Most buyers are looking for the biggest screens, but 42 and 43-inch TVs remain popular because of their Goldilocks size and overall practicality. The best 42 and 42-inch TVs can fit in medium and smaller rooms without looking too big and still include 4K resolution, smart connectivity, and other features often found on bigger models. They are also perfect for business use and make excellent CCTV monitors and digital signboards.
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We specialize in testing speakers and soundbars and love seeing how they perform with different TVs. This time, we’ve picked the best 42 and 43-inch TVs based on features and performance, and there’s one for every budget, so nobody’s left out.
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LG C3 OLED
Best overall 42 and 43-inch TV
LG’s C3 boasts some of the deepest blacks and vivid colors of any 42-inch TV, thanks to its 4K OLED display. It’s great for gaming, too, with four HDMI 2.1 ports and Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync to prevent screen tearing and stuttering.
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Sony A90K
Best premium 42 and 43-inch TV
The Sony a90K is a luxury TV with a 42-inch OLED display and 120Hz refresh rate. It has only two HDMI 2.1 ports, but it makes up for it with excellent sound and an intuitive Google TV interface for accessing your favorite streaming services.
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Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV
Best best value 42 and 43-inch TV
$360 $400 Save $40
Amazon’s Fire TV 43-inch Omni TV offers impressive value because of its 4K display and Alexa compatibility for a low price. The six-month MGM+ subscription is the icing on top, which adds more value and provides thousands of titles to keep you entertained.
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Samsung The Frame LS03B
Best lifestyle 42 and 43-inch TV
Samsung’s The Frame LS03B is a stylish minimalist TV with a 4K QLED display for enjoying content. When you’re not watching, you can use it as a digital picture frame to showcase famous art thanks to the anti-reflective matte display and customizable bezels.
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Sony X85K
Best mid-range 42 and 43-inch TV
$570 $600 Save $30
The mid-range Sony X85K offers outstanding detail and color accuracy from its 4K LED display, and gamers and sports fans will welcome the fast 120Hz refresh rate. Google TV OS and Voice Assistant make it easy to select shows and movies from popular streaming services like HBO Max and Disney+
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Samsung QN43QN90C
Best 42 and 43-inch TV for gaming
The Samsung QN43QN90C is one of the best 43-inch TVs because it uses mini-LED technology to improve brightness and includes four HDMI 2.1 ports for 120Hz PC or console gaming. Another standout feature is the antiglare screen that reduces reflections and widens the viewing angles for a better user experience.
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Hisense A6 Series Smart TV
Best simplicity 42 and 43-inch TV
$240 $280 Save $40
Hisense’s 43-inch Class A6 Series comes at a fantastic price and is easy to use with built-in Google TV and Alexa voice assistant. The 4K UHD display offers HDR10 and Dolby Vision compatibility with dedicated Game and Sport modes and a 60Hz refresh rate.
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INSIGNIA 43-inch Class F30 Series LED 4K TV
Best budget 42 and 43-inch TV
$181 $190 Save $9
The Insignia F30 Series is priced under $200 but still offers 4K UHD resolution and an intuitive Fire TV interface for easily accessing content on popular streaming services. Alexa voice compatibility is standard, and you can connect devices to the three HDMI ports or AV jacks.
QLED, Mini LED, or OLED?
This is probably the biggest question to ask when buying a TV. Each has pros and cons, and deciding which is best for you is up to you.
OLED TVs produce light from each pixel rather than being illuminated from the sides or rear like their LED counterparts. OLEDs can achieve darker blacks because the TV can just turn off that pixel’s illumination. Having greater contrast and better viewing angles often leads to richer colors and greater accuracy, but the brightness levels traditionally haven’t been as high. That’s beginning to change for bigger sizes, but the latest tech takes a while to trickle down to smaller models like these.
Traditional LEDs are still generally available at lower prices and are brighter, with some TVs capable of outputting well over 5,000 nits. QLED from Samsung is another form of LED TV that includes a Quantum Dot layer between the backlight and the display to make the picture brighter.
Premium models often fall under the premium Neo QLED brand, which uses Mini LED technology to improve picture quality. It rivals OLED levels of light control and accuracy, alongside incredible LED brightness, and that’s all because the LEDs in the backlight not only stretch across the whole of the screen but are also much smaller. This means there is much more control over the brightness levels in the different areas of the television and reduces the blooming some standard LED TVs can experience.
