Best 55" TV for £500-700?

[ramblo93]

Needs to get a 55" TV for the new open plan kitchen diner/living room. It will be wall mounted in the room which has tile floors but low ceilings. There will be no major film/sport watching or gaming done on it. It'll likely mainly be used for kids TV or the odd program after the kids are in bed.

Initial research seems to say:
- LGs are best for OLED but not in my price range
- Sony v Samsung seems to be the best bet
- Sony smart interface/voice control maybe shades Samsung
- Sound will be awful / inadequate from anything in this price range to i'll likely need a soundbar


Questions I have are:

1) Sound: Is it realistic to use a bluetooth speaker with a TV on a day to day basis? Could I for example use an Amazon Echo via bluetooth to boost the sound if required or is a soundbar a better option. Given it will be wall mounted the prospect of mounting a soundbar beneath it doesn't fill me with joy.

2) Are the smart TV interfaces all pretty similar on these TVs? We have an old Samsung LED (10 years old) which we recently added a Firestick to and have been very impressed with the firestick. WIll a TV interface be on a par?

3) Any other tips/advice?

[Pravus1]

1) Sound: Is it realistic to use a bluetooth speaker with a TV on a day to day basis? Could I for example use an Amazon Echo via bluetooth to boost the sound if required or is a soundbar a better option. Given it will be wall mounted the prospect of mounting a soundbar beneath it doesn't fill me with joy.

Not unless it support low latency bluetooth out the box. You will get a noticable delay in sound.

2) Are the smart TV interfaces all pretty similar on these TVs? We have an old Samsung LED (10 years old) which we recently added a Firestick to and have been very impressed with the firestick. WIll a TV interface be on a par?

My my experience of a cheaper LG is it's very slow and clunky compared to the LG b7. An additional box or stick will be faster

[The Green Triangle]

I've just bought a Philips 55inch from richer sounds with ambient lighting. Was a snip at 480 and won the which hifi awards 2018... Don't know what it is actually like as it's not here is til the end of the week.... But hopes are high as the reviews are promising.

[Miocene]

We've just got an OLED from Richer Sounds, which came in at about £970 after matching the CostCo offer.

If you're thinking about spending £700 and then buying a soundbar then £970 can't be too far off if its an OLED you ideally want?

Here's the link: https://www.costco.co.uk/Electronics-Security/Tele...

[phl]

Miocene said:

... if its an OLED you ideally want?

I have the same question as op. Looking for a 55" TV. Is OLED worth paying more for than LED/LCD?

[Luke.]

phl said:

Is OLED worth paying more for than LED/LCD?

Absolutely.