For several days following Thanksgiving every year, you can find a huge range of products with significant discounts. This is especially true of anything electronics-related, like headphones, video games, computer peripherals and more. You’ll also find a good deal of 4K TVs on sale during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you are in the market for a TV, there are a couple of things to know about buying one in the post-Thanksgiving rush.
One reason to look for online Cyber Monday deals instead of hitting the brick-and-mortar stores for a holiday TV deal is that when looking online, you can be exactly sure what model of TV you’re getting and what its specifications are. Some unscrupulous manufacturers actually have one-off TV models that are designed to resemble popular models during holiday sales, but have reduced feature sets and lower prices compared to the more premium models. Some manufacturers make these lower-quality holiday releases difficult to tell apart from the model you actually want. When shopping online, that’s significantly harder if not impossible to do.
Another important thing to consider is that you might not even need or want to wait until Cyber Monday to get your hands on a great 4K TV at a discount. For starters, a big rush of consumers buying TVs could realistically reduce stock and therefore limit your choices by the time Cyber Monday actually rolls around. Beyond that, there are already, at this very moment, some really excellent TVs with significant price cuts.
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The LG G1 offers quality OLED technology without costing a fortune. The new G1 stands out from LG’s previous top-of-the-line offering due to its Evo OLED panel, which delivers a sharper image and, most importantly, a higher peak brightness than the company’s already great standard OLED panel. That enhanced brightness makes the G1 one of the top TVs on the market at displaying HDR content.
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Samsung was the first to popularize quantum dot filtration and, with their new Neo lineup of QLED TVs, is the first manufacturer to adopt Mini LED backlighting on multiple offerings in its high-end lineup. This particular model offers excellent HDR performance, a remarkably wide color gamut and, unlike many other LCD TVs, a wide viewing angle that’s great for watching sports with a group during the daytime. It also has advanced features like six embedded speakers with active object-tracking sound.
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This is a great TV and one of the most cost-effective Dolby Vision-enabled models out there, even without the holiday discount. Local dimming and QLED filtration provide high dynamic contrast and a wide color gamut that help to bring out highlights in both light and dark scenes. It comes in four sizes from 50-75 inches and is one of the best entry-level TVs out there.
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The TCL 6 Series is just a touch more expensive than the 5 Series and improves on its less costly relative in a few important ways. The most noteworthy are the significantly increased peak brightness that makes HDR highlights really pop, in addition to a native 120Hz panel. Sadly, it doesn’t support HDMI 2.1 inputs and therefore can only achieve 120FPS gaming at resolutions of 1440p or less, but it does at least support variable refresh rates.
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By all accounts, this is one of the best TVs currently on the market. It gets as bright as anything else out there and utilizes one of the most powerful local dimming configurations that tech enthusiasts have ever seen. The color space coverage is every bit as good as OLED technology and the Samsung offers a special screen treatment that makes for increased viewing angles compared to other VA panels. When you factor in a steep holiday discount, the QN90A is a more enticing prospect than it’s ever been.
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As you’ve probably caught on by now, Samsung has a bunch of highly recommended TVs out right now. The Q70A is the lowest tier of their QLED lineup that we recommend considering — most consumers and reviewers agree that the Q60A doesn’t offer much in terms of performance. The Q70A, on the other hand, delivers premium performance at a budget-friendly price, especially given the preholiday sale. Despite its low price, it covers the entire DCI-P3 color space and is, therefore, a great choice for home cinema.
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This midrange offering from entertainment giant Sony has a good number of high-end features but is still a pretty good deal even in its largest sizes. Among those great features are a pair of HDMI 2.1 inputs, a 120Hz refresh rate and a seriously impressive contrast ratio along with Dolby Vision HDR processing. At the time of release, it didn’t support most advanced gaming features like variable refresh rates, but that will change with an upcoming firmware update.
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A step up from the X86J in a few important ways, the K90J isn’t usually the best value, but with its current price cut, it’s especially worth considering if you’re a dedicated cinema lover. For demanding home theater fans, it offers higher and more accurate HDR brightness in addition to a capable local dimming system. It also offers an in-depth color management system that makes it considerably easier to calibrate and get the exact movie experience that the director intended.
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It won’t win any awards for outstanding image quality, but this extremely budget-friendly 4K TV looks just fine, and in fact, looks better than most entry-level models from years past. Its feature set is pretty basic, but the built-in Fire TV operating system gives you instant access to most of the popular streaming services. Unlike most 4K TVs, it uses an IPS-type panel, which means it has wide viewing angles and is great for watching with a group, although its contrast ratio isn’t ideal for watching movies in a dark room.
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As the latest in Samsung’s line of entry-level TVs, the AU8000 won’t wow you with state-of-the-art features, but it will impress you in terms of value and reliability. If you’re looking for a straightforward TV with a high native contrast ratio that’s great for watching movies or playing games, this is one of the least expensive options.
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Chris Thomas writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
