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The Best Budget QLED TVs to Buy in 2025

QLEDs are brighter and more affordable than OLEDs, but choosing the best one depends on your budget.

Daniel Oropeza

August 30, 2024

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Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Our Top 5 Picks

Best QLED Under $1,500 Samsung's QN90C

$1,238.87 at Amazon

$1,238.87 at Amazon
Best QLED Under $1,000 TCL 65QM851G Q Series

$899.99 at Amazon

$899.99 at Amazon
Best QLED Under $800 Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED

$719.99 at Amazon

$719.99 at Amazon
Best QLED Under $700 Hisense U6K

$569.99 at Best Buy

$569.99 at Best Buy
Best QLED Under $650 Roku Plus Series TV

$498.00 at Amazon

$498.00 at Amazon

In terms of price and quality, QLED TVs sit somewhere between LCD/LED on the low end and OLED TVs at the top. If you're not sure if you should be shopping for a QLED or OLED TV, you can see our breakdown here. In general, though, QLEDs are great if you have the money to go for something better than an LCD/LED but can't quite afford a fancypants OLED. QLEDs tend to be brighter than OLEDs, but will not have the same shadow detail that OLEDs have—but they are a big step up from the brightness, color, and backlighting of LCD/LEDs.

If you're looking for a QLED on a budget, I've rounded up the best ones you can get depending on how much money you have to play with. All of these options are priced as 65-inch TVs, which is the most common TV size for living rooms, and all are below $1,500. Figure out what your budget is, and let me do the rest.

My Top Picks

Best QLED Under $1,500 Samsung's QN90C

The Samsung QN90C is the best QLED TV you can get for about $1,500. This same TV also happens to be the Best 65-inch TV for watching sports and doubles as a great gaming TV, making it a very well-rounded TV overall. The QN90C offers a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,787 nits of brightness (which is very bright), an anti-glare screen, 4K resolution, and compatibility with HDR10, HDR10+, HLG. If you're a gamer, you can take advantage of the Gaming Hub which has many cloud-based gaming apps pre-installed. You can read more about this TV in IGN's review.
- The Good
  - Powerful 120Hz refresh rate
  - Bright with 1,787 nits
  - Anti-glare screen
  - Also great for gaming
  The Bad
  - Mini-LED means some backlight blooming
  - Tizen doesn't have the best smart TV interface
- - Panel type: Mini-LED
  - Refresh rate: 120Hz
  - Smart TV: Tizen
  - HDMI 2.1: 4
  - HDR: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
  - Brightness: 1,787 nits
  - Input lag: 9.8ms
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Best QLED Under $1,000 TCL 65QM851G Q Series

If you want to spend about $1,000, this QLED option is especially great if you have a bright living room and like video games. The TCL 65QM851G Q Series is an extremely bright TV, reaching peaks of 3,308 nits with the right settings, the most I have seen on any TV. The colors are also powerful thanks to its excellent contrast. It has 4K resolution with a 120Hz native refresh rate, but it supports up to 144Hz variable refresh rate (VRR), which is perfect for gaming. You can access these settings conveniently with a quick menu in Game mode. Since it's a smart TV, it also has Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, and hands-free Google Assistant included. You can read more about this TV in PCMag's review.
- The Good
  - Bright
  - Great colors and contrast
  - Great for gaming
  - Supports Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, and hands-free Google Assistant
  The Bad
  - Minor light bloom on edges
- - Screen type: QLED with mini-LED
  - Refresh rate: 120Hz (up to 144Hz)
  - HDR support: Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
  - Audio support: Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual:X
  - Smart TV: Google TV
  - HDMI ports: 4 (2x HDMI 2.1)
  - Built-in tuner: ATSC 3.0
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Best QLED Under $800 Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED

For those with Alexa devices at home and looking for the best Fire TV you can buy, the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is it. This is also the best QLED TV if you don't want to spend north of $800. The Fire TV Omni QLED is a 4K TV with a great contrast ratio of 118,500:1 for its price, giving it excellent colors. The main issue with this TV is its limited brightness, only reaching 474 nits (not the best for bright rooms). Since it's a Fire TV, it comes with hands-free Alexa voice assistant and Apple AirPlay, but no Google compatibility.
- The Good
  - Great color and contrast
  - Perfect for Alexa users
  - Great value for the price
  - Has Apple AirPlay
  The Bad
  - Brightness is lacking
- - Panel Type: QLED
  - Resolution: 3,840 by 2,160
  - Video Inputs: HDMI, RF, USB
  - HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR-10
  - HDMI Ports: 4
  - Streaming Services: Yes
  - Screen Brightness: 474 nits
  - Contrast Ratio: 118,500:1
  - Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
  - VRR: Yes
  - Input Lag (Game Mode): 3.2 ms
  - AMD FreeSync: None
  - Nvidia G-Sync: None
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Best QLED Under $700 Hisense U6K

Although the Hisense U6K's listing price is $799, it hasn't been over $700 for some time, and it's very common to find it under $700. This is a great QLED TV for its price, with excellent contrast, good HDR brightness, and it handles reflections well, making it suitable for bright rooms. Where Hisense cut costs was on its viewing angles, so it's not a great choice if you plan to have many people watching the TV from different parts of a room. As far as gaming, it does well because of its low input lag and VRR technology.
- The Good
  - Excellent color and contrast
  - Bright
  - Affordable
  - Good for gaming
  The Bad
  - Viewing angles aren't great
- - Resolution: 3,840x2,160
  - HDR: HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG
  - Refresh Rate: 60Hz
  - Ports: 4 HDMI 2.0, 2 USB
  - Audio: 20W
  - Smart TV Software: Google TV
  - Size (without stand): 57.1 x 33.1 x 3.1 inches
  - Weight (without stand): 43.1 lbs.
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Best QLED Under $650 Roku Plus Series TV

The Roku Plus Series TV is the cheapest QLED you can get on this roundup—I don't recommend going any cheaper. The Roku Plus Series TV is Roku's first TV (it would just slap its operating system on other TVs previously), and it did an excellent job with it. It's a great value for your money with great colors, low input lag, and a Roku Voice Remote Pro that makes this TV feel premium. It has 4K resolution, a just-OK 650 nits of brightness, a decent contrast ratio of 65,000:1, and a low input lag of 3.1 ms in Game Mode. You can read more about this TV in PCMag's review.
- The Good
  - Affordable and great value
  - Great colors
  - Low input lag
  - Comes with Roku OS and Roku Voice Remote Pro
  The Bad
  - No VRR technology
  - Not great for bright rooms
- - Panel Type: QLED
  - Screen Size: 65 inches
  - Resolution: 3,840 by 2,160
  - Video Inputs: HDMI, Composite, USB, RF
  - HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR-10
  - HDMI Ports: 4
  - Streaming Services: Yes
  - Screen Brightness: 650 nits
  - Black Level: 0.01 cd/m^2
  - Contrast Ratio: 65,000:1
  - Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
  - VRR: No
  - Input Lag (Game Mode): 3.1 ms
  - AMD FreeSync: None
  - Nvidia G-Sync: None
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Most people don't know the difference between an LCD, OLED, or QLED, or see the difference between different contrast rations or a refresh rate higher than 60Hz. Most people are just happy with a big screen that looks good and that works—but if you get any of the QLED TVs on this list and are coming from a LCD/LED, you're likely to see the difference right away.

What do you think so far?