Technology seems to have a never-ending quest to make things small, and generally speaking, that tends to be a good thing. As components in all of our devices get smaller, it makes it easier to create smaller gadgets over time. Creating portable devices makes our lives easier, and it also makes it possible to create smaller gadgets, like smartwatches and activity trackers, that would’ve been impossible just a decade ago.
Of course, some technology is better off bigger—much bigger—and nothing embodies this like picking up a new television. Let’s be clear here: advancing technologies have, of course, made televisions better. While you’ll always want the display on your TV to be bigger, shrinking the bezel to reduce the footprint of your TV, while making the device thinner and easier to hang on your wall, are other great examples of what’s fantastic about the advancements in tech. Likewise, it’s easy to pick up high resolution televisions these days, providing 4K at a fraction of the prices from just a few years ago. Higher resolutions mean it’s easier than ever to jump into larger displays without losing out on picture quality.
So, if you’re looking to bring the magic of a fully fledged home theater into your home, you’ve come to the right guide. A large television makes everything better, from gaming to sports to movie nights at home. Whether you’re looking for a budget set or the clearest picture imaginable, these are our favorite 65″ televisions in 2020.
When it comes to buying an oversized TV, the only real limitation is the size of the room in which you want it to sit. Bigger TVs keep getting better and more powerful with each generation, and if you go with a well-known and reputable brand, there’s really no reason why you should be concerned with losing picture quality as a result of an expanded screen. Of course it’s more understandable that you’d be concerned with price, and it’s true that 65” TVs don’t tend to be cheap. But the good ones also usually stand the test of time, so you likely won’t have to scramble to find a replacement any time soon.
With these caveats in mind, we’ve decided to award our number-one spot to Samsung’s QLED TV series, which combines truly stunning and crystal-clear resolution with a sleek and minimalist design at a reasonable price point. With an ultra-thin border, this TV sports an infinity screen that at times seems to have no official end. It offers an impressive amount of depth and image resolution along with deep blacks and rich colors, and this TV also boasts an incredibly helpful anti-reflective screen—meaning you won’t usually have to worry about closing the blinds when the sun reaches that insufferable spot in the sky that usually makes viewing your screen impossible.
The QLED also sports HDR Elite technology, which is designed to reveal an unusual amount of detail in your media, and a unique Ambient Mode allows you to elevate the ambiance in your living room through a wide range of decorative content, useful information about what your watching, your own photo library, and even background music. This TV was also intelligently crafted to minimize the number of wires and connective parts it needs in order to operate. This means that you’ll be able to mount the TV flush to your wall without having to deal with a jumble of unsightly cables.
You’ll also enjoy a Smart TV feature that intelligently helps you find streaming and live TV shows with a universal guide, and there’s also OneRemote and voice assistance for even more streamlined functionality. You can also download the SmartThings app in order to control every aspect of your TV and its connected devices through your smartphone.
Though it retails for about $1500, Samsung’s 65″ QLED TV has been on sale for just $1200, making it the perfect time to finally jump on board with one of the best TVs you can get today.
Pros
- Incredible picture
- Great features for the price
Cons
- Not the cheapest on this list
- Samsung recommends a soundbar to improve audio
Samsung might offer the best all-around television to pick up as we head into 2021, but if money is no object and you’re fine with being an early adopter. LG’s CX (pronounced C-10) 4K OLED TV is the best television you can buy today. OLED is slowly becoming more affordable, and while this TV still falls into the $2000-$3000 price range (depending on sale prices), you simply can’t compete with the picture quality produced by OLED panels for both movies and gaming. In fact, there isn’t a single weak spot in the CX’s arsenal.
If you’re unfamiliar with OLED, you probably don’t need to look much further than your phone. Most manufacturers, from Apple to Samsung and everyone in between, have switched their phones from LCD displays to OLED, thanks to lowering costs in production. OLED panels are easier to place in small areas, since you don’t need to install any display controllers in your device to get them to work.
Of course, TVs don’t have to worry about size, so instead, the pure benefits come from display tech. OLED panels control each pixel’s brightness individually, rather than as a panel. The greatest benefit from this is pure black levels, since a pixel can turn itself off instead of just display a dark grey. It also helps to eliminate all light bleed from the surrounding pixels. If you’ve noticed your phone is great at showing movies or sports, you’ve already seen the benefits of OLED.
LG’s CX isn’t the only OLED television on the market today—it’s not even the only OLED television LG makes. It is, however, the best one money can buy. Movies look fantastic, especially in HDR thanks to the deep black levels. OLED also provides a near-perfect response time, so it’s incredible for gaming.
