Gaming TVs are tough to shop for: Not all displays meet the standards required by the Xbox Series X and PS5, and those that come close are often far too expensive.
At the high-end of the market are OLED TVs that are often among the best gaming TVs you can buy. Their inky blacks and perfect HDR performance coupled with some of the lowest input latency, make OLEDs perfect for both console and PC gamers — too bad there’s only a handful of them available for under $1,000.
Meanwhile, Mini-LED TVs are a safe bet when you’re trying to save some cash. Several Mini-LED TVs come relatively cheap and have a have higher brightness specs against OLEDs, offering slightly better glare mitigation if you’re gaming during daylight hours.
Both types of TVs have their advantages, and both can be amazing gaming TVs if you know what to look for. To help, I’ve wrangled my personal favorite picks and the TVs I’d buy if I were looking to get the best gaming performance for the lowest price.
Quick List
- Smart TV sale on Amazon: deals from $69 @ Amazon
- Panasonic 75″ W95A 4K Mini-LED TV: was $2,299 now $749 @ Amazon
- Hisense 55″ U8QG 4K Mini-LED TV: was $1,499 now $997 @ Amazon
- LG 42″ C5 4K OLED TV: was $1,396 now $1,196 @ Amazon
- Panasonic 65″ Z95A 4K OLED TV: was $3,199 now $1,997 @ Amazon
- Sony 55″ Bravia A95L 4K OLED TV: was $2,799 now $1,998 @ Amazon
LG C5 OLED — Best overall
It’s hard to compete with the LG C5 OLED. It’s one of the few TVs we’ve given a perfect rating this year, with our review citing its incredible contrast and color metrics.
The C5 can spit out as much as 344 nits in standard content and 1,179 nits in HDR, which is pretty commendable, but it’s the inky black levels that gives it world-class contrast.
And the LG C5 OLED is even better when we turn to its gaming features: Not only does it hit a 144Hz refresh rate with VRR, but it also has a low 9.1ms of input latency. It’s one of the few TVs that falls under 9.5ms in our testing, right next to the Samsung S90F OLED.
No console? No problem. WebOS has access to several cloud gaming services, making it an ideal choice for those who don’t even have a PC or console. Just be sure to hard-wire the TV for the best results when using Xbox Game Pass or GeForce Now.
Panasonic W95A — Best budget
Panasonic came out swinging last year in its return to the US market by delivering not only two OLED TVs, but also launched a well-rounded Mini-LED TV called the W95A. I was totally blown away by this TV and it shows in my Panasonic W95A review, in which I gave it a four out of five stars.
The biggest letdown for me at the time was its price — it launched at $1,799 for the 65-inch model, far above similarly-specced TVs from Hisense and TCL. But with the Panasonic W95A now at an all-time low of $479 for its 55-inch model (and a whopping $797 for its 75-inch model), there’s really no reason to ignore it. For gamers, it offers everything you could ask for in a 144Hz refresh rate, AMD Freesync Premium, and cloud streaming platforms through Fire TV.
The downside? It only has two HDMI 2.1 ports and a relatively high input latency of 13.7ms. While we do like to see this number under 10ms, this is mostly fine for the average gamer, and its picture performance (especially in HDR) make up for these setbacks.
Sony Bravia A95L — Best OLED
Despite releasing nearly three years ago, the Sony Bravia XR A95L still remains one of the best gaming TVs — if not one of the best TVs, bar none. This year it’s being replaced with the Bravia 8 II OLED, which has some incredible test results already. But there’s still life left in the A95L, largely as its price dips with age.
In our Sony Bravia A95L OLED review, we highlighted three main aspects that set it apart from most of its rivals: gorgeous picture quality, wide HDR color gamut, and bombastic sound. At the time, these pros made it highly attractive and, while you might find some TVs a bit more appealing today in the Mini-LED camp, it still remains the high-end gaming OLED to beat.
Unlike the C5, however, you will have to contend with just two HDMI 2.1 ports and a max 120Hz refresh rate. The former should be more than adequate, especially with modern consoles topping out at 4K/120 anyway. Plus, the A95L has some PS5 exclusive features, like Auto HDR tone mapping and Auto Genre mode.
You can get it at its lowest price right now, and while the Bravia 8 II might be replacing it this year, the A95L will still remain the top-of-the-line Sony OLED with its 77-inch configuration carrying over into 2025 and beyond.
Hisense U8QG — Best Mini-LED
As far as Mini-LED TVs go, the Hisense U8QG is one of the best releases this year (so far). It’s dropped in price dramatically since launch and is equipped with a string of awesome gaming features. Best of all, it’s at an unbeatable price of just $1,279 for its 65-inch model.
The U8QG was a great TV to have while I reviewed Death Stranding 2. They matched up perfectly, letting me test out this Mini-LED TV’s 9.7ms if input latency in tandem with its bonkers brightness. It’s also one of the few affordable TVs this year that comes with a 165Hz refresh rate — though it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever need this much power unless you’re running one of the best gaming PCs.
It’s also got an incredible sound system, too. I never needed to raise the volume higher than 35 in my review of the U8QG. That’s owed largely to its bombastic 72W of power output and 20W subwoofer, a rarity on most conventional TVs.
The U8QG only offers three HDMI 2.1 ports, sadly. It drops the fourth port in favor of using a USB-C input for video output and charging, which is a neat add, but would make more sense if you had four total HDMI ports with the USB-C.
Panasonic Z95A — Best audio
It’s no secret that the Panasonic Z95A is one of my favorite OLED TVs. It ticks a lot of the boxes when it comes to gaming; OLED panel, incredible color volume, high brightness, both screen tearing technologies (G-Sync and FreeSync), and a fully in-depth gaming menu.
But of all the things that makes the Panasonic Z95A stand out, its audio is the strongest. TV speakers are often fairly flimsy to bring down costs and save more room on the TV chassis. But Panasonic went above and beyond with its 2024 flagship OLED, outfitting it with a 160W 5.1.2-channel speaker for incredible audio performance.
And it doesn’t stop there, as Panasonic’s Sound Focus feature lets you fine-tune the audio in a variety of ways. One setting is called Area, which allows you to customize the audio output in a 120 degree axis, and Pinpoint can (as the name suggests) pinpoint the sound to a particular area in the room.
This was one of my favorite features to test while gaming on the Panasonic Z95A. You can customize the audio to specific genres, making them feel more immersive, and the Z95A’s in-depth game menu lets you make tons of changes on the fly.
The biggest issues here are its reliance on the Fire TV ecosystem, as well as its relatively high input latency of 12.6ms. We like to see that number below 10ms, but generally anything under 16ms is more than adequate. It’s also only available in 65-inch and still pretty expensive, but at least it’s dropped to under $2,000 since its debut last year.
