The best 48-, 49- and 50-inch TVs 2024 for every budget (2024)

The best 48-, 49- and 50-inch TVs are the best sized TVs for the majority of people. If you don’t fancy investing in a huge screen or simply want something that won’t take up the whole room, a 48, 49, or 45-inch TV is the perfect option. At these sizes, you can still make the most of 4K resolution, luxuriate in the colourful delights of HDR – or High Dynamic Range – and appreciate the technological wizardry at work in modern screens. And even better, you’re not going to have to sell a kidney to pay for it.

The other piece of good news is that you have a wealth of choice when it comes to this size of screen. Manufacturers, thankfully, understand that we now don’t all need to fill a wall with a screen. Plus, it used to be rare that OLED TVs would drop below 55-inches but improvements in screen manufacturing processes mean you can find the best OLED TVs at the right size for you. In fact, many of the best TVs with the latest innovations in screen tech are available at this 50-inch sweet spot so there’s no need to worry about having to find the space or cash for a 65-inch OLED behemoth to have the ultimate home cinema experience.

We've got good news for gamers too. If you're playing on console or PC, you'll find that some of the TVs we've listed here are among the best gaming TVs too. That means you can get the best of both worlds: a brilliant TV and a top-tier gaming experience too.You also might notice that this guide doesn't include any of the best 8K TVs. There's a reason for that: at this screen size, 8K isn't worth having unless you plan to sit with your nose touching the display, and even then there's still a lack of dedicated 8K content to enjoy.

So with all of that in mind, let’s discover the very best 48-, 49- and 50-inch TVs. If you want something smaller for a bedroom or kitchen, we’ve also got a guide to the best 40-inch TVs. Alternatively, if you want to go up a size, check out our breakdown of the best 55-inch TVs. For something in between, check out our list below.

Best 48- to 50-inch TV for most people

The LG C4 is a jack-of-all-trades TV, with an excellent picture that suits both movies and gaming, a fantastic suite of gaming features, an intuitive smart TV platform and more. It's no wonder LG's C series OLEDs have been so popular in the 48-50-inch size range when it covers all bases.

Picture quality is the C4's highlight, with vibrant colors, superb contrast, and excellent detail thanks to its built-in Alpha a9 AI processor. And improved brightness over its predecessor, the LG C3, gives the new C4 a leg up on rival OLEDs.

Gaming is another highlight of the C4, which has four fully kitted HDMI 2.1 ports that support 144Hz refresh rate, VRR (including Nvidia GSync and AMD FreeSync), ALLM, HGiG, and Dolby Vision Gaming, It also comes with LG's Game optimizer, designed to adjust game settings easily. At 48 inches, the C4 is a great size for both living room and bedroom gaming.

While the C4 doesn't have the best built-in audio and doesn't support HDR10+, it does nearly everything else right, including having a sleek design and user-friendly smart TV platform. Those are just some reasons why it's the best 48-50-inch TV for most people.

Read our full LG C4 review

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Best budget 48- to 50-inch TV

The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED covers a lot of bases, with a detailed and colorful picture, good gaming performance (despite a lack of some next-gen gaming features), Amazon's Fire TV smart platform and more, all at a very competitive price. You can realistically expect to pay $349 / 399 / around AU$775 for the 50-inch model as the Omni QLED is frequently on sale.

For a budget QLED TV, the Amazon Omni QLED's picture is surprising - in a good way. Textures are detailed and skin tones are accurate and true-to-life. Colors are plenty punchy and vivid and it handles motion very well. Sadly, black levels are lacking, with dark tones taking on a gray hue rather than 'true' black, but that's to be expected from a budget QLED TV.

Despite a lack of next-gen gaming features such as a 120Hz refresh rate, the Omni QLED is a strong-performing gaming TV. It does offer VRR, ALLM and even Dolby Vision gaming - a welcome addition at this price. It also beats some much more premium models with a low 10.4ms input lag, allowing for smoother and more responsive gaming.

It does carry some limitations, such as an occasionally stuttering smart TV platform and average sound quality. Still, with the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED you get an impressive TV at a budget-friendly price that will more than suit many people.

Read our full Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED review

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Best mid-range 48- to 50-inch TV

Samsung's new Q80D features improved brightness and contrast over last year's Q80C (which it replaces in this guide). We we also impressed with its fantastic peak brightness for a regular LED TV, which is why its 50-inch sized version is our top mid-range pick.

The Samsung Q80D boasts the same powerful Neo Quantum 4 Gen 2 processor used in Samsung's flagship mini-LED TVs, along with the same great suite of gaming features. These include super-fast response time and bold, sharp images.

In our Samsung Q80D review, we wrote that this TV boasts: "an outstanding contrast performance, combining more brightness with deeper, more natural, and more consistent black levels than any other LCD TV I can think of in its class." It's an ideal display if you want premium picture quality at a lower price. You'll get contrast, color and sharpness as good and consistent as you can find in the mid-range TV space. As an added bonus, the audio here is good enough that you won't need to rush out to buy a soundbar.

There are a wide range of connections on offer from this Samsung TV, including four HDMI ports. One is equipped with eARC functionality, which passed lossless Dolby Atmos audio tracks to soundbars and AVRs. There are also two USB ports, an Ethernet port, an RF port, a digital optical audio output, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support.

Don't expect the kind of ultra-modern and thin design of Samsung's high-end TVs here. But the Samsung Q80D still boasts a nice-looking silver metallic finish with a screen frame that has bold edges and an impressive built quality – especially considering the price. All in all,the Samsung Q80D proves there’s great quality to be had in the more affordable half of the brand’s TV range.

Read our full Samsung Q80D review

Best 48-50 inch mini-LED TV

If you're looking for a super bright TV in smaller sizes that's in the mid- to high-end price range, then the Samsung QN90C is one of our newest and top picks. It's from Samsung's Neo QLED series of TVs and it boasts high brightness and impressive all-around video performance.

With its anti-glare screen, the QN90C is a great option for daytime sports viewing, and its comprehensive gaming support also makes it a perfect choice for console- or cloud-based gaming – it offers up four4K120Hz-capable HDMI 2.1 ports for connecting next-gen game consoles. Similar to otherSamsung TVs, HDR support here extends to the HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG formats, but not Dolby Vision.

During our testing, we found the Samsung QN90C delivered impressive peak HDR brightness (we measured 1,787 nits) in its Movie picture mode. There is also a Filmmaker mode option, but that had lower brightness and was generally less accurate than Movie. We also noted deep blacks with detailed shadows and only a small amount of backlight blooming.

Design-wise, this TV is slim with a thin bezel. It also has a sturdy hexagonal plate stand, which all adds to the QN90C's strong visual appeal – it even looks great when in Ambient Mode, a feature for displaying artwork and photos in a low-power mode.

At this price, it won't hit the same performance heights as the company’s flagship QN95 series, but it’s a good deal less expensive while checking off many of the same boxes from a features standpoint.

Read our full Samsung QN90C review

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How to choose the best 48- to 50-inch TVs

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Latest updates

August 9, 2024
Replaced the Samsung Q80D with the Samsung Q80D due to its improved brightness and contrast levels.

June 11, 2024
Replaced the LG C3 with the LG C4 as 'best TV for most people' due to the C4's improved brightness, processing and gaming features.

March 28, 2024
Changed the LG C3 to the 'best overall'. Introduced the Amazon Omni QLED as 'best budget' and Samsung Q80C as 'best mid-range'. Samsung QN90C became 'best mini-LED'. Removed Philips OLED807, LG A2 and Samsung BU8500 due to stock levels. Added in this latest updates section.