OLED still sets the benchmark for outright picture quality. When everything clicks—black levels, pixel-level control, and that effortless contrast—there’s a reason OLED dominates the “best TV” conversation year after year.
But there’s also a reality OLED hasn’t fully conquered yet: price.
Even as peak brightness and processing improve with each new OLED generation, getting a current-model OLED into genuinely “cheap TV” territory remains difficult. Yes, deals have started to push some 48-inch OLEDs below £800 at times—but that’s still a long way from the £500 / $500 line that most people would reasonably call “affordable.”
This year, though, I felt a flicker of hope.
The £699 OLED that almost got me excited
Over Black Friday, the Toshiba XF9F53DB caught my attention when the 55-inch model was seen at £699 during promotions—about as close as I’ve personally seen a current-generation OLED of that size get to the “finally, we’re getting somewhere” zone.
After testing it, though, the excitement cooled quickly. The panel tech is doing its part, but the picture processing doesn’t have the finesse needed to consistently make OLED sing. It’s not a disaster, but it’s also not the kind of TV you recommend without hesitation.
Still, the bigger point stands: we’re getting closer to the first truly cheap OLED.
The problem: Mini LED is already eating OLED’s lunch down low
Here’s where the optimism gets complicated. While OLED is slowly inching downmarket, Mini LED is already there—and it’s getting seriously good for the money.
This year’s standout example is TCL’s C6KS (often referenced as a “C6K” family set), a 50-inch Mini LED that earned a five-star rating and has been seen around £349–£369 on deal (with a higher original review price). At that price, it’s hard not to admire how much performance you can get without paying OLED money.
And TCL’s C7K—a What Hi-Fi? Awards winner—helps make the bigger point: a well-executed Mini LED can deliver a more consistently balanced picture than a bargain-basement OLED, especially when the OLED’s processing isn’t up to scratch.
So even if we do get a £500/$500 OLED next year, it won’t automatically be the watershed moment it sounds like. At the bottom end, OLED would still need to look and feel unmistakably better than the Mini LED alternatives that are rapidly improving.
Why the cheapest OLEDs can feel compromised
There’s a reason entry-level OLEDs can be hit-or-miss: OLED isn’t just a panel story. The best OLEDs are usually the ones where manufacturers have done the hard work—processing, tone mapping, motion, near-black handling, and all the tuning that makes the technology shine.
OLED manufacturing is also generally more complex than mature LCD production, and the combination of panel cost plus the extra “finesse” required in the TV’s brains helps explain why truly cheap OLEDs are still rare.
Brands often reserve special treatment (and marketing labels) for their premium OLED lines—for example, Panasonic’s Master OLED Pro branding on higher-end models—because the difference between “OLED on paper” and “OLED done properly” can be huge.
A cheap OLED might be coming—but it might not be the moment we want
I’m genuinely encouraged by seeing a 55-inch OLED flirt with £699. It suggests the price ceiling is starting to crack.
But Mini LED is moving fast, and it’s already delivering shockingly strong performance at prices OLED hasn’t reliably reached yet. If the first wave of sub-£500/$500 OLEDs arrives with compromised processing, uneven tone mapping, or sloppy near-black performance, the result could be… underwhelming.
Here’s hoping I’m wrong.