Why you don't need to spend more than £600 on a TV

Few areas have more choice than TVs. Each year, we're presented with hundreds of options from micro to massive. High-end models tend to be best, but they command a high price and have features not everybody needs.

Forking out for a top-of-the-range telly will get you an OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a broader array of speakers to make sound more precise and directional, and the latest processor to power it all. If reading that gave you a little buzz of excitement then you're likely a fan of high-end tech and the satisfaction you get from knowing you're seeing a TV show or film at its very best.

But the truth is, as much as TVs do benefit from all those fancy extras, they aren't necessary for good picture and sound. You can spend less to get a telly you'll be delighted with and, honestly, most people should. At £600 or less you'll find Great Value models at every size and even a Best Buy or two.

Here's why £600 is the sweet spot for your next TV.

See our favourite TVs and find out why we love them in our guide to buying the best TV.

What to expect from a £600 TV

TV prices range from £200 to £10,000 (and more for some specialist models) but at their core they all function the same way. Despite almost every TV being 4K and smart, there are some areas where high-end models differ from the models that are available for £600 or less.

1. The panel and resolution

Barring the smallest and cheapest models, any TV you buy will be 4K. We wouldn't recommend an HD TV unless you're buying something 32 inches or smaller where there aren't 4K options. In our experience, HD TVs seem to be an afterthought for manufacturers. We haven't tested one that looked or sounded good in years.

So, for your £600 (or less) you're getting a 4K TV and it will be backlit. That doesn't mean your TV is taking part in glamorous photo shoot, although what you do with your new TV is up to you. A backlight is a layer of bulbs behind the screen, or around the edge of it. They shine on a colour-producing layer to make the picture. At this price, it's most likely to be an LCD TV (liquid crystals make the colour here) or a QLED (also uses liquid crystals, but adds quantum dots for a colour boost).

It will be 60Hz, which means the screen can refresh the image 60 times every second. This is exactly enough for all the content you watch. Anything quicker is only a benefit for gamers.

Learn more about the benefits of OLED TVs and QLED TVs to see if they are right for you.

2. HDR support

Paying £600 or less will typically mean you're only getting support for HDR10 and HLG. 

HDR's job is to broaden the contrast to make darker parts of the picture look denser and fuller, while brighter parts have a crisper gleam. HDR10 and HLG are basic formats that set a blanket contrast adjustment for each piece of content, while Dolby Vision and HDR10+ adjust contrast on a scene-by-scene basis. 

This finer contrast control from these advanced formats doesn't always look good though and we've tested cheaper TVs with better HDR use than some high-end models.

Our guide to how HDR works has more information on this contrast-boosting technology.

3. Screen size

You might be thinking that spending less means you'll have to settle for a smaller screen, but that's not necessarily the case. Yes, having a smaller budget means your big screen options are limited, but there are a handful of TVs as big as 65 and even 75 inches for around £600 that we recommend.

This won't always be the case though. It's important to buy your TV at the right time if you want the best price, which is the spring and summer the year after they were released. You won't find 65 or even 55-inch TVs we recommend for below £600 if you buy them just after they launch.

Use our TV size tool to see which screen size will fit your room best.

4. Sound and picture quality

It's the screen and the speakers where you're going to see the biggest difference between a cheaper TV and a more high-end one.

If you're looking for five-star picture and sound then you'll need a top-tier TV, but there are numerous models that manage a respectable four-stars across SD, HD and 4K picture quality tests.

There are even a handful of standout models that manage five stars in at least one resolution.

The difference between four and five stars can be razor thin and sometimes spending hundreds more only results in small improvements, which makes cheaper sets even more tempting for anyone who is happy with good quality rather than excellent quality.

See our favourite cheap TVs for sets that look and sound good without costing a fortune.

5. Operating system parity

Brands make their own operating systems (OS) or use one from Google or Amazon, and it's rare to see a brand use different ones for each range.

Buy a £300 or £3,000 TV from Samsung and you're getting the same OS and this is true of almost every brand. The remote may differ as you move up a brand's lineup and beefier processors mean high-end sets are typically more responsive, but the menus, app store and electronic programme guide will be the same.

You shouldn't be buying a TV that isn't smart either and, thankfully, almost all of them are. 

Not sure what a smart TV is? Find out about smart TVs and see the ones that do it best.

6. Fewer extras

TVs aren't exactly bedecked with bonus features, so you're not missing out on anything game-changing if you spend less, but there are a couple of things you won't find on a cheaper set.

• Twin-tuner PVR - most TVs let you record one channel at a time onto a USB hard drive, but some high-end models let you record two, or watch a different channel to the one you're recording.
• FreeSync and VRR - almost every TV we test has a dedicated lower latency mode, which reduces the time it takes the TV to respond to inputs from a games console. High-end TVs go further with features that dynamically adjust the framerate to make games look smoother.
• HDMI ports - high-end models usually have four but sets around the £600 mark usually have three or even two.

 If you have accessibility needs we have recommendations for the best TVs for anyone blind or partially sighted as well as tips to hear your TV better.

7. More TVs to avoid

TVs tend to get better as their price goes up, which means there are more models to be wary of at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Be particularly wary of bigger sets that fall into the £600 price bracket. There are good options to be had, but they are scarcer.

Look out for cheaper sets promising high-end features, too. Some brands have a tendency to do this, but it's not good enough for the tech to simply be on the TV, it needs to be implemented well. 

Our favourite TVs for £600 or less

Which? members get exclusive access to our all our recommendations. Join Which? today to get access to more than 200 TV reviews and more.

Which brands to look out for when you're spending less

The good news, the majority of the top brands also do well at the cheaper end of the market. The likes of LG and Samsung make some of the most expensive TVs, but both have Great Value TVs to their name.

Two other brands spring to mind when considering a cheaper set: Hisense and TCL. Both made their mark by undercutting more established brands and now they sell more models than LG, Panasonic and Sony.

Their TVs still tend to be cheaper than LG and Samsung, but the incredible success of these brands has driven down prices everywhere, which is why we're seeing more Great Value sets from every brand, not just Hisense and TCL.

You can learn more about these newer brands that have made such an impact in our Hisense vs TCL investigation.

When should you spend more?

There are two camps of people who should be looking at a more high-end TV: gamers and perfectionists.

• Gamers - if you've got a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or a beefy PC you plan to connect to your TV, then it's worth choosing one with at least a 120Hz display, VRR (variable refresh rates) and FreeSync. All of these features combine to make games look and play more smoothly. Controlling characters on the screen will feel better, too, as the TVs do a better job reducing input lag. 
• Perfectionists - this is a catch-all for anyone who wants to know they are watching the content they love at its absolute best. Choosing a top-tier OLED or Neo QLED TV will give you the best picture and sound on the market, and, for some people, nothing less will do.