It’s been a rollercoaster ride in the world of OLED TVs in 2024, and we’re only halfway through the year. We’ve seen major releases from LG, Samsung and Sony, several of which have already taken their place among the best TVs. But there’s also been some surprising and unfortunately unwelcome news about what we expected to be some of the best OLED TVs.
It can be difficult to keep up with the latest OLED TV news. That’s why we’ve put together a list of all the major releases and reviews from the past six months. That list follows, along with our thoughts on OLED technology, as it looks to maintain its place as perhaps the most popular TV option.
The biggest OLED TV launches of 2024
The Samsung S95D is one of the most important OLED TVs of 2024. Samsung’s flagship QD OLED (a combination of brightness-boosting QLED technology with a contrast-rich OLED panel) takes what made its predecessor, the Samsung S95C, great – stunning pictures, unbeatable gaming performance – but adds the company’s new OLED Glare Free technology to eliminate reflections. It worked incredibly well in our testing, and the S95D earned all five-star reviews from us.
Next up is the LG C4. The C4’s predecessor, the LG C3, was a bit of a disappointment in 2023, as it wasn’t much better than the excellent LG C2, aside from a modest brightness boost. The C4 thankfully changes that, clocking in at over 1,000 nits of brightness, improving HDR handling, and introducing a 144Hz refresh rate, making the 42-inch model ideal for PC gaming. It’s one of the strongest OLED TVs of 2024 so far, and should give it some tough competition in the mid-range segment.
The LG B3 was my personal dark horse OLED TV in 2023, so when LG unveiled its 2024 OLED TV range, some key specs for the new LG B4 range caught my eye: a new 48-inch model, four HDMI 2.1 ports And LG’s new Alpha 8 AI processor, which LG said would match the performance of the LG C3. That pretty much ticks all the boxes, and while we haven’t fully tested it yet, the B4 is my most anticipated OLED TV of 2024.
We haven’t forgotten the LG G4, one of LG’s flagship OLEDs for 2024. From what we saw at CES 2024, it delivered a significant brightness improvement over its predecessor, the LG G3, and features a 144Hz refresh rate and a new Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode (available on a large portion of 2024 LG TVs). It certainly looked as impressive as expected and we’re keen to test it, although it doesn’t capture our imagination as much as the C4 and B4.
One of the biggest TV stories of 2024 is Sony’s decision to move away from OLED as the panel technology of choice for its flagship 2024 TV, the Bravia 9, in favor of mini-LED. One of the main reasons for this is the company’s new BVM-HX3110 professional monitor, which can be used to master movies at up to 4,000 nits of brightness – something Sony believes only mini-LED is capable of. It’s a decision that’s paid off, as in our review of the Bravia 9 we were suitably impressed with its brightness, refined local dimming, and OLED-quality black levels and contrast. Sony OLED fans needn’t worry, however, as the 2024 TV line-up includes the new Bravia 8 OLED (successor to the Sony A80L), with the Sony A95L QD OLED also remaining available.
Unfortunately, it’s not all good news for OLED in 2024. The Samsung S90D, the long-awaited successor to the Samsung S90C, TechRadar’s 2023 TV of the Year, has been met with controversy following reports of a ‘panel lottery’, something Samsung hasn’t denied. What the panel lottery means is that you can pay QD-OLED-level prices, but end up with a TV with either a QD-OLED or a standard ‘W-OLED’ panel. To add insult to injury, Samsung has confirmed that the 42- and 48-inch models of the S90D will only come with a W-OLED panel.
More OLED TVs to look forward to in 2024
While every major OLED brand has revealed its TV lineups for this year, models from Panasonic, Philips and Loewe, which aren’t available in the U.S., have yet to be released to the public. We haven’t had a chance to fully test these TVs yet, but we have seen a few in action.
Panasonic’s stacked TV lineup for 2024 will include five OLED models in total. The new flagship Panasonic Z95A follows on from the phenomenal Panasonic MZ2000 from 2023, one of the best TVs in terms of sound. It still comes with an MLA panel, but promises even higher brightness and a 144Hz refresh rate for gaming. Panasonic’s OLEDs (and all of its TVs) will come with Amazon’s Fire TV smart TV platform, replacing my slightly sluggish Screen8.0, which I found to be the MZ2000’s biggest drawback when I reviewed it. The Z90A, one of my three most anticipated Panasonic TVs of 2024 , will also feature an external ‘soundbar’ on its smaller 42-inch model. Could this finally be a 42-inch OLED rival to the LG C4?
Philips’ popular 2023 Ambilight TV range – including the brilliant Philips OLED808 and Philips OLED908, which made me feel like Christmas when I tested them – are hard to follow. But when Philips announced its 2024 TV range, it made headlines by claiming that its flagship OLED+959 and OLED+909 would be the first OLED TVs to hit 3,000 nits – a brightness level to rival mini-LED TVs. They will also feature 144Hz gaming, and 5.1.2 and 3.1 channel speaker systems in the OLED+959 and OLED+90 respectively, in an attempt to rival the built-in audio prowess of TVs from Panasonic and Sony.
Finally, Loewe, whose TVs are as much about design as performance, will release its dr+ range of OLEDs (some of which are available now). These consist of panels built by Loewe itself with glass supplied by LG. Loewe will also release its Stellar range of OLEDs, which will cost significantly more than LG’s G4 OLED TV but come with a concrete back and a mighty 200W sound system.