Super Bowl 2025 is scheduled for Sunday, February 9, 2025, and as a fan of a team that made it to the conference championships, I have my fingers crossed. (Wow, bills!)
Whether your team makes the Super Bowl or not, watching football on the biggest screen possible is fun, so you might want to consider upgrading to one of the best TVs before game day. Fortunately, fierce competition in the TV market means that prices for recent TVs have dropped dramatically since their launch last year: you can get one of the best mini-LED TVs in a 65-inch size for under $900, and even the best OLED. TVs now sell for much less than when they were launched. Retailers know that football fans splurge on new TVs right before the big game, so you'll find plenty of recent models now selling at or near Black Friday prices.
Below I list four TVs that TechRadar tested in 2024 that are great for watching sports. The list includes a pair of mid-range mini-LED models, a high-end mini-LED, and an OLED that we selected as best TV at the 2024 TechRadar Choice Awards.
While none of these TVs are exactly cheap, they all offer excellent performance for their price, and we're sure you'll be pleased with how good the picture looks when you turn on your new big screen on Super Bowl Sunday.
HisenseU8N
Picture brightness is important if you're watching TV in a bright room, which is often done for sports, and the Hisense U8N turns out to be one of the brightest TVs TechRadar has ever tested. Powerful local dimming also allows you to deliver images with strong contrast, which will make image highlights, such as stadium lights shining on a player's helmet, stand out and colors appear more robust.
The Hisense U8N's smart Google TV interface with voice control will help you quickly find the game if you're streaming it, and a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner will let you tune into a “next-gen TV” broadcast if your local FOX station he admits it. Last year, the Super Bowl was shown in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR from some sources, and we expect a repeat of that situation at Super Bowl LIX.
TCL QM851G
The TCL QM851G is the company's best mini-LED series and its performance closely follows that of the Hisense U8N. Like the Hisense, it offers an extremely bright picture with powerful local dimming, uses Google TV's smart interface for streaming, and has a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner.
The QM851G series starts with a 65-inch screen size and extends up to 98 inches. If 98 inches isn't big enough for your Super Bowl party, TCL also has a 115-inch model, the QM89, which now sells for just under $15,000—a 25% discount.
Samsung QN90D
The Samsung QN90D currently ranks as the best sports TV in our best TVs guide, and for good reason. It has a very bright image, which is helped by an anti-reflective coating that resists reflection from the screen when viewed in bright rooms. Two areas where the QN90D shows advantages over previous Hisense and TCL models are off-center viewing and motion handling. Images retain rich color and contrast even when viewed in very off-center seats with the QN90D, something that's important when viewed with a crowd at a Super Bowl party.
Samsung's excellent motion handling lets you easily keep up with fast-moving sports and also makes magic with movies and games. Most Samsung TVs feature a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner and the QN90D is no exception.
Samsung S95D
The Samsung S95D is the only OLED TV included on this list and there are several reasons why that is the case. The S95D is the brightest OLED TV we've ever tested, beating other OLEDs by a pretty wide margin when it comes to that parameter and even matching many mini-LEDs, which are known for their high brightness.
Equally important, the S95D features Glare Free technology that is incredibly effective at eliminating screen reflections from indoor light sources such as lights or ceiling lamps and, like other OLED TVs, retains color richness and contrast when It can be seen from off-center seats, and it also has excellent movement management. Of course, there is a built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner for next-generation TV broadcasts.
All of the TVs listed above offer capable built-in speakers, but if you're also looking to take your audio to the next level, check out our guide to the best sound bars.
Do you need an antenna to tune in to the Super Bowl on open television? Here's our guide to the best indoor antennas.