Quality gaming TVs don’t always cost a fortune. Just look at the TCL Class 6-Series, our favorite cheap gaming TV that’s just as capable as more expensive models for a fraction of the cost. It doesn’t stop there, we've included plenty of other wallet-friendly, game-ready display options, so you're bound to find one that works for your needs. Click here to jump to detailed looks at the best budget gaming TVs, or check out our list below:
TL;DR – These are the Best Cheap TVs for Gaming:
- TCL Class 6-Series Roku TV Mini-LED (2022)
- Hisense U7H
- Hisense U8H
- Vizio 43" Class V-Series 4K HDR Smart TV
- LG 65" Class NanoCell 75UQA Series Smart webOS TV
- Vizio 65" Class M-Series MQ6 (M65Q6M-K04)
- Samsung 43" Class TU7000 Smart 4K TV
The prices of 4K TVs have dropped significantly in recent years, giving you a smorgasbord of affordable gaming TVs to enjoy your favorite Xbox Series games, PS5 games, or PC games across a big screen. However, not all budget TVs are equally suited to gaming. Some introduce heavy input lag that can make a game feel unplayable, or you may see that turning on the TV's game mode undoes the processing that made its imagery actually look good outside of games. But you can forget those worries, as we've rounded up a variety of TV models with different price points and features that can do the job for your games – and click here to find them in the UK.
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Best Budget Gaming TVs
TCL Class 6-Series Roku TV Mini-LED (2022)
Best Budget TV for Gaming
TCL knows how to make a great TV more affordable, and the Class 6-Series Roku TV Mini-LED (2022) continues to strike that excellent balance, bringing you all of the latest TV tech and gaming prowess for $1,000. The display’s panel totes a 120Hz refresh rate but can hit a variable refresh rate up to144Hz, and it has even got FreeSync Premium Pro baked in for some tear-free, smooth motion. ALLM support also means you’re in for low input lag, and you even get two HDMI 2.1 ports that support all this gaming technology, so you’ll be good to plug in your next-gen consoles.
The TCL Class 6-Series shines thanks to its mini-LED backlighting with 360 local dimming zones for impressive contrast and brightness, bringing more depth to whatever your viewing. When it comes to color, the quantum-dot technology delivers a wide array of rich and vibrant hues on par with some much higher-end TVs. The 4K picture on this 64.5-inch screen gets even more life-like with its support of HDR, including Dolby Vision and HLG.
Hisense U7H
Best Ultra Cheap TV for Gaming
Just because you can snag the Hisense U7H for a super affordable price doesn’t mean you’re missing out on any features. You’ll enjoy low input lag while gaming in 4K/120Hz on two of its four HDMI ports that also support VRR, just like many higher-end 4K gaming TVs. The butter-smooth, tear-free frames will be welcome when you hook up both the latest consoles, though you may experience some ghosting around faster-moving objects.
The panel on the Hisense U7H is just as impressive as its gaming chops, with 1000 nit peak brightness across up to 120 local dimming zones and a solid contrast ratio. It handles reflections and glare beautifully, so it’ll work great in brighter rooms, while it also produces deep blacks to enjoy SDR and HDR content in darker spaces. In terms of color, this TV is no slouch, thanks to quantum dot technology that produces a wide color gamut of rich and accurate hues.
Hisense U8H
Best Budget 4K TV for Gaming
The Hisense U8H may not be shockingly cheap, but if you’re in the market for a gaming TV that won’t have you pixel-peeping, this 55-inch 4K display has you covered. You get Quantum Dot technology, allowing you to enjoy a wider color gamut, while Hisense takes it a step further with 336 full-array local dimming zones. That means you’re in for some fantastic contrast with deep blacks and highlights shining up to a bright 1,500 nits, so HDR content will really pop on this screen.
For the glory of gaming, the Hisense U8H has a 120Hz native refresh rate and VRR for jitter-free, butter-smooth frames. To take things up a notch, you get a Game Mode Pro, which automatically adjusts the TV’s picture settings on compatible devices for uninterrupted, low-latency playing. There are even two HDMI 2.1 ports to plug in both the Xbox Series X and PS5, making it simple to take advantage of all the superb gaming features.
