Best 55-inch 4K TVs of 2017: the best medium-sized screens for any budget

The best 55-inch TV in 2017 is the television size that hits the sweet spot that gives you a big-screen TV, but can fit into a smaller living room.

Since the 55-inch TVs are also a popular size, major TV manufacturers are vying for superiority in this category, including among 4K TVs. That means loads of top-quality options for you at good prices, but it also translates into a lot of tough decision making on your part.

From LCD, LED, OLED and QLED, you’ll find just about every type of display technology at 55 inches coming from television manufacturers like LG, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. Even better, they offer 55-inch TVs loaded with new smart features.

Here are our recommendations for the best 55-inch TVs you can buy today, with all the details you need to know what makes them so great. 

Best 55-inch TV

At the top of our 55-inch TV list for 2017 is the LG OLED C7 – available in a 55-inch iteration as well as a 65-inch. It's here because it delivers better brightness and light control than last year’s C6 (something we weren't sure was even possible), making it a high dynamic range performer that doesn't sacrifice OLED’s class-leading standard dynamic range capabilities. It delivers its new picture thrills at a price that finally makes OLED a financially viable alternative to top-end LCD sets  making it, beyond a doubt, one of 2017’s most irresistible TVs.

There are other OLEDs worth considering this year (see: Sony's A1E OLED or LG's B7 and W7) but we considering just how much LG's OLED C7 offers for its price, there's just no panel from 2017 that beats it.

Read the full review: LG OLED55C7

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Best 55-inch TV

Although LCDs haven't quite achieved the same black levels as their OLED rivals, the Sony X900E's HDR performance comes tantalizingly close. 

This is achieved through the set's direct LED backlight, which allows it to achieve a brightness uniformity that edge-lit displays often fall short of. 

Add in fantastic detail and motion handling, the Sony BRAVIA XBR-55X900E (called the KD-55XE90 in the UK) strikes an excellent balance between price and performance for mid-range 4K TVs and is well worth investigating … even if its Android TV interface can feel a little cluttered, and its remote a little cheap. 

Read the full review of the 65-inch version: Sony BRAVIA XBR-65X900E

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best 50 and 55 inch TVs

TV manufacturers have long sought the formula to a great performing TV at a bargain price and, speaking for the last seven years since LED LCD hit the mainstream, have never quite achieved that perfect balance. Until now. 

For us, TCL’s P-Series 55P607 does just that – it packs powerful technology under the hood, including support for WCG and Dolby Vision, in an affordable package that will only get cheaper once the seasonal sales start in November.

If you like your TVs bright, colorful and well-stocked with the latest display technologies, the TCL P-Series 55P607 should be at the top of your list.

Read the full review: TCL P-Series (55P607)

Philips 55PUT6400

If you have the money to bankroll them, the 55A1E – and the A1E OLED series overall – are crowd pleasers in just about every way. Their ‘picture only’ design has been beautifully realized, managing to be simultaneously subtle and dramatic. Their vibrating screen delivers a far more powerful and effective sound performance than we’d ever thought possible.  

The real stars of the show here, though, are the A1’s exquisitely detailed, contrast-rich and colorful pictures. These prove emphatically what we’ve long suspected: More brands using OLED technology can only lead to good things. 

Read the full review: Sony Bravia OLED A1E

Panasonic TX-50CX802B

Samsung was the first brand to introduce an HDR-compatible screen way back in 2015, but it's not been resting on its haunches ever since. 

It's latest flagship, the QN55Q9F (QE55Q9FAM in the UK), is a perfect example of this. It ups the brightness to 1500 nits, 50% higher than the level required for UHD Premium certification, making it one of the brightest TV we've ever tested. 

Outside of an impressive-sounding number this brightness has a real impact on the set's image quality. Detail is preserved in even the brightest areas of the image, and colors are exceptionally vivid and bright. That means even non-HDR content looks fantastic thanks to Samsung's SDR upscaling technology. 

No TV is perfect, and the Q9F can occasionally suffer from some backlight clouding around bright objects and some settings cause color striping in HDR colors, but in all other respects this is the best television around at the moment. 

Read the full review: Samsung Q9F QLED TV

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Hisense 50K321

LG's 'B' line of OLEDs has consistently offered a great entry point into the display technology without compromising on what makes it so exciting. 

And the B7 series is no different. 

Contained within the TVs is exactly the same panel that's powering the more expensive C7, E7 and yes even the W7 LG televisions, which means an exceptional bump over last year's OLED panels at a much lower price. 

So where has LG saved the money? In a word, sound. The B7's downward firing speakers are the worst all the company's OLED TVs. Not only that, but the set is also currently unable to pass Dolby Atmos to an external sound system over HDMI (although a firmware update to fix this is on the way). 

If however, you're content to put up with a standard surround sound experience, then the B7 is a fantastic entryway into a piece of TV tech that still feels futuristic in 2017. 

Read the full review: LG OLED55C7

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Best 50 and 55-inch TVs

AV enthusiasts living in the UK have it good. Not only do you have access to great OLEDs from Sony and LG, but Philips and Panasonic each have their own line of infinite contrast screens that are exclusive to your neck of the woods.

Of them, one of our favourites is the Philips 55POS901F: a gorgeous looking 55-inch TV built around an OLED panel. The screen makes a stunning first impression thanks to the radiance of its three-sided Ambilight system and the gleaming metallic purity of its bodywork. 

It’s much more than just a pretty face, though. 

By the time you’ve added to the 55POS901F’s heady 4K HDR picture mix OLED’s ability to be watched from wider angles than current LCD TVs without losing colour and contrast, you have on your hands one of the best TVs on the market, even in the especially competitive 55-inch screen space.

Read the full review: Philips 55POS901F

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Panasonic TX-50CS520

By introducing its exceptional X1 video processor further down its TV range than ever before and being brave enough to dial down the brightness a bit to deliver a more even, immersive backlight experience, Sony's struck mid-range gold with the XBR-X850E (KD-55XE8596 in the UK). 

While it's not the brightest or most colorful TV on the list, the simple fact is that few TVs we’ve seen in recent times have balanced price, contrast, brightness and color quite so all-round effectively as Sony's mid-range hero.

All that said, US customers will have to upgrade to Sony's 65-inch iteration of the X850E if they want the mid-range price break, while UK residents get to happily enjoy this one in the smaller 55-inch size.

Read the full review: Sony XBR-55X850E

from TechRadar – All the latest technology news http://www.techradar.com/news/television/tv/10-best-50-inch-tvs-in-the-world-today-902184

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