We’re looking to buy a new smart tv. We’ve never had one before, but I want to buy one that will last a good few years with a decent picture.
OLED look good, but are quite dull looking in a bright room apparently (which our living room is), and QLED looks amazing, but uses an older technology.
I’ve been looking at the Samsung Q9FN and LG C8. Both priced around the same and similar features, but I am definitely open to suggestions of other TVs you can recommend.
We’ve got the usual Amazon prime, Netflix and an Apple TV box, so ideally something that’ll be compatible with all that whilst having a good picture through freeview
I’d echo @Anarchist - try and get a ‘dumb’ TV (supports Freeview and that’s it) as big/high quality as you want and supplement with an Amazon Firestick or Google Chromecast. You can then use the Fire or Chromecast to stream Netflix, local Plex installs, iPlayer etc etc and if the protocols change (as has happened with iPlayer a few times), you don’t need to replace a several hundred/to thousand pound TV, just a £40 dongle.
We’ve found the Amazon Fire to be more useful downstairs with its own remote/on screen display, and the Chromecast on the bed room device controlled with our mobiles (Fire has got a mobile app, but Chromecast needs a phone/computer to control it).
I’m a big fan of almost any LG webOS TV combined with an Apple TV. Set the LG TV up as you prefer and then using the Apple TV for everything (including volume control, power on/off, etc.).
I’ve got my eye on a 65" A1. OLEDs being dimmer doesn’t bother me as I’m one of those “everyone has their TVs set too bright” people. I’m really sold by the fact that OLEDs can turn the pixels off to show true black, having always been disappointed by black levels on previous TVs.
Still waiting for it to drop to a level I consider a fair price - I’m probably going to have to try and catch that sweet spot between a successor to the A1 entering the market and the A1 being removed from the market.
The LG OLEDs are supposed to be pretty good, so probably well worth looking into (if you’re not set on Sony like I am). Could get an LG OLED55B8PLA for under £1.5k, f’rex, or a OLED55C8PLA for £2k.
In this day and age saying “get a dumb tv” isn’t terribly helpful, but, as you’d be hard pressed to find a decent TV which isn’t smart in some way. So don’t let any bundled Netflix/iPlayer/etc integration put you off, and definitely ‘replace’ them with a Fire Stick/Chromecast/Apple TV if that’s going to work better for you. I myself have a Fire Stick in one TV and a 1st gen Chromecast in another (tried Apple TV, didn’t work for me).
Problem with buying a smart TV is the apps could end up not being updated and possibly unusable so yes get a firestick or a Now TV stick is a better option.
but definitely want a better picture quality for films etc