Best TV for gaming: Top televisions for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and every other console

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have ushered in an era of graphical console power unlike anything we’ve seen before. If you want to experience the thrill of 4K gaming at silky smooth 120Hz refresh rates, then you’ll want the biggest and best TV for gaming that you can physically fit through your front door.

Even if you’ve not been lucky enough to get your hands on a next-gen console, now is still a great time to upgrade your gaming TV. Even the PS4 and Xbox One X are capable of outputting 4K and HDR content, and top-notch 4K HDR TVs with gaming friendly features are getting more and more affordable with each passing year.

To help you choose the right one, we’ve put together a list of the best TVs for gaming we’ve tested. No matter your budget, our favourite TVs range from affordable models which are perfect for the bedroom all the way through to flagship TVs which are brimming with cutting edge display technology. Underneath all that, we’ve got a buying guide to take you through all you need to know before you make a purchase.

Best TV for gaming: At a glance

How we test gaming TVs

All of the televisions listed below have undergone rigorous testing using the Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software. We test numerous aspects of SDR and HDR performance to bring you data-led reviews designed to help you make informed buying decisions when splashing out on your next TV.

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The best TVs for gaming you can buy

1. LG C3: Best small TV for gaming

Price when reviewed: From £859 (42in) | Check price at Amazon

LG’s C series OLED has long been one of the most popular gaming TVs on the market, and the addition of smaller screen sizes perfect for desktop gaming has further strengthened that position. The 2023 has all of the gaming credentials you’d expect, with four HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 48Gbps bandwidth, ALLM and every format of VRR.

Input lag is ridiculously low and LG’s Game Optimizer mode remains one of the industry’s best tools for personalising the way you game, providing access to a variety of gaming modes and useful settings. The C3 is a great gaming TV regardless of which size it comes in, but the 42in and 48in are unmatched when it comes to balancing performance and price.

Read our full LG C3 review

2. TCL RC630K: Best TV for gaming under £500

Price when reviewed: From £294 (50in) | Check price at Amazon

Gamers who don’t own a next-gen console or are willing to make certain sacrifices to save themselves some money will want to consider buying a budget TV for gaming.

There are plenty of them out there, but the RC630K is our pick of the bunch. Its panel is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and there’s no support for features such as ALLM or VRR, but the picture quality is decent, input lag low and the Roku OS offers intuitive access to a huge range of streaming services and apps.

If you can stretch your budget, the TCL C745K is a superior option, but for those looking to keep costs to a minimum while enjoying a smooth and relatively punchy gaming experience, the RC630K fits the bill very nicely.

Read our full TCL RC630K review

3. TCL C745: Best-value TV for next-gen gaming

Price when reviewed: From £649 (55in) | Check price at Currys

The TCL C745 offers every gaming enhancement option imaginable and does so at an incredibly competitive price. Its quantum dot LED panel supports VRR up to 144Hz when connected to a PC and handles 4K@120Hz on next-gen consoles without breaking a sweat. Input lag in Game mode is extremely low and this, combined with effective local dimming and decent contrast ensures a smooth and easy-on-the-eye gaming experience.

TCL’s pop-up gaming hub provides key information on the TV’s gaming status, including frame rate data and whether ALLM and VRR are on, while also allowing users to easily take screenshots, adjust the shadow levels and even engage an aim assist for shooters.

If you can stretch your budget a little further, the TCL C845 offers better picture performance thanks to its brighter Mini LED backlight, but if funds are tight, the C745 is the best gaming TV available at its price point.

Read our full TCL C745 review

4. Sony A80L: Perfect for PlayStation

Price when reviewed: From £1,599 (55in) | Check price at Amazon

We were big fans of both the Sony A80J and A80K and the 2023 model continues where its predecessors left off, delivering a combination of premium design, impressive SDR and HDR images and fantastic picture processing.

Sony is the manufacturer of the PlayStation 5 and few OLEDs are a better companion for that console than the A80 series. A pair of HDMI 2.1 ports facilitate 4K gaming at 120Hz and there are two “Perfect for PlayStation” features supported: Auto HDR Tone Mapping optimises HDR settings when you first connect your console, while Auto Genre Picture Mode detects whether you’re using your PlayStation for gaming or streaming and switches picture modes accordingly.

