The Five Best Budget HD TVs
A good HDTV doesn’t have to make a lot of money. Sure, you can spend thousands on a panel, but for $ 500, you get a fairly large panel with great picture quality, robust features and all the connectivity you need, while still being thin and neat. This week, we’ll take a look at the top five budget kits based on your nominations.
Earlier this week, we asked you to share your suggestions for low-cost high-definition TVs , and you’ve responded with many great options, both affordable new ones and versions from yesteryear, and even some upgrades. In general, we only have a place for the top five, and here they are, in no particular order.
TCL Roku TV 50 ”50FS3800
If you are looking for a smart TV with a large size and many features without losing money, TCL can help you. The TCL Roku TV 50FS3800 is a 50 ” 1080p 120Hz panel that has a Roku box baked inside so you don’t have to buy another one. You can even control it with the included Roku remote, or you can control it from your smartphone or tablet using the Roku mobile apps. It will set you back $ 480 on Amazon , and if you don’t like the idea of spending that much (or need a smaller panel), there are smaller options to choose from as well. For your money, you get three HDMI ports, a USB port, all the other video connectivity you might need, and control over all connected Roku devices, apps, and channels from your TV home screen. You can easily switch between any connected devices, change channels, search for programs or movies on any streaming service, and more with just a couple of clicks. You can even stream videos from your phone to your TV without any additional devices. It doesn’t hurt that the panel looks good, thanks to the dual-legged stand design and the ultra-thin bezel around the 50-inch screen.
Those of you who have nominated TCL Roku TV have commented that this is a smart TV at an incredible price, and smart in the right sense – for example, it includes features that you are likely to go out and buy on a set-top box. without the bells and whistles and clutter that come with many smart suggestions from manufacturers. This is incredible functional value, and you noted that the picture quality and color fidelity are impressive for a panel at this price point. Many of you stepped in to say you have one and love yours, which is a vote of confidence in our book. Read more in the thread of his nominations here .
VIZIO E50-C1 50 Inch Smart LED HDTV
The VIZIO E50-C1 is a giant in the round of nominations, slightly above our budget at $ 528 on Amazon , but can easily be found for less than $ 500 elsewhere on the internet, and many of you noted that you were able to do well. … – for example, less than $ 400 – discounts for this puppy, especially on holidays. For your money, you get a 50-inch 1080p 120Hz panel with three HDMI ports, a USB port for music and video on an external drive, all the other connectors you’d expect (VGA, component, composite, etc.) Wall mount support. , and one year warranty. The panel even supports local dimming, which helps improve contrast and produces darker blacks in areas of the screen where they are needed, as well as the ability to automatically adjust based on room brightness. A suite of VIZIO Smart TV apps are also included, including built-in streaming apps for services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video, as well as social apps like Twitter and Facebook, streaming music from Pandora and Spotify, and more. Wi-Fi is built into the TV, so you don’t need to connect an Ethernet cable to it. This is the pinnacle of the VIZIO E-Class HDTV series, and for the money you get the excellent picture quality and color that most people associate with inexpensive yet high-performance VIZIO panels. Plus, VIZIO’s design gives you an ultra-thin bezel with a tiny bezel as well as dual minimalist legs instead of a regular stand.
Those of you who nominated the E50-C1 split the different price tiers in which you chose the panel – one of you said he bought one for about $ 450, and several others pointed to the holiday and Super Bowl sales as great opportunities to save money. here in a big way. Even if you end up paying full price, you praised it for being a VA panel (instead of traditional IPS), incredible color fidelity, and VIZIO customer support. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Scepter E555BV-FMQR 55 Inch HD LED TV
This Scepter panel costs about $ 500 right on Amazon , which puts it at the top of our budget, but for your money, you get a full 55 ” 1080p 60Hz LED TV, three HDMI ports, a USB port for photos or video on external storage, MHL support, beautiful tempered glass stand and thin bezel, and built-in surround speakers. It can be VESA mountable and is a sturdy, inexpensive panel. The picture quality and color fidelity is great, and while you don’t get a ton of features in it, this panel really does the most important things, especially if you’re looking at how much you spend and still want a nice big screen. for the living room. Overall, this is a reliable, well-designed HDTV that won’t disappoint, if not disappointed, comes with a one-year warranty.
