Spencer’s TV Buying Guide: LG and Samsung TVs [2020]

With many more Americans spending an inordinate amount of time indoors this summer, we think it’s about time you revamp your home theater setup. And it all starts with the pièce de résistance: your choice of television. 

At Spencer’s TV & Appliance, we figured out all the details for you. From ideal screen sizes, to optimal image resolution, to voice-command capabilities enabled via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, to brand-specific features to look out for, our TV buying guide has the lowdown on the latest must-have TV features. 

In 2020, there is little justification for not gracing your home theater with a big-screen smart TV. Defined as television sets with integrated Internet features and capabilities, smart TVs allow you to browse the Internet, enjoy music, view photos—and more. Most compellingly, their appeal is rooted in their ability to play content from major streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Prime Video.

With multifaceted brands Samsung and LG being the leading manufacturers of smart TVs, it can be tricky to discern which competitive product features are most compatible with your home.

Without further ado, check out our TV buying guide to see what essential features you should consider before making your purchase.

Choosing the Right Size

In terms of screen size, we are conditioned to believe that bigger is better. In actuality, the size you choose should depend on how close your recliner, couch, or sofa is positioned relative to the TV.

The average person sits nine feet away from the TV. By this measurement, industry experts assess that a 65- to 70-inch television would be ideal for most viewers. Enter: the Samsung 65" Q60T QLED 4K UHD HDR Smart TV (QN65Q60TAFXZA). Boasting Dual LED backlighting, this Samsung TV is engineered to reduce glare and enhance color, providing a vibrant picture no matter where you sit.

Intrigued? Well, there’s more. Given a larger distance between the viewers and the TV (say, at least 11 feet), the calculations for a more cinematic experience suggest that an 85- to 90-inch screen is best—and the Samsung 85” TU8000 Crystal UHD 4K Smart TV (UN85TU8000FXZA) model is just what you need for summer movie marathons.

With built-in adaptive picture, whether your brood is assembled in a sunlit living room or gathered in a darkened den, your 85-inch TV screen is optimized according to the room’s lighting conditions for the most vividly captivating picture possible.

But this is not all to say that comparatively smaller TVs don’t come stocked with generous features. Top-of-the-line features are also present in the Samsung 55” Q60T QLED 4K UHD HDR Smart TV (QN50Q60TAFXZA)! Just because you’re enjoying content on a smaller screen, that doesn’t mean you get to miss out on dynamic picture and hard-hitting action that feels like it’s leaping off the screen.

4K Ultra HD

When it comes to TV resolution, 4K Ultra HD is considered a standard feature for modern smart TVs. Driven by a super-fast processor that unlocks hidden detail at four times the quality of full HD, 4K TVs are synonymous with stunning picture quality in vivid colors. To sweeten the deal, 4K content is widely distributed across popular streaming services and Blu-ray releases.

OLED and QLED

Speaking of image quality, two other TV technologies have jumped into the fray in recent years. But make no mistake: when it comes to choosing between an OLED or QLED TV, that tiny line that turns an “O” into a “Q” makes a world of difference.

Let us preface. The vast majority of TVs are stocked with LCD LED. Despite having different initialisms, an LED TV is just a specific type of LCD TV. Properly, these TVs can be called “LED-lit LCD TVs,” but they are more commonly referred to as “LED TVs.”

When it comes to OLED tech, LG TVs are hailed as the leading purveyor of top-of-the-line TV-image quality. Compared to most smart TVs, OLED sets aren’t LED-backlit—instead, the light that composes the image is produced by millions of individual OLED subpixels. Because of this, OLED TVs are said to have better image contrast compared to their QLED counterparts, along with superior screen uniformity and more viewing angles. 

Here, the LG CX 65" Class 4K Smart OLED TV (OLED65CXPUA) reigns supreme with 8.3 million individually lit pixels—with a stylishly thin screen to boot, thanks to no backlight.

