The 5 Best Smart TVs Of 2025 Ranked, According To Consumer Reports
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Buying a new TV can be challenging with so many options to pick from. However, if you want to make your life easier and avoid making common mistakes when buying a new TV, it's advisable to pick models ranked by experts. You won't have to worry about the picture and sound quality, since these models offer the best that you can find on the market. Various major TV manufacturers have recently unveiled new models, giving you more options to pick from if you're looking for a new TV.
Among the recent launches, if you want to identify the best of the best, gadget review site Consumer Reports is the perfect destination. The site has reviewed lots of models, making it well-equipped to recommend solid options. We've scoured the site and found that these five models are the highest rated, offering the best overall quality in all the key areas that matter when shopping for a new TV. The site tests hundreds of televisions each year, giving each one an overall score that is used to rank models and determine the best.
5. Samsung QN65S90D
The Samsung QN65S90D was part of the company's 2024 QD-OLED lineup. It's a high-end TV that was only second to the company's flagship model of the year – the S95D OLED. It uses a 4K, 144Hz display panel with a variety of handy features, such as 4K AI upscaling to make lower-resolution content look better. The higher refresh rate ensures gamers have a pleasant experience when playing FPS titles. There's also an Auto Low Latency Mode for lower input lag and better responsiveness. This model also has variable refresh rate support for reduced screen tearing. The team of experts at Consumer Reports praises the model for its "excellent overall picture quality." HDR performance is also impressive, even though it only supports HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG formats.
The Consumer Reports team also says it offers "excellent sound." On the software front, the QN65S90D runs Samsung's Tizen OS, which is simple and easy to use. Of course, you get access to a wide variety of streaming apps, such as Netflix, Apple TV+, YouTube, and more. As for connectivity, there are four HDMI ports and two USB ports to connect external devices. This TV ranks fifth overall in Consumer Reports' ratings, an impressive feat considering it came out in 2024. You can buy the 65-inch Samsung S90D from Amazon for $1,220.
4. LG G5 OLED TV
The LG G5 4K OLED65G5WUA is the company's flagship OLED TV of 2025, and as such, it boasts a couple of bells and whistles. It has a 4K display with a 165Hz refresh rate, four HDMI 2.1 ports, and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10. Most importantly, Consumer Reports says it has "top-notch picture quality." The LG G5 impresses when watching HDR content, with the team describing its HDR performance as "stellar." It also has AI upscaling tech built in, which should come in handy when watching low-resolution content on the huge 65-inch screen. It's also brighter than ever before, thanks to the use of LG's new primary RGB tandem panel. As expected, the TV runs LG's webOS system with user profile support, and the company promises four years of updates on this model.
If you're looking for a TV to pair with your PS5 or Xbox Series X, the LG G5 comes with gaming-focused enhancements such as a Game Optimizer setting, a dedicated Game Dashboard, and Auto Low Latency Mode. You can cast content from your iPhone or Android device onto the TV, thanks to Google Cast and AirPlay 2 support. The TV also includes Alexa for voice control. Overall, Consumer Reports ranks the LG OLED65G5WUA as the fourth-best smart TV of 2025. The LG OLED65G5WUA is available on Walmart for a discounted price of $1,997 as of this writing, down from its $3,400 MSRP.
3. Samsung QN65S95F
Samsung launched the QN65S95F smart TV in 2025 as a high-end offering, and it's one of the best TVs you can buy on Amazon. From the model number, this set has a 65-inch panel that uses QD-OLED display technology. For the uninitiated, QD-OLED delivers much better color saturation and brightness than its WOLED counterpart. The Samsung QN65S95F TV will provide excellent visuals, as the display passed Consumer Reports' picture quality and HDR tests with flying colors. Like other televisions on this list, this model has several features that are meant to improve your gaming experience. The display has a 120Hz refresh rate and, on top of that, Samsung has a special feature dubbed Motion Xcelerator 165Hz that bumps it up to 165Hz in compatible games. You also get variable refresh rate support with both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync formats supported.
