Although the Coronavirus pandemic has held things up a bit, many brands are finally starting to launch their 2020 TV ranges. While there’s lots of fun new stuff in these 2020 ranges for AV fans to get excited about, though, the arrival of the new TVs on the block is also having its usual happy impact on the prices of 2019 TVs.
As stores and brands seek to clear their shelves and stock rooms of 2019 sets, there are currently some serious bargains to be had. So excited though I am about the 2020 models, here, in no particular order, is my pick of the best current ‘clearance’ TV deals, based on a combination of both pricing and the quality of the TV being sold.
Note that I have provided (non-affiliated) links to sites offering the best prices I could find at the time of writing, but while they all appeared to have stock on publication date, I can’t guarantee they won’t run out pretty quickly! Though in all cases, there should be alternative close offers elsewhere available if you don’t hang around too long.
LG OLED55B9
Best price: US – $1297, bhphotovideo / UK: £999 Crampton & Moore
The 55 and 65-inch B9s were LG’s entry level OLED TVs for 2019. As such, their pictures do fall short of those you get from LG’s C9 (and upwards) OLED series. This is partly why I’ve picked the 55-inch model to recommend rather than the also now aggressively priced 65-inch model. If you want a bigger screen than 55 inches, you might be better aiming for the C9 model featured later in this list instead.
While the 55OLEDB9 might not have the shadow detail, color refinement, upscaling sharpness or brightness of their bigger siblings, though, the contrast, viewing angles and rich colors provided by its OLED panel still makes it an exceptional performer for its money. Especially if you’re the sort of person who likes to dim your lights and close the curtains for serious TV and movie viewing sessions.
A full review of this TV can be found on this link.
Samsung QN65Q90R (US)/QE65Q90R (Europe)
Best price: $2,598 Dell/£1759 Richer Sounds
Samsung’s flagship 4K TV for 2019 is a truly spectacular performer with high dynamic range content. The brightness and color range made possible by its QLED technology is tailor-made to unlock the sort of lifelike impact HDR is capable of delivering. And its new backlight system, complete with a chip dedicated to controlling its 480 separate ‘local dimming zones’, delivers remarkable black levels by LCD standards alongside the punchy brightness and colors.
New wide viewing angle technology means you can watch this LCD TV from pretty much anywhere without pictures losing color and contrast, too. Though the technology used to deliver this does cost the screen a touch of resolution.
Note that no similarly well-specified 4K model will be available in Samsung’s 2020 range.
A full review of this TV can be found on this link.
Sony XBR-65A9G (US)/KD-65AG9 (UK)
Best price: $3,499 Best Buy/£2,799, buywiseappliances
After what felt to me like a slightly disappointing OLED showing in 2018, Sony roared back in 2019 with the the 65A9G (known as the AG9 in Europe).
As well as boasting a premium design where the screen actually works as a powerful and startlingly precise forward-facing speaker, these premium OLED sets benefit from Sony’s excellent and unique X1 Ultimate processor.
Key features of this processor are outstanding upscaling of sub-4K sources, removal of HDR color noise, and the best motion handling in the TV world.
The 65A9G panel also delivers noticeably more HDR brightness but also more consistently deep and rich OLED black levels than its Sony OLED predecessors.
In an ideal world this one would be getting more of a discount than the $500 or so off it’s currently enjoying, but it does have those genuinely unique picture and sound features.
Samsung QN75Q900RB (US)/Samsung QN75Q950R (UK)
Best price: $4,998 Walmart/£3,799 John Lewis
Samsung’s second generation of 8K TV, the Q900RB/Q950R range, improved over the brand’s 8K debut TVs with enhanced upscaling, better backlight controls, and new wide angle viewing technology.
With native 8K content likely to be in very short supply for at least the next couple of years, the improved upscaling is particularly welcome, as it means the 75-inch QN75Q900RB/QE75Q950R gives you at least some benefit from its groundbreaking, ultra life-like 8K resolution even with today’s content.
The wide viewing angle technology slightly compromises the sense of resolution, but upscaled 4K images can still look slightly more detailed and textured than they do in their native 4K form.
A review of the 82-inch version of this TV can be found on this link.
LG OLED65C9
Best price: $2,149.99 inc $100 shop card, Costco/£1989, Currys
The Alpha 9 Gen 2 chipset inside the LG C9 OLED TV series delivers better picture quality than the Alpha 7 Gen 2 chipset used in the previously listed LG B9 series. Advantages include improved shadow detail (though actually the B9 delivers slightly deeper black colors), more consistent and more natural color, and significantly more peak brightness.
It’s also a beautifully designed TV, and sounds pretty good too if you use its AI Sound feature.
