The best OLED TVs for 2023: from LG, Sony, and Samsung

If you’re a connoisseur of great picture quality, or you simply want your new TV to deliver rich colors and incredible contrast, you should be looking at OLEDs. For years now, LG has been the go-to manufacturer of OLED TVs and OLED displays, and even if you buy a Samsung or Sony OLED, chances are that the screen is actually made by LG Display (the company’s panel division). But what exactly makes an OLED so great, you may be asking? The biggest pro these sets have over QLEDs and traditional LEDs is that OLEDs don’t have LED backlights.

This is because an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panel is made up of millions of self-emissive pixels that can individually be toggled on and off, which is how these TVs are able to achieve the kind of black levels that only plasma sets once rivaled. If you like what you’re reading so far, we have no doubt you’ll enjoy the best OLEDs of 2023 roundup we’ve compiled below. We’ve also had the honor of testing many of these TVs ourselves and have provided links to our full reviews when applicable.

LG C3 Series OLED

The best OLED overall

Man, it was a tough call for the 2023 “Best Overall OLED” laurel, but after weighing the options and getting into the nitty-gritty of specs and cost, we believe the best OLED for most folks is undoubtedly the LG C3. Available in 42-, 48-, 55-, 65-, 77-, and 83-inch sizes, the LG C3 delivers an amazing picture that reaches some pretty impressive peak brightness levels, but more importantly, when it comes to both HDR and SDR performance, the C3’s color and contrast capabilities are simply through the roof.

As far as digital hearts and lungs go, the C3 is powered by LG’s revamped a9 AI Processor Gen6 (also found on the LG G3), which acts as the catalyst for features like AI Super Upscaling 4K and AI Picture Pro. The C3 also includes LG’s latest take on its smart TV platform, webOS 23, for all your Netflix and Disney+ streaming needs. The UI is still a bit cluttered (something we’ve found irksome for a few years now), but distracting advertisements are easy to forgive when your OLED dishes out 4K at 120Hz across all four HDMI 2.1 inputs.

What’s the difference between the LG C3 and the premium G3 model below? The latter employs Micro Lens Array technology as part of its engineering, which allows the G3 to achieve higher peak brightness levels than the C3. Oh, and the G3 is meant to be hung on a wall (it comes with an LG wall mount), so it doesn’t come with a stand, although you can purchase one separately.

Like any OLED TV, the LG C3 is going to look its best in dark rooms, but if your viewing space is troubled by ambient lighting, the C3 does an excellent job at handling reflections and looks great from a number of vantage points throughout a larger room.

LG G3 Series OLED

The runner-up

You know your premium TV means business when it’s too good to come with a stand. The terrific LG G3 OLED comes in 55-, 65-, 77-, and 83-inch sizes, and each of these large displays comes with a proprietary wall mount that gets the G3 nice and close to your living room wall. Why, you may ask? Because LG intends for this TV to be the aesthetic attention-grabber in your home (try displaying some artwork or family photos on the G3 screen), and we’re all about that.

The G3 is a next-gen reworking of the LG G2, and the latest version of the OLED is equipped with Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology, giving the G3 a significant boost in the brightness department. This year’s model also ups the processing game with the introduction of LG’s revamped a9 AI Processor Gen6, working in unison with LG’s Brightness Booster Max to deliver even sharper visuals.

OLEDs aren’t exactly known for arresting brightness, but the LG G3 is happy to challenge that preconception. That MLA backbone allows the G3 to achieve some of the best brightness levels of any TV for 2023, and that’s quite the achievement for a display that features no LEDs whatsoever.

The G3 also has four HDMI 2.1 inputs that max out at 4K at 120Hz. There’s support for pretty much all next-gen gaming must-haves, like VRR (variable refresh rate) and AMD FreeSync, and the TV handles HDR content like a champ. Plus, both the LG G3 and C3 models received DTS support this year, making both sets solid sound performers too (although you’ll always be better off with a soundbar or speaker system).

Samsung S95C QD-OLED

The best QD-OLED

The Samsung S95C rolls out the red carpet for another generation of Samsung’s amazing QD-OLED technology. For those unaware, this display combines the best parts of QLED lighting and quantum dots with the self-emissive pixels of an OLED panel. The end result? A vibrant picture with excellent color saturation and deep black levels — a videophile’s dream. Now as far as side-by-side comparisons go, the S95C is pretty close to the S95B, the 2022 version of the Samsung QD-OLED, but there are a few key differences.

For one, the S95C is now able to get up to 144Hz with all the appropriate PC connections. If you’re the kind of person who loves fast-action gameplay, the S95C has got you covered. Movie die-hards will still be capped at 120Hz motion, but Samsung’s Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro returns for 2023, delivering some of the best 4K visuals for all your favorite action flicks and sporting events. That’s on top of Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor for all your 4K upscaling needs, and the amazing Q-Symphony 3.0, which lets you pair compatible Samsung soundbars with the S95C speakers for an enhanced audio experience.

