Who makes the best TV? LG? Samsung? Or is it Hisense or TCL? We evaluate 12 TV brands using lab tests, survey data, and pricing.
CR’s brand ratings evaluate which companies make the best-performing and most reliable models at a budget-friendly price
By James K. Willcox
Consumer Reports tests nearly 200 TVs every year, adding to TV ratings that currently cover more than 400 models that you can find in stores and online.
But there are still more TVs for sale, in a variety of sizes, with differing technologies and features. What if you’re interested in a TV we haven’t tested? That’s why we use our lab results and survey data to determine which brands consistently make high-quality products at decent prices.
A Best Brand receives the highest Overall Score in its product category based on the brand’s aggregate performance, reliability, and satisfaction data across the model lineup tested by CR. Look for the CR Best Brand mark in stores and online to help in your shopping journey.
Best TV Brands
Our brand scores for televisions are based on a statistical model that incorporates CR’s proprietary lab and survey data on each brand’s TVs, along with pricing information.
The Overall Score reflects how well TVs from a given brand perform in our lab tests across multiple picture and sound attributes, and how reliable and satisfying they are to the CR members we survey. It also factors in how easy the TVs are to set up and use, and the number and type of usable features each set includes.
We consider price, too. A brand gets a boost in our scoring if it produces TVs that perform as well as competitors’ models, but at lower prices.
The result? Samsung stands out as the top TV brand, followed closely by LG, Roku, and Sony.
Samsung and LG OLED TVs tend to top our TV ratings charts across the most common screen sizes, while Roku’s TVs typically strike a nice balance between performance and affordability. Sony’s sets generally do well in our ratings, though they are often priced slightly higher than similarly sized and featured competitors’ models.
Here are a few of the higher-rated models in our tests from the four TV brands with the highest brand scores. All except the Roku, a 75-inch model, are 65-inch sets, but you can expect similar performance across other screen sizes. You can find more options in our review of the best TVs, based on our ratings.
Samsung QN65S90F
The Samsung QN65S90F, a 65-inch midtier model from Samsung’s 2025 QD-OLED lineup, is among the best sets you can buy, with impressive overall picture quality, top-notch HDR, and great sound. (Samsung TVs support HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos sound but not Dolby Vision HDR.) It has a new AI processor, and for gamers, the set supports a maximum 4K 144Hz refresh rate, as well as Auto Low Latency Mode and variable refresh rate.
LG OLED65C5PUA
Situated in the sweet spot of LG’s 2025 OLED TV lineup, the LG OLED65C5PUA offers a nice balance of price and performance, earning top-notch marks across key picture quality and sound attributes. It features numerous gaming capabilities, including a 144Hz variable refresh rate, and comes with an updated Magic remote. LG’s own ThinQ digital assistant is built in, as is Amazon Alexa, and, for wireless streaming, WiFi 6e.
Roku 75R8C5
The Roku 75R8C5 is a 2025 75-inch QLED model that excels in all performance areas, including picture quality, HDR, and sound. It’s the largest model in Roku’s top-tier Pro series, which features Mini LED backlights with local dimming, 120 Hz refresh rates, and support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
Sony K65XR80M2
Sony carried many of its 2024 TV models over into 2025. But the Sony K65XR80M2, aka the Bravia 8 II, was a new set for 2025, and it replaced the A95L-series model as Sony’s flagship QD-QLED TV. It’s a top-notch set for both overall picture quality and HDR, and it boasts very good sound as well. (Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ system uses activators behind the screen that turn the whole panel into a speaker.)
How to Use Consumer Reports to Find the Right TV
At Consumer Reports, we provide several key pieces of information to help you find the best TV for your home.
Model performance: Our TV ratings show each television’s performance in our tests. Of particular importance are scores for high-definition and 4K (UHD) picture quality, how well the TV can display high dynamic range (HDR) content, and sound quality. If you’re interested in a particular model, you can filter by screen size and brand to see how it compares with other models in our ratings. We also highlight the best-performing models in articles such as “Best TVs of 2026,” “Best 65-Inch TVs Under $1,000,” and “Best 75- and 77-inch TVs of 2026.” Our article “QLED vs. RGB vs. OLED and QD-OLED: Which TV Tech Is Best?,“ can help you understand the TV technologies and jargon used by TV manufacturers today.
Reliability and owner satisfaction: We surveyed CR members who purchased TVs between 2015 and 2025 to learn how well their TVs have held up over time. We used any problems or breakdowns they reported to predict how reliably new TVs from each brand will operate in the first five years of service. To determine owner satisfaction with a brand, we also asked our members whether they would recommend their TVs to others. Both the predicted reliability and owner satisfaction results are available in our TV ratings. Before you purchase a TV, check the predicted reliability and owner satisfaction scores.
Brand-level performance: These scores, shown in the chart above, indicate how well TVs from a given brand perform in lab tests and surveys. Note that these scores aren’t model-specific; some brands that scored relatively low may have some higher-end models that do better. As a result, the brand scores are most helpful if you’re interested in a particular model we haven’t tested.
How CR Tests TVs
The TV test team at Consumer Reports puts every TV through a battery of tests in our labs. We carefully note all of its key features, such as resolution, the number of HDMI inputs, and support for streaming services and voice-enabled digital assistants. Then we set up the TV for optimal performance using its built-in presets and picture controls, just like you would. We use objective tests and measurements, as well as real-world video clips and subjective evaluations, to determine picture detail, color accuracy, and contrast, and compare each TV with one of several fully calibrated reference TVs in our labs.
HDR, short for high dynamic range, is now found in a vast majority of midsized to large sets. It increases the contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks a TV can produce. To do a good job with HDR video, a TV needs to get bright enough to display images that are brighter, more colorful, with greater contrast and a wider array of colors, much closer to what we see in real life.
For HDR performance, we measure the TV’s peak brightness using a $40,000 Photo Research PR-740 spectroradiometer (also used for fine colors and deep black measurements) and industry-standard and proprietary test patterns. We then evaluate the TV’s HDR performance using very dark and very bright scenes and video clips that feature an extended range of colors.
We evaluate picture quality in terms of clarity, color accuracy, and contrast at various horizontal and vertical viewing angles. Motion-blur tests, conducted at various speeds, evaluate how well the TV produces a blur-free image during motion scenes.
Sound quality is evaluated in subjective testing by a trained listening panel using the TV’s built-in speakers, with support from audio test equipment. We listen for overall sound quality, bass depth, effective volume levels, and audible distortion in dialogue, music, and movie soundtracks. (Many TVs have unimpressive sound in comparison to their image quality. You can address that by adding a soundbar.)
The versatility score is a measure of a TV’s useful features, including access to streaming services, compatibility with digital voice assistants, the number of HDMI inputs and USB ports, and support for various media.
Finally, Consumer Reports also includes data privacy and security scores for all the TVs we test. Now that TVs routinely connect to the internet, data privacy and security have become consumer concerns.
Consumer Reports evaluates how TV brands collect, use, and share consumer data, how well they protect it, and how transparent they are about their data practices. We encourage TV manufacturers to ship their sets to consumers with the optimal privacy settings enabled by default. You can adjust the settings yourself.
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2026, Consumer Reports, Inc.