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The Hisense U6K displaying a colorful 4K image of a river and a sunset while it sits in front of a brick wall in a living room setting Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The Best Budget TVs Under $500 of 2023

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission. Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

The Hisense U6K displaying a colorful 4K image of a river and a sunset while it sits in front of a brick wall in a living room setting Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

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Editor's Choice Product image of Hisense 55U6K
Best Overall

Hisense 55U6K

The Hisense U6K is the most affordable mini-LED TV on the market and a great fit for those who want a good-looking TV for daytime viewing. Read More

Pros

  • Offers mini-LEDs for less
  • Bright enough for daytime viewing
  • Excellent quantum-dot color

Cons

  • Motion-related color fringing
  • Narrow viewing angle
  • Lackluster design
2
Product image of Sony KD-43X80K
Best Small Screen

Sony KD-43X80K

The Sony X80K's performance and budget-friendly price tag will please plenty of shoppers, especially those upgrading to 4K. Read More

Pros

  • Accurate out-of-the-box calibration
  • Fast, flexible smart platform
  • Easy-to-setup design

Cons

  • Shallow black levels
  • Lacks key gaming features
3
Editor's Choice Product image of Hisense 55U7H
Best for Gaming

Hisense 55U7H

The Hisense U7H delivers a bright, colorful picture and a surprising amount of gaming-related features for the price. Read More

Pros

  • Excellent bright-room option
  • Class-leading gaming features
  • Fast, easy-to-use smart platform

Cons

  • Light bloom
  • Picture processing issues
4
Editor's Choice Product image of Hisense 65U6H

Hisense 65U6H

The Hisense U6H delivers a great picture and some key gaming features for a highly competitive, affordable price. Read More

Pros

  • Bright enough for most rooms
  • Rich, accurate color
  • Good smart platform and features

Cons

  • Lackluster upscaling
  • Susceptible to light bloom
  • Troublesome motion handling
5
Editor's Choice Product image of TCL 55S555

TCL 55S555

The 2022 TCL 5-Series combines impressive performance, improved brightness, great gaming support, and Roku OS to be the best budget pick available. Read More

Pros

  • Excellent out-of-box performance
  • Snappy Roku OS
  • Great for casual gaming

Cons

  • Some light bloom
  • Roku or bust

Buying a budget television doesn’t mean you have to end up with a “cheap TV” that ends up being a clunker. These days, you can get a truly great TV for $500 or less.

The best budget TVs strike a balance between price, performance, and features. We test tons of TVs—from the most basic to the best TVs on the market—to make sure you're getting a great value, no matter the price.

Based on our testing, the best TV under $500 is the 55-inch Hisense U6K (available at Amazon for $398.00) It offers terrific out-of-the-box performance, mini-LEDs, quantum-dot color, and is great for casual gaming. There are several other options on this list, however, so make a pick that works for you.

The Hisense U6K Mini-LED TV on a table with a brick background.
Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi

Thanks to mini-LED display technology, the Hisense U6K delivers excellent performance for a budget TV.

Best Overall
Hisense U6K
  • Screen sizes under $500: 55"
  • HDR support: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
  • Smart platform: Google TV

The Hisense U6K is the most affordable mini-LED TV on the market, making it a great choice for those shopping for a budget-friendly TV with a hefty amount of performance-related upside. Right now, the 55-inch U6K is the only model at or below $500.

Its picture quality is better than most TVs in its price range, and although it's not packed to the brim with features, its flexible smart platform and handful of gaming features should be enough to satisfy most bargain-hunters.

The U6K owes most of its success to its mini-LED display. This hardware is typically reserved for pricier TVs, but the U6K features a scaled down version of the technology with fewer dimming zones, keeping it firmly locked into a budget-friendly price bracket. With mini-LEDs in tow, the U6K offers tighter dimming zone control than entry-level and mid-range TVs that rely on traditional LEDs.

It’s bright enough for casual daytime viewing and looks good in the dark, too. With quantum dots in play, the U6K is also quite colorful for a mid-range TV; it covers an impressive 96% of the HDR color gamut (DCI-P3). It’s not as gaming-friendly as pricier TVs from Hisense and competitive brands, but Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) are included.

There are a few drawbacks to the U6K’s otherwise excellent approach: Its design isn’t as sturdy or sleek as we’d like, and there are some picture processing issues that spoil some of the fun. Like many Hisense TVs, the U6K often exhibits a subtle, red-tinted ghosting effect on objects in motion, particularly during dimly lit scenes in warm lighting. It also struggles to upscale sub-4K content as cleanly as other mid-range TVs.

Still, if you’re looking for an affordable TV that delivers better performance than most in its class, the U6K is a great pick.

See our full Hisense U6K review.

Pros

  • Offers mini-LEDs for less

  • Bright enough for daytime viewing

  • Excellent quantum-dot color

Cons

  • Motion-related color fringing

  • Narrow viewing angle

  • Lackluster design

A television screen showing an image of trees in a living room.
Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The Sony X80K is affordable and looks good, but it neglects gamers and film buffs.

