The 2 Best TVs Under $300 - Summer 2024 Reviews

The Hisense 55U6K is the best TV under $300, although that's a bit of a stretch as it's slightly above that when not on sale. Still, it's easily the best TV in its price range, with great picture quality that looks fantastic in a dark room thanks to its great contrast ratio and good black uniformity, with no distracting blooming around bright areas of the screen. It also has a local dimming feature that helps improve its contrast further, which is great at this price point. It has good reflection handling, so it can also handle a bit of glare if you have a few windows or keep the lights on, but it's not very bright.

It's a colorful TV due to its wide color gamut and good color volume, and it's extremely color-accurate without needing to be calibrated. It even has decent upscaling capabilities. The Hisense is also a good TV for gaming, as it has superbly low input lag and variable refresh rate support for a responsive, nearly tear-free gaming experience. It's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which is disappointing for gamers who want to take full advantage of their Xbox Series X, PS5, or recent gaming GPU. It's still great for visually-intensive games on consoles targeting 4k @ 60Hz in their 'Graphics' mode or for 60 fps PC gaming. Finally, it runs the Google TV smart interface, which has a great selection of streaming channels, so you can easily find your favorite shows.

The 2024 Hisense U6N is now available. It's supposed to have an improved local dimming feature for better contrast and an increase in brightness, but it's also a lot more expensive near launch—currently, it's well over $300. Unless you need those incremental upgrades, you're better off getting the cheaper U6K while it's still available.

The Roku 55R4A5R is a decent choice for those on a budget, as it's the best-value TV under $300. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of some higher-end models like the Hisense U6/U6K. Still, it's a decent entry-level TV, delivering surprisingly good picture quality in a dark room thanks to its okay contrast ratio and great black uniformity. It has decent reflection handling, so even though it doesn't get very bright in HDR, it's certainly good enough for a moderately lit room. The TV supports HDR10+, but it isn't nearly bright enough for it to matter. Unlike the more expensive TVs on the list, it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve its contrast, but that's the cost of going with a cheaper model.

It comes with the Roku TV platform, which is easy to use and makes navigating through the menus feel smooth. A few drawbacks are expected from a budget-friendly model, as it doesn't upscale low-resolution content as well as other TVs, which isn't ideal if you watch DVDs or cable TV. The TV also doubles as a great small kitchen TV as it's available in sizes as small as 24 inches. Note that the small 24 and 32-inch models are 720p TVs, while the 40-inch size is 1080p; the bigger models are all 4k TVs. If you're a Costco member, you'll instead want to go for the slightly better Hisense A6/A65K, as the Hisense is almost as good as the more expensive U6K but for a cheaper price.