MID-RANGE MAGIC

Willing to invest a bit more in your home cinema setup? This is the collection of classy kit for you.

If you’re happy to fork out a bit more for your lounge tech, try this little lot

It’s almost insulting to call LG’S brilliant 55CX a mid-range TV… but with more than £600 now hacked off its original asking price, this awesome 55in OLED is within the reach of those not on truly high-end budgets.

In fact, the CX range (it comes in 48in, 65in and 77in versions too) uses the same screen tech as the more expensive GX and WX models – the only difference is in the styling and speakers.

This set’s design is a tale of two halves: the top half is as skinny as they come, with a fatter bottom (hey, lockdown affected us all) that houses all the electronic gubbins and ports. The whole thing’s finished in brushed metal with a chunky blade-style stand that anchors it solidly.

Once you’ve fired it up, the only part of the 55CX you’ll want to look at is the screen, because its 4K HDR picture is absolutely stonking. OLEDS are particularly good at colours and contrast and this LG is no different: blacks are deep, detailed and endlessly nuanced, whites are cleaner and brighter than Daz’s doorstep challenge, and colours are punchy without being unnatural. Noise is non-existent, and motion is smoother than a lubed-up manatee in a tuxedo.

Its A9 Gen3 processor is no longer the latest, but it still does a great job of controlling the brightness, optimising the audio and upscaling anything that isn’t in 4K, so even Neighbours will look as polished as possible.

The CX series has LG’S excellent WEBOS interface, which comes with voice control and an intuitive point’n’click remote, so navigating the menus and various catch-up apps is a cinch. The lack of height afforded by the stand does make it difficult to add a soundbar unless it’s wall-mounted, but the 40W speakers do a decent job anyway. £1185 / stuff.tv/oledcx

Key specs

● 55in 3840x2160 OLED

● HDR10, Dolby Vision IQ, HLG

● WEBOS ● 4x HDMI, 3x USB, Ethernet, optical, Wi-fi, Bluetooth

You get four HDMI inputs (one with EARC), three USB ports, a CI card slot, aerial posts for terrestrial and satellite TV tuners, plus Ethernet.

Outputs? Just a digital optical socket and a line-level analogue out, but if wireless is more your thing it has Wi-fi and Bluetooth 5 on board.