3 Things You Should Know About Cheap TVs (and Which One I Recommend Over All Others)

I love TV. Give me an opening and I’ll gladly talk your ear off about Silo, Bob’s Burgers, Battlestar Galactica, and the last decent season of The Simpsons. (Spoiler: It was season 12.) Needless to say, I also love TVs — especially cheap ones, which may come as a surprise. Surely a couch-time connoisseur such as myself insists on the best screen money can buy?

No, and here’s why: Cheap TVs have gotten really good. The price of literally everything else may be going up, but TVs continue to embrace bigger screens and better technologies while also getting more affordable.

Does that mean you should just run down to the nearest big-box store and grab whatever’s on sale? Kind of! But first let me share three important things you should know about the budget end of the TV aisle.

You don’t need OLED

When it comes to TV-screen tech, there are three main choices right now: QLED, mini-LED, and OLED. The vast majority of budget TVs use QLED screens, though mini-LED is gaining ground (see my top cheap-TV pick, below).

If you were to put these three kinds of screens side by side, you’d be able to tell a difference between them. OLED is the gold standard, largely unrivaled when it comes to color, contrast, brightness, and viewing angles. Mini-LED comes in second, followed by QLED.

But here’s the thing: When they’re not side by side, when you’re just kicking back to watch a football game, the latest Marvel movie, or a Seinfeld rerun, you’ll enjoy it just as much on a QLED as you would on an OLED. Because even a cheap one delivers great color, contrast, and brightness. Indeed, viewed in a vacuum, today’s bargain-basement TV looks amazing.

The speakers are terrible

Actually, all TV speakers are terrible, cheap and pricey alike. That’s mostly because of physics: A skinny screen just doesn’t have room inside for anything but small, underpowered speakers. And they’re always pointed down or to the rear, meaning audio is getting directed exactly where your ears aren’t.

True, some are better than others, and if you’re buying something for a small bedroom or the like (where you don’t need big, crystal-clear audio), you might be able to live with the built-ins. But I will go to my grave championing an alternative: a sound bar. Even an inexpensive one will provide a greatly improved listening experience — and don’t your ears deserve the same treatment your eyes are getting?

What’s the best soundbar to buy? I’ll cover that in a future roundup, but for now here are three great picks:

• Sony S100F (average price: $98): Simple, straightforward set of front-facing speakers
• TCL S55H (average price: $139): Adds a subwoofer to the mix, essential if you want bass in music and movies
• Ultimea SkyWave F40 Boom SE (average price: $250): A full surround system with rear speakers and Dolby Atmos

The software matters (but also doesn’t)

Different TVs run different operating systems — the software behind the interface you see, the apps you use, and so on. In most cases it’ll be Amazon Fire TV, Google TV or Roku, though manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, and Vizio use their own operating systems in most of their models.

So which TV OS is best, and should you base your buying decision on it? Here’s my take: Roku’s interface is the nicest and easiest to use. Google’s can feel cluttered, but it’s reasonably intuitive. Fire TV has made some improvements of late, but it’s still pretty clunky in places. It’s my least favorite.

The good news is that if the TV you want doesn’t have the OS you want, that’s easily remedied: You can just plug in a streaming device like a Roku Streaming Stick 4K, an Apple TV 4K, or even an Amazon Fire TV Stick (which does provide a pretty sweet stealth feature). In other words, you can have whatever apps and interface you want; you’re not stuck with what came in the box.

What’s the best cheap TV to buy right now?

Great question, thank you for asking. Until recently, I would have steered you to any number of QLED TVs with the promise that they’re all pretty great. But in 2026, a newcomer shattered all my previous expectations for what a budget TV could be.

It’s the Vizio VQM55C-10 55-inch Mini-LED TV, regularly $278 but currently on sale for $248. Yep: a mini-LED for less than the price of a lot of QLEDs. I know I said the screen tech doesn’t matter, but if you can step up without paying extra, you absolutely should.

You can also get a 65-inch model for $398 (currently $358) or a 75-inch for $498. Those prices are well below most competing mini-LEDs, some of which cost nearly double.

I tested and reviewed the VQM55C-10 earlier this year; there’s currently no other budget TV offering more bang for the buck. (You don’t have to take my word for it; the New York Times’ Wirecutter also just named it the best budget TV.)

Will you want a sound bar to go with it? Absolutely. Is Vizio’s custom user interface in need of an upgrade? Actually, no, it’s pretty good (but you can decide for yourself).

So as much as I still believe you can pick just about any QLED TV and be very happy with it, there’s an even better picture to be had without spending more money. Gotta love that.