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Overview
The performance of the best TVs under 500 may not be as good as, say, a flagship OLED or QLED TV, but it is much better than it was five years ago.
You will need to moderate your expectations, but you can still easily walk away with a fantastic 43-inch, 50-inch, or 55-inch 4K smart TV for less than five hundred dollars.
Likewise, if you make a poor choice, it's possible, but that's where this list comes in. We chose the budget-friendly TVs from our reviews that strike a balance between price and quality, offering you better-than-basic features and above-average performance to help you obtain the best TV for your money.
OUR TOP CHOICES
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Best 4K TV under $500: TCL 5-Series Roku TV (S535)
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Best overall: Hisense H8G Quantum Series (50H8G)
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The best for voice assistants: TCL 4-Series Roku TV (43S435)
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QLED for gamers at a great price: Hisense 50-inch H8G Quantum
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The best small-sized TV: Samsung 43-inch AU8000
- SCORE8.6
- BrandTCL
Last update on 2023-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images, Product Titles, and Product Highlights from Amazon Product Advertising API
Product Highlights
The TCL 5-Series Roku TV delivers what TCL does best: it combines good performance and features with an unquestionably amazing price. With the category-leading color and brightness of QLED and Roku's user-friendly smart TV interface, which puts thousands of apps at your fingertips, you can get the 55-inch model for right about $500.
The QLED display not only provides full color gamut and superb color accuracy, but also the best HDR compatibility available, including Dolby Vision in addition to the more fundamental HDR10 and HLG codecs. It is also among the top gaming TVs under $500, with input lag measuring at 13.1 milliseconds. This is the greatest affordable TV available right now.
REASON TO PURCHASE
+ Faithful colors
+ Smarts for Roku built-in
+ Positive price
REASON NOT TO PURCHASE
- Middling sound
- Moderate luminosity
Product Highlights
The Hisense H8G Quantum Series (50H8G), a wonderful 50-inch TV at a low price, has a lot to offer. The H8G is one of the greatest TVs you'll find for under $500 thanks to its QLED panel, local dimming, and Android TV smarts, as well as its Android TV smarts and Android TV.
While local dimming and the quantum-dot screen improve contrast and color performance, there are still certain compromises made in the sake of cost-effectiveness. It's not as good as a more expensive TV because of the 60Hz display, average motion handling, and imperfect color reproduction, but it's still one of the best 50-inch 4K smart TVs you can find for the money.
With built-in Chromecast and Google Assistant and access to Google's vast app store, Android TV provides a fantastic smart TV experience. The Hisense H8G is one of the greatest gaming TVs you can get for less than $500, with lag times of around 14 milliseconds.
REASON TO PURCHASE
+Great value in general
+Accurate image
+Deep Google Home and Assistant integration
REASON NOT TO PURCHASE
-Remote lacks backlighting
-The feet seem fragile.
-Has trouble with fast-moving sequences
Product Highlights
One of the best TV deals you'll find in any size is the TCL 4 Series Roku TV. The 43-inch edition of this 4K TV costs less than $300, which is frequently less than the price of cheap 1080p TVs. It supports HDR10, but not Dolby Vision, for better contrast, and has good color accuracy. It makes use of the Roku system software, which offers one of the greatest smart TV experiences currently available and has a wide selection of apps. With a 14 millisecond latency time, this set is also capable of handling frantic games.
The TCL 4 Series lacks a few features that more expensive TVs offer in exchange for the low price. The HDR performance isn't as good as it may be because local dimming isn't there. Additionally, the speakers are poor, having minimal power and little bass. Consider adding a soundbar to your TV if it will serve as your primary viewing device to fix the sound problems.
REASON TO PURCHASE
+Excellent value-priced 4K
+Good color fidelity
+Solid Roku skills
REASON NOT TO PURCHASE
-No support for Dolby Vision
-Slight sound modifications
-Picture tweaks are hard to come by
Product Highlights
With a quantum dot LED panel, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos compatibility, and full-array local dimming, the H8G combines a number of highly interesting features. We are accustomed to seeing items like these on considerably more expensive models.
The brightness of the H8G is literally its best feature. The display can go significantly brighter than most of the other TVs on this list, which not only helps with battling brightly lit rooms but also makes HDR video shine more magnificently. This is true whether it is displaying normal or high dynamic range content.
The H8G has a VA LCD panel, which results in less-than-ideal viewing angles but superb contrast and deep, rich blacks. You would need to invest in an OLED TV, which costs more than twice as much as this Hisense model, to have significantly higher contrast ratios.
You also get some fantastic added features with Android TV. Both Chromecast and Google Assistant are built-in and accessible through the voice-activated remote control. You can use voice commands to control the TV and volume, activate apps, and manage playback just like with a Roku TV. However, as it has Google Assistant functionality, you can also ask it to perform any of the tasks a Google smart speaker can, such as providing weather forecasts or responding to nagging queries like who directed the movie you just watched.
With 240Hz motion control and a number of auto game mode improvements, the Hisense H8G is also a really solid option for sports and gaming.
REASON TO PURCHASE
+Excellent black levels
+High radiance
+Striking contrast
+Dependable HDR performance
REASON NOT TO PURCHASE
-No support for HDMI 2.1 features
-Moderate color correcting is required.
Product Highlights
With this little entry, Samsung strikes out hard—at least in terms of visual quality. The AU8000, which has a VA panel, offers contrast levels generally only found in larger, more expensive TVs. The AU8000 is excellent for viewing in gloomy rooms despite the lack of local dimming. Think of it as our highest recommendation for late-night Netflix binges.
Dynamic Crystal Color and HDR10+ support from Samsung bring vivid and lifelike colors to the table. It's true that there is occasionally a little too much delay, especially in low-lit scenes. This problem, together with the set's edge lighting, can make transitions a little hit or miss. The overall color, contrast, and brightness of the set more than make up for these minor issues and hiccups.
Fans of smart TVs will love the AU8000's Tizen-powered OS, which offers hundreds of apps, voice controls, and support for Alexa, Google Assistant, and Bixby assistants.
One of our favorite small-screen options, the Samsung 43-inch AU8000 may not be the most powerful set in terms of performance, but it has a ton of features and useful add-ons that make up for it.
REASON TO PURCHASE
+Outstanding smart-TV features
+Great contrast and black levels
+Beneficial in bright rooms
REASON NOT TO PURCHASE
-Little judder in the motion
-Delay may be a problem.
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Are $500 or less 4K TVs any good?
Yes, but stick to the manufacturers who have a solid reputation for producing high-quality goods. We have every confidence that the choices we've made above will meet your need for a high-quality TV.
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What 4K TV size can I get for $500?
Depending on the brand, the answer will vary, but you should plan on 60 inches or less. The screen sizes available for $500 have decreased as prices have gone up.
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Can I get a 4K HDR TV for around $500?
Yes, but keep in mind that its HDR performance (which is sometimes a function of peak brightness) could not be as as impressive as that of more expensive screens.
We've listed what we believe are now the best 4k TVs under 500 that the majority of people can buy in the suggestions above. We consider the cost (a less expensive TV prevails over a more expensive one if the price difference isn't significant), comments from visitors, and availability (no TVs that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
Here is a list of all of our TV reviews, arranged by price from low to high, if you prefer to do the selection yourself. Be careful not to become bogged down in the particulars. While there are no perfect TVs, the majority of them are excellent enough to satisfy most people, and the differences are frequently not apparent unless you carefully search for them.
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