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Choosing the best TV for sports could mean the difference between sluggish players breaking a tackle or a smooth, flowing picture every time. Our evaluation focused on image quality, resolution, and response rate. We also explored remote design and smart features such as built-in Alexa and Google Assistant for voice-command access to your favorite movies and shows.
After more than 12 hours of research, our pick for the best TV for sports goes to the Samsung 8 Series TV for Sports. It is a well-rounded machine, featuring a QLED 4K picture, full-array backlighting technology for deep contrasts, and Q Color technology also claims a billion more shades than your standard TV set. An anti-reflective screen also makes it a great choice to watch in sunlit or high ceiling-lit rooms. For more quality products or alternatives, take a look at our best TVs guide.
Award: TOP PICK
WHY WE LIKE IT: This best TV for sports features a stunning QLED 4K picture and bezel-free design, making it an amazing choice for users who prefer to blend their TVs into home decor.
This Samsung Smart TV is a true stunner. QLEDs are generally sharper and brighter than OLEDs with deeper contrast levels and brightness (up to 2,000 nits). Its Q Color technology also claims a billion more shades than traditional HDTV. One of our favorite features is its bezel-free TV, blending right into your surroundings with stunning precision. Plus, it includes Ambien Mode, which converts the picture into a wall frame with light background music when not in use.
An anti-reflective screen gives off the illusion of depth, creating richer contrasts between deep black levels and whites. Kudos for coming with four HDMI ports and two USB ports, which can be used to connect external devices such as Amazon Fire Sticks and Playstation 4. This Samsung Smart TV is the perfect choice for a home theater. It’s a great option if you’re looking for the best HDR TV.
Award: HONORABLE MENTION
WHY WE LIKE IT: This TV stunning 4K HDTV and X1 Extreme Processor for improved contrasts and brightness, a great choice for people who watch sports in bright rooms.
This TV’s picture quality is phenomenal. 4K HDTV and X1 Extreme Processor offer deeper contrasts through real-time image processing and automatically upscales content to 4K HDR quality. It also uses X-Motion Clarity technology, which offers a native 120Hz refresh rate to minimize blur and maintain brightness during high motion scenes like horse racings and football scrimmages. For more televisions with high refresh rates and phenomenal picture quality, visit our best TV monitor guide.
Because this is an Android TV, it has built-in Google Assistant, allowing users to playback favorite shows/movies or control smart home devices using voice commands. Its remote control is just as intuitive with dedicated buttons for Google Play and Netflix. Four HDMI ports also make it easy to connect external devices for large families. You might also like to check out our best curved TV buying guide for additional options.
Award: BEST QUALITY
WHY WE LIKE IT: This TV features P-Series Quantum X technology, 4K Ultra HD for up to 4 times the resolution of standard 1080P, and WatchFree TV by Vizio, a great choice for people who want access to 100+channels and skip cable entirely.
Our favorite feature with this Vizio P Series Quantum 4K HDR TV is its expansive color range. Made possible by P-Series Quantum X technology, it promises roughly 65% more color than standard 4K TVs. It also carries FALD (Full Array Local Dimming), a backlighting technology that helps produce deeper blacks and enhanced brightness for solid viewing in rooms with heavy sunlight or ceiling fans.
This best TV for sports and video games comes with built-in Apple Airplay 2 support and Chromecast also allows users to access an endless array of streaming content and access Netflix and Amazon Prime with one click or voice command. Kudos for a bezel-less design, which makes it look more like a picture frame than an actual television. It’s a nice alternative for anyone previously shopping for the best 1080p TV.
Award: BEST ON A BUDGET
WHY WE LIKE IT: This TV for sports comes with QLED technology and a near-bezel-less display, all while coming in at a budget-friendly price.
While researching this TV, we were enthralled at its vivid and sharp picture. QLED really hits a deeper set of blacks and purer whites, perfect if you pay high attention to detail. A 120Hz refresh rate also allows no noticeable blue with high-speed motion. This set supports multiple HDR formats, including HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR, each carrying their own levels of color depth (68.7 billion for Dolby; 1.07 billion for HDR10), definitely different to the discerning eye.
A healthy number of HDMI inputs (four) makes it a great option for your living room, making it easy to connect a PlayStation 4, Blu-ray player, and an Amazon Fire Stick at once. Kudos for a simplified and highly intuitive remote, making it one of the best TV for seniors on our list.
Award: BEST SOUND
WHY WE LIKE IT: This TV comes with an OLED screen and Acoustic Surface technology, which emits sound using the entire screen – a great choice for audiophiles who want to hear cracking bones from football tackles in all their glory.
This best TV for watching sports shines with an X1 Extreme Processor and OLED for 8 million self-illuminating pixels of deep contrasts and vivid colors. Its processor also works to upscale tons of content to close to 4k HDR quality, including your standard broadcast channels. Plus, it comes in three of the most popular HDR formats (HDR 10, Hybrid Log-Gamma, and Dolby Vision.
This TV’s biggest strength lies in its Acoustic Surface technology, which uses four back panel actuators to convert the entire screen into a sound source. This produces a much crisper and clearer sound on part with an external Sonos or Sony soundbar. Kudos for coming with equalizer and surround settings to make it easy to adjust, making it the best sounding TV on our list.
Award: BEST FOR BRIGHT ROOMS
WHY WE LIKE IT: This best TV for sports features Quantum DOT technology for an even wider color palette (over a billion shades of colors) and Direct Full Array technology, a great choice for sports watchers who often find themselves in bright rooms.
Our favorite feature with this best TV for sports is its captivating display. Quantum Dot technology produces over a billion shades of color. It’s also a perfect TV for bright rooms, as it carries an anti-reflective surface and uses Direct Full Array technology, which consists of a series of backlights to create even richer contrasts between blacks and whites. This translates to a brighter image, even in bright rooms. What a way to watch your favorite sports and streaming services.
