UPDATE: As of Monday, October 31, pricing has changed a bit. Article text has been updated to reflect current pricing, but pricing is subject to change by Amazon without notice.
Amazon has jump-started the holiday TV deals this year and their desperation is your gain. We're looking at some of the best prices we've ever seen on the best OLED TVs currently on the market. It's unclear how long these deals (or the stock) will last, but as of right now, here are a few OLED TV deals that we think are worth whipping out your wallet for.
The key to getting the absolute best deals on these TVs is to pay for them with Amazon's own store credit card. This card is a must for frequent Amazon buyers as it gives you a significant portion of your spending back in the form of a statement credit. Usually the cash back amount is around 5% on most items, but for this event Amazon raised the cash back offer to up to 10% for select TVs and other electronics items. On a high end OLED TV, this can amount to hundreds of dollars of additional savings. Even without the Amazon store card, these are some great deals on these high performing TVs.
Why OLED? OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TVs use something called "self-emissive pixels." This means that every single dot on an OLED TV that makes up the picture can be turned on or off or set anywhere in between. And that's a lot of dots - over 8,000,000 of them on a 4K OLED TV. Traditional backlit LED/LCD TVs just can't compare as they require back lighting which isn't as precise as pixel-level lighting. This can lead to blacks that are only dark grey, picture unifomity problems and haloing around bright-edged objects. None of these issues affect OLED TVs.
It used to be that LG was the only game in town for OLED, and they still make excellent OLED TVs, but this year Samsung got back in the OLED game with their new QD OLED TVs. These combine OLED panels with Quantum Dot color technology to improve performance. Sony also now sells OLED TVs as well. They buy raw OLED panels from both LG and Samsung and apply their own proprietary video processing on top to refine the image even more. This increased competition has less to some serious downward price pressure. So now is really a great time to buy an OLED TV.
We've seen all of these OLED TVs up close and personal, with a variety of challenging content, not just pristine Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs but standard def and high def broadcast TV, streaming video and oodles of test patterns. And while each brand has its advantages, I can honestly say I'd be very happy with any of these sets in my living room.
All of these sets offer native 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels), include some form of HDR (High Dynamic Range) support and offer robust Smart TV platforms so you'll have access to all your favorite providers (Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.). Here are some that stand out to me right now as best buys. Prices listed are the current published price less the current cash back offer from Amazon. All include free shipping in the price. Sales tax may be applied depending where you live.
> LG 65-inch C1 Series 4K OLED TV - $1350 ($1499 Before Cash Back)
LG's C1 Series 4K OLED TV was released in 2021 and made several critics' "Best Of" lists. Our friend David Katzmaier at CNET called it the "Best High End TV for the Money" and we'd agree. It includes four HDMI 2.1 inputs with HDCP 2.2 support. Gamers will be happy with the set's native 4K/120 Hz support with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) which is important for smooth motion in next generation gaming consoles. For High Dynamic Range, the C1 supports HLG as well as HDR10 and Dolby Vision. These are the most common HDR formats available on streaming platforms and on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. The set's WebOS streaming platform offers a comprehensive selection of apps and Dolby Atmos is supported for immersive surround sound on compatible content.
The current pricing on Amazon is $1499.99 and the set is eligible for 10% cash back ($150) if paid with the Amazon credit card.
Note: Pricing of above model confirmed on October 19.
> 77-inch Sony A80K 4K OLED TV - $2563 ($2698, before Cash Back)
If you're looking for something fairly massive, our favorite deal on an extra large OLED TV is on the 77-inch A80K OLED TV from Sony. This 2021 model is available currently for $2698 ($500 below list) and it qualifies for 5% cash back if you pay with an Amazon store card. That means you'll end up paying about $2,563 (after $135 cash back) for this gorgeously enormous (and enormously gorgeous) OLED TV. Price was confirmed on October 24, 2022.
> Sony 65-inch A95K QD-OLED TV - $2,848 ($2,998 before cash back)
Also notable is the newest top of the line model from Sony, the 65-inch A95K QD-OLED TV (model XR65A95K). This is the specific TV that won this year's TV Shootout. The A95K series uses Samsung's QD-OLED panel for enhanced color brightness and accuracy, combined with Sony's best-in-breed video processing. Amazon currently has it discounted $1,000 from $3,998 to $2,998. There is the standard 5% cash back offer available on this set if you pay with an Amazon credit card which will get you about $150 back as a card statement credit. And while $2,848 is still a lot to pay for a 65-inch TV, it's nice to get a discount of about 1,150 bucks off the previous selling price.
In addition to outstanding black levels, color saturation and color accuracy, both of Sony's OLED TVs listed above feature extremely low input lag and 4K/240 Hz compatibility, making them a great choice for gamers (particularly gamers on Sony's own PS5 console). All Sony OLED TVs support HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision HDR as well as Dolby Atmos sound.
> Samsung S95B 65-inch 4K QD OLED TV - $1708 ($1897.99 before Cash Back)
An excellent choice for watching movies and TV shows, the Samsung S95B QD OLED TV is also great for gaming with an input lag as low as 5.4 ms and support for 4K content at 120 Hz. The 2022 model year TV has earned glowing recommendations from RTINGS and Tech Radar (among others). It also placed second in the 2022 4K TV Shootout, just behind the Sony listed above.
The Samsung set lacks Dolby Vision HDR support but it does support HLG, HDR10 and HDR10+. It also includes Dolby Atmos support for immerive surround sound with compatible soundbar or speakers. It even includes an ATSC 3.0 tuner so you can tune in 4K content for free if ATSC 3.0 broadcasts are available in your area.
The Samsung TV currently qualifies for 10% back if paid for with an Amazon card. That knocks $190 off the price in the form of a statement credit.
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