Need to know
- Our expert TV reviews cover more than 40 popular TVs from LG, Sony, Samsung, TCL, Hisense and more
- We rate key factors including picture quality, remote, user interface, sound and energy use
- Become a CHOICE member to see the full reviews and best performers
It's going to take up prime position in your living room and provide countless enjoyable hours of Netflix bingeing, sports watching or movie marathoning, so the choice of which TV to buy is an important one.
TVs are one of the most popular discounted items come sale time. And you'll likely find plenty of offers outside of regular sales periods too, as retailers try to offload unsold stock to make way for new models.
CHOICE tech expert Peter Zaluzny has his eye on all the latest TV models.
But our experts urge caution if you're in the market for a new TV: retailers might discount some good-quality TVs, but they also discount plenty of mediocre models.
And no-one wants to be stuck with poor picture quality and sub-par sound for years to come.
To help you sort the star performers from the B-grade extras, our TV experts test over 40 models in our lab each year.
We evaluate key factors you want to know about, including picture quality, sound, remote, energy use, user interface and more.
Covering more than 90% of the market, we review popular brands such as LG, Sony, Samsung, TCL and Hisense, along with lesser known ones such as Chiq, Ffalcon, and Aldi's house brand Bauhn.
Do you even need a new TV?
Before you get swept up in the sales hype, stop and think about whether you actually need that new TV at all. (We're not trying to be killjoys, we promise!)
If you're happy with the picture quality of your existing TV but feel like it's just not smart enough, you don't necessarily need to buy a new one – you can simply smarten up the TV you already own.
CHOICE TV expert Denis Gallagher explains how to turn a regular TV into a smart TV to breathe new life into your older model and save yourself hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars.
The TVs that received the lowest scores in our testing
In our most recent lab tests, our experts found some terrific TVs alongside some more mediocre models.
We don't want you to end up with a dud buy, so here are the products that scored lowest in our lab tests. Consider becoming a CHOICE member to see the best performers.
Eko K420FAT LCD TV
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 58%
- Size: 42 inches
- Price: $269
At the extremely low price of $269, this is one of the cheapest TVs in our test. On the face of it, it might seem like a bargain worth grabbing. However, this TV delivers the kind of performance you might usually expect with such a low price tag.
The brand, Eko, is exclusive to Big W, which now sells a variety of TVs at a fraction of the price of bigger brands. This one is a Full HD Android 11 TV with built-in Chromecast, allowing you to stream content from your smartphone, tablet or laptop directly to your TV.
This TV delivers the performance you'd expect with such a low price tag
Unfortunately, CHOICE experts say you're getting what you pay for – the sound quality is very poor (our experts gave it the very low score of 20%) and it scores just 51% for standard definition picture quality, which is very disappointing. We'd love to be able to suggest a cheap model for you to consider, but this isn't it!
Generally, our testers find that the electronic program guide (EPG) on Eko TVs is not very user friendly. The remote control on this model also lacks some of the features we'd usually expect to see, so it will likely be tricky to use for people who aren't too tech savvy.
If you have a small budget, it's worth trying to save up an extra couple of hundred dollars to buy a TV that performs better in our testing.
Read the full Eko K420FAT LCD TV review.
Hisense 65Q6NAU 65-inch LCD TV
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 68%
- Size: 65 inches
- Price: $995
This is one of Hisense's cheaper TVs. Our experts say that although it doesn't wow in our performance testing, it's a lower budget buy for this size of screen and it might suit some people's needs.
It's a lower budget buy that might suit some people's needs
Our testing found that it has an excellent user interface, but the 4K picture is 'pale and grey', our experts giving it a 4K video picture quality score of 65% and a high definition picture quality score of just 57%.
Read the full Hisense 65Q6NAU 65-inch LCD TV review.
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Instead we're funded by members who value expert reviews and independent product testing.
With no self-interest behind our advice, you don't just buy smarter, you get the answers that you need.
You know without hesitation what's safe for you and your family.
And you'll never be alone when something goes wrong or a business treats you unfairly.
Learn more about CHOICE membership today
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