Whereas OLED lighting is emissive, QLED lighting (like LED-lit LCD TVs) is transmissive and relies on an LED backlight. Batting for QLED—compared to LG OLED TVs—Samsung QLED TVs score points for having a brighter image quality, with units also being available in larger sizes.

HDR

In the same way an LG OLED TV delivers an optimized contrast ratio with dark blacks and intense whites, TVs with HDR deliver heightened color accuracy with a broad color gamut. This is why HDR (standing for “high-dynamic range”) is considered a must-have image enhancement feature that is built into most 4K TVs.

The Samsung Class Q80T QLED 4K UHD HDR Smart TV (QN55Q80TAFXZA QN65Q80TAFXZA, QN75Q80TAFXZA, and QN85Q80TAFXZA) boasts QLED-enabled luminosity and HDR-facilitated colorfulness. Its Quantum Dot technology opens a door to bursting images with a dazzling range of over one billion colors, each upscaled to incredible clarity. But don’t take our word for it: as the CES 2020 Innovation Award winner in the Gaming category, this Samsung QLED TV verifiably delivers true-to-life image quality for a deeply immersive experience. 

There’s no need to hunt down that missing remote control. Both LG and Samsung televisions are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to provide the ultimate hands-free experience, allowing you to adjust the volume and rewind to your favorite moments with just your voice during movie nights—you can’t do that in a theater.

LG AI ThinQ® TVs with built-in Google Assistant allow you to easily select your favorite programs and control compatible smart home devices. Simply speak into the LG Magic Remote to search for shows, change TV settings, switch to different inputs—and more! You can also ask your LG TV to help manage daily tasks like scheduling calendar events or adding items to your shopping list. And you can easily seek answers to things you want to know, like next week’s weather forecast or the score from last night’s game.

But you don't have to limit yourself to TV programming and online searches. The built-in Google Assistant also lets you control other connected devices—like your robotic vacuum cleaner, smart thermostat, and lighting devices. You can think of your television as your home's highly efficient butler.

Plus, many LG TVs work with Amazon Alexa devices so you can ask it to pull up family photos and play your favorite music.

If that’s not impressive enough, the LG C9 Series OLED 4K Ultra HD Smart TV can also automatically adjust picture settings depending on ambient lighting conditions and film genre, placing you in the middle of the action with multi-dimensional surround sound— all culminating in a more lifelike experience that lets you appreciate every individual hair strand and with room-filling sound that allows you to relish every soaring note of the soundtrack. 

While Google Assistant is not Samsung’s built-in helper—hello, Bixby—that doesn’t mean you can’t reap the benefits of its impressive functionality with Samsung TVs. You can still connect an Amazon Echo or Google Home to your TV for hands-free browsing, viewing, and listening.

In addition to allowing you to control media content and answering your question, Bixby’s integration enables seamless transition of video from a Bixby-enabled smartphone directly to your Samsung TV. You can also configure Bixby to push a notification to your smartphone when your favorite show is about to come on and even instantly tune into the appropriate channel.

With the help of the SmartThings app, Bixby’s command-driven interface is perfectly suited to a connected home. Instead of walking to your smart dryer to see how long is left or find out what’s in your smart fridge, you can command Bixby to do the dirty work for you.

If you’re no stranger to online shopping, you know you can filter through catalog search results based on personal specifications, including cost range and brand.

From our Electronics catalog, peruse our selection of TVs by hovering over to the left pane of the results page and expand filter options by clicking on any of the “+” buttons. There, you can mark your preferences (several at a time) and narrow your potential purchase to selections that fit your criteria.

You can also use our online chat function to consult a real person (not a bot!) regarding any questions you may have or call a representative from the store location nearest to you. Or if you’re looking for a more interactive experience with personable customer service, visit any of our store locations —just remember to stay safe.

Again, for any and all appliance needs, contact our experts at Spencer's TV & Appliance— we’re always happy to help. Visit, call, or chat with us today!