Vizio 43" Class V-Series 4K HDR Smart TV
Cheapest 4K TV for Gaming
4K gaming TVs often come with a premium price tag, but if you’re willing to decrease screen size and a few features, there should be some within your budget. Vizio's 43-inch V-series TV meets a high bar of quality while costing far less than you'd likely expect, making it an excellent option. This TV is under $300, but you'll be getting a decently sized screen that delivers stunning 4K picture quality.
This Vizio V-series TV is improved further by the display's use of full-array LED backlighting, which can help with screen brightness uniformity – no strangely bright corners or edges. The display also supports a variety of HDR formats, including the premium HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Plus, this TV is great for gaming thanks to its decent 4K 60fps variable refresh rate to help reduce tearing in games and an Auto Game Mode feature to reduce input lag for a more responsive experience.
LG 65" Class NanoCell 75UQA Series Smart webOS TV
Best Budget Big Screen TV for Gaming
For the most part, the bigger you go screen-wise, the higher the price. Sometimes you need that extra screen real estate to make the most of your gaming setup. Luckily, LG's 65-inch NanoCell 75UQA TV makes a large display a bit more attainable. For under $700, you get a 4K picture to make the most of that 65-inch screen size. If you’re lacking 4K content, LG's built-in quad-core processor and ThinQ AI takes non-4K content and upscales it to 4K. It's delivering more than just resolution, too, as the panel uses dithering to produce a 10-bit color depth and nanoparticles to filter that color for a vibrant image well-suited to HDR.
You’re probably wondering about the gaming capabilities of the NanoCell 75UQA, and LG has you covered. A Game Optimizer is built-in to adjust all your gaming settings, including the FPS. And, you can easily kick it into an Auto Low Latency Mode, keeping your controls ultra responsive. Unfortunately, you don’t get VRR to improve screen tearing, but you're still going to enjoy high-speed HDR gaming on this screen. It's even got cloud gaming with the addition of GeForce Now and Stadia.
Vizio 65" M-Series MQ6 (M65Q6M-K04)
Local Dimming at a Bargain
To get a TV with local dimming doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands, and the Vizio M-Series MQ6 is proof of this. Not only do you get a large 65-inch screen in 4K, but there’s also a Full Array LED backlight with active pixel tuning. You’ll enjoy superior contrast and brightness, bringing you deep blacks and highlights that pop. Quantum color further improves the picture quality by delivering brilliant and bold hues optimized for HDR formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
When it comes to next-gen gaming on this display, you won't be able to go over 60Hz in 4K, but you get support for FreeSync, letting you avoid screen tearing when your gaming rig has occasional dips below 60fps. And this TV kicks into Auto Game Mode while on compatible consoles and PCs, so you can react faster to everything that happens thanks to low input lag and ideal picture settings. You even get three HDMI 2.1 ports to take advantage of all that advanced gaming tech on multiple devices.
Samsung 43" Class TU7000 Smart 4K TV
Best Budget Smart 4K TV for Gaming
Samsung is driving down the price of affordable 4K TVs with the 43-inch TU7000. This model comes in at just $300, but you're getting a sizable display with that sharp resolution that's all the rage right now. The clarity of 4K is one thing, but a good TV goes even further with HDR support, and this model offers up HDR10+ for an extra high-quality picture. The TV's Auto Game Mode is also ready to ensure you enjoy your games with low input lag and fast response times.
Where to Get the Best Budget Gaming TVs in the UK
Gaming can be an expensive hobby, so if you're looking to save a little extra cash while completing your set up UK gamers, we're here to help. We couldn't find all the TVs in the UK, but there's still a decent selection available right now.
Hisense 55U8G Best Budget 4K TV for Gaming£749.00
LG65" Class 80 Series NanoCell AI ThinQ Best Budget Big Screen TV for Gaming£799.00
Best Budget Smart 4K TV for GamingSamsung 43" Class TU7000 £428.00
What to look for in a Budget Gaming TV
When shopping for a budget gaming TV, expect to make some sacrifices. To stay on a budget don't expect the best refresh rates, largest screens, or the latest technology. You can also basically forget about OLED, as the screen technology demands a premium.
There are two ways of going about buying a budget gaming TV: get a big screen with a mediocre image quality or a good quality screen that might be smaller than you want.
I highly suggest going with the latter route as your TV might only be 43-inches, but if it's 4K in resolution and produces accurate colors, you can always sit closer to the screen to remedy its small size.