Sound quality is great, thanks in part to the availability of a 70W 4.2.2-channel speaker system with Dolby Atmos. If you decide to get a Samsung soundbar with the company's Q-Symphony feature, you can play sound through its speakers and the TV's speakers at the same time. Another unique feature of the Samsung QN65S95F is that it comes with a remote that has a solar panel at the back for recharging, although you can also juice up the remote via USB-C. Of course, the S95F also has a good selection of ports for connecting external devices. Powering the TV is Samsung's Tizen OS, which is easy to use and offers a variety of streaming apps to meet your entertainment needs. The 65-inch Samsung QN65S95F is available on Samsung's website for $2,499.99.
2. LG C4 OLED65C4PUA
Here's another OLED TV that's still an excellent buy despite being unveiled in 2024. The LG C4 OLED offers the best bang for your buck, as it is said to offer "the best balance of price and performance" in the company's 2024 OLED lineup per Consumer Reports. It has a 65-inch panel offering excellent picture quality in Consumer Reports' tests, so it's a great TV for watching your favorite movies and TV shows. However, the screen isn't the brightest, so you might want to close those curtains for daylight binge-watching sessions. It supports three HDR formats, namely Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. CR found that the TV offers "top-notch HDR experience." If you want to play games, it's well-equipped to meet your needs, thanks to the 144Hz panel with variable refresh rate tech via G-Sync and FreeSync, a 0.1ms response time, and four high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports.
There's also an Auto Low Latency Mode that offers low input lag for a smooth gaming experience. As for sound, the C4 has a 40W 2.2-channel Dolby Atmos speaker system, which doesn't disappoint. Consumer Reports says the TV offers "great sound." LG's Magic Remote provides three ways of controlling the unit: via buttons, your voice, or using it as a pointer. Like other LG models on this list, it runs webOS, and the company promises five years of updates. You can buy the 65-inch LG OLED C4 from Amazon at a discounted price of $1,218.99.
1. Samsung QN65S90F
While the Samsung QN65S90F isn't Samsung's flagship model, it surprisingly stands out as one of the best smart TVs of 2025. In fact, it has an identical overall rating as the company's flagship TV of the year, the QN65S95F. This model gets two key areas right that matter: picture and sound quality. Consumer Reports says the picture quality is "impressive" overall. While you don't get Dolby Vision HDR support, the TV offers "top-notch" HDR performance. Since not all content you may want to watch was shot in 4K, this model, like several others on this list, has AI upscaling tech to make lower-resolution content better. The 65-inch variant uses a QD-OLED panel (some sizes use a WOLED panel) and supports 4K gaming at 144Hz, thanks to Samsung's Motion Xcelerator tech.
It has other handy gaming features as well, like four HDMI 2.1 ports, Auto Low Latency Mode for low input lag, and variable refresh rate for reduced screen tearing. This particular model has 40W 2.1 channel speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and the sound quality is described as "great." Samsung's Tizen OS runs on the set, and that means you can find a bunch of streaming apps, but don't expect a library as big as that on Google TV. The 65-inch Samsung QN65S90F is available on Amazon and Walmart for $1,597.99.
How we selected these TVs
We used Consumer Reports' ranking of the best TVs overall to come up with this list. The team buys over 200 TVs every year for review, which is an assurance that rankings aren't influenced by manufacturers and the models they recommend are actually worth buying. The site uses standardized lab tests to review TVs, making it possible to objectively compare models from the same or different manufacturers against each other. CR runs each model through more than 20 tests to determine every model's performance in all the key areas that matter on a TV, such as picture quality, HDR performance, and sound quality.
The results from these tests are used to calculate the final overall score for each model and make it possible to rank TVs. The company also considers other issues in overall scores, such as data privacy and security, and how versatile each model is based on several factors, including the number of ports and available streaming services. The site's ranking includes ten models, but we've listed the top five.