Best Small Screen
Sony X80K
  • Screen size under $500: 43”
  • HDR support: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG
  • Smart platform: Google TV

The Sony X80K is a great pick for people looking for a smaller TV, especially those making the jump to a 4K TV.

This mid-range LED TV has an accurate out-of-the-box picture, with realistic-looking color due to Sony’s Triluminos Pro color enhancement technology. We were impressed by the X80K’s HDR performance—the HDR10 and Dolby Vision we watched looked good. With SDR content, it holds up well in daytime viewing, but the X80K struggles with dark-room viewing because of shallow black levels due to a lack of local dimming. We also experienced significant light bleed in the bottom corners.

The X80K comes with the Google TV smart platform, which has a heavy amount of sponsored content on the home screen, but it is a fast, flexible smart platform.

While this TV is a safe pick for most people, the X80K is not the best option for gamers with next-gen systems. It does have Auto Low Latency Mode, but its native refresh rate is 60Hz and none of its HDMI ports support for 4K gaming at 120Hz.

See our full Sony X80K review.

Pros

  • Accurate out-of-the-box calibration

  • Fast, flexible smart platform

  • Easy-to-setup design

Cons

  • Shallow black levels

  • Lacks key gaming features

The Hisense U7H displaying flowers as it sits on a wooden table in front of a brick wall.
Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The Hisense U7H is best gaming TV in its price bracket.

Best for Gaming
Hisense U7H
  • Screen size under $500: 55”
  • HDR support: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
  • Smart platform: Google TV

People on a budget with next-gen gaming systems should take a hard look at the Hisense U7H. With a native 120Hz refresh rate and two HDMI ports that support 4K gaming at 120Hz, it’s the best gaming TV for its price.

But the U7H isn’t just for gamers. It’s one of the brightest TVs in this price range, with an average ANSI picture brightness of about 650 nits in SDR and HDR. The U7H performs well in both bright and dark rooms, and colors pop in HDR thanks to the U7H’s quantum dot-enhanced display. The U7H features the Google TV smart platform, which is easy to use, as it’s a successor to Android TV.

For all that we like about the U7H, it does have picture processing-related issues that might be a distraction for some people.

See our full Hisense U7H review.

Pros

  • Excellent bright-room option

  • Class-leading gaming features

  • Fast, easy-to-use smart platform

Cons

  • Light bloom

  • Picture processing issues

Other TVs Under $500 We Tested

Product image of Hisense 65U6H
Hisense U6H
  • Screen size under $500: 50”, 55”, 65”
  • HDR support: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
  • Smart platform: Google TV

The Hisense U6H offers a lot of bang for your buck, with great contrast that makes it a suitable pick for most rooms and rich, accurate color out of the box.

Thanks to its quantum-dot, full-array display, the U6H’s color production in HDR is phenomenal compared to its competition. It delivers a bright picture that holds up in most conditions. Plus, with Google TV software built in, the U6H meets the needs of everyday streaming.

The U6H offers a healthy set of gaming-friendly features, including VRR and four HDMI 2.1 ports. However, serious gamers should consider the U7H or a higher-end TV if they have the money to spend, as the U6H’s HDMI ports are limited to 4K gaming at 60Hz and AMD Freesync is only available on the 50-inch model.

Compared to other TVs we’ve tested, the U6H also has a problem handling fast-paced content, has significant light bloom when there are bright and dark picture elements, and it isn’t bright enough for impactful HDR. That said, the U6H is still a good option for most people in this price range.

See our full Hisense U6H review.

Pros

  • Bright enough for most rooms

  • Rich, accurate color

  • Good smart platform and features

Cons

  • Lackluster upscaling

  • Susceptible to light bloom

  • Troublesome motion handling

Product image of TCL 55S555
TCL 5-Series S555
  • Screen sizes under $500: 50”, 55”
  • HDR support: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
  • Smart platform: Roku

The TCL 5-Series S555 offers solid performance at a great value. This quantum dot TV builds on the successes of earlier 5-Series models, offering more vibrant colors, a brighter picture, and enough features to satisfy casual gamers.

Out of the box, the 5-Series has great color accuracy, especially with SDR content, and HDR performance is improved with the latest 5-Series. With 697 nits of peak brightness, it’s one of the brightest HDR TVs for the price, and images pop no matter the settings. Plus, being a Roku TV, it features a terrific, easy-to-use smart platform built right in.

The 5-Series isn’t perfect, though. With a native refresh rate of 60Hz, you won’t be able to experience 4K/120Hz gaming, so serious gamers might want to consider another option. Also, because it has limited dimming zones, we experienced light bloom. And you're out of luck if you’re not a fan of the Roku operating system, as there currently isn’t a Google TV version.

Despite its drawbacks, the 2022 TCL 5-Series is easily the best value for people looking for serious performance on a budget.

See our full TCL 5-Series S555 review.

Pros

  • Excellent out-of-box performance

  • Snappy Roku OS

  • Great for casual gaming

Cons

  • Some light bloom

  • Roku or bust

Product image of Amazon 4K55N400A
Amazon Fire TV 4-Series
  • Screen sizes under $500: 43”, 50”, 55”
  • HDR support: HDR10, HLG
  • Smart platform: Fire TV OS

If you’re looking for an affordable, entry-level 4K TV with a bit of a twist, the 55-inch Amazon Fire TV 4-Series is an interesting candidate.