As is now typical with LG OLED ranges, the 65-inch 2019 C series model is getting especially heavily discounted ahead of its CX successor rolling into town.
A full review of this TV can be found on this link.
TCL 55R625 (US only)
Best price: $499.99 Best Buy
With its combination of direct LED lighting, 96 separate local dimming zones and comprehensive built-in Roku smart TV system, TCL’s 55-inch 55R625 was great value even when it first launched. Now that you can get it for under $500, it’s nothing short of a steal.
Sony XBR-55X950G (US)/Sony KD-55XG9505 (Europe)
Best price: $998, Crutchfield/£979, J C Campbell Electronics
Thanks to their direct backlighting with local dimming, high brightness, spectacular color and outstanding upscaling and motion handling, the only complaints you could level at the Sony X950G series when they first launched were that they suffer a little backlight blooming and felt a touch expensive.
Now, with the impressive looking X900H and X950H models just around the corner, discounting on the 55X950G has started to make the 55-inch model look more like a bargain than a stretch.
Just bear in mind if you feel tempted by the 75-inch or 85-inch 55X950G that these larger models use Sony’s X-Wide Angle technology. Which, while delivering a wider effective viewing angle, also negatively affects contrast.
Vizio M658-G1 (US Only)
Best price: $598, Walmart
While you have to be a bit careful which member of the 2019 Vizio M series you go for on account of different models using quite substantially different LCD panel designs, the 65-inch model recommended here is a peach at its current $598 price. That represents a discount of around 40% on its launch price, and still gets you a full array local dimming panel with nearly 100 separately controlled lighting zones.
Its peak brightness of 600 nits is extremely HDR friendly for this price point, too, while Quantum Dots are on hand to boost its color performance in line with its brightness.
Vizio’s smart system lags behind some rival brands, but a few recent app additions have improved things.
Samsung QN55Q70R (US)/Samsung QE55Q70R
Best price: $1,197.99, Walmart / £799, Peter Tyson
This isn’t the very cheapest QLED TV in Samsung’s 2019 LCD TV range. It is, though, the cheapest model I’d recommend that you get. The cheaper models just don’t have enough contrast to really sell the benefits of Samsung’s VA panels or enough brightness/color saturation to sell the benefits of Samsung’s Quantum Dot technology.
The Q70R is also attractively designed, and boasts strong gaming and smart features. Plus the latest round of discounting finds it now available for barely half what it originally sold for.
LG OLED65E9
Best price: $2749.99 inc $100 Shop Card, CostCo/£2,499 Crampton & Moore
The appeal of the E9 is pretty simple. It gives you all the lovely OLED picture quality of the C9 TV featured earlier on this list, but in an even prettier glass-based design with sound powerful enough - especially if you use LG’s AI Sound option – to save you the trouble of buying a separate soundbar.
As with the C9 model, the OLED65E9 is now getting particularly heavily discounted at the time of writing. It might be worth bearing in mind, too, that LG is scrapping the audio-focused E series from its 2020 range, so this could be the last chance you get to buy an affordable LG OLED with a proper step-up audio solution.
A full review of this TV can be found on this link.
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Since two of the models on my original list of 10 recommended bargains are only available in the US, it’s only fair that I add a couple of extra models for European readers. So here goes:
Panasonic TX-55GZ950B
Best price: £1,195, Crampton & Moore
This 55-inch OLED TV might not get the ground-breaking high-brightness technology found in Panasonic’s flagship GZ2000 TVs from 2019, but it still gets an outstanding, ‘Hollywood-tuned’ video processor, beautifully controlled contrast and color from its OLED panel, and, unusually, compatibility with both the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision premium high dynamic range formats. And you can now buy it for £600 less than it cost at launch.
Philips 55OLED+934
Best price: £1,499, Currys
This is another OLED TV, this time distinguished from an increasingly crowded field on four main grounds. First, it carries Philips’ unique Ambilight technology, which uses LEDs placed behind three of its edges to cast out colour light that can track remarkably accurately the content of the images you’re watching. Second, it attaches to and rests on a built-in sound bar (designed in conjunction with acclaimed British speaker brand Bowers & Wilkins) that pumps out arguably the best audio performance heard from a mid-range OLED TV.
Third, like the Panasonic model it supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR playback. And finally, while it needs to be handled with care, Philips’ latest picture processing engine can deliver stunningly dynamic and detailed images.
It’s also now really heavily discounted, having started out at £2,200 in 2019.
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If you found this article useful, you might also like these:
Samsung’s 2020 TV Line Up Explained And Priced
LG’s 2020 TV Line Up Explained And Priced
LG OLED65C9 Review: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
