Speaker 1: What's going on. Welcome to best of TVs for 2021 buying a TV. Isn't that easy, right? There's all these different tiers, all these different letter combinations. You've got ed L E D. There's a lot to take into account. And that's why today we're talking a David Kats, Meer he's CNET TV expert. And we're gonna go through this categorically. We talking budget form factor, best remote, cuz who doesn't love a good remote and a few other categories. Ultimately, we're gonna talk about the editor's choice. So here it [00:00:30] is. All right. Hey David, thanks for talking today.
Speaker 2: Anytime Justin. Good to be here.
Speaker 1: All right, let's start we 20, 21. What did this year bring us with TVs?
Speaker 2: So 2021 was a strange year, much like 20, 20. We all remember. Um, but with TVs, what people did this year is they really heavily invested in their home entertainment setups. So last year we saw a lot of budget TVs sold and people just like [00:01:00] kind of randomly picking up a TV. They realized they didn't have enough for a whole family staying at home in 2021, people invested in better TVs, so larger screen sizes. They stepped up in image quality. The average TV selling price this year went up for the first time in nine years, which is crazy. Cuz you always think a TV's getting cheaper and cheaper, but what that reflected was people buying these larger, more expensive TVs, really investing in their home entertainment setups. So
Speaker 1: Speaking of prices going up, if someone's looking for a budget [00:01:30] TV, what would be the one that you recommend?
Speaker 2: So our favorite budget TV is the TCL four series. So this is a Roku TV and that means that it has Rokus built-in smart TV system. The reason we like it is because a it's dirt cheap, uh, comes in, you know, a size from 43 up to 85 inches, some of the most competitive prices at those sizes. But it's really about having that built in smart TV system. So you don't have to plug in another device, pay extra for a Roku or fire stick or whatever. You just have that all [00:02:00] in, in one place, one remote control make it's super easy to use those streaming apps.
Speaker 1: So speaking of operating systems, if you had to choose the best operating system or, or perhaps like the best features added in 2021, what would that
Speaker 2: Be? We really like Roku. That's kind of my go-to answer for that question. Uh, but interestingly, this year there's a, a new competitor that has kind of added a lot of those extra features you're talking about and really kind of up the game and that's Google TV. So Sony has Google TVs. You can buy [00:02:30] a Chromecast with Google TV in it. And we really love the, the addition to Google assistant. It's a much more compelling voice option than is available on, uh, a Roku. But you know, that's for kind of advanced users, honestly, like there's a lot more going on with use system, for example, a lot more stuff to keep track of on there. It tracks your viewing habits, which can be good or, or, or bad depending. And you know, there's profiles on it. It's, there's a lot more to it than Roku. So if you just want that plain simple, uh, reliable, dependable, uh, you know, know operating system, [00:03:00] uh, we recommend Roku.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And, and on the Google operating system like me, I have a smart home and I found it to be really helpful in that situation. So perhaps for people with smart homes, that could be a good option if Google assistant is, you know what they're using now, best picture, this is important when it comes to TVs, what, what, what TV would you say has the ultimate picture this
Speaker 2: Year? Yeah. So the best picture we tested this year was, was an O led TV, no surprise to anybody who's in following the [00:03:30] TV space here. This is organic light-emitting dial TVs, super duper, thin, really expensive. But the thing I like about it is the picture. It has the deepest black love best contrast. The LGC one is my pick, uh, best TV I've ever tested, frankly. Um, they up their game again this year very slightly, but you know, it's brighter, uh, off angle is incredible, excellent color. It really does hit, um, all the notes and it's available in a more sizes this year than ever. So they have a 48 inch size this year. Um, you can go up to 83 inches, which [00:04:00] is crazy expensive, you know, if you can afford it, but again, this TV's more expensive than standard LCD TVs, but, uh, you know, if you have the money and it's, it's not that bad, it's like 1200, 1300 bucks right now for the 55 inch size. So it's still, you know, somewhat affordable.
Speaker 1: So I have an LG and one thing I really love about mine is the remote. Would you say there's any remote that sticks out to you this year?
Speaker 2: Uh, so you know, I really like LGS remote too. It's got kind of that we, you know, thing Nintendo, we, where it follows the cursor around on the screen. Although [00:04:30] I, I gotta say Samsung's remotes are my favorite this year. So they're, they're really, really simple and yet capable. Um, you know, you can do voice with them. Like we were talking about before Samsung this year added a Alexa and, uh, Google assistant to its TVs and kind of denigrated Bixby, which, you know, good, good on them. Um, but the remote itself is just really simple to hold ergonomic and it's kind of a gimick, but I kind of love it at the same time. You flip it over, there's a solar panel on the back and you can actually recharge the remote with in interior lighting. [00:05:00] So you don't have to worry about the batteries. Of course, the batteries less forever on these things, you know, without back lighting, but long story short, I really like that. Samsung remote
Speaker 1: Now form factor TVs are pretty standard. They're pretty similar. Was there any TV that stuck out on with its build?
Speaker 2: So talking about form factor, the best, the best looking TV when it's off, in my opinion, is, is an LG OED. Uh, again, that that TV has the super thin, uh, scene from the side. It's, it's almost like it's thinner than a pencil and you [00:05:30] know, it, you can put it on the wall, they have a, a version of it that's super duper thin when you hang on the wall that doesn't stick out at all, they call it the gallery series, again, more expensive than the standard one, but you know, if you really want your to be as minimal as possible, and that's me, I just want all picture. There's almost nothing around the edges. You know, it's just a very, very thin bezel. And, you know, combined with that thin profile is just a beautiful TV and allows you just to focus on the picture.
Speaker 1: So with all of these categories taken into account, what would you [00:06:00] say is the editor's choice TV of 2021?
Speaker 2: So the editor's choice this year has the best picture quality and the best design, no surprise. It's the LG C one O led TV. Uh, it really is great. Um, you know, it's the only editor's choice that I gave this year. We really, we, we have a TV that's the best, uh, for the money. We really like the TCL six series, but you know, again, it's, it's a few hundred dollars less than the LG, and I think you should just save up, you know, it, this you're gonna have a TV for a long time. Uh, the prices [00:06:30] actually are more attractive than they've ever been. And you know, it's something you're just gonna watch hours and hours and you're just gonna appreciate it. No matter what you're doing, gaming movies, TV shows, what have you, it just looks spectacular. It's also happens to be my favorite gaming TV and has all the extra features that you want. If you're hooking up a PlayStation five, a Xbox series X. So it really is, uh, the kind of, best of all worlds, the LGC one.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much, David. And thank you for watching today. If you wanna learn more about out these TVs, be sure to check those links down [00:07:00] in the article. I'm Justin for CNET, and I'll take you later.
