The best Vizio TVs show us what many TV shoppers already suspected: You don’t need every feature and app that most modern smart TVs offer. In fact, you can get a great 4K TV for less by opting for a streamlined smart TV experience, without sacrificing picture quality or performance.
By skipping complex features like smart home control dashboards and advanced tuner technology, Vizio is able to deliver a solid 4K smart TV for less. The combination of smarts and performance will not only keep most TV shoppers perfectly content, it will often exceed their expectations.
With several Vizio TVs gracing our lists of the best TVs under $1000 and the best TVs under $500, it’s worth considering whether a Vizio TV is right for you.
What are the best Vizio TVs?
Our hands down favorite model on this list is the Vizio OLED TV. Though it’s a little older, it’s still one of the best values in the TV world, offering gorgeous OLED display quality for an astonishingly low price, one that dips even lower during major sales.
If OLED is still too rich for your tastes, the Vizio V-Series is a fantastic bargain. It offers solid 4K performance and a capable smart TV experience. You don’t have to give up Netflix or HBO Max to save on a smart TV, and the Vizio V-Series is the proof of that.
The best Vizio TVs you can buy
Vizio’s first foray into OLED TVs is a big step for the budget TV maker, but a giant leap for affordable OLED TVs. With the 55-inch model selling for $1,299 and often dipping below the $1,000 mark during sales, Vizio’s OLED TV is a value monster, delivering all of the quality you expect from OLED without the premium pricing. The Vizio OLED gives premium picture quality for hundreds of dollars less than the competition, and has great sound with better-than-average bass.
Vizio SmartCast has also shaped up to become a solid smart TV platform, with an expanded app selection and built-in support for Google Chromecast and AirPlay 2. The Vizio OLED TV is one of the best 4K TV values out there, and definitely the best affordable OLED TV.
Read our full Vizio OLED TV review.
If low prices are what you’re after, then the Vizio V-Series (2020 model) might be just the budget-friendly 4K smart TV you’re after. With exceptional affordability, decent smarts from Vizio’s SmartCast software and great gaming capabilities, it’s a fantastic bargain, even when it’s not on sale. Although it frequently is, with steep discounts occurring throughout the year.
A trio of HDMI 2.1 ports deliver gaming-friendly features like auto low latency mode and impressively short lag times of just 13.1 milliseconds. If you want great gaming performance for less, this is definitely the budget gaming TV to get. But keep in mind that this is a 60Hz display, so variable refresh rates and high refresh rates are off the table. And general performance is decent enough, but the brightness isn’t great and the audio would benefit from adding a soundbar.
Read our full Vizio V-Series (2020 model) review.
The Vizio M-Series Quantum MQ6 tries to deliver a QLED display and 4K smart TV features while keeping prices low, and it mostly succeeds. You’ll get a budget-friendly 4K set with Vizio SmartCast, decent performance and a new addition for Vizio models – voice control. There’s a lot to love here, but the low price comes with some compromises that you’ll just have to live with.
The addition of voice interaction and a new streamlined voice-enabled remote control help make Vizio SmartCast the best it’s ever been, and the quantum display delivers great color reproduction and picture quality. But you’ll be faced with a limited app selection and blunted brightness and contrast performance. If you’re not picky about smarter aspects of smart TVs, it’s a solid option for shoppers that want to save a buck.
Read our full Vizio M-Series Quantum MQ6 review.
The Vizio P-Series Quantum (P65Q9-H1) delivers a crisp picture with great contrast at a good price — but its software holds it back (it pre-dates some of the improvements that have come to this year’s Vizio sets). If you want one of the best sets Vizio makes, this is definitely it.
Vizio P-Series Quantum (P65Q9-H1) is an excellent TV if you prize picture quality and don’t care about the smart OS that comes with it. With its sharp 4K image and contrast that reveals details in dark scenes, the P65Q9-H1 sets itself apart from cheaper QLED alternatives. It’s a mid-priced model that registers moderate scores in our lab test and lacks a few nice-to-have features, such as an integrated voice assistant and Dolby Atmos support, but the picture quality outweighs its downsides.
Read our full Vizio P-Series Quantum (P65Q9-H1) review.
How much do Vizio TVs cost?
Vizio breaks down most of its model offerings into three easy to understand categories. Vizio TVs range from ultra-cheap (under $300) to premium models that hit $2,999 for the largest sizes. Within that huge range is an array of options, all designed to deliver great value.
