Best Buy’s early Black Friday deals are already live, with discounts to be had on everything from smartphones and gaming PCs to wireless headphones. If you’re in the market for a new 4K TV, Best Buy is also offering an exclusive doorbuster deal on LG’s 48-inch B5 OLED, bringing the price of the 4K TV down to just $529.99 ($770 off) for a limited time. You can also grab the 55-inch model from Amazon, Best Buy, and LG for around $896 ($604 off), an all-time low.
LG’s entry-level B Series offers one of the most affordable ways to jump into the world of OLED technology. Although the B5 can’t match the brightness of comparably priced LED TVs, it delivers far better black level performance and contrast, as well as excellent viewing angles. As far as we can tell, the B5 closely matches the display performance of LG’s flagship C3 from a few years ago.
In addition to 4K resolution, the B5 features four HDMI 2.1 ports — all of which support up to 4K at 120Hz with variable refresh rate for gaming — along with support for premium formats such as Dolby Vision and HDR10. It supports Filmmaker Mode, too, which aims to present movies as directors intended by disabling certain settings, such as motion smoothing and image sharpening. The B5 also runs on LG’s speedy Alpha 8 AI Processor Gen 2, so swiping through LG’s webOS interface isn’t a slog. Meanwhile, support for Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Cast makes it easy to stream content from a compatible device, including your phone or tablet.
As great as the B5 is, the set offers middling peak brightness and struggles with handling reflections, according to the folks over at RTings. That said, it’s a great option for gaming, and if you can place it in a room without a lot of ambient light, it’s a nice upgrade for movie night. My 10-year-old Phillips TV broke at the beginning of summer, and I think I finally found a suitable replacement.