The Fire TV 4-Series makes Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, the star of the show. By talking into the microphone-equipped, voice control remote, users can ask Alexa to find content, change the TV’s settings, or jump from one app to another. The 4-Series is also compatible with other Alexa devices, making it a good candidate for those focused on a streamlined, Alexa-powered smart home.

When it comes to picture quality and extra features, the Fire TV 4-Series is an entry-level experience through and through. The TV supports HDR, but viewers are unlikely to notice a difference in picture quality while HDR content is playing on account of the 4-Series' lack of brightness. The 4-Series also struggles to maintain its picture quality when viewed from the side, which could hamper group viewings.

If you’re looking for a dependable, 4K upgrade at an affordable price, the Fire TV 4-Series is a decent, value-forward pick. The picture is mostly fine across all types of content, so long as you don’t expect a bright, dazzling experience. Folks who already use Alexa on a daily basis will likely appreciate the 4-Series even more.

See our full Amazon Fire TV 4-Series review.

Pros

  • Great for Alexa users

  • Dependably decent picture quality

  • Affordable price

Cons

  • Too dim for bright rooms

  • Quirky software

  • Poor off-angle viewing

How We Test TVs Under $500

Credit: Reviewed

Our lab is outfitted with much of the same equipment you would find at a factory that manufactures and calibrates televisions.

The Testers

Reviewed has been testing TVs for more than a decade. Michael Desjardin, our Home Theater expert, is a Senior Staff Writer who has been a member of the Reviewed tech team since 2014. A film enthusiast and TV expert, Michael takes picture quality seriously, but understands that not every TV is a good fit for everyone.

John Higgins, who is an Imaging Science Foundation Level III-certified calibrator, is Reviewed’s A/V and Electronics Senior Editor. Over his A/V career of more than two decades, he has written about TVs, speakers, headphones, AVRs, gaming, and all manner of technology.

A TV tester measuring a TV's contrast
Credit: Reviewed / Chris Snow

We measure things like peak brightness, black level, hue, and so on.

The Tests

Our testing process has been honed over many years to gather data that is marginal enough to satisfy curious video engineers, but also relevant to the average person's viewing experience. Outside of the technical tests, we also spend a lot of time watching and using each TV, getting a feel for the at-home experience.

What to Consider Before Buying A Budget TV

People on a budget should be able to find a quality TV without having to make too many sacrifices on performance, screen size, and features. For us, the sweet spot for budget TVs is about $500. Here are some things to consider when shopping for a TV at that price point.

Screen size

While you won’t find quality 83-inch TVs in this price range, you can still get excellent 50- and 55-inch screens. While some larger screens in the TV series we recommend price out of the $500 range, there are some 65-inch models that are available for about $500.

4K resolution

All of the televisions under $500 that we recommend are 4K TVs. At this price range, people should not have to settle for 1080p or 720p resolution. The 3,840 x 2,160 pixels you get in a 4K TV is the current standard/mainstream resolution for most televisions.

HDR support

Almost every 4K TV will also feature HDR), or High Dynamic Range. This means the TV can show images that are brighter and more colorful than older model televisions that did not come equipped with this technology.

HDR TVs can be a bit more expensive, but all of the TVs in this guide feature HDR support. Current top HDR formats include HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision.

Related: HDR10 vs Dolby Vision

Smart TV platform

What sets a smart TV apart from regular televisions is its capability to connect to the internet. Most smart TVs also come equipped with built-in streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.

Our favorite operating system is Roku for its simplicity, ease of use, and functionality. Other TVs under $500 that we recommend have Google TV or Fire TV as their operating systems.

For people who don’t want to rely on their TV for their streaming needs, there are lots of quality streaming devices on the market that will allow them to watch movies and shows on their favorite streaming apps.


Meet the testers

Michael Desjardin

Michael Desjardin

Senior Staff Writer

@Reviewed

Michael Desjardin graduated from Emerson College after having studied media production and screenwriting. He specializes in tech for Reviewed, but also loves film criticism, weird ambient music, cooking, and food in general.

See all of Michael Desjardin's reviews
John Higgins

John Higgins

Managing Editor, Tech

@johntmhiggins

John is Reviewed's Managing Editor of Tech. He is an ISF Level III-certified calibrator with bylines at ProjectorCentral, Wirecutter, IGN, Home Theater Review, T3, Sound & Vision, and Home Theater Magazine. When away from the Reviewed office, he is a sound editor for film and musician, and loves to play games with his son.

See all of John Higgins's reviews
Ben Yoder

Ben Yoder

SEO & Updates Editor

@Reviewed

A journalist for more than two decades, Ben Yoder uses his news, editing, and search experience to help consumers find the best products possible as an SEO & Updates Editor with Reviewed. Based in Iowa, his work has appeared in the Des Moines (Iowa) Register, HawkCentral, and Cyclone Insider, among other websites.

See all of Ben Yoder's reviews

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