Amazon has already kicked off its Black Friday week, and as expected the event features more TV deals than you can shake a stick at.
Already we've seen huge Black Friday TV deals covering everything from affordable Toshiba and TCL sets to flagship LG and Panasonic OLEDs.
But, having covered more Black Fridays than we care to count, our team of expert reviewers and deal hunters can safely confirm, that not every TV is worth your hard-earned cash, even if its price has been slashed.
Having tested hundreds upon hundreds of sets over the decades, we can safely confirm there a plenty of terrible TVs doing the rounds, with common issues including poor picture quality, terrible audio, and inadequate connectivity.
What's more, simply opting for a top-end set doesn't guarantee top-end performance. Having compared the 2023 flagships from Sony, LG, Panasonic, and more in our dedicated test rooms, trust us when we say there are huge performance differences between sets even at the top end of the market.
And that's why we've made this guide, detailing the top sets we'd personally recommend you keep an eye on this Black Friday.
LG C3 OLED TV
The LG C3 is the step-down option in LG’s line of OLED sets, sitting below the company’s flagship LG G3.
While we found it’s not a huge upgrade on the company’s previous LG C2, featuring a basic OLED panel that doesn’t have the brightness-boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) seen on 2023 flagships like G3 and Panasonic MZ2000, it’s fantastic value.
Performance per pound (or dollar if you’re across the pond) is a key metric we use to judge every product we test. In this key metric despite not being “next-gen” or a massive step forward for OLED the C3 is still one of the best performers you’ll find in this area, offering crisp, detailed picture quality and great connectivity thanks to its inclusion of four HDMI 2.1 slots, rather than the standard two seen on most rivals.
The smaller, What Hi-Fi? Award-winning 42-inch LG C3 particularly impressed in our test rooms when we reviewed them earlier this year, with the only big foible we detected is that its sound is a little weedy – so you’ll want to invest in a soundbar to go with one if you pull the trigger this Black Friday.
The other reason we recommend looking at the C3 this Black Friday is that, traditionally, Amazon and specialist retailers have offered the best deals on C-series LG sets. Last year this was the case with the C2, which had its price drop by over 30 per cent during Black Friday.
This year's Prime Day and Amazon Big Deal Days events also saw stocks of the C2 all but dry up, which is why we’re expecting Black Friday 2023 to be the turning point where retailers focus their efforts on the newer model. This would make particular sense as we’re expecting the next generation C4 line to appear at the Consumer Electronics trade show in Las Vegas in January 2024.
We’ve already seen plenty of evidence for this, with discounts on the smaller LG C3 already appearing in the run-up to Black Friday proper at the end of the month.
Sony A80L OLED TV
The Sony A80L is a direct rival to the LG C3. The reason we recommend it on this list despite it costing more than its LG rival is that not only have we already seen several decent discounts, during the early Black Friday sales, but based on our testing the larger 55- and 65-inch models offer better picture and sound quality.
Running the two head-to-head our testers were amazed at quite how well the A80L performs. Despite using a regular OLED panel, rather than the QD-OLED seen on the more expensive Sony A95L, the A80L offers brilliant max brightness levels.
The sound offered during our checks is also infinitely superior to what we experienced with the C3, with Sony’s under-screen speaker tech letting it offer a much better sense of direction during surround sound scenes in particular.
This is why we recommend people who care about getting the best home cinema experience possible without spending their life savings keep an eye on the A80L this Black Friday.
The only downside is that with only two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which acts as eARC, next gen’ gamers with multiple consoles who want to connect a Dolby Atmos speaker system or soundbar, the LG C3 is a better option. Next-gen consoles need HDMI 2.1 connectivity to run at full speed, and Atmos needs an eARC input, so only having two can quickly lead to fiddly and regular cable swapping if you have multiple consoles.
TCL C845K LCD TV
If you’re not set on getting an OLED but still want solid picture quality and gaming features, then we’d recommend keeping an eye on the TCL C845K.
The 65-inch C845K was one of 2023’s surprise hits for our team of product testers.
Though TCL doesn’t have the same brand recognition as LG or Sony, it’s been slowly carving a place as one of the best value brands, with its sets offering fantastic value for money. The C845K is a great example why.
The mini LED TV’s primary selling point is that it’s able to offer astounding max brightness levels, resulting in fantastic HDR performance, despite the blacks not being quite as inky as the above OLEDs during our tests.
Add to this its super gaming features and the 65-inch model in particular is worth watching this Black Friday if you want a big-screen TV that won’t break the bank.
As you’ll see if you, jump to our should you buy a TCL TV guide, you’ll also see that they often drop in value much faster than many bigger name rivals – which is why we’re expecting hefty discounts to appear on sets like the C845K this Black Friday.
Amazon Fire Omni QLED TV
While the TCL C845K is cheap compared to many OLEDs, it’s still a little bit of stretch to call it truly affordable. Which is why we’re also recommending keeping an eye on the award winning Amazon Fire Omni QLED sets.
If you’re on a strict budget, then the 50-inch Omni QLED is the one to watch. We gave it 5-stars and a What Hi-Fi? Award when we tested it earlier this year.
While there are always compromises on a set this price, in the Omni QLED’s case it’s slightly lower than expected max brightness and smeary motion handling, for the money there’s nothing better.
Featuring Amazon’s Fire software it supports pretty much every streaming service under the sun, and despite costing surprisingly little to begin with (tested at £650 / $530) it offers a nicely balanced, consistent picture and can run a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S at full speed, featuring HDMI 2.1 connectivity.
What’s more, Amazon tends to offer serious discounts during Black Friday on its Fire kit. We saw the 50-inch model retail for as little as £400 during the Amazon Big Deal Days – a discount so enticing it led our editor-in-chief to pick one up for his parents during the event. We’re expecting the 50-inch Omni QLED to go at least that low during Black Friday, making it the cheap TV to watch this deals season.
What about the cheaper TVs?
If you’re yet to find a set on this list that meets your fancy, or budget, then don’t worry. These are just the sets we expect to get the best discounts that we personally recommend. There will be a wealth of deals on other sets.
But before you go racing for your wallet, keep in mind we always recommend only checking out TVs we’ve reviewed or that you've seen in the flesh as a spec sheet never tells the whole story – we’ve tested plenty of incredibly expensive sets with great specs that fail to deliver decent, let alone class-leading picture and sound quality with real-world testing.
If you're keen to create your own shortlist of TVs to keep an eye on you can check out the winners of the best TV category in the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2023, or jump on over to our best TV buying guide.
If you’re not sure what size you want, we also have “what sized TV should I buy” guide which lists the key questions to ask when deciding – cliff notes, measure the space, and try to avoid placing it somewhere near very bright lights. Once you’re set on a size we also have best small TV, best 55-inch TV and best 65-inch TV guides.
MORE:
These are the best early Black Friday soundbar deals we’ve spotted
Check out our picks of the best OLED TVs
Want a bargain? These are the best cheap TVs we’ve tested
