No two living rooms are the same. Some are extremely bright with lots of ambient light streaming through a half-dozen windows. Others are pitch black thanks to a bevy of blackout curtains. Since they can be so different, there’s no one right TV that fits every space.
Below you’ll find our attempt to cover every use case — from the most premium OLED TVs that look best in a proper home theater to budget models that can thrive in any living space, there’s a TV here that should work for both your space and your budget.
These displays will not only change the amount of details you can pick out in your favorite shows and films, but they’ll totally revolutionize the way games play and how you’ll find the next thing to watch on any of the top-tier streaming services. Without further ado, let’s hop into our picks for the top TVs — and projector — for the Tom’s Guide Awards 2026.
Best TV overall
LG C6 OLED
This one’s not going to surprise anyone. LG’s vaunted C-Series has won some sort of award from us for the last five years straight. Last year, the honor belonged to the LG C5 OLED, and in 2026 it’s going to the LG C6 OLED.
So what makes these TVs so special that they just keep winning? It comes down to two things — value and performance. We love a jaw-dropping OLED around here and we love them even more when we can find them for around $1,500. That’s the LG C6 OLED to a T.
Does that mean it’s absolutely perfect? No. The brand recently came under fire for its handling of audio data obtained by its microphones and you can get better color performance from rival TVs (look no further than the Samsung S95H or Sony Bravia 9 II, both found lower on our list). If those foibles can be overlooked (or outright disabled in the former’s case), the LG C6 perfectly embodies Tom’s Guide’s ethos: performance without paying a premium. At this price, the C6 simply can’t be beat.
— Nick Pino, Managing Editor TV and Audio
Best OLED TV
Samsung S95H OLED
You could make the argument that the Samsung S95H should be the Best TV of 2026. (This was, in fact, the subject of much debate here at the Tom’s Guide office.) But in the end, we had to give the C6 the edge for its slightly more consumer-friendly price.
If you don’t mind paying for its slightly higher sticker price, however, the S95H delivers even better color than its LG rival thanks to its implementation of Samsung’s QD-OLED display. In the labs, it could accurately reproduce 89.67% of the Rec2020 color space — a huge advantage over the LG C6’s good-but-not-great result of 76.26%.
Other OLED TVs are going to offer inky black levels, pixel-perfect contrast and responsive refresh rates, but only the Samsung S95H is going to give you all that and a color reproduction that will blow you away.
Best projector
Hisense XR10
Let me rip the Band-Aid off right away: The Hisense XR10 costs $4,999 — and that’s when it’s on sale. When it’s not on sale, you’re looking at $5,499 and closer to $6,000 after taxes. That’s not an easy pill to swallow, especially in this tough economy.
All that being said, we wouldn’t recommend it if we thought it wasn’t worth its exorbitant entry price and our veteran projector reviewer Mark Knapp summed it up best: “The XR10 will leave you feeling like going to the movie theater is a downgrade.” It’s extremely bright at nearly 7,000 lumens (it looks good even with all the lights turned on) and is easily fitted to your space.
I know the price can be shocking, especially considering that the myriad other Chinese newcomers to the projector market like XGIMI are selling projectors for thousands of dollars less, but just think about how much you’re going to save on movie tickets.
Best Mini-LED TV
TCL QM7L
It’s not the best and brightest Mini-LED TV in TCL’s 2026 lineup, but when you factor in its price and value relative to the rest of the sets in its class, the TCL QM7L is one of the best all-around TVs of the year.
In a year defined by new TV technologies, TCL’s bold reformulation of traditional quantum dots gives cutting-edge, RGB LED-based TVs a run for their money. The QM7L is the most affordable way to experience Super Quantum Dot (SQD) color, and according to our test results, this TV is every bit as colorful as the higher-end TCL QM8L. It’s also plenty bright for daytime viewing.
Like any Mini-LED worth its salt, the QM7L’s backlight control keeps haloing and light bloom to a minimum. Plus, it’s packed with a proper amount of gaming- and streaming-related features for a TV in its price range. All of this adds up to a TV that, at times, feels like it ought to cost more than it does.
— Michael Desjardin, Senior Editor TV
Best RGB TV
Sony Bravia 9 II
2026 has been the year of RGB LED. Nearly every major brand rolled out at least one of these ultra-colorful sets this year, and of all the examples we saw of this cutting-edge technology, none impressed us more than the Sony Bravia 9 II.
We’re still in the getting-to-know-you stage of our relationship with RGB LED backlighting (which trades the white- or blue-colored lighting found in traditional LED TVs for red-, green- and blue-colored LEDs), but one of the things we’ve already observed is the tech’s demand for precise backlight control and high-powered processing. These are areas in which Sony has historically excelled, so it’s no surprise that the Bravia 9 II is currently the crown jewel of RGB LED TVs.