The smallest, most basic models offered by Vizio is the D-Series, which are small 720p and 1080p sets that sell for $300 or less. They top out at 43-inches in size, and offer the full version of Vizio’s SmartCast software, but the features are just as basic as you’d expect. They’re great for sticking an extra TV in a kid’s room or another small space, without paying much.
The Vizio V-Series is the company’s budget-friendly line — the V stands for value. With screen sizes between 40 and 75 inches, the V-Series costs between $300 and $900, with the largest screen sizes selling for less than $1,000. You’ll get great features, like HDR support and gamer-friendly lag times, but you won’t get local dimming.
The Vizio M-Series is the mid-range line. It’s a step up from the V-Series, with local dimming and quantum dot enhancement for better color and brightness. With sizes between 43 inches and 75 inches, they range in price from $400 and $1,400.
At the top of the totem pole is the Vizio P-Series, where P stands for premium. With prices ranging from $1,399 up to $2,999, the P-Series starts where the M-Series leaves off, offering the best video processing, the highest number of dimming zones, and features like HDMI 2.1, anti-glare screens, and best-in-class performance.
The one outlier on this list is the Vizio OLED TV, which doesn’t fall under one of these model names, but still manages to be one of the best values in the TV world. Under normal circumstances, the Vizio OLED TV sells for $1,299 and $1,999 for the 55- and 65-inch models, respectively. But that’s the recommended retail price, and the 55-inch OLED set reliably drops to less than a grand during big sales, making it one of the best bargains to watch for.
What is Vizio SmartCast?
If we’ve had one sticking point on Vizio TVs in recent years, it’s Vizio’s smart TV platform. Named SmartCast, Vizio’s unique take on smart TVs originally relied on a built-in Google Chromecast to deliver most apps and streaming services, with very few locally installed apps.
But Vizio has expanded the app selection on its smart TVs, adding must-have apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Apple TV, Hulu and Peacock. For a lot of TV shoppers, that list already covers every streaming app they want on a smart TV.
Vizio has also put a lot of work into its free movies and TV options. From popular services like Pluto TV and Plex — including several of the best free streaming services — there’s a healthy selection of free content available for Vizio TVs. And Vizio makes it even more accessible with WatchFree Plus, a package of free channels that’s available out of the box.
Finally, Vizio TVs still offer a built-in Chromecast and support Apple AirPlay 2, so it’s pretty easy to get any other phone or tablet app up on screen, letting you enjoy a huge selection of apps on your TV without installing it locally on the set. Some will consider this an unforgivable limitation, others won’t even care. It’s really a matter of preference and which apps you think are essential.
How to choose the best Vizio TV for you
The basic list of features and technologies that we recommend is the same as it is in articles like our TV buying guide and everything you need to know about buying a TV, but Vizio’s neatly defined product categories make it easy to find the right balance of features and price.
The best of the bunch are the Vizio P-Series, but you’ll pay extra for everything these premium sets offer. They’re great TVs, with features like QLED displays, up to 210 discrete dimming zones, HDMI 2.1 support, gaming enhancements like variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM), and an anti-glare IPS display panel with wide viewing angles. The only problem? These are also the most expensive TVs Vizio makes, and the price to value ratio might leave you looking at what other brands offer at similar prices.
The Vizio M-Series models hit the sweet spot between performance and price, delivering quantum dot displays with local dimming for very reasonable prices. But the M-Series is split between two models, the MQ7 and the MQ6. The MQ6 is less expensive, but it drops some of the best features, like local dimming. The MQ7, on the other hand, has up to 32 dimming zones.
The value-focused V-Series offers some great quality for the price, but it’s worth noting that these are definitely budget TVs. You won’t get local dimming or great HDR support, you’ll give up quantum dot enhancement, and you won’t get great audio without adding a soundbar. That said, the V-Series still has features like ALLM and VRR, as well as voice control through the new voice-enabled remote. For shoppers looking to spend less, it’s a great 4K smart TV.
Finally, there’s the D-Series. We don’t recommend the 720p and 1080p D-Series models as anyone’s primary TV, but if you want something small and inexpensive, it’s an affordable way to put a smart TV into a small space.
If you’ve narrowed down your TV shopping by brand, price range or screen size, check out our picks for the best TVs in each.
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