55 inches is the right size for bedrooms, apartments, and living rooms where the couch sits 5 to 7 feet from the screen. These are the best 55-inch TVs you can buy new on Amazon, picked from lab test results, from a sub-$500 Mini LED to a premium QD-OLED.
The best 55-inch TV for most people is the LG C6 OLED (about $1,000): inky blacks, a very wide viewing angle, Dolby Vision, and excellent gaming support.
For a bright room, the Sony BRAVIA 7 (about $1,100) is brighter. On a budget, the TCL QM6K (about $480) is a well-rounded TV that's great for gaming.
| TV | Panel | Best for | Price (55") |
|---|---|---|---|
| LG C6 | OLED | Movies, gaming, most rooms | ~$1,000 |
| Sony BRAVIA 8 II | QD-OLED | Vivid color, less glare | ~$2,000 |
| Sony BRAVIA 7 | Mini LED | Bright rooms | ~$1,100 |
| TCL QM6K | Mini LED | Budget, gaming | ~$480 |
Our picks follow RTINGS' lab testing of 55-inch TVs, limited to TVs you can buy new on Amazon without problems. RTINGS' top 55-inch pick, the Samsung S95H, and its mid-range pick, the Hisense U7SG, are both flagged by Amazon as frequently returned at this size, so we've left them out.
The best balance of picture quality and price at this size. It truly shines in a dark room, with inky blacks and no haloing around bright highlights, and it's bright enough to handle some glare during the day. The viewing angle is incredibly wide, and colors are bright and vibrant. It's a fantastic gaming TV too, with nearly instant response time for crystal-clear motion, 4K at up to 165Hz, and VRR. It supports Dolby Vision, the HDR format used by most streaming services and 4K Blu-rays.
Worth knowing: its reflection handling is just okay, so avoid placing it opposite a window. Like all OLEDs, it shows noticeable stutter in slow camera pans. RTINGS calls it a minor upgrade over the LG C5, only slightly brighter.
Check price on Amazon Prices change often — verify current pricing on Amazon.A Mini LED gets brighter than an OLED, which makes it the better choice for a sunny room. The BRAVIA 7 has superb SDR brightness to overcome glare from indirect light, excellent HDR brightness, and very good blacks with minimal blooming. Colors are vibrant and accurate, and Sony's upscaling is fantastic.
Worth knowing: it handles direct reflections poorly, motion blurs in Game Mode, and its narrow viewing angle makes it a poor fit for wide seating. The number of dimming zones varies by size, so the 55-inch model's contrast may differ slightly from the 65-inch RTINGS tested. See our best Sony TVs.
Check price on Amazon Prices change often — verify current pricing on Amazon.A lot of TV for under $500. It has very good black levels for deep blacks in any room, it's very accurate in HDR and SDR, and it's bright enough in SDR to overcome glare from indirect light. Gaming is its strongest suit: very low input lag, HDMI 2.1 with 4K at up to 144Hz, and VRR. It supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It's also our budget PS5 pick.
Worth knowing: it's too dim in HDR for a truly impactful picture, shows more haloing around bright highlights than pricier TVs, and has visible glare opposite a bright window or lamp.
Check price on Amazon Prices change often — verify current pricing on Amazon.For most rooms, an OLED like the LG C6 is the better buy at this size. The price gap between OLED and Mini LED is small at 55 inches, and OLED's perfect blacks, wide viewing angle, and clear motion make the biggest difference to movies and games. Choose a Mini LED if your room gets lots of daylight or you leave the TV on for hours with static logos, since Mini LEDs can't burn in. Our guide to OLED vs QLED vs Mini LED explains the trade-offs in detail.
Sit about 5.5 to 7.5 feet from a 55-inch TV. Closer feels more cinematic, and farther back is more relaxed for sports and TV shows. If your couch is more than 8 feet away, consider a bigger screen: see our best 75-inch TVs, or work out your ideal size with our TV viewing distance calculator.
Thin TVs can't fit good speakers, and dialogue is often the first thing to suffer. A soundbar is the easiest fix: see our best soundbars under $500. For the full movie experience, see our best surround sound systems.