Cheap Smart TV Brands, Ranked From Worst To Best (According To Consumer Reports)

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If you do your research before buying a new TV, Samsung, LG, and Sony will stand out as they are widely considered the big three among the most popular TV brands. Their smart TVs include the latest technology, such as the newest forms of OLED and QLED, and are packed with top-of-the-line features like high resolution and fast refresh rates. However, they also come with premium prices that will not fit within everyone's budget. Fortunately, there are more affordable alternatives in the market, and to help you choose, we've ranked them from worst to best with the help of Consumer Reports.

Known for its ratings on individual products, Consumer Reports also rolls out brand reliability and owner satisfaction scores for smart TV brands. We considered these scores, as well as that of their top-rated TV, in determining the rankings for this roundup of cheap smart TV brands. Surprisingly, some of them are even better than Samsung, LG, or Sony in certain aspects, for extreme value for money with your next purchase.

With roots in Japan dating as far back as 1875, Toshiba is a multinational electronics company that has a presence in consumer devices, energy solutions, and digital infrastructure. Unfortunately, its rich history of 150 years and counting doesn't translate into its current lineup of smart TVs. Toshiba's brand reliability score from Consumer Reports is in the bottom half of the TV brands in this ranking, and its owner satisfaction score is dead last.

Toshiba's top-rated TV from Consumer Reports, the 65-inch Toshiba 65M550NU QLED 4K TV that's powered by Amazon's Fire TV platform, is in second-to-last place among the TVs featured in this list. This isn't to say that Toshiba is downright horrible — it's still better than shady devices that you would see on some retailer platforms — but at similar prices or just a few dollars more, you may want to set your sights on the offerings of other smart TV brands. 

Vizio is an American brand with headquarters in California and a mission to provide quality entertainment at accessible prices. Although now a subsidiary of Walmart, brand reliability seems to be a major issue for Vizio, as it has the lowest score in this field from Consumer Reports. It somewhat makes up for that by being in the top half of the brands on this list in terms of owner satisfaction, but it's still relatively low compared to the scores of the big three.

The Vizio VQP65C-84 is the brand's top-rated TV from Consumer Reports. The 65-inch smart TV runs on Vizio Home, which may require some adjustment if you're used to the usual smart TV platforms like Google TV or Fire TV. Vizio is on par with Toshiba in this ranking, so unless you can get a massive discount on a Vizio TV, you should consider going for other smart TV brands.

Onn is a Walmart-owned electronics brand that has various affordable smart TVs in its lineup, along with tablets, soundbars, security cameras, wireless speakers, and plenty of other devices. The drive to keep the prices of its smart TVs low may have affected its brand reliability, as its score from Consumer Reports is in second-to-last place, but it has a surprisingly solid owner satisfaction score firmly in the top half.

The Onn TV with the highest rating from Consumer Reports will not do much to inspire confidence in the brand though. The 75-inch Onn 100044717 4K TV is very cheap for its size, and it lets you access all of the top streaming services through the Roku TV operating system. However, among all the TVs that are featured in this ranking, it's the one with the lowest score. If you really want a screen at this size, you should check out the featured TV of the next brand.

Sharp, just like Toshiba, is another multinational electronics firm with a history that dates back more than 100 years. Starting with inventions such as a belt buckle and a mechanical pencil, Sharp is now a manufacturer of office equipment, home appliances, and smart TVs. However, also like Toshiba, all those years in the business aren't apparent in the scores that it received from Consumer Reports. In terms of both brand reliability and owner satisfaction, Sharp is in the bottom half of the brands in this list.

Sharp's highest-rated TV, the Sharp 4TC75FV1U 4K TV, pulls up the brand's average score and its place in this ranking. Consumer Reports' rating for the 75-inch 4K TV, with Google TV and Sharp's Xtreme Mini LED technology, is almost 20 points higher than the rating of the 75-inch Onn 100044717 4K TV. Unfortunately, the Sharp model is more than double the price though.

Similar to Walmart's Onn, Insignia is owned by a popular retailer — Best Buy. The brand makes home theater equipment such as smart TVs and soundbars, appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers, and accessories for smartphones and laptops. Insignia delivers on its promise to provide dependable and affordable products as its brand reliability score from Consumer Reports is the highest among the brands on this list, and even higher than Samsung's score. Its average score is greatly pulled down by its owner satisfaction score though, which is tied with Sharp's as the third-lowest.