Having a big screen might be nice, but if it has muted blacks and an off-putting color cast, no amount of distance is going to fix the way it looks. And you certainly can't fix a poor quality display panel on your own.
Gaming monitor vs. budget TV
Choosing a display to game depends on personal preference and how you want to play. Below we discuss gaming monitors vs TVs.
Gaming monitors are often much smaller than a TV and usually live on a gaming desk with you sitting just a couple of feet away. Most have ergonomic stands, letting you adjust the height, swivel, and tilt to find a good viewing angle which also makes it easier to hook up multiple monitors.
TVs come in much larger sizes and rest on a TV stand or mounted on a wall, ready to be viewed from a distance. Most TVs offer a fairly basic stand with limited to no adjustments, making them much harder to see when they’re on a desk.
Both monitors and TVs have their own advantages when it comes to image quality. Mid-range and high-end TVs excel in brightness, contrast, and color thanks to their OLED panels or Mini-LED backlights. However, even many budget TVs, still have a leg up in this field with most of their panels offering local dimming, and their HDR performance is better than many monitors. However, some 4K monitors can keep up with TVs and often deliver even more sharpness.
As for gaming performance, you want a display with a low input lag, high refresh rate, and solid pixel response times. Generally, this is where monitors go a notch above TVs.
The majority of monitors offer a super low input lag, often adding just a few milliseconds delay between the input and the input appearing on screen. TVs are a hit or miss, so it’s important to do your research before purchasing.
As for refresh rate, even budget monitors hit high frame rates, though you sacrifice resolution. At this point, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a gaming monitor with a refresh rate below 120Hz, with some going up to 360Hz or even 500Hz. There’s also probably some type of VRR baked in for the smoothest frames possible. Budget gaming TVs still lag behind, with most 4K options landing on either 60Hz or 120Hz refresh rates, while adaptive sync technology is only sometimes included.
Then there’s pixel response time, which is essential to avoid ghosting on screen. Both monitors and TVs perform similarly, though OLED panels often seen in higher-end TVs have an almost instantaneous response time.
When purchasing a display, the biggest factor is most likely price, and gaming monitors often provide better value. You can find monitors for $200 that still offer a wealth of gaming features, including a high refresh rate and adaptive sync. TVs around that same price are more than likely going to lack any type of gaming features. Even the best budget gaming TVs on this list will set you back a good chunk, and you can get a high-end gaming monitor for a similar price.
To 4K or not to 4K
It’s worth taking a moment to discuss whether or not you should buy a 4K TV. Even if you only have a console capable of 1080p gaming (a PS4 Slim or Xbox One S), there are a couple of benefits to buying a 4K TV. And if you've got the next gen consoles, there's no question as to whether you should buy a 4K TV or not.
First, there’s High-Dynamic Range (HDR), a feature found almost exclusively in 4K TVs. However, that's not to say all 4K TVs support HDR. Instead, you should look for budget models featuring a peak brightness above 300 nits to get the full HDR effect.
Many of the latest games for the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 offer HDR, and it can make a big difference in image quality. These games will look a lot better on a 4K TV with HDR support than on a 1080p TV without it.
Second, you're running out of options anyway. If you've been shopping for a new TV anytime in the last year, you've probably noticed Full HD and HD sets are becoming few and far between, and many 1080p TVs come in much smaller sizes than 4K.
Manufacturers and consumers to have already moved on. If you do a quick search of 55-inch TVs on Amazon, you're going to find the results are overwhelmingly 4K.
Bargain brands like Vizio and TCL have helped push the price of 4K sets down across the board. It's not hard to find a 55-inch 4K TV with tons of features for less than $400, which is pretty amazing if you look at the historical prices of televisions. As little as 20 years ago, 32-inch CRTs were out of reach of most people. Now a 32-inch TV seems almost quaint.
It's surprising how quickly 4K is taking over. You've long been able to get 4K computer monitors, but with the new round of the best graphics cards for gaming, you can now actually take advantage of all those pixels. Gaming laptops, too, are starting to squeeze in those new GPUs, making 4K closer to the norm than the exception. So what's next for display technology? Why 8K of course.
Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
Danielle Abraham is a freelance writer and unpaid music historian.