Super Bowl Sunday is under ten days away, and many people are in the market for a new television to show off in time for the game. Along with Labor Day and Black Friday, this is around the best time to get a great TV at a value. For basically any price range, the Super Bowl television sale delivers discount options from authorized retailers, including Amazon.
Best picture quality: LG OLED C8, E8, and W8
Most serious television watchers and AV enthusiasts care about picture quality above all else, and LG’s OLEDs currently offer the best picture quality on the market. With perfect blacks and strong, realistic tones and colors, LG is currently the television king—and LG Display produces all the OLED panels for every brand that uses the technology. But in addition to the outstanding picture quality, the C8, E8, and W8 offer premium design, reasonable prices (considering the quality), and plenty of HDMI ports to set up your ideal home theater. All three models are on sale for the Big Game, and they all offer the same exact picture, so stepping up from the C8 to the E8 and W8 is just a look thing. We’ll get more to the W8 in a bit.
Best overall: LG OLED C8
Considering it offers the best picture quality available, the LG OLED C8 is also best value available. The 55-inch model can be had at $1,699.99 ($500 off), the 65-inch model is $2,699.99 ($200 off), and the 77-inch model is $6,999.99 ($1,000 off), with an additional 10% back for all three sizes if you use an Amazon Prime credit card through February 3.
Best alternative OLED: Sony A1E, A8F
If you’re not a fan of LG for whatever reason, the second-best picture quality is probably offered from Sony’s OLED line. The A1E comes in 65 inches ($700 off for $2,499.99) and 77 inches ($2,000 off for $7,999.99; $10,000 off the original price), while the A8F comes in 55 inches ($500 off for $2,299.99) and 65 inches ($800 off for $2,999.99). There’s also the “A9F Master Series”, but that’s not currently discounted for the Super Bowl and costs a whopping $5,000 for just 65 inches. The LG arguably offers better picture quality at a much better price.
Best non-OLED: Samsung QLED Q6F, Q7F, Q8F, Q9F
You might have heard about OLEDs having the risk of “burn-in,” so maybe you don’t feel comfortable spending at least $1,500 on a television that you think might encounter that issue. Practically, it doesn’t seem to be a major concern unless you’re watching something like CNN of Fox News, where logos remain static on the screen, most of the day. QLEDs do not suffer from burn-in, and they offer fine picture quality along with a partnership with Microsoft and the 4K Xbox One X console. The Q6F, Q7F, Q8F, and Q9F are all on sale for the Super Bowl (also with an additional 10% cash back with an Amazon Prime credit card), with sizes ranging from 49 inches to 82 inches.
No-spending limit: LG OLED W8
We already went over how the LG OLEDs offer the best picture quality available, and the highest-priced W8 (A.K.A. the “wallpaper” TV) is the best option if you a) have an unlimited budget, and b) put the TV against a flat wall as opposed to putting it on a stand in the corner of a room; you can even throw a c) in there: to wow people. The W8 goes flush to your wall without a mount, and it’s about as thin as a key, so it’s amazing and stunning. This is just for those that just happen to want a new television to watch the Patriots and Rams play for a championship, though, as it costs $15,000 from authorized dealers and is not under the Super Bowl sale.
Bang-for-buck: TCL 5-Series
If you want to get into the 4K game (keep in mind the Super Bowl is unfortunately still not in 4K, though) but don’t want to spend more than $1,000 to do so, then TCL offers solid picture quality at a very reasonable price. The picture quality doesn’t come close to LG and Sony, but you can get a 65-inch 5-Series for $629.22 on Amazon. Personally, I recommend saving your money for an OLED or at least a QLED, but TCLs have gotten rave reviews from many happy customers.
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Nice, but I might wait until 2019 models come out at this point. HDMI 2.1 for 2020 consoles will be worth it.
If you keep waiting and waiting for the next big thing you’ll never be happy.
That TV looks like it’s floating that is awesome.
I have the C8 and it’s amazing.
Sony > LG
No they’ve just positioned themselves as elite.. not actually better.