Top TV Brands of 2025: Samsung to Hisense – Which to Buy?

One of the best ways to find the the best TV for you, is to start with the best TV brands. You do need to consider what size is best for your living space and what picture tech you should go with, but narrowing your search down to the brands that make some of the best bang-for-buck TVs will help focus your choices.

Alternatively, jump straight to some of our best TV lists — as we only feature the best brands, anyway. Here are our guides on the best TVs under $500, or the best TVs under $1,000. If you’re more looking for flagship TV performance, check out our guide to the best OLED TVs.

The best TV brands at a glance

Note: Televisions chosen for this list are representative of makes and models available in the U.S. market. Further, TVs included in this guide were chosen primarily for their picture performance, with other considerations such as operating system or audio performance as secondary considerations.

Samsung

South Korea’s Samsung is the de facto market leader in the world television space, though it is seeing increased competition from not just classic opponents like LG and Sony, but Chinese upstarts Hisense and TCL. Still, it remains an iconic brand with some of the most cutting edge TVs out there. It pushes the envelope with its QD-OLED technology, whilst offering some of the brightest and boldest QLED TVs.

Operating system: Tizen

Tizen is Samsung’s own Linux-based smart TV OS that places all your apps in a row along the bottom of the Smart Hub (read: home screen). It’s got all the popular streaming apps as part of a 2,000-plus app library, and it has a neat feature that activates when you select an app, showing you popular sub-categories (like Netflix shows or Spotify playlists) for that app. There’s also a Tizen Gaming Hub which supports Xbox, and GeForce Now for streaming games.

Perhaps most impressive is how Tizen works with the Samsung app family, including SmartThings, Smart Connect, and Smart View. You can use those to mirror content from your phone — even iPhones — to your TV or send TV playback directly to your phone (only on Samsung phones). If you’ve got compatible smart home devices, you also can use the TV as a control hub.

Also, many Samsung TVs offer other cool features like importing app logins from your phone to save time, and the Samsung One Connect Box, built to simplify messy cable nests behind TVs (and to enable cleaner wall-mounting).

Calling cards: QLED, QD-OLED, and Neo QLED

Samsung produces three main types of TVs: QLEDs, QD-OLEDs, and Neo QLEDs. Samsung’s regular QLED models are LED TVs with a layer of quantum dots positioned in front of the backlight. QD-OLEDs actually combine the best of both QLED and OLED technology (more on that below). Samsung Neo QLEDs use the same display tech as the brand’s QLED models but adds mini-LED lighting into the mix. Mini LEDs are much smaller than regular LEDs, which allows these types of TVs to produce a brighter picture with enhanced colors and contrast.

In practice, QLED televisions have been known to be brighter (better for bright rooms) than less-expensive LCD TVs, and unlike OLED, can be more affordably built into large displays (100 inches and beyond).

However, over the last couple of years, Samsung has been producing its own line of OLED TVs. These are billed as “QD-OLED” models because these sets actually combine the self-emissive display tech of traditional OLEDs with the quantum dot-infused backlighting of an LED. Samsung’s latest S95D, S90D and their predecessors, aren’t just incredible QD-OLED TVs, they’re some of the best TVs you can buy, period.

LG

Another South Korean company, LG may not be as massive as Samsung, but thanks to its OLED TV display technology, it’s had minimal competition when it comes to top-of-the-line picture performance with its unrivaled contrast and black levels, but new screen tech like QD-OLED is making headway.

Operating system: webOS

webOS is LG’s easy-to-use user interface and, like Tizen, Roku, and Google TV, is the hub from which you access your apps, TV settings, and other advanced features. The most recent version of webOS has been redesigned to offer more customization and shortcuts so users can get to what they want to watch faster.

LG’s Magic Motion Remote is also one of the better-designed remotes, with support for voice commands for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, along with a Magic Explorer feature that lets viewers get additional info about the show or movie they’re watching, from what actors appear in the series or film to notable trivia.

Calling card: OLED

OLED — Organic Light Emitting Diode — is still considered the premier display technology today, but it does have stiffer competition than ever. OLED TV panels are capable of reaching black levels never before seen, with better contrast across the board, and because the individual pixels themselves light up, OLED televisions boast quicker response times (and less input lag) than other types of displays, and the picture integrity is stunning at any viewing angle.

