Here are the best 55-inch TVs of 2025, chosen by our experts
Still watching on an older screen? Today's top TV shows, movies and games deserve the best 55-inch TV your money can buy – and they're all right here.
Whether it's Robert Eggers' darkly brooding Nosferatu, the painterly charms of Oscar-winning animation Flow, or the sun-bleached sands of Furiosa, you can't possibly appreciate the best that either small or silver screen has to offer unless you have the screen to do it justice. Thankfully, the best 55-inch TVs on the market today are better than ever. While upsizing your set is always a thrill, what if you're downsizing from a 65-inch model? Well, the size difference is surprisingly not such a big deal and you won't be losing out on features. A lot of the advanced bells and whistles we normally see in larger sets like 65-inch TVs (with micro dimming for deeper blacks and other tricks) have made their way into models as small as 43-inch TVs.
Deciding to upgrade your TV can bring your favourite entertainment to life like never before. So, which features should you look for? Well, the main thing many of us want from our entertainment is a stunning 4K picture with vibrant and accurate colours plus excellent contrast and black levels. All of those features are normally found in TVs with high-end OLED and QLED screen tech. You might also need other features like high and variable refresh rates and fast response times if if you're a console gamer. This will keep visuals smooth and your reactions lightning-fast.
One of our favourite features of recent years is HDR (High Dynamic Range) which brings over a billion colours to any content that supports it. With HDR, the new season of The Last of Us will look suitably grim and infectious in the best possible way. And let's not forget about sound. Yes, we normally recommend a top soundbar for surround sound and more immersion, but some of the high-spec models we've found (like our picks for the best Sony 55-inch TV) include Dolby Atmos or DTS sound. Some even have speakers behind the screen itself that changes the location of the sound to match the action on-screen. You'll also need smart functions with access to your favourite streaming apps. Sounds like jargon? No problem – we've included a buyer's guide at the end of this article.
While huge 75-inch TVs undoubtedly deliver a cinematic spectacle, not everyone can afford or fit one into their home. That's why a 55-inch TV is popular – it's a really practical size for most living rooms and other settings. So, with all of these stunning features in mind, here is our rundown of the very best 55-inch TVs to bring your top-quality entertainment to life.
How we chose the best 55-inch TVs
We've selected the best 55-inch TVs based on reliable and trusted brands, average user reviews, price, and suitability for each use case. We look carefully at the technical specifications of all products before recommending them to ensure that they will meet buyers' needs without the need for costly additions to work as intended. With all of our selections for the best 55-inch TVs, we've looked for a balance of price with display quality, picture resolution, audio features, build quality and overall design. We also look for good connectivity options and a wide range of smart TV apps. All of our writers may also choose products based on hands-on experience where we own or have reviewed them ourselves. Retailers are selected based on price, availability and reputation as reliable and trusted sellers.
All prices are correct at the time of writing. Prices, stock and deals are subject to change without notice.
Best 55-inch TVs in 2025
Expert's choice
Our two favourites from this list are the Samsung S95D, and the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED K55XR80. For us, the Samsung is more than just a great all-rounder. It can pretty much do it all and in style, too. The Sony on the other hand is a TV that's been fully tested and is probably our favourite OLED in terms of staying true to a director's intentions – thanks to calibration modes for Netflix and Amazon Prime, not to mention IMAX. It's a cinemagoer's dream.
What to look for in a 55-inch TV
If you've already started looking for a new TV, you'll appreciate how easy it is to fall down the rabbit hole when it comes to impressive-sounding features and tech specs. But what about other considerations, like asking yourself what you'll be using it for the most, and where it might fit?
How do you need to use your TV?
Before you dive into reading about cool-sounding features, take a moment to consider what you use your TV for the most. This will help you to narrow down your choices to TVs that can deliver the quality and features you really need.
Tips for for film fans
For anyone who values sheer image quality, clarity and colour accuracy for their movies, we recommend looking at 55-inch OLED TVs. We'd put QLED TVs at a close second. Why? Well, although there are all sorts of innovations with local dimming to help blacks stay black with QLEDS, they're still dependent on a backlight. Even with a tightly packed array of LEDs as a backlight with numerous dimming zones, there's just no beating the self-illuminated perfection of an OLED screen. Those organic LEDs are capable of accurate colours, provide their own light and crucially, each OLED/pixel can be independently switched of.; For inky black levels, there's no substitute. Couple this with HDR (preferably the superior HDR10+ or Dolby Vision) and you'll have exquisite colour reproduction.