The Bravia 9 II is immensely bright, downright psychedelic in its showcasing of color and nearly perfect when it comes to handling the finer details of picture quality, such as upscaling, color accuracy and the handling of gradients.
If you’re in the market for an RGB LED-based TV, there’s the Bravia 9 II — and then there’s everything else.
Best budget TV
Hisense U6SF Pro (2026)
As its name suggests, the U6SF Pro is an elevated entry-level TV that punches well above its weight. It’s Hisense’s answer for people who want a little extra oomph from a budget-friendly TV.
The U6SF Pro’s modest array of Mini-LEDs offers far better brightness and contrast control than entry-level sets that don’t come with local dimming. The U6SF Pro is also a sensible choice for people whose TVs sit alongside windows or light sources, as the screen features a matte-style, glare-free finish. (Did I mention that it’s arguably the best-equipped gaming TV in its price range?)
Thanks to its aggressive pricing, easy-to-please, budget-conscious shoppers can justify the U6SF Pro and walk away with a better TV than they might’ve thought they were getting. And, thanks to its bright, accurate presentation, folks in the market for an affordable TV with great picture quality will have trouble finding a better value at this price point.
Best big-screen TV
TCL X11L
When we were thinking about the best big-screen TV of 2026, only one TV came to mind: the TCL X11L. While other TVs might have a 75-inch and 85-inch variation on sale, the X11L starts at those sizes and only goes bigger (up to 98 inches). For that reason, it’s probably not the TV you want to buy if you’re living in a two bedroom apartment in the city, but for those folks with a living room big enough to accommodate it, there’s no better big-screen TV in 2026.
Its expansive exterior isn’t just for show, it also houses up to 20,736 precise dimming zones, the TSR AiPQ Processor, and TCL’s reformulated Super Quantum Dots (SQD). Combined, they help the X11L maintain richer color even at high luminance levels — something the TV certainly achieves with its 91.77% Rec2020 color space and nearly 7,000 nits of specular highlight brightness.
TCL’s other 2026 TVs certainly offer wheelbarrows of brightness and don’t cost nearly as much as the X11L, but if you want to see what the brand’s newest SQD technology is truly capable of, this TV will blow you away.
Best gaming TV
Samsung S90H OLED
For dedicated gamers, the ideal TV comes with three key features: excellent picture quality, a full slate of high-bandwidth HDMI ports and ultra-low input lag. The Samsung S90H delivers on all fronts — and it packs additional perks for people who prioritize living-room gaming.
As far as OLED TVs go, the S90H isn’t the brightest or most-colorful option in Samsung’s catalogue. However, as a mid-range set, the S90H offers a brighter presentation than entry-level OLED TVs. It also borrows one of the most popular design flourishes of Samsung’s flagship-level OLED: the brand’s Glare Free display, which keeps distracting reflections out of your gaming sessions.
Like all Samsung TVs, the S90H doesn’t come with Dolby Vision support, but in addition to a full slate of HDMI 2.1 inputs, the S90H also comes with Samsung Gaming Hub built into the TV’s Tizen-based software. Gaming Hub offers an easy way to access several cloud-based gaming services (including Xbox Cloud Gaming).
Best TV design
LG W6 OLED
Perhaps the best combination of performance and design I’ve ever laid eyes on, the LG W6 OLED is as stunning a TV as it is a statement piece. Its featherlight display practically floats on the wall, but its performance is nothing short of a heavy hitter. The W6 taps LG’s superb Hyper Radiant Color technology, which blends eye-popping, OLED-driven contrast with rich, punchy hues.
At the heart of the W6 experience is LG’s True Wireless system, which allows connected devices to be thoughtfully arranged somewhere near the TV, free of cables. Between the flexibility of its wireless capabilities, the TV’s razor-thin, flush mounting system and its incredible picture, the LG W6 is a home theater enthusiast’s dream.
Best smart TV platform
Roku TV
It’s not perfect, but Roku is still as close as a smart platform gets to the ideal streaming hub. Compared to the dense, ad-heavy interfaces of Google TV, webOS, Tizen and Fire TV, Roku’s minimalist menu and easy-to-navigate home screen is a breath of fresh air.
There are ads and recommendations in the corners of the UI, but the placement of this content is easy to sidestep. Plus, Roku’s library of downloadable apps is vast, and all of the most-popular streaming services are supported.
Unfortunately, Roku’s presence as a platform is more prominent in the realm of dedicated streaming devices; there are far fewer TVs with Roku as its built-in software than, say, Google TV. However, so-called Roku TVs are getting better with each passing year, and recently, the first Roku-powered OLED TVs entered the market — a boon for folks who equally value simple software and picture quality.
