for £650 vs £1500 for a new one feels like a good deal but £500 for a 55 vs 1000 new is less clear cut.

 

[staffy 2]

Also consider quite a few second OLEDs Will have had a replacement panel under warranty claims.My E7 is 4 years old but had a new panel 23 months ago.So technically its only a 2 year old tv.

 

[gibbletts]

Also consider quite a few second OLEDs Will have had a replacement panel under warranty claims.My E7 is 4 years old but had a new panel 23 months ago.So technically its only a 2 year old tv.

Just as won't many won't have.