7 Best Smart TVs of 2022 – Sam's Club Online (2023)

FAQs

What is the most reliable brand of smart TV? ›

Club stores are catering to a specific kind of customer: one who wants to feel good about getting more bang for their buck. Because of this, club stores often negotiate special prices on certain items, and forego those products that don't afford them the opportunity for frugal greatness.

As our technical engineers mentioned, TV brands with the highest longevity are Samsung, Sony, LG, and Panasonic. However, you can find other affordable brands that could give you several years of use if well maintained. These brands include Sharp and Vizio.

If you prefer a brighter picture, Samsung's QLED sets are the way to go. However, if you want a better contrast ratio (where blacks look black and not gray) and a wider viewing angle, we recommend an OLED TV from LG.

The best TV we've tested is the Samsung S95B OLED. It's a fantastic TV with a great selection of extra features and incredible picture quality. It looks fantastic in a dark room thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio and perfect black uniformity, with no distracting blooming around bright areas of the screen.

In fact, both were featured in the top six 2022 ratings by RTINGS.com. That said, we have to declare LG TVs as the overall winner. While a Vizio TV will usually cost less than an LG TV, that's the only category where they have the edge. For everything else, LG comes out on top.

We'll start with picture quality. In our side-by-side comparison reviews, OLED beats QLED every time. We compared last year's Editors' Choice OLED TV -- the LG C1 series -- against the best 2022 Samsung 4K QLED TV, the Samsung QN90B series. The Samsung QLED came closer than ever to the LG OLED, but the LG still won.

Is Costco a good place to buy a TV? ›

If you're in the market for a new TV, Costco should definitely be on your list of places to look. Not only does Costco sell a wide range of some of the highest quality TVs on the market–they also offer them at competitive prices.

The average lifespan of an LED at maximum or close-to-maximum brightness is 40,000 to 60,000 hours, or roughly 4.5 to 6.8 years. If you aren't watching TV for 24 hours a day (and I hope you're not), an LED TV like the 5-Series could last around 13 years, provided none of the other components fail beforehand.

Common wisdom says that the average television can last between 4 and 7 years, depending on usage, potential damage, and other factors. So, if you've had your television for more than 5 years and feel that your home is due an upgrade, then it's perfectly reasonable to start researching the best brands and features.

Industry experts say TVs are replaced on average every 7-8 years. We now see this number coming down as 4K TV prices have been falling and more households want to have multiple TVs. But average means there are a lot of people that replace more frequently while others hang on for a longer time.

When it comes to Samsung TV vs LG TV, QLED TVs from Samsung is the superior of the two brands. Along with this, for people who are looking for an enhanced contrast ratio and a wider viewing angle, LG OLED TVs are a good way to go.

In this respect, Full HD smart TV offers only 32 degrees, whereas 4K gives four times much more resolution. With 4K, you feel more extensive coverage and enjoy the smoother immersive experience. As mentioned above, a 4K smart TV might be a better choice than a Full HD smart TV.

Sony vs Samsung

Samsung TVs have a picture quality comparable to Sony TVs, and in general, they're pretty competitive with each other. A big difference is that Samsung has better gaming performance, but if you don't need that, either brand is a good choice.

LG secures the top spot as the most reliable TV brand going into 2023 thanks to a generous 2-year standard warranty, a low failure rate, and exceptional build quality. LG recently passed a major milestone, celebrating over 500 million television sets sold worldwide.

Options like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast are far better platforms. They offer less convoluted interfaces that are easier to navigate than your smart TV's OS. The app selection is likely greater than what your smart TV's app store offers.

Streaming devices such as Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire offer better platforms, easier interfaces, and better integration with your smartphone and other devices. For instance, if you want to use voice control to launch an app or share something from your phone, the process is much simpler.

Is TCL or Samsung TV better? ›

The Samsung gets brighter, has a quicker response time, and much lower input lag, so it's a better choice for gaming. However, the TCL removes judder from native 24p sources, has significantly better out-of-the-box color accuracy, and has better reflection handling.

QLED comes out on top on paper, delivering a higher brightness, longer life span, lower price tags, and no risk of burn-in. OLED, on the other hand, has a better viewing angle, deeper black levels, uses less power, is killer for gaming, and might be better for your health.

Typically, a good 4K TV will have around four times as many pixels as an older “HD TV.” This translates to a viewing experience that offers much more clarity in everything you watch.

What Is a Good Resolution for a TV? Most modern TVs have a resolution of 4K – which is 3840 x 2160 pixels. This will give you an excellent level of detail. In fact, for most people, older HDTVs with lower resolutions, like 720p and 1080p, will still provide an awesome picture.

In looking at standard 4K LED TVs vs 4K OLED TVs, both offer great viewing experiences and improvements over 1080p. But LG OLED technology will truly transform your home entertainment experience with superior blacks, cinematic colors and High Dynamic Range with Dolby Vision support.

The picture quality of the TCL 4-Series Roku TV was only a slight step behind the Vizio V-Series (below) in our 2023 budget TV test, but we liked its Roku smart TV system better than Vizio's SmartCast, so the TCL gets the top spot on this list.