Sound quality is first-rate too, with Sony’s Acoustic Surface Pro+ technology transforming the TV’s panel into a centre audio channel with great success. Google Assistant is built-in, one of the many perks of the Google TV operating system that features all the key streaming applications like YouTube, Disney+, Prime Video and Netflix.

Read our full Sony A80L review

5. Samsung QN95C: Best 4K Mini LED TV for gaming

Price when reviewed: From £888 (55in) | Check price at Amazon

If you’re concerned about the image retention that sometimes affects OLED screens, you’ll want to consider this Mini LED LCD TV from Samsung. It was the brand’s flagship 4K Neo QLED for 2023 and the SDR and HDR images its quantum dot-powered panel can deliver are remarkable.

Like the S90C and QN900C, the QN95C benefits from the inclusion of a quartet of HDMI 2.1 ports, all of which support the latest and greatest gaming features. Game Bar 3.0 is present and correct too, as is support for Samsung’s Gaming Hub, a platform that lets you easily access streaming apps and services such as Amazon Luna and GeForce Now.

Gaming on the QN95C is incredibly fluid and responsive, with no tearing or other visual artefacts even when playing games at the highest refresh rate possible. The TV also looks very smart and sounds great, making it a tantalising prospect for gamers looking for a television that ticks just about every box.

Read our full Samsung QN95C review

Check price at Samsung

6. Philips OLED808: Best Ambilight gaming TV

Price when reviewed: From £1,199 (55in) | Check price at Richer Sounds

Ambilight technology helps Philips TVs stand out in a crowded market and enables the OLED808 to deliver a unique gaming experience. LEDs built into three sides of the panel illuminate the wall behind the TV and change colour according to what’s on the screen. This enhances gaming immersion considerably but the LEDs can also be set to neutral white to act as a bias light, improving contrast and making viewing in darker rooms more comfortable.

Ambilight aside, the OLED808 delivers superb SDR and HDR picture performance, supports VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision HDR gaming, while its 2.1-channel audio system is surprisingly powerful, full-bodied and pleasingly coherent. Google TV rounds out an exceptional offering, providing access to a whole host of streaming services and plenty of smart functionality, too.

Read our full Philips OLED808 review

7. LG G3: Best gaming TV for wall mounting

Price when reviewed: From £1,399 (55in) | Check price at Amazon

Not many people choose to wall mount the TV they use for gaming but if you do plan to, the LG G3 is the TV to buy, as it was specifically designed for that purpose and doesn’t even come with a stand in the box. It does, however, sport a “One Wall” design that leaves virtually no gap between the panel and the wall it’s attached to, which ensures it fits seamlessly into your home decor.

Not only does the TV look great on a wall, but it delivers some of the best pictures of any OLED TV on the market. It’s the first TV we’ve reviewed that makes use of Micro Lens Array technology and this allows it to push brightness much higher than last year’s G2. Gaming provision is first-rate too, with four HDMI 2.1 ports all supporting key next-gen gaming features including 4K@120Hz, VRR and ALLM. Game Optimiser mode further strengthens the G3’s gaming credentials by offering a range of game genre presets and delivering input lag under 10ms at 60fps and under 5ms at 120fps.

Read our full LG G3 review

8. Samsung QN900C: Best 8K TV for gaming

Price when reviewed: From £3,399 (65in) | Check price at Currys

There’s a distinct lack of native 8K resolution content at the moment but this pricey option from Samsung will ensure you’re futureproofed for years to come. It’s the zenith of modern TV technology and delivers some of the most detailed images we’ve ever seen from a consumer TV thanks to a highly advanced panel complete with a quantum dot layer and Mini LED backlight. Samsung’s AI-powered Neo Quantum HDR 8K Pro processor upscales content superbly, so you’re always getting a great picture regardless of the resolution of your source material.

Every gaming feature imaginable is supported, including FreeSync Premium, Samsung’s Motion Xcelerator Turbo Pro 144Hz, 4K@120HZ and ALLM. Input lag is minimal, motion handling is first-rate, and those that like to tinker will find the Samsung Game Bar both handy and very easy to use. The true power of the QN900C remains untapped until 8K games become the norm, which is some years off, but this a TV that’s ready for whatever the future holds.

