We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
You don’t have to pay a fortune for a quality telly.
If you’re considering a TV upgrade, you’ll have noticed how many brands there are and how much jargon there is to sift through, but buying the best TV doesn’t have to be confusing or expensive. Whether you want a larger 55-inch 4K display to be the focal point of your living room or a smaller 32-inch HD model for watching the new series of Dream Home Makeover, you will easily find a smart 4K TV for £500 or less.
The best affordable TVs have similar features found in higher-end models from our best TV roundup. The models in our list have vivid 4K displays that make colours pop and include hands-free control via voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Assistant.
Our favourite affordable TVs all connect to streaming apps and let you pair one of the best set-top boxes or best streaming devices, plus Bluetooth or ports to enhance the audio with a quality soundbar. Sure, you have to compromise on high refresh rates at a lower price point, but most of us wouldn’t notice the difference in the first place.
Here’s our pick of the best TVs under £500 in 2022:
Of course, there’s more to buying a new TV than price alone. Which screen size best fits your room? Can it be mounted to your wall? How easy are the menus to navigate? How many HDMI ports does it have? These are all important questions. The experts at the GH Tech Team are here to help with the answers, and you will find a full buying guide under our TV recommendations.
On the GH tech team, we test the best TVs by adding them to our home setups and using them just like you do. For both high-end and budget models, we check display quality by watching movies, TV shows and documentaries from terrestrial channels and streaming platforms in light and dark room conditions, and note how the speakers perform at low and loud volumes. This list has been compiled based on rigorous research – including in-depth comparisons of specs, features, design and pricing of each model – alongside hands-on testing.
Whether you’re watching the latest series of The Great British Bake Off or gaming for hours on a PlayStation 5, the AU9000 can handle it. This Samsung model is one of the most expensive on our list, right at the top of the £500 budget, but gives you crisp 4K resolution in an ultra-slimline frame that looks great sitting on a TV stand or on the wall of your living room via a Vesa mount (more on that below).
Fire it up and all of the major streaming platforms are there – Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix and Apple TV+ – as are all three of the big voice assistants, Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung’s Bixby, so you can change shows, or the volume, using your voice. If you want to plug in external speakers or a gaming console, the three HDMI ports and Bluetooth are more than enough connectivity, and gamers will enjoy the low latency mode, which reduces lag between the controller and on-screen gameplay.
The AU9000 is one of the few models on our list with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, as most affordable 4K TVs are usually no more than 60Hz. The higher number means that you will see a smoother performance during fast-moving scenes on the screen, although the 120Hz mode is limited to the 1080p resolution setting on this TV, and not 4K.
The high refresh rate is great for gaming and sports events when the action is quick, but you’ll always want to check your motion processing settings (and possibly turn them off) when watching movies – you want to avoid the “soap opera effect” that makes films look unnaturally smooth due to how the TV handles different frame rates.
• Screen size: 55-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: LED • Connectivity: HDMI x3, USB x2, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa, Google, Bixby • Wall mount: Vesa, 200 x 200 mm • Weight: 16.2 kg • Refresh rate: 60Hz 4K, 120Hz 1080p
Think you have to pay a fortune for stunning picture quality? Think again. Hisense’s A7GQ is a QLED, so it has a vivid 4K resolution, loads of colour and excellent sharpness. Want to get the most from action movies or the latest Netflix documentaries? The A7GQ has a neat bit of technology called Dolby Vision HDR – which deepens blacks and boosts brightness and contrast.
You can make the most of the excellent display with catch-up apps – including UKTV Play, BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub – alongside streaming platforms including Netflix, Prime Video, Britbox and Disney+. Accessing these apps couldn’t be easier thanks to the built-in voice assistants Alexa and Google Assistant, which you can launch via the remote.
• Screen size: 55-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: QLED • Connectivity: HDMI x3, USB x2, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa, Google Assistant • Wall mount: Vesa, 300 x 200 mm • Weight: 12.3 kg • Refresh rate: 60Hz
Not everyone needs a humongous telly with 4K, and if you are searching for an affordable TV that is snug and Full HD, Samsung’s Q50A ticks both boxes.
The borders around the 32-inch display are bigger than the AU9000 at the top of our list, but this is still a sleek and slim TV that looks great on a stand or wall, and the smaller size means you won’t miss the extra pixels – great for the bedroom.
Getting 4K resolution at this size is very rare because the size of the screen means the extra details just can’t be seen by your eyes.
It may be 1080p, but you get a solid QLED panel that’s full of colour, support for the big streaming apps and the three major voice assistants: Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby.
