LG OLED65C9PLA £3299
This has been one of the hardest group tests we’ve had to judge in a long time because each of the three contenders is truly exceptional. In the end, though, it’s the LG that takes the win by way of its awesome, effortlessly consistent performance and reasonable price.
Although £3299 is a huge amount to pay for a TV, the LG C9 undercuts the Samsung and Sony here by £500 and £700 respectively, while offering a performance so exciting, enticing and natural that it begs the question; why spend more? Sure, its picture settings menus are a pain, but the TV is so close to spot-on out of the box that you need only make minimal contact with them.
It’s not the best TV here for motion or for digging up the finest details at the brightest and darkest parts of the picture, either, but these are only slight blemishes to what is an exemplary picture that takes OLED’S trademark
black depth and consistency and adds an extra layer of punch and dynamism. Add one of the slickest, most intuitive operating systems out there and you have a TV that simply can’t fail to please no matter what you throw at it.
Samsung has done a remarkable job with the Q90R by tackling OLED’S inherent advantages head on. We’d always assumed that a QLED would never get as black as an OLED nor would it be able to offer similar viewing angles, but this TV is practically there. What’s more, the Q90R retains QLED’S advantages of stunning brightness and fabulously vibrant colours.
So why doesn’t the Samsung take first place? It still doesn’t go quite as black as an OLED, although it comes close, and it holds back when faced with a small area of light in an otherwise perfectly black image (think film titles and starry skies), but it’s mainly the price. We’re not saying the Q90R would have won had been the same price as the LG C9, but our test team might well have had to resort to fisticuffs to determine the winner.
Price is also the biggest factor in Sony having to settle for third place. On paper the AG9 does much to justify its £700 premium over the C9, but there are a couple of blips in its performance that are a little off-putting. Carefully tweak it and it does offer a fabulously solid and natural picture, and with SDR it’s an absolute star, but the other contenders offer more sparkle and dynamism when it comes to the 4K HDR content that's the reason you’re spending this much on a TV. The Android TV operating system, while significantly improved, still isn’t as nice to live with as its rivals, either.
The AG9’S excellent, innovative sound system does of course go some way to justifying the price, but were you to buy the LG and spend the change on a soundbar you’d have a set-up that looked better, sounded at least as good and was nicer to live with and use every day. If it was our money, that’s what we’d do.