Streamers and cinema-lovers the world over can only be full of praise about just how great TV tech has become. The last couple of years in particular have shown off just how much bolder and brighter picture quality has become right across the board.
The T3 Awards 2023 in association with ROG Ally is this year's celebration of the best-of-best products across the site's core pillars – Tech, Active, Home – and the quality of television releases in the recent past has been nothing short of incredible. From miniLED bringing new levels of brightness and control, to QD-OLED opening a new category, to traditional OLED bringing its brightest picture quality to date.
Picking the overall best TV as part of the T3 Awards 2023 is, of course, quite a task – simply because so many of these superb televisions bring unique specialities into the mix. That's why the T3 Awards 2023 is here to celebrate every avenue of the best TV tech, from best OLED, to best gaming TV, and best 8K panel on offer. And here are the winners!
Best OLED TV: LG OLED G3
Traditional OLED, or 'WOLED' as it's sometimes called thanks to a white backlight, seemingly reached its upper-most limits and looked doomed for QD-OLED's new tech to take-over... until LG dropped the OLED G3, which is a game-changing wall-mount premium TV that takes the technology to new heights.
OLED is superb thanks to its self-emmisive properties, meaning individual 'pixels' illuminate for zero light bleed and the most precisely controlled images. That usually comes at the expense of some brightness, but the LG G3's use of an MLA (micro lens array) panel paired with its Brightness Booster Max takes brightness up a notch. No OLED can compete with this monster, which is why it's 2023's clear category winner.
Highly Commended: Samsung S95C
Best OLED TV shortlist:
LG OLED G3, Philips OLED 937, Philips OLED 907, Samsung S95C, Sony A95K, Panasonic LZ2000
Best 8K TV: Samsung QN900C
If resolution is your all and you want that future-proofed next-gen 8K resolution – which is four times the density of 4K Ultra-HD, for perspective – then your options aren't particularly plentiful or affordable in this space.
However, there is one brand that clearly stands head and shoulders above the rest, bringing a more affordable and still undeniably exquisite 8K TV to the fore: the Samsung QN900C is in a league of its own in 2023.
As our review states: "the QN900C is an outstanding 8K TV that delivers class-leading contrast thanks to AI-enhanced image processing and a Mini LED backlight. High dynamic range (HDR) is often stunning, with incredibly bright highlights and deeply saturated colours. Once you include a powerful and immersive sound system, next-gen gaming features, and extensive smarts, you’ve got a TV that's worth its premium."
Best 8K TV shortlist:
Samsung QN900C, Sony Z9K, LG Z3
Best Gaming TV: Samsung QN95C
It's worth rewinding to the T3 Awards 2022 for just a moment, because that's when Samsung's QN95B won both Best Gaming TV and Best TV. The 2023 model update, the Samsung QN95C, only builds upon its predecessor, adding an even better anti-reflective coating, lots more dimming zone controls, and therefore the best miniLED experience you could hope to see.
That's what makes the QN95C absolutely ideal for gamers: it's bright, it's super-fast where input lag response is concerned, it has all the mod-cons (VRR, ALLM, HDMI 2.1 4K@60Hz/1080p@120Hz) across its four HDMI 2.1 ports, and whether you're a PS5 or Xbox Series X user, it'll be the set to really enhance your game time.
Highly Commended: Samsung S95C
Best Gaming TV shortlist:
Samsung QN95C, Samsung QN900C, LG OLED G3, Philips OLED 937, Panasonic LZ2000, Samsung S95C
Best TV: Samsung S95C
Easily the most hotly-contested category because every single model in this shortlist brings its own level of prestige to the game. What it boiled down to in the end wasn't what was the most expensive model with the most features, nor the most resolution, but the best-balanced high-end TV for most people.
And that telly is... the Samsung S95C. That's right: Samsung's QD-OLED champion set for 2023 is a step beyond its S95B predecessor, with greater brightness, better anti-reflection, and the classy One Connect box (which its miniLED QN95C cousin now lacks) to keep connections minimal from the panels rear.
That makes for an exquisite super-slim design when it's switched off, but flick the on button and the S95C's super-bright picture quality is enough to take even the LG OLED G3 into the ring. Frankly, this Samsung could have potentially won three out of five of this year's T3 Awards 2023 TV-related badges, which only furthers its claim on this major win.
Highly Commended: Philips OLED 937
Best TV shortlist:
LG OLED G3, Philips OLED 937, Samsung S95C, Samsung QN95C, Sony A95K, Panasonic LZ2000
Best Mid-Range TV: Sony X94K / X90X
Many of the tellies in among these shortlists are pricey bits of kit. If you want best-of-best then you'll have to pay for it – but that's not to say tech doesn't trickle down the ranges pretty quickly, which is why you'll also find great results from lower-priced sets such as this shortlist selection.
The winner of Best Mid-Range TV 2023 goes to a TV that we called a "mainstream dream" in our review. No, it doesn't have "the current crop of headline-grabbing TV technologies", hence being that bit more affordable, but "it represents excellent value for money, is never less than thoroughly watchable from any source, has a fine user interface, and is properly made by a company that knows exactly what’s what"
That was the key thing in this category: T3's judges were looking for top-notch image quality from a lower-priced set, which is exactly where Sony delivers the goods. So whether you can buy the X94K or X90K in your local market (they're effectively the same), you'll still be in for a treat. Just a well-priced one!
Highly Commended: Hisense U6H
Best Mid-Range TV shortlist:
Hisense U6H, Sony X94K/X90K, Panasonic LZ980, Sony A80K, Samsung BU8500, Philips PUS8807
Best soundbar: Samsung HW-Q990C
So you've got the best TV with the best picture, but it's so super-slim by design that it can't logically sound the best ever. That's where the best soundbar comes into the equation. And 2023's winner is a stormer.
The Samsung HW-Q990C takes this accolade for a number of reasons: first, it's a multi-speaker solution, so delivers true immersion; second, it's got Q-Symphony, meaning with a modern Samsung TV it also uses the built-in speakers for super-accurate sound positioning and height; third, it's got a beefy subwoofer to hit the all-important low-end.
So long as you're comfortable with owning four little boxes around your room then you won't find a single package solution better than the Q990C. If it's a one-box solution that you want, however, then runner-up Sennheiser absolutely slays with its Ambeo Plus option.
Highly Commended: Sennheiser Ambeo Plus
Best Soundbar shortlist:
Sennheiser Ambeo Plus, Denon DHT-S316, Bose Smart Soundbar 600, Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre, Samsung HW-Q990C, LG S95QR, Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100
Best Video Streaming Service (in association with Shortlist): Apple TV+
Probably the most hotly discussed T3 Awards 2023 winner this year regarded the best video streaming service – and it's no surprise, given the sheer strength of exclusive releases we've witnessed on various platforms, in addition to top access to many of our favourite shows.
From Ted Lasso's latest season to the acclaimed Black Bird, and For All Mankind to Slow Horses, Apple TV+ has accelerated from having a good start to going into overdrive for 2023. It doesn't look like it'll slow down in any way, either, with hot new shows anticipated throughout the year and beyond. Where streaming is concerned, this is 2023's rising star.
Best Video Streaming Service shortlist:
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, NOW, Paramount+, YouTube Premium