That said, QLEDs can be more affordable and come very close indeed to the quality of an OLED, often (due to the separate backlight) providing higher brightness levels – handy if you're watching it in a brightly-lit room.
Audio-wise, look for support for those more advanced surround formats like DTS
For TV binge-watchers
Those who enjoy catching up on the latest shows from streaming apps or from live digital terrestrial TV channels (or catch-up services) are going to share some or all of the same features that movie fans will hanker for. But, there's a couple of extra things to look for. First and foremost is the range of apps available, as not all smart TVs have exactly the same ones. While the majority will have YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime and other mainstream app availability, some others (for example Peacock and Discovery+) may not be present – so always check which apps are included.
Another consideration is recording. If you're hooked on several series at once on live TV you might want a TV with built-in storage (or at least one that can record to a USB drive) so that you can set them all to 'series record' and never miss an episode.
For gamers
Aside from quality features like HDR (High Dynamic Range) for extra colour, the most important capability for any 55-inch gaming TV is a variable and high refresh rate. That means that if you're playing a game that's capable of high frame rates, the refresh rate (the number of images shown per second) will match. The net result? Smooth and detailed motion without stuttering or tearing. We recommend that you look for one that supports at least 120Hz and is variable (often known as VRR, with various branded versions of this called G-sync or FreeSync).
Consider your space
Most of the best 55-inch TVs are also incredibly slim, making them perfect for wall-mounting as well as stand-mounting while being tucked as close to the wall as possible. Thanks to some 55-inch options having super-thin bezels than those of a few years ago, they'll take up a less space than you might expect. That's all good stuff, but you should always measure up and make sure that the position of your TV allows for comfortable viewing. Wall-mounting your TV is probably the most modern, space-efficient option – but our advice is to make sure it's not mounted too high. The temptation to follow interior design trends like mounting it above a tall fireplace mantel can lead to uncomfortable viewing.
Stick to your budget
Even with many of the cutting-edge features we've mentioned crammed inside, you don't always need to spend thousands of pounds on a new telly. Yes, you may get more bells and whistles from a premium brand's flagship model, but there are plenty of modern TVs that also include the top-tier tech we've mentioned above – like HDR, QLED, high refresh rates and more. So, our advice is to stick to your budget and only spend more if you're missing a key feature that you really need for your viewing. Some of the best 55-inch TVs under £1000 (and sometimes even half that price) will include impressive tech.
Smart enough?
Most 55-inch TVs will connect to your Freeview aerial, so you'll always have access to terrestrial channels without relying on an internet connection. But, if you want to use on-demand catch-up services for those programmes, the Freeview Play app is included with most smart TVs. Other on-demand services like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, and All 4 are available too. But, for most movie and TV fans, the essential apps to have are from subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Check that your favourite shows and their their respective apps are available before you buy.
TV terminology
With so many acronyms flying around, here's a short glossary of TV technical terms. You'll be able to tell your HDR from your HDR10+, and your HD from your Full HD in no time.
4K and Ultra HD (UHD) versus Full HD
4K (or 4K UHD) refers to the resolution, or pixel count, of the display. With a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels (around 8.3 million in total), a 4K TV has four times as much detail as Full HD screens, which only have 1920x1080 pixels. Although some manufacturers are edging into 8K displays and higher, at the moment there's very little consumer content available in that resolution. So, for the latest crisp and accurate images, 4K is the way to go.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Dolby Vision
Providing the content you're watching also has HDR, smart TVs with High Dynamic Range use a much wider palette of over one billion colours. What that means is much more than just a vibrant or saturated picture – it literally means that there are more colours on display, leading to beautifully natural and accurate images that gives the overall picture detail and quality a serious boost. HDR10+ is an extension of this, but the use of extra metadata creates an even more refined picture.