We’re always impressed by the TVs that LG continues to roll out year after year. For 2024, the brand’s OLED flagship was the amazing G4 Series OLED. One of the biggest hitches with an OLED screen is the relative lack of brightness when compared to LED-lit models. Fortunately, LG knows the world wants brighter screens, and the latest generation OLED panels are brighter than ever, in all LG OLED models, including the G4, C3, and B4, among others.

We were also stunned by the LG Wireless M Series, an OLED that ditches TV-based inputs in favor of an infrared media hub that you plug all your streaming devices and game consoles into. Think of it like the Samsung One Connect Box, but no wires whatsoever (except for a power cable).

Sony

It’s easy to get lost in the Samsung versus LG TV wars and not think as much about Sony, but you’d be making a big mistake. While its TVs tend to be a bit more expensive, they’ve got some of the best processing capabilities and accurate color reproduction of them all, especially if you care about things like super-smooth motion and optimized Playstation 5 performance. Its flagship A95L is arguably the best TV in the world, too.

Operating system: Google TV

Google TV — versions of which run on many other devices, like the Amazon Fire TV family — isn’t quite as slick as webOS, but it’s arguably more powerful. Unlike webOS and Tizen, the Google TV home screen is laden with apps and suggestions, and you can scroll down for even more. Sony’s 2024 catalog was the first generation of sets to switch over to Google TV, an overhaul of the Android TV OS that features a faster, more intuitive user interface, complete with recommended and sponsored web content.

Google TV also has built-in support for Google Assistant (via a microphone in the remote or in your phone) and Chromecast, for both video and audio. Plus, as with Tizen, Google Smart Lock can automatically sync logins from your mobile device to your TV. You also have the ability to create separate profiles with Google TV for each person in your home.

Calling card: XR chip, mini-LED, and QD-OLED

Sony is one of a handful of companies offering OLED televisions thanks to a deal with LG Display allowing Sony to build TVs using LG OLED panels, which can be found in Sony’s excellent Bravia 8.

Thanks to Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR chip, Sony’s Bravia flagship TVs offer greater contrast, improved sound, low input lag and faster web performance than we’ve ever seen. Many of Sony’s TVs also offer VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) for gaming, particularly with the Sony-owned PlayStation 5.

Sony also makes some of the best mini-LED TVs. Its Bravia 9 is not only incredible bright, but can almost deliver OLED-like contrast, making it one of the best bright room TVs out there. But its OLED where Sony really shines, with its A95L holding our top spot as the best TV in the world for over a year now. No mean feat.

TCL

TCL was barely a blip on the radars of seasoned LED TV reviewers half a decade ago. Today, it’s one of the fastest-growing brands out there and has been offering us some of the best mini-LED QLED TVs on the market at preposterously low prices.

Operating system: Roku, Google TV

TCL isn’t the only company making Roku TVs — Sharp, Philips, and Hisense do the same, among other manufacturers — but it has been the most successful so far. The Roku TV platform’s vast selection (4000+) of apps and its snappy cross-app search function are second to none and the OS is super easy to use. But if Roku isn’t your jam, TCL expanded into Google TV territory in 2024 and hasn’t looked back. There were even some rumors that the company would be ditching Roku, but they assured us that this isn’t the case.

Calling cards: Value, mini-LED QLED

If you’re on a tight budget, but still want some buttery mini-LED QLED goodness in your TV with stunning picture quality that can actually go toe-to-toe with some of the higher-end Samsung and LG TVs, TCL is the way to go.

The big guns for 2024 were TCL’s updated flagship QM8 Series, and a more fleshed out budget-end of its spectrum. The newer QM7 and QM6 bring higher refresh rates and higher brightness to the even-more-affordable end of TCL’s spectrum of TVs, further strengthening this iconic budget brand.

Hisense

Chinese manufacturer Hisense has been steadily making moves in the TV market over the years, licensing Sharp’s brand name (and buying its North American factory outright in 2015), buying Toshiba’s business in 2017, and making TVs under all three names for the U.S. market. Today though, Hisense is the second-most popular TV manufacturer in the world and its flagship TVs like the U8N, are just as bright and impressive as the top options from any of the bigger name brands.