So, what drawbacks are there for OLED? The biggest comes from burn-in. OLED displays still suffer from burn-in, where image retention may not ever disappear after prolonged use. Modern OLED displays use small tricks to help stop burn-in, like shifting pixels in a way your eyes can’t notice, but it’s not a solved issue. If you watch a lot of cable news, or display anything else where constant display elements are unmoving, this might not be the screen for you. For most people, this shouldn’t be much of a problem. It’s also expensive, of course, and that might make picking up a QLED television from Samsung the better deal.
Still, LG’s CX is the best OLED TV we’ve seen yet, and the tech is only getting better. Hopefully 2021 brings a C11 that improves it even more, but until then, the CX remains our runner-up—and a close one at that.
Pros
- Picture-perfect quality
- Great for all content
Cons
- Expensive
- Burn-in risk
Where would a truly great tech list be without a piece of Sony equipment? As one of the undisputed kings of all things media, Sony has unsurprisingly made a name for itself in the world of high-powered and oversized flatscreen TVs. This 65-inch beast boasts a 4K HDR resolution (thanks to eight million self-illuminating pixels that provide for deep blacks and rich colors), and HDR Super Bit Mapping means that your picture stays smooth even during the most action-packed films.
It comes with built-in Chromecast technology so you’ll be able to quickly and easily connect to your smart devices, and an intuitive voice-control feature means that you’ll be able to control virtually every aspect of your media experience with a variety of home automation devices—including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. We were also impressed with this TV’s unique panel characteristics, which make the picture look great regardless of where you’re sitting. This is a big plus for family viewing, where people tend to be spread out in different parts of the room and viewing the screen at a variety of different angles and distances.
Pros
- Incredible picture quality
- Built-in Chromecast support
Cons
- Very expensive
- Software can be buggy
Although not as well known as Sony or Samsung, TCL has earned a reputation for building powerful TVs at affordable costs. This Ultra HD TV sports an impressive display and performance at a price that won’t break the bank, and if you’re a Roku user, this display comes factory-loaded with a range of smart features that make home integration a breeze.
The 65-inch iteration of this screen offers access to thousands of streaming channels featuring more than 500,000 movies and TV episodes via Roku TV (although you don’t need a Roku device in order to use the TV without this added access), and it pairs 4K Ultra HD picture clarity with the contrast, color, and detail of Dolby Vision HDR technology in order to deliver a truly life-like picture. A unique Edge LED backlighting system also produces exceptionally rich blacks and a whopping 1.07 billion display colors—meaning that even the most subtle nuances in shade will not go unnoticed. This screen also offers a wide range of useful inputs, including three HDMI ports, a USB port, RF, Composite, Optical Audio, Ethernet, and more.
Pros
- Built-in Roku support
- Affordable
Cons
- Picture quality not quite up to snuff as our other suggestions
- You'll need a soundbar
If you’re looking for a fantastic cross between picture quality, brightness, and budget, Hisense is the company for you. A relative newcomer to the USA, Hisense has been behind some of your favorite TVs from the likes of Sharp and Toshiba, licensing the name in certain regions. It wasn’t until 2020 that Hisense became an obvious pick for consumers, with the addition of their H8G series of televisions. Available in 55″, 65″, and 75″ models, Hisenses newest devices are critically-acclaimed, and for good reason. The design of this TV is absolutely stunning for starters, with a gorgeous minimalist bezel frame removing any barriers from your image. The included speakers are also surprisingly good for 2020, with included Dolby Atmos audio. It’s not quite the same experience as what you’ll hear from a soundbar, but it’s much better than the competition.
It’s the display that truly shines on this unit. With a screen capable of outputting up to 700 nits of brightness, this is perfect for even the brightest of living rooms. Most reviewers agree that Dolby Vision is the best implementation of HDR we’ve seen yet, and that’s included right on this TV. A fluid 240 motion rate for gaming and sports also improves quality of anything you want to see in smooth motion, though obviously, you’ll want to turn this off for films. Also, the TV is powered by Android TV, making for one of the fastest and smoothest ways to stream your favorite shows and movies through Netflix, Hulu, and any other streaming app you want.
For just $699 on sale, it’s tough to beat the value brought by Hisense. While the company has a long way to go before it’s as trusted a manufacturer as Samsung or Vizio, if they keep putting out TVs as high-quality as this one, it’s only a matter of time.
Pros
- Great, bright display
- Good minimal design
Cons
- Hisense doesn't have a brand reputation in the US yet
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