The best budget TV we've tested is the TCL 5 Series/S555 2022 QLED. It delivers surprisingly great performance for the price. It looks amazing in a dark room thanks to its superb contrast ratio and decent full array local dimming feature, so there's very little blooming around bright areas of the screen in a dark room.

The Vizio has better reflection handling, better color accuracy, and significantly lower input lag. However, the Hisense has a better contrast ratio, quicker response time, and it gets a bit brighter.

Why is Vizio better than Samsung? ›

Each has their strengths and weaknesses, as the Vizio has more gaming features like VRR support and better motion handling. However, the picture quality is better overall on the Samsung because it gets brighter in SDR, has better upscaling, and has fewer uniformity issues.

At first glance, Vizio will offer better value for money, as its models come with more advanced features and specs. However, TCL takes the lead in essential categories, such as panel technology (technology that affects the image quality, color accuracy and viewing angles).

In terms of response time, OLED TVs are generally much faster than QLEDs. This is because OLED pixels can instantly change color and luminosity rather than wait for a backlight to shine through multiple screen layers like on a QLED TV.

In many ways, QLED is the best choice. You'll get a brighter picture, the TVs tend to last longer, they're cheaper and there's no risk of burn-in – a mark that's left on the screen of OLED TVs when displaying images with static graphics like a news network logo.

Costco Offers Lots of TV Brands and Screen Sizes

Costco has a pretty decent assortment of TV brands, both in stores and online, though it features fewer brands and models than you'll find at an electronics specialist such as Best Buy.

Insignia is Best Buy's in-house brand that makes all kinds of tech from appliances to GPS systems. However, Insignia is most well known in the consumer electronics world for its budget TVs that compete with the likes of TCL, Toshiba, Hisense, and Amazon, to name just a few.

A 65'' TV– You should sit between 8 and 13.5 feet away from the screen. A 70'' TV– You should sit between 9 and 14.5 feet away from the screen. A 75'' TV– You should sit between 9.5 and 15.5 feet away from the screen. An 80'' TV– You should sit between 10 and 16.5 feet away from the screen.

If red, blue, or greenish stripes interrupt your viewing experience, there's probably something wrong with your TV's hardware. Lines across a TV screen are usually caused by loose or frayed cables within the screen, which is why knocking on the side or back of the TV can be a temporary fix.

This is because your TV's functionality will change over time. Apps and platforms may not work as well, may refuse to open – or they may disappear altogether. In this article we explain what you should keep in mind when you buy a smart TV, and what you can do if the functionality of your TV is compromised over time.

Which TV company is most reliable? ›

As our technical engineers mentioned, TV brands with the highest longevity are Samsung, Sony, LG, and Panasonic. However, you can find other affordable brands that could give you several years of use if well maintained. These brands include Sharp and Vizio.

Sony vs Samsung

Samsung TVs have a picture quality comparable to Sony TVs, and in general, they're pretty competitive with each other. A big difference is that Samsung has better gaming performance, but if you don't need that, either brand is a good choice.

Verdict: While the brands offer comparative technology, LG has a slight edge in its offering of QNED and premium sets for those for who money is no object. Still, it's pretty close, with Sony offering a good range of models.

The average lifespan of an LED at maximum or close-to-maximum brightness is 40,000 to 60,000 hours, or roughly 4.5 to 6.8 years. If you aren't watching TV for 24 hours a day (and I hope you're not), an LED TV like the 5-Series could last around 13 years, provided none of the other components fail beforehand.

OLED has better contrast and black level

QLED/LCD TVs, even the best ones with the most effective full-array local dimming, let some light through, leading to more washed-out, grayer black levels and blooming around bright sections.

Samsung TVs generally have better picture quality than the average LG LED-backlit LCD TV. Samsung TVs usually get a fair bit brighter and have better contrast, while LG TVs generally have much wider viewing angles and have better smart features.

The Sony A8H OLED and the LG CX OLED are almost identical in performance. The Sony delivers slightly better picture quality, as it has better gradient handling and a much better color volume.

Sony TVs tend to be expensive in part because the company offers several OLED TVs, which tend to cost more, and because it stopped making lower-end LED/LCD sets. (See the best 65-inch TVs under $1,000.)

How long do Samsung TVs last? ›

“The reality is, your screen can often last significantly longer than 100,000 hours,” says Kevin Izatt, a senior product manager in Samsung's Display division. “We've had displays that have been up for 15-plus years with more than adequate brightness.

The new Bravia X95J from Sony is one of the best the brand has to offer. It comes in 65, 75, and 85-inch screen sizes and uses a full array LED panels. Plus, it supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 to give you crystal clear images, excellent contrast, and bold colors.

Is LG a good TV brand? LG is an excellent brand when it comes to televisions. They've established themselves as the top choice for OLED models as well as premium TVs with high-end features like Dolby Vision, AI-enhanced audio, cloud-based gaming, and streaming entertainment.

They offer the best value of any TV brand, and they perform well in both dark and bright environments. There are extra features for gamers, and the smart platform is great. However, they aren't a good choice for wide seating areas, and you might run into some quality control issues after buying your Hisense TV.