The TV is the centerpiece of the living room—has been for decades at this at this point—but I’ll be damned if I ever want to think about buying a new one. It’s just so complicated, even for those like me who speak the language of tech. If you’re not tuned in to the most minute innovations, five-years go by but it feels like a lifetime.
There are model the numbers that nobody can follow and seemingly meaningless choices between QLED, Mini LED and SQD-Mini LED. There are identical smart interfaces and feature sets across the board. It’s basically impossible for a normal person to distinguish what’s worth their money.
When genuine innovation gets paired with brand-specific marketing, finding the difference between what you want and what you don't need can feel overwhelming. Thankfully for you, it’s my job to parse it. Deep down, what most people want is a TV that looks good and sounds good out of the box; one that will stream from all the apps they like and connect to the game consoles and devices they use.
That’s something every single one of these TVs delivers. Since I can’t test them all, it’s up to Esquire’s team of testers and editors to help out. Below, I’ve highlighted some of the best options from the brands my colleagues and I have loved over the past couple years of trial and error.
From $500 all the way up to more than $8,000, these are the best TVs at every price range. Esquire recently called this the best TV of 2026 in our gadget awards, so saying anything else here would be ludicrous. Thankfully, I agree with our tester.
With a dynamic, bright SQD-Mini LED display, and audio from Bang & Olufsen, there is nothing left to be desired—not even a soundbar. The SQ stands for “super quantum,” which is about the dots used to create the image. Science aside, what we can say certainly is this TV blows the other TCLs we’ve tried out of the water in terms of color, contrast, and brightness.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
