Black Friday is upon us. You might have noticed a trickle of deals surfacing in October and early November, but that will turn in a flood; and if you want to sort the wheat from chaff and the nuggets of good advice amongst the noise, Trusted Reviews is here to help.
We’re focusing on TVs given that Black Friday is one of the better times of the year to bag a more affordable TV. We’ve created a checklist of areas to be aware of when hunting for a Black Friday TV.
We know that most will be tempted to go after the cheapest deal available, but cheap is always the best method. You don’t want to be saddled with a middling TV that’s going to lounge about in your house for years and years.
Black Friday TV Checklist:
Here’s our quick-fix Black Friday TV checklist to ensure you get the TV that’s right for you:
Screen size
Bigger TVs are getting less expensive, but just because a TV hails from the same range that doesn’t mean the performance is the same across the board. A 43-inch TV will not offer the exact same performance as a 65-inch TV. That’s one area to consider.
Another is how big your space is. Is it for a small room or a big room, how far away from the TV are you. Unless you’re constricted by space, we’d always suggest you go a size bigger than you might think.
Research the user interface
User interfaces are becoming more important in terms of shaping your overall experience. If you’re an Amazon or Google account owner, it’d make sense to go for a TV that supports that interface, but if you’re agnostic perhaps an LG webOS, Samsung Tizen, Philips Titan OS or Roku TV might be a better option.
Keep an eye out for HDR support
Some TVs support all HDR formats, some only support Dolby Vision, others HDR10+.
It’s worth weighing which TV has which, especially if your favourite app supports one of those HDR formats. We’d recommend a TV that supports Dolby Vision as pretty much every streaming service supports it, although HDR10+ is increasingly supported across multiple streaming services.
Count the HDMI inputs
Got a lot of sources? Make sure the TV has as many HDMI ports as possible. Four is the full allocation but some TVs only come with three. On top of that, there’s the number of HDMI 2.1 ports to consider if you’ve got multiple game consoles and a sound system.
Check the refresh rate
Are you big on gaming? Check the screen’s refresh rate to see if it can play at 120Hz or even 165Hz for PC titles, as well as having fast input lag out of the box.
Sound advice
Most TVs don’t have great sound so you may need to consider budgeting for a soundbar to get an audio boost. Less expensive TVs don’t have the best sound but given that it is Black Friday, you’ll be able to find a few good deals on sound systems that would normall be out of your budget.
Use price history tools
If you’re shopping through Amazon, you can use Keepa and CamelCamelCamel to check the price history of any TV. Some will have massive discounts, others only small ones.
Which retailers offer Black Friday TV deals?
You’ve got a selection of retailers to choose from who are doing Black Friday TV deals such as Amazon to Richer Sounds, eBay, Currys, Hughes, Very, AO, Argos, John Lewis & Partners.
Every retailer will be doing Black Friday discounts online and, where available, in-store.
It may be worth looking for deals on retailers that offer long warranties, such as John Lewis, which offers five-year warranty on TVs.