Those of you who have appointed the Scepter have indicated that you have yours and love it, or that you have a model of the same size and love it. It’s not chock-full of features, but what you lose in features is what you get back in screen size – plus many of you have mentioned that while the panel is $ 500 at the time of this writing, it often comes with big discounts. One of you said he bought hiss for $ 399 and this particular model is available online or in store at Costco, Best Buy, and a number of other retail outlets. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Seiki SE39UY04 39 Inch 4K Ultra HD LED TV
If you want a 4K panel and are willing to sacrifice a small screen size to get what you want, this Seiki 4K 39 ”120Hz Ultra HD display will do the trick, and it only costs $ 369 on Amazon . Technically discontinued (as Seiki ramps up production and production of new, larger displays and 4K models), it is still widely available and popular as one of the first truly affordable 4K panels that can be used as a TV or as a TV. … computer monitor. It even received an honorable mention in our top 5 Hive Five budget computer monitors earlier this year. Keep in mind that when viewing standard HD content, the panel frequency is 120Hz – upscaling to 4K will drop you down to 30Hz. You’ll save on some features here, but you’ll still get the basics, three HDMI ports, two USB ports (one for utility use only, and one for images, but not other media) VGA and component and composite connections, and more. There are no smart features, apps or anything else here, but if you want an affordable 4K display that can display 4K when connected to a source that supports it (like a PC or laptop video output) and looks solid but = still can handle 1080p pretty well, it’s a great option – at least until some of Seiki’s newer models drop in price.
Those of you who have nominated this panel have pointed to its excellent price and the fact that it is a 4K panel that can serve as a monitor and that an HDTV is great selling points. You have noted the great price and solid design – this is a thin display with a beautiful thin bezel. Support for some of Seiki’s newer panels has also surfaced in a stream of nominations, some of you have pointed to the 42-inch Seiki SE 1080p (non-4K) model which is only $ 280 in some places. You can read the original 4K panel nominations thread here and the additional nominations thread here .
VIZIO e500i-A1 50 inch Smart LED HDTV
The E50 is the current line of 2015 HD smart TVs and the e500i-A1 is the 2013 lineup, and it has received numerous nominations for bringing many features to the party at great prices. Available from third parties for about $ 399 on Amazon (check Amazon seller listings), you get a 50 ”1080p, 120Hz LED panel with all the smart TV features you would expect from Vizio, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, streaming music from Pandora and Spotify, and more. The panel itself supports active LED zones that can be activated or deactivated depending on whether you need them, a screen that automatically adjusts to the brightness of the room, built-in Wi-Fi, a beautiful app launcher that takes you where you want when you turn on the TV, four HDMI ports and all standard video connectivity, a USB port on the side for external media, wall-mountable and of course VIZIO’s standard one-year warranty. As usual, you may have to dig a little bit to find this set as it is an older version and was replaced by the E50-C1 we mentioned above, but if you can get it new or refurbished you will find a great mural. at a low price.
Those of you who have nominated the e500i-A1 have noted that this flagship panel was ahead of its time when it was new, so you really don’t miss a thing by updating now. You get a great screen at below flagship prices and that it was one of the first to come with full LED lighting and local dimming, now the standard for VIZIO’s finest panels. Some of you have mentioned that you don’t give a damn about VIZIO Smart TV apps and that you prefer your own set-top box instead, and you have a variety of connectivity options if you want to go that route. Some of you have shared your advice on calibration and setup, but most of all, you generally agreed that this panel – and VIZIO in general – offers a good balance of image quality for the money you spend. Read more in the thread of his nominations here .
Now that you’ve seen the top 5, it’s time to put them to a vote and determine the community favorite, Lifehacker! Vote below:
Honorable mentions
An honorable mention this week goes to the LG 42LF5600 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV, which will set you back around $ 360 on Amazon . You get a 42-inch 60Hz panel with two HDMI ports for your money, but you still get great picture quality at a reasonable price. You don’t get the same features as some of the others in the review, and some of you have pointed to the lack of video connections as a drawback, but overall this is a solid panel at a decent price. Some of you said that you especially liked your gaming. You can read all about this in the nomination thread here .
Do you have anything to say about one of the applicants? Want to substantiate your personal favorite even if it wasn’t on the list? Remember, the Top 5 is based on your most popular nominations from the Call for Applicants thread earlier this week . Don’t just complain about the top 5, let us know which option you prefer and justify it in the discussions below.