The best TV deals of Black Friday 2020

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lg bx oled tv
Enlarge / LG’s BX OLED TV is among the best premium TVs for most people.

Black Friday is almost synonymous with TV deals, but in reality, most of the offers advertised during the shopping holiday aren’t worth your time. While many retailers are happy to shovel out big screens at dirt-cheap prices, the actual image quality of those cheaper displays tends to be mediocre. Put another way, you usually get what you pay for.

That said, for the handful of TVs that are good value, Black Friday is generally the best time to pick up a new set. You can check out our list of the best Black Friday deals for a more general roundup, but to make things easier for those who are specifically looking to grab a new centerpiece for their living room, we’ve curated a separate rundown of the best Black Friday TV deals we can find.

While we don’t regularly review TVs here at Ars, we’ve scoured through feedback on forums and review sites we trust to supplement our own impressions. We’ve also made sure to check price history charts to ensure each offer below brings genuine savings over what you’d pay at other points in the year. We’ll be sure to update this post if any more good discounts become available, but just be warned that some deals may sell out before the end of the day, since Black Friday sales started earlier than usual this year.

Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Best TV deals of Black Friday 2020

The top deal of the bunch here is likely LG’s 55-inch BX OLED TV for $1,200, which is the lowest price we’ve tracked. LG’s OLED TVs have been highly regarded for years now, and the BX is the entry-level model in the company’s current lineup. It lacks the brighter panel and more advanced image processor of LG’s step-up CX set—which was on sale for $1,400 earlier in the week, but now appears to be widely out of stock—so it’s best used in darker rooms. Still, for those who’ve never owned an OLED TV before, it should represent a substantial upgrade, with excellent contrast, a wide color gamut, and a 120Hz refresh rate with VRR support.

If the LG models go out of stock, Sony’s A8H OLED TVs are similarly well-reviewed but a bit more expensive. Sony’s X950H and Samsung’s Q80T, meanwhile, are strong choices for those who’d prefer a premium set with a more traditional LCD/LED and a slightly more affordable price-to-size ratio.

As for more affordable options, again, you get what you pay for, but Vizio’s M7-Series Quantum looks to be a good value among mid-range models, while TCL’s 4 Series sets and Toshiba’s Fire TV Edition should provide decent value on the budget end, depending on what size you want. All are down to the lowest prices we’ve tracked. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing any deals on TCL’s popular 5- or 6-Series Roku TVs as of this writing.

Best home entertainment deals of Black Friday 2020

The Sonos Beam smart soundbar.
Enlarge / The Sonos Beam smart soundbar.

Outside of actual TVs, Black Friday has also brought a few good deals on home theater devices we like, including the compact Sonos Beam soundbar for a new low of $299, a number of deals on Roku and Fire TV media streamers, and the best price we’ve tracked on the higher-end Nvidia Shield TV.

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