This time around, the S95C screen also delivers higher peak brightness than the S95B, and all of the TV’s inputs are housed on the Slim One Connect. You’ll also be able to stream all your favorite movies and TV shows through Samsung’s Tizen-powered Smart Hub, and access your many digitized Xbox games using Samsung Gaming Hub.

It might be a little more expensive than the competition, but the Samsung S95C is one of the best TVs you’ll have ever purchased — trust us.

Sony A95K QD-OLED

The best OLED for videophiles

Holy TV, the Sony A95K is one for the history books. What we’ve got here is something a little outside the box in terms of overall design. Traditionally, OLED panels contain nothing outside of self-emissive pixels for display tech, relegating brightness, colors, and contrast to the individual on/off control of each cell. But in 2022, both Sony and Samsung dazzled the TV world with an all-new kind of TV: the QD-OLED.

Sony’s take on this state-of-the-art display is the impressive Bravia A95K. At the surface, we’re working with an OLED screen, and one that achieves some of the most accurate colors and contrast we’ve ever seen in our many years of reviewing TVs. Then, when you factor in the fine-tuning, upscaling, and calibration delivered by the Cognitive XR Processor, you end up with a TV that delivers up to 200% more color brightness when compared to a traditional OLED set — talk about accolades!

The A95K is also equipped with four HDMI inputs, two of which can handle 4K/120Hz, along with G-Sync, Free-Sync, and VRR support, making this an ideal TV for gamers and movie-lovers. And when we mentioned color brightness, the true way to put the A95K to the test is by watching something in HDR. Fortunately, this monster of a TV supports Dolby Vision, IMAX Enhanced, and Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode, ensuring that all your favorite HDR movies and shows look as vibrant and lifelike as possible.

You’ll also be able to connect to your favorite streaming apps with the A95K’s intelligent Google TV user interface, which even allows you to cast content from your mobile device to the TV.

While the price may be a bit out of reach for some, it’s hard to come by a TV that does all the amazing things that the A95K is capable of.

Sony XR A80K OLED

Another great Sony OLED

We’re suckers for a solid Sony TV, but that’s not to say we’re not super discerning either. And trust us, vetting and testing was a little easier when LG was the only OLED manufacturer in town. But now that both Sony and Samsung are producing OLEDs and QD-OLEDs of their own, it’s harder to hail specific models for picture and performance achievements, mostly because a lot of these OLEDs are all pretty great. But when criteria boils down to overall bang for your buck, we think the Sony XR A80K is one of the best OLED options.

Yes, there’s already a new version of this TV in stores and online (the Sony XR A80L), but it’s pretty much the same as the A80K as far as picture quality goes, save for a little boost in the brightness department. And because the A80K is a 2022 model, it’s a bit cheaper than the A80L. If nitpicking over nits isn’t important to you, we think that most viewers will be more than happy with the picture this Sony OLED delivers, thanks to returning tech like Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR and four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs.

The A80K also delivers impressive HDR performance and looks particularly great when watched in a dark room (where any OLED looks its best). Unfortunately, the A80K doesn’t reach the same peak brightness levels as models like the LG C3 or the Samsung S95C, which means it won’t look as sharp and clear when viewed in a room with a lot of wretched sunlight. The A80K is also missing AMD FreeSync support, which is a bummer for all us PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, and PC gamers.

But if you’re looking for an awesome OLED TV that looks great in most situations, and just so happens to run our favorite smart TV platform, Google TV, the Sony XR A80K should be high up on your list of OLED considerations.

Sony XR A90J OLED

Also consider

As it currently stands, one of the best overall TVs on the market is the Sony A95K Series (covered above), a QD-OLED that combines an OLED panel with a layer of quantum dots (hence the “QD”) to deliver a vibrant and contrast-deep picture. But not everyone has the $4,000-plus dollars on hand to nab an A95K, which makes the A90J Series another solid choice from Sony.

OLED TVs don’t usually get called out for brightness, but the A90J manages to receive some attention for this category. How bright? Try 1,300 nits in its Vivid mode. That’s on top of Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, a picture engine that attempts to deliver images that match the way our brains perceive the world for a greater sense of realism. This approach is very effective, and with some judicious tweaking of the A90J’s Custom mode, you end up with an image that is simply the best you can get from an OLED TV — or, really, any TV short of Sony’s own $30,000 professional mastering monitor.

Now, if you want to play games using the A90J, all of that picture goodness applies just as much to your favorite titles — they’ll look stunning. But without support for Nvidia’s G-Sync or AMD’s FreeSync Premium, the LG C2 or C1 Series is still a better choice for gamers.

There are far too many other features to get into here, like the excellent Google TV interface, Sony’s innovative three-way stand, or the sleek aluminum voice remote, but our full review should more than answer the question of whether or not the Bravia XR A90J‘s high price is worth it. Hint: it is.

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