Kudos for this Samsung’s Ambient Mode, which converts this near-bezel-less TV into a somewhat moving frame with rotating screen savers and random information. Although we love it for sports watching, it wouldn’t be a bad fit in a doctor’s office or gym as an exercise monitor. For all of these reasons, we’ve designated it the best TV for bright rooms on our list.
Award: BEST HIGH TECH
WHY WE LIKE IT: This best TV for sports comes with tons of integration options, including built-in Google Assistant, Alexa, Apple Airplay 2, and Homekit, making it a great choice for people who want to control tons of smart devices from their TVs.
This best TV for sports bar is dynamite with its display, featuring an OLED screen and pixel contrast booster that controls millions of individual pixels for even greater depth and contrasts between different shades of the same color. While testing, we noticed a slight difference between standard OLED and OLED with its pixel contrast booster.
Besides the outstanding feature, arguably this TV’s biggest strength is in its support for smart services, including Google Assistant, Alexa, Apple Airplay 2, and Homekit. This allows users to voice command and control smart home devices and stream content from multiple providers. All in all, we were also very impressed with menu responsiveness and quick transitions. If you’re looking for an option for your bedroom, check out our best TV for bedrooms buying guide.
Award: BEST VALUE
WHY WE LIKE IT: This TV uses an X1 Ultimate Processor for a super bright screen and Full-Array LED with local dimming technology, which bodes great for people watching in bright rooms.
This TV’s biggest strength lies in the X1 Ultimate Processor, which really helps improved brightness and contrasts with deeper shades of blacks and purer whites. A native 120Hz motion refresh rate also ensures no noticeable blur, important when watching MMA fighters perform a double leg takedown or a basketball team initiative a fast break out of the blocks. Every flailing limb will not be missed with this
Kudos for being compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Android TV which allows for voice control of smart home devices and quick flipping between your favorite movies and shows without touching a remote.
Award: BEST REMOTE
WHY WE LIKE IT: This TV comes with an intuitive, easy-to-use universal remote, OneRemote, along with a whopping 4 HDMI and 3 USB inputs, making it a great choice as a home theater television supporting a Playstation 4, Blu-ray player, and other devices for larger households.
This best TV for sports is a head-turner. Its OLED display is very sharp, sporting a wide color gamut that creates tighter contrasts between deep blacks and purer whites. It also supports various HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, which boasts a broader range of colors than HDR and HDR10+ for the best picture possible. Viewing angles are phenomenal, with equal sharpness from opposite sides of the screen.
We are big fans of LG’s usability. Its native app server beautifully displays your favorite movies and TV shows. A Magic Remote also acts as a mouse pointer, which makes it easier and faster to flip between content. All in all, we were very impressed with this TV’s overall value. If you’re interested in something for your patio, our best outdoor TV buying guide has many good options.
Award: BEST FOR GAMING
WHY WE LIKE IT: This best TV for sports comes with a super sharp OLED display and NVIDIA G-SYNC and FreeSync technology, helping boast refresh rates and making it an excellent choice for gamers.
Our favorite feature on this TV is its α9 GEN 3 AI processor, which renders images beautifully. It also helps upscale 1080p content to 4K and supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The NVIDIA G-SYNC and FreeSync technology also produce true-to-life gaming with no blur in high motion. Its refresh rate (120Hz) shines and the gameplay is very on point.
Another killer detail on this best TV for sports is its WebOS intuitive, which offers an intuitive menu system, making it easier to find movies and shows. Four HDMI ports also make it easy to plug virtually any device needed – a great choice for a home theater or living room. It’s one of the best smart TV for streaming options on our list.
In determining the best TV for sports to buy, we explored response rate, and resolution.
Resolution is a very important factor when choosing the best TV for sports. Resolution refers to the number of pixels on the display. The higher the number of pixels, the greater the detail. At a minimum, look for 4K TVs, which quadruple the number of pixels as standard HDTV screens. If you want an upgrade, consider an OLED TV, QLED TV, and 8K. However, as of the time of this writing, content running on this resolution is very limited.
The best TV for sports’ response rate is very important. Even the best TV for sports under $1000 or a similar price range is capable of this. It is the speed of processing of an image per second. The higher the number, the smoother the picture. Look for a minimum 120Hz response rate. Any less and you will detect a notable blue from time to time.
Another important factor with the best TVs for sports is Smart features and an intuitive UI. Built-in Wifi for Smart TV compatibility is a must to access favorite sports-oriented programs, such as the ESPN app with live sports and coverage. Kudos to intuitive UIs such as Samsung’s SmartHub and the Roku TV platform, all offering easy to navigate menus and voice-controlled access to content.
Our recommendation is a 120Hz rate LED TV or better. The higher the number, the smoother the overall picture will look with no blur, critical when watching a running back plow through a sea of linebackers.
A 120Hz is infinitely better. Popular with OLED TVs, the refresh rate measures the number of times the mage on-screen is refreshed every second. This means a 120Hz best TV for sports refreshes 120 times per second. This results in a much smoother picture with less blur, which is very important for sports watching.
Many TV brands have withstood the test of time for quality and reliability. Our personal favorites are LG, Samsung, and Sony. These TVs consistently rank amongst the best in leading consumer publications and online reviews. Plus, they aced our marks when it comes to the best TVs for sports. The Vizio P Quantum Series is also highly respected.
Not necessarily. Curved TVs are known for a panoramic effect that widens your viewing angle, especially when sitting at the center. However, it may not be the best for sports watching, as the viewing angle is not the same depending on where you are seated. This may not bode well for large groups.
