Best Smart TVs in 2025: LG OLED, Samsung QLED & Sony Compared

What Makes a TV "Smart" in 2025?

By 2025, virtually every TV sold is "smart" — but the quality of the smart experience varies enormously. The best smart TVs in 2025 aren't just about picture quality; they're about OS smoothness, voice assistant integration, smart home connectivity, and app ecosystems. They need to work seamlessly with your Google Home, Apple HomeKit, or Alexa setup, respond quickly to voice commands, and ideally integrate with platforms like SmartThings or Home Assistant.

We've tested dozens of 2025 models across all price points. These three represent the best combination of picture quality, smart platform, and smart home integration available right now.

1. LG OLED C4 — Best Picture Quality Overall

The LG OLED C4 continues LG's dominance in OLED television. Using OLED evo panel technology, it delivers perfect blacks (every pixel turns off independently), infinite contrast ratio, and spectacularly accurate colours. The result is a picture that consistently outshines competing LED/QLED displays for film and TV content — dark scenes in cinematic content look genuinely stunning.

The C4's α9 AI Processor Gen7 handles upscaling, noise reduction, and colour optimisation in real time. Gaming credentials are exceptional: four HDMI 2.1 ports with 4K@144Hz, VRR (G-Sync and FreeSync compatible), and input lag as low as 1.2ms — making it one of the finest gaming monitors available in a TV form factor.

webOS 24 is one of the best smart TV operating systems around. It's fast, regularly updated with new apps and features, and integrates voice control via ThinQ AI, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa. LG's ThinQ app connects to SmartThings, Google Home, and HomeKit. Home Assistant users can integrate the C4 via the official LG webOS integration, controlling power, input, volume, and even launching apps.

The one caveat: OLED brightness is lower than premium QLED options, making the C4 less ideal for very bright living rooms with direct sunlight. In a typical living room or darkened home cinema setup, however, it's unrivalled.

Best for: Movie enthusiasts, gamers, and users who prioritise picture quality over brightness.

2. Samsung QN90D — Best for Bright Rooms

For households where the TV lives in a bright living room with lots of natural light, the Samsung QN90D is a genuinely compelling alternative to OLED. Its Neo QLED Mini-LED backlighting produces peak brightness levels that OLED simply cannot match — up to 2,000–4,000 nits depending on content — making HDR content look spectacular and ensuring excellent visibility even in sunlit rooms.

Samsung's anti-reflective coating is among the best in the industry, drastically reducing screen glare compared to glossy OLED panels. The QN90D uses Samsung's Neural Quantum Processor 4K for content upscaling, and the result is excellent — lower-resolution content looks clean and detailed.

Tizen OS remains Samsung's smart TV platform, and it's fast and feature-rich. Deep SmartThings integration means the QN90D can serve as a SmartThings hub, replacing the need for a separate hub device in some configurations. Samsung Gaming Hub lets you stream Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, and other cloud games directly without a console.

Alexa and Google Assistant are both built in, alongside Bixby. The Multi-View feature lets you simultaneously display your smartphone and TV content side by side — genuinely useful for the right user. Home Assistant integration is available via the Samsung TV integration, though it's less reliable than LG's webOS integration.

Best for: Bright rooms, Samsung ecosystem households, gamers who want maximum brightness for HDR content.

3. Sony X90L — Best for Movie Lovers on a Budget

The Sony X90L hits the sweet spot between picture quality, smart features, and price. It uses Sony's XR (Cognitive Processor) technology to deliver picture quality that often surprises people expecting an LED panel to fall dramatically short of OLED — the X90L's colour accuracy and content upscaling are genuinely impressive, even if it can't match the infinite contrast of OLED.

The X90L runs Google TV — one of the best smart TV operating systems available, built on Android TV but with a much more organised content aggregation layer. It pulls together recommendations from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, YouTube, and dozens of other services into a unified home screen, making content discovery genuinely easier. Google Assistant is built in and works reliably for smart home control.

Sony's acoustic surface technology uses the panel itself as a speaker driver, creating more immersive audio that seems to come from on-screen. It's not a replacement for a soundbar, but it's noticeably better than typical flat TV audio.

Smart home integration via Google TV means the X90L integrates naturally into Google Home. Chromecast is built in, and Home Assistant integration is available via the Sony Bravia integration, supporting basic controls. Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit are also supported — making the X90L one of the more broadly compatible options for mixed ecosystems.

Best for: Budget-conscious buyers who want excellent picture quality and the best smart TV OS without paying OLED prices.

Comparison Table

Feature	LG OLED C4	Samsung QN90D	Sony X90L
Panel Type	OLED evo	Neo QLED Mini-LED	Full Array LED
Contrast	Infinite (self-lit)	Excellent	Good
Brightness	Moderate (~800 nits)	Very High (~2,000+ nits)	Good (~700 nits)
Gaming	Exceptional (4K/144Hz)	Excellent (4K/144Hz)	Good (4K/120Hz)
Smart OS	webOS 24	Tizen	Google TV
HomeKit	Yes	No	Yes
Google Home	Yes	Yes	Native
SmartThings	Via integration	Native hub	Limited
Price Range	$$$$	$$$	$$

Smart Home Integration Notes

All three TVs support voice assistant control via Google Assistant and Alexa. For Home Assistant users:

• LG OLED C4: Best HA integration via the official webOS integration — supports power, input, volume, app launching, and state reporting
• Samsung QN90D: HA integration available but historically less reliable; deep SmartThings integration is a strength
• Sony X90L: Solid HA integration via the Sony Bravia integration; Google TV makes it ideal for Google Home users

Which TV Should You Buy?

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