Operating systems: Roku, Google TV, Fire TV, Vidaa TV, XClass TV

Hisense is unique in that it doesn’t have a singular operating system tied to its line of televisions. Hisense sells models with Google TV, Roku TV, and Fire TV, for Alexa lovers. It also offers TVs that use an OS called Vidaa TV, a slick-looking software that’s good for local TV, and XClass TV, which is simple and bare-bones.

Calling card: Affordability, high-brightness QLED

With all of those OS choices, buyers can pick the smart platform they like, with plenty of options for budget-friendly purchases. And like TCL, Hisense uses mini-LED QLED (Hisense calls it ULED) technology for its best TVs, including the above-mentioned 2024 U8N Google TV which has excellent contrast and vivid color, that comes close to many of the best models from Samsung, Sony, and LG. Hisense’s step-down models include the U7N and U6N series, both of which deliver an exceptional picture and other great features, but at a slightly reduced cost (when compared to the U8N).

Hisense has also been pushing the boundaries of truly gigantic TVs, showing off some 115 inch+ models at CES this year, with a unique panel technology and incredibly vivid colors.

Panasonic

Panasonic is an iconic TV brand and in 2024 it finally made its return to US shores after nearly a decade away; and it did it in real style. With the debut of its Z95A flagship OLED TV, Panasonic hit right at the heart of the high-end market with a TV that we called one of the top 5 TVs ever made. Its picture is stunning, with incredible OLED responsiveness, and truly impressive sound from its built-in soundbar.

That’s not all Panasonic has on offer, though, and its CES 2025 showing was anything to go by, it’s planning an even bigger and more impressive 2025.

Operating system: FireTV

Our TV editor, Caleb Denison, doesn’t mix his words when it comes to Amazon’s Fire TV: He’s not a fan. That’s a sentiment felt by a few of us here at Moyens I/O — so much so that we have an entire video on the settings you should change on your Panasonic TV, right now. It’s not the best. Fortunately, like any modern TV you can skip over FireTV if you so choose, and just add a streaming stick. Pick among Roku, Apple TV, Nvidia’s aged (but still capable) Shield, or a Google TV streamer.

Calling card: OLED, mini-LED

Panasonic isn’t just leaning on its pedigree in the industry to sell its first batch of TVs in its US return. Alongside its stellar Z95A OLED TV, it also launched a stellar mini-LED QLED TV, too. The W95A is much more affordable, than its OLED sibling, and yet still delivers a fantastic quality picture. It’s not as super bright as some of the latest flagship models from Hisense and TCL, but it’s color accuracy is right up there.

Owing to its recent resurgence, Panasonic doesn’t have the depth or breadth of TV options of its competitors yet, but its early showings firmly place it among the contenders as a brand to watch in the years to come.

Roku TV

While the Roku Smart TV OS has been widely available for years in TVs made by Hisense, TCL, and others, you can also buy Roku branded TVs, and they’re not half bad. The Roku Pro series at the top end can offer stiff competition for some of Hisense and TCL’s stronger budget options, while the Plus and Select models look to really undercut the top brands with strong value at the expense of high-end features.

Operating system: Roku OS

If you’re already familiar with the Roku OS, you know that the popular interface is easy to use, looks good (although, it could use an update), gives you access to a massive library of apps and channels, and all the streaming services you know and love — including its own Roku Channel. Just like TCL and Hisense TVs that carry it, the Roku operating system is baked right in, making setup super simple. Roku’s TVs, however, come with Roku’s own familiar voice remotes.

Calling card: Value for the price, Roku-built

Roku is clearly aiming for the budget-to-value end of the TV market, with a lineup of TVs to suit. At the top end of their spectrum is the Roku Pro, followed by the Plus Series, a range of 4K QLED TVs with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ picture, Dolby Atmos sound, and Roku’s top-of-the-line Voice Remote Pro. The Plus Series comes in 55-, 65-, and 75-inch models that are priced competitively with Hisense and TCL’s entry-level options.

Stepping down a rung is the Select Series 4K with HDR10+ and the Enhanced Voice Remote that comes in 43-to-75-inch sizes, and the bottom tier Select Series HD that features 24- and 32-inch HD models and a 40-inch FHD model.

They’re not stellar TVs, but they do the job well and keep Roku TVs as a brand worth considering in 2025.