Read our full Samsung QN900C review

How to choose the best TV for gaming for you

There are numerous factors to consider when buying a TV for gaming. Below, we’ll break down the key things to think about before making a purchase.

What type of TV panel is best for gaming?

There are two main types of modern TV panel – those that have a liquid-crystal display illuminated by light-emitting diodes (LCD LED) and those that use self-emissive organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). Both have pros and cons so which you choose will ultimately come down to your budget and which performance aspects you deem most important.

LCD LED: These are generally the cheaper option but tend to be bulkier as they require a backlight to illuminate the liquid crystals in their panel. This backlight allows LCD TVs to achieve higher peak brightness than OLEDs but comes at the cost of energy efficiency.

You’ll find a few LCD TV variants, all of which use an LED backlight. Quantum Dot LED TVs feature a layer of microscopic quantum dots that emit colour in reaction to light, enabling the panel to reach higher levels of peak brightness than normal LED panels. Similarly, LG’s NanoCell TVs add a layer of nanoparticles to filter out unwanted light wavelengths to improve the purity of certain colours.

In 2021, we started to see Mini LED TVs come to market. These use LEDs about one-fortieth the size of regular LEDs, enabling more of them to be squeezed into a panel of the same size. The increased number of LEDs allows for greater control over local dimming, which in turn results in better black levels, contrast and peak brightness.

Quantum Dot, Mini LED and NanoCell aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, premium LCD TVs like LG’s QNED90 incorporate all three technologies.

OLED: OLED panels use an organic material that emits light when a current is passed through it. Each pixel acts as its own light source, and pixels can also turn off completely to achieve perfect black. This means that OLEDs can achieve superior contrast compared to their LCD counterparts. They also offer better viewing angles, more vivid colours and are thinner and lighter. However, they cost a fair bit more than most of their LCD LED options.

OLEDs also run the risk of incurring permanent image burn-in. This happens when certain LEDs in a display are used more regularly than others and become dimmer faster, resulting in a “ghost image” that persists on the screen no matter what you’re watching

Burn-in only occurs when an image stays on the same part of the screen for long periods of time – we’re talking many hundreds of hours. In normal use, it shouldn’t be a concern, but if you don’t want to take the risk, you’re better off with an LCD option

What gaming-specific features should I look out for?

In recent years, we’ve started to see mid-range and premium televisions adding support for a number of exciting “next-gen” gaming features, and they’re well worth knowing about if you want to get the best out of your new console or high-end PC. Some of these are only available if your TV has an HDMI 2.1 port that supports them, which is why those ports are so sought after by gamers.

VRR: Unlike films and TV shows, gaming frame rates fluctuate depending on the amount of processing required by the GPU. That’s where variable refresh rate (VRR) comes in: it allows the TV to adjust its refresh rate to match that of the game’s, thus minimising judder, lag and frame-tearing for smoother, more fluid gameplay. AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync are two well-known forms of VRR

ALLM: TVs supporting auto low-latency mode (ALLM) will automatically switch to a low-latency mode when compatible consoles are connected, helping the TV to deliver the fastest possible response times. Picture quality will take a small hit in low-latency modes because the TV has to dial back its picture processing to speed up response times

4K at 120Hz: The PS5 and Xbox Series X are able to output games at 4K resolution at up to 120Hz. Simply owning a 120Hz TV doesn’t guarantee you can take advantage of this – you’ll need to ensure it has an HDMI 2.1 port that supports 4K at 120Hz otherwise you’ll be limited to 4K at 60Hz.

What is input lag and why is it important?

Input lag is the delay between executing an action (such as pressing a button) and the actual result manifesting itself on the TV screen. In terms of numbers, the higher the input lag, the more sluggish the game will feel. This obviously affects gameplay, especially for fast-paced games such as racing and first-person shooter titles.

Modern smart TVs come with complicated picture-processing algorithms that can increase input lag significantly, with everything from motion enhancement to deinterlacing having some impact. As a result, a lot of TV manufacturers now include a specific Game mode that minimises input lag.

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