The 55-inch Insignia NS-55F301NA25 4K TV, with Amazon's Fire TV running the streams, is the brand's top-rated TV according to Consumer Reports. It's in the bottom half of the featured TVs on this list, but only just. It's a very affordable option from one of the most reliable smart TV brands, especially if you're on the lookout for a relatively small screen.

Philips, founded in 1891 and based in the Netherlands, shifted its focus from consumer electronics to healthcare technology over the past decade. Nevertheless, it still has what it takes to make TVs though, with a brand reliability score that's second on this list and the same as Samsung's score. However, its owner satisfaction score is the second-lowest, just a point above Toshiba's, impacting what would have been a pretty impressive ranking for a brand that's not primarily a TV manufacturer.

The Philips 65OLED974/F7 4K TV is the brand's highest-rated TV on Consumer Reports. It also has the third-highest score among the TVs on this list, matching Philips' ranking. The TV has a solid collection of specifications and features with a 65-inch screen, OLED technology, and Roku TV on board for easy access to streaming services. It's a surprisingly effective device if you're looking for a cheap smart TV, considering home entertainment isn't Philips' main focus.

The runner-up in this list of cheap smart TV brands goes to TCL, a relative newcomer to the consumer electronics industry. Founded in China in 1981, TCL has a brand reliability score from Consumer Reports in the top half among the brands in this ranking. It's important to note that its owner satisfaction score is the highest among all of the brands — though still leagues away from Samsung, LG, and Sony.

As with Philips' top-rated TV, the TCL model with the highest score from Consumer Reports is the second highest scoring TV mentioned on this list, similar to the brand's ranking. The TCL 75QM8K 4K TV is equipped with a 75-inch screen, the brand's QD-Mini LED technology, and the Google TV platform. It's not the most affordable model as it's a flagship TV that's built to challenge the big three, but it showcases the features that can trickle down to TCL's more budget-friendly devices.

The title of the best cheap smart TV brand goes to Hisense, another relatively new Chinese company that started in 1988. Its growth in just a few decades is remarkable, with products in TV, audio, home appliances, medical equipment, and HVAC. Consumer Reports thinks highly of Hisense with brand reliability and owner satisfaction scores that are both in the top half among the brands in this list. It's not just them though, as a survey conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index determined Hisense as the best cheap TV brand.

Continuing the trend, the featured TV with the highest score belongs to the top-ranked brand — the Hisense 75U8QG 4K TV. With features such as a 75-inch display, Hisense's Mini-LED ULED technology, and Google TV, it's a bold attempt at dethroning the big three. Again, there are more affordable Hisense TVs in the market, but the Hisense 75U8QG 4K TV shows a glimpse of what you can expect.

Not all cheap smart TV brands have secured brand reliability and owner satisfaction scores from Consumer Reports. However, they're still worth mentioning, especially since their top-rated TVs would all fall somewhere in the middle to the top half if they were included in the rankings.

Sansui is a Japanese brand that was founded in 1947 as an audio equipment manufacturer. It has since pushed deeper into consumer electronics, though the 55-inch Sansui S55VOUG OLED 4K TV is the only model that's been rated by Consumer Reports.

The next two brands are familiar to most people, but in different ways. Amazon, a retailer that has branched out into manufacturing its own devices such as the Alexa-powered Amazon Echo smart speakers, has the 75-inch Amazon Fire TV QL75F602 Omni QLED as its highest-rated TV by Consumer Reports. Roku, which started as a streaming platform, is also now making TVs of its own, with the 65-inch Roku 65R8B5 Mini-LED QLED 4K TV as its top-rated model.

Panasonic, another Japanese brand with more than 100 years of history, tops this list of honorable mentions with the 65-inch Panasonic TV-65Z95BP OLED 4K UHD TV. Launched in 1918, the brand's legacy continues today with a presence in almost every area of consumer electronics.

Consumer Reports, one of the most trusted names in the product testing and review space, has brand reliability and owner satisfaction scores for many TV brands on a scale of 1 to 100. We took the average of these scores and that of the top-rated TV for each brand, which serves as an indicator of their ceiling, in order to determine the order in this ranking.

Unfortunately, there are a handful of cheap smart TV brands that have not yet received brand reliability and owner satisfaction scores from Consumer Reports. We still mentioned them in a special section, focused only on their TV model with the highest rating.

Of course, cheap is a relative term. While these TV brands are generally more affordable than the big three of Samsung, LG, and Sony, they may have some models that are still beyond a certain budget. We recommend doing extensive research on the features that you want to get from your smart TV, as well as take advantage of any upcoming sales to maximize your money's worth.