Dolby Vision is Dolby's version of HDR10 and HRD10+. Again, this means the picture on-screen appears even more lifelike with colour detail and depth. Dolby Vision is widely regarded as one of the leading versions of HDR for televisions.
LED and LCD
LED stands for Light-Emitting Diode. As a powerful light source, they're normally used in LED TVs as a backlight for a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), which is the part that displays the actual picture. Without a backlight behind it, you'd hardly see the image. This is very much last-generation tech when it comes to TVs, despite there being plenty of 4K LED models around. They're cheaper, but in terms of how the screen gets its brightness, contrast levels usually suffer.
Micro LED and Mini LED
Unlike a normal LED TV, a Micro LED set not only has a high resolution, but each LED is tiny and can individually change its brightness – so, no broad backlight required. That means that black levels and viewing angles are very good, with brightness often exceeding that of other screen types – including OLED. However, they don't come cheap and are often only found in larger sets.
Mini LED TVs work in much the same way as Micro LED ones, but the LEDs are larger – which means they're not small enough to represent a single pixel. Instead, much like LED TVs, they're used as a more accurate backlight to an LCD. The Mini LEDs are small enough to be able to turn off or dim in discrete areas of the screen, often called 'dimming zones'. That goes some way to mimicking the deeper blacks offered by Micro LED and OLED. Because they have more in common with an LCD, they're much cheaper than Micro LED, OLED and many QLED sets.
OLED and QD-OLED
OLED are Organic LEDs. They're grown organically and are self-illuminating. They're small and controllable, with each one representing a single pixel in the image. The technology is known for colour range and accuracy, plus excellent contrast and detail. One of the reasons OLED TVs are popular with movie fans is the infinite black levels and individual pixel lighting control. Each one can be tuned or turned off if needed, for the inky blacks and shadow detail you'll need for movies like Aliens or upcoming games like Doom: The Dark Ages. They're not known for super-high brightness levels though, but still outshine the panel types mentioned earlier and are a perfect choice for most movie and TV fans.
As for QD-OLED, this new tech can be seen in some recent Samsung and Sony sets. Quantum Dot OLEDs are self-illuminating thanks to the OLEDs, but they also gain the expanded colour and extra brightness levels of the Quantum Dots in QLED TVs. It doesn't need a traditional backlight, but has increased brightness and the ability to render a wider colour range. It's an interesting hybrid of two TV technologies.
QLED and QNED
Quantum LED TVs attempt and largely succeed in emulating the contrast, blacks and colour levels of an OLED at a slightly cheaper price using a backlit layer of Quantum dots. That said, a QLED TV is definitely not a budget technology. Proponents of it say that you get close to true black levels and also benefit from brighter pictures (great for use in brightly-lit rooms) with excellent colour range. They don't have as good a viewing angle as OLED sets, but they really come close to OLED in all other respects.
The Quantum dots in a QLED TV are tightly-packed like the pixels in an LCD, but they convert a bright blue backlight into the full range of super-accurate colours. This is why QLED sets work well with HDR, as they're more capable than most when it comes to rendering those extended colours at a wide range of brightness levels. You can read more about QLED on the Samsung website.
Much like QD-OLED, QNED TVs are a hybrid of Mini-LED backlighting and a layer of Quantum Dots. Here, the Mini-LEDs are replacing the OLEDs function in QD-OLED sets, with the same sort of Quantum Dot layer providing the colour and image. Only made by LG right now, these TVs have excellent black levels and are quite affordable despite the tech inside, but some users say that they're not quite as bright as an equivalent QLED and have a slower response time than an equivalent OLED, making the latter two better for gamers.
Common screen resolutions
HD (or half HD): 1280×720
Full HD: 1920×1080
4K / 4K UHD: 3840×2160
Chris Duffill is a Senior Tech Writer and Reviewer for Empire, What's The Best, Yours, Closer, Heat and other brands. He specialises in home entertainment and audiovisual tech, including TVs, projectors, speakers, amplifiers, turntables and more.
Having worked in video production, photography and graphic design, he has decades of professional experience with various display technologies. He's owned TVs of various sizes and specs, several home cinema projectors and also set up his own surround sound systems, including Dolby Atmos. He's a lifelong TV and movie fanatic with a Masters in Screenwriting from the UEA.
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