• Screen size: 32-inch • Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD) • Display type: QLED • Connectivity: HDMI x3, USB x2, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa, Google Assistant, Bixby • Wall mount: Vesa, 100 x 100 mm • Weight: 5.4kg • Refresh rate: 60Hz
If 32 inches is too small and you want 4K in a slightly larger frame, Samsung’s AU7100 is affordable, feature-rich and a great option for anyone making the upgrade to 4K for the first time or shopping for a top all-rounder.
From using the TV, we like that the borders around the panel are tiny so your focus stays on what’s on screen, and that the power cable runs down one leg of the stand to reduce clutter. You won’t need to worry about needing tools for assembly as the feet clip on with a push, so this is for anyone who doesn’t want a fussy set-up.
Colours pop and the image is sharp thanks to the higher resolution than Full HD, and all of the major streaming services are accounted for. There are no built-in voice assistants on the AU7100 (though it can be paired to Alexa or Google Assistant speaker devices as a workaround) and there’s no Freeview Play, although you can access your favourite catch-up apps separately. The draw here is the price. Specifically, how low it is.
• Screen size: 43-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: LED • Connectivity: HDMI x3, USB x1, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa, Google Assistant • Wall mount: Vesa, 200 x 200 mm • Weight: 8.3kg • Refresh rate: 50Hz
For many homes, between 50 inches and 65 inches is a sweet spot for a 4K TV that’s going to be on a TV stand or mounted to the wall. If your sofa is placed around two metres from the screen, you will find that size is 55 inches. LG’s 2022 UQ80 has everything you need from a 4K model of that size for under £500. For anyone watching loads of movies, there’s a “filmmaker mode” which turns off features that may alter how they look, such as motion smoothing and software that over-sharpens the image.
We love the thin design and minimal borders around the screen and LG’s webOS is easy to navigate and packed with popular apps including Netflix, Disney+ and Freeview Play. If you don’t want to manually search for shows, you can launch Google Assistant and Alexa via the remote control, but another plus is that it also works with Apple AirPlay and HomeKit – that’s a bit more compatibility you get with many affordable TV models.
• Screen size: 55-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: LED • Connectivity: HDMI 2.0 x 3, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa, Google Assistant • Wall mount: Vesa, 300 x 300 mm • Weight: 14 kg • Refresh rate: 60 Hz
Want a new TV to fill a large room? You can get a 65-inch smart TV for under £500. This Toshiba set is no-frills in terms of the high-end features of some of our other picks but offers you fantastic value for money if your priority is a massive 4K resolution panel.
We love the sturdy stand and that the built-in Alexa is hidden in the border around the screen. All of your favourite apps are present, and the TV upscales any non-4K content so it looks better than standard definition, too.
Need to connect a gaming console or soundbar? This set has three HDMI ports, although you may not need to enhance the audio too much as it comes with Dolby Atmos virtual surround sound so your shows, movies and sports will sound great.
• Screen size: 65-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: LED • Connectivity: HDMI x3, USB x1, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa • Wall mount: Vesa, 400 x 200 mm • Weight: 24 kg • Refresh rate: 60Hz
From the latest series of Stranger Things to your annual rewatch of Friends, streaming platforms give us huge libraries of movies and TV shows at our fingertips. The 55-inch JVC Fire TV is a fantastic way to bring your streaming world into one place and shines if you're using Alexa-compatible devices like smart lights or smart thermostats as they can be controlled directly through the TV, just like you would a smart speaker.
This TV is a top choice for families, as it lets you make profiles for each person and keep the viewing preferences separate. You won’t need a Fire TV stick – your favourite apps including Netflix, YouTube, Prime and Disney+ are all here – and you’ll find live TV channels on the home screen so you don’t have to spend ages scouring the menus.
We love the size of the 55-inch TV for homes and recommend the bigger screen sizes in the Fire TV range as the smaller versions have much lower resolutions. You can pick up a 32-inch model for under £200, but it’s bulky and 768p resolution so we recommend the 40-inch model at a minimum as it has a much better 1080p resolution.
• Screen size: 55-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: LED • Connectivity: HDMI x3, USB x2, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa • Wall mount: Vesa, 200 x 200 mm • Weight: 15 kg • Refresh rate: 60Hz
If you've got gaming-mad teens at home, you'll want the highest refresh rate to maintain smoothness during the fast-paced action of their latest obsession.
The LG 886PB goes up to 120Hz, making it a great buy if you have a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X at home and unlike some of our other TV picks it supports HDMI 2.1, which is needed to achieve higher refresh rates at 4K when using next-gen consoles. It also supports a technology called FreeSync Premium, which opens up variable refresh rates, or VRR, during gameplay. When combined, these reduce unwanted stutters and keep performance smooth. The 50-inch screen is bigger than most gaming monitors, and players can stay hands-off while gaming thanks to Google Assistant and Alexa.
• Screen size: 55-inch • Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels (4K) • Display type: Nanocell LED • Connectivity: HDMI x4, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Alexa, Google Assistant • Wall mount: Vesa, 200 x 200 mm • Weight: 14kg • Refresh rate: Up to 120Hz
TV or digital photo frame? Samsung’s The Frame is both. All of the models on our list can be mounted to your walls with a bracket, but what takes this TV to the next level is that it has an Art Mode that allows you to choose from more than 1,200 gallery-style artworks to add a classy touch to your living room, plus coloured bezels so you can match your decor. Want to display your own photos? We found that’s no problem either – you can upload them to the TV using your phone or using a USB stick.
When it’s fixed on your wall the TV automatically adjusts its brightness based on how much light it senses in the room, and it works just as well when being used as a sleek QLED TV, with all of the major smart apps and Freesat for terrestrial channels.
• Screen size: 32-inch • Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD) • Display type: QLED • Connectivity: HDMI x2, USB x2, Bluetooth, wifi • Voice assistants: Built-in Alexa and Bixby, works with Google • Wall mount: Supplied • Weight: 5.3kg • Refresh rate: 60Hz
Display technology: The display technology that powers the screen has a huge impact on the quality of the picture. There are two types you will see when looking for TVs at the £500-and-under price point: LED (light-emitting diode) and QLED (Quantum-dot Light-Emitting Diode). The third is OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode), but that’s still reserved for the higher end of the market, usually costing around £600.
LED is the most common type of affordable TV, and as the name suggests these use LEDs to light up an LCD panel behind the screen. QLED is similar and usually found in TVs from Samsung, Hisense and TCL. While most of us would struggle to tell the difference between LED and QLED, it's worth knowing that OLED TVs have the best quality – including deep blacks and crisp whites – but these will all be out of reach for our budget of under £500.
Resolution: This is how clear your picture quality will be. The lowest you want to go is 1080p, which is known as Full HD, as anything below will make your favourite shows look slightly blurry or out of focus – especially on larger screens. Luckily, 4K, known as Ultra HD, is now commonplace at the £500-and-under price point. This has four times the amount of pixels compared to Full HD panels, and it makes the picture look much sharper. For the greatest quality always make sure you are watching the HD version of a channel, movie or show. Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ all now host lots of 4K content.
Screen size: How big is the room for your new TV? Don’t buy a 55-inch if it has to squeeze into an alcove in your living room, but likewise, a 32-inch TV in a massive space will only result in serious eye strain. So how can you find the right size for you? First, know that TVs are measured in inches and diagonally – from corner to corner – and it’s generally recommended that your viewing area, like a sofa or bed, is roughly 1.5 times the vertical screen size away from the TV. So, for a 55-inch 4K TV, you should aim to be around two metres away from the screen.
App support: Every TV on this list is a “smart” TV, meaning that it connects to your home wifi and has access to apps such as BBC iPlayer, Spotify, ITV Hub, Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+, but you should always check the compatibility of the TV before buying as not every model lets you download every app. Thankfully you can get around this by picking up a streaming device, such as Roku Streaming Stick 4K or Fire TV Stick.
Smart features: The main smart feature you will have at the £500-and-under price point is built-in voice assistant support – which lets you control the TV and search for content using voice commands, sometimes by hitting a button on the remote. The most common are Alexa and Google Assistant, which are launched using “Hey, Alexa” or “OK, Google” trigger words and save you time searching for your show or changing the volume. Not every TV has every type of assistant, so check the specs to see what’s included.
Refresh rate: This is how many times in a second the screen refreshes the image, and you will see it measured in hertz (Hz). There are two common types: 60Hz and 120Hz, with the bigger number usually only found in more expensive models. In general, the higher the number, the smoother the picture on the screen looks to your eyes because the screen shows more frames per second (fps), affecting how motion is shown.
Connectivity: Most affordable TVs under £500 will have at least two HDMI ports, which are used to connect other devices such as streaming sticks, consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and set-top-boxes so they show on the TV. Two more common connectivity features are Bluetooth – used to pair soundbars, headphones or portable speakers – and a port that lets you connect to your wifi via an ethernet cable, giving you the fastest and most reliable streaming and download connection.
Wall mounting: While most TVs stand on feet, some let you mount the set to a wall using a bracket. The common standard is Vesa, with popular sizes being 200 x 200 mm, 400 x 400 mm and 600 x 400 mm (horizontal x vertical).
Which wall bracket you need to buy always depends on TV size, so measure the gaps between four pre-built screw holes on the back of your set. Make sure the bracket supports the TV’s size and weight – if the bracket can’t support the TV it will fall – and check that your wall is strong enough to hold the weight of the TV, too.