Best TV Deals Of March 2024: New Promotions And Discounts
With the Super Bowl and its related TV sales in the rearview mirror, March Madness is now upon us. If that wasn't enough, combat sports fans have back-to-back weekends of mega-events opening up the month of April. As well, WWE WrestleMania and its various shoulder events are followed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship's UFC 300 pay-per-view supercard a week later. It's easier than ever to find great discounts on great TVs, but it's particularly good to shop for them when a major sporting event is on the horizon, as that's when some of the best TV sales are available.
Taking that into consideration, let's take a look at five of the best TV deals available to consumers at the start of March 2024. In this case, we tried to stick with mid-priced and budget TVs, all of which have great reviews and tend to outperform their street price points. Whether you're looking for an OLED TV from a premium brand, or an underdog from TCL or Hisense, we've got something for you if you plan on going TV shopping in the coming weeks.
TCL S5 Series 98-inch LED TV: as big as possible
If you're looking for the biggest TV possible for your money, then the obvious top contender comes from TCL. The Chinese company known for its impressive value TVs has a 98-inch LED TV available on sale right now for just under $2,000.
Both Amazon and Best Buy have this deal available as of this writing, and though they're in conflict as to what the MSRP originally was — as is, strangely, TCL's website, which lists a third retail price — Amazon price history data shows that it's been listed as high as $3,999.99 since its late-2023 release.
As the above TCL promotional image notes, this is a lot of TV, having roughly the footprint of a queen-size mattress. As for the features that one looks for today in a new TV, it has some, but not all. The display is direct-lit, so you don't have to worry about uneven brightness, but it doesn't have local dimming to increase contrast. Otherwise, it has a 120Hz native refresh rate with variable refresh rate support, all four HDR standards, wide color gamut, the Google TV OS with Google Assistant, four HDMI inputs (one with ARC/eARC), and an automated low-latency mode.
If you want to go big on a relative budget — $2,000 isn't a budget price, but it is for a 98-inch TV — then this looks like the TV for you.
Sony BRAVIA XR A75L and A80K: for the best OLED deals
If you're in the market for a new TV, and are hoping to find a good deal on an OLED panel in particular, then Best Buy may have the flat screens for you. Sony's Bravia XR OLED lineup has discounts as low as $1,199.99 for the 55-inch version of the A75L, as well as $1,499.99 for its 65-inch counterpart, and a $1,699.99 clearance deal on the next step up at 65 inches — the A80K model series.
The most prominent professional review of the A75L series comes from RTINGS. "Despite its entry-level market position, it's a well-equipped TV with a slew of gaming features," reads the opening of the review, noting its 120Hz refresh rate and variable refresh rate support.
Sony's Bravia TV got the expected perfect scores for the areas that OLED TVs excel at, like contrast, lighting zone transitions, and lack of "blooming" around subtitles/captions. It also got high marks for its capabilities at upscaling lower-resolution content and smoothing out macro blocking on content encoded at insufficient bitrates, which the review noted as typical of Sony TVs.
As for the A80K, RTINGS gave it similarly high marks to the A75L, with Tom's Guide, Tech Radar, and USA Today's Reviewed seconding the praise. "It's not 100% perfect, but the Sony Bravia XR A80K gets so much right — and has such a good-looking picture — that it's still one of the best OLED TVs you can buy," reads the verdict of the Tom's guide review, noting that its only big negative was its input latency being more problematic for gaming compared to the competition.
Hisense U8: a super-bright TV with modern features
TCL isn't the only Chinese brand to make headway in the American market by providing great bang for your buck. Among the latest discounts, one that catches the eye comes from one of Hisense's newest lines: The U8 model series, which packs a lot of very high-end, modern features into a mid-priced package. The U8 prices start at just under $800 for the 55-inch model at both Best Buy and Amazon, followed by $999.23 for the 65-inch model at Amazon and $1,199.99 for the 75-inch version at Best Buy.
What jumps out is the feature set: On paper, for a TV that you can get for as low as $800, you get large-ish QLED/mini-LED display with full array local dimming, 144Hz refresh rate, and variable refresh rate support. This set also has four HDMI inputs, can output 1500 nits of brightness, uses AMD Adaptive Sync to prevent screen tearing while gaming, an ATSC 3.0/NextGen TV tuner, and a two-year warranty — plus the usual features like the Google TV OS.
Professional reviews have been outstanding for the Hisense U8, with Tom's Guide, Reviewed, and PC Mag all giving it their Editor's Choice endorsements, and Wired giving the Hisense TV its similar Wired Recommends seal of approval. Each review praised the HDR performance as well as the overall brightness, and they were largely happy with the gaming performance. Tom's Guide did clock slightly high input lag at 13.2ms, but PC Mag registered half that — 6.6ms — in game mode, which is very low latency for a TV.
TCL Q6 series: if you have a tight budget
Not all of you who are reading this are necessarily looking for the best deal you can get on a relatively premium TV. Some of you just want the best TV you can get for relatively little money. By that standard, TCL's Q6 series looks like a good bet right now.
On sale, it's starting at just south of $320 for the 55-inch version at both Best Buy and Amazon, with the 65-inch model going for roughly $500 at Best Buy and Amazon. The 75-inch version goes for about $700 at Best Buy and Amazon, and the 85-inch SKU selling for pennies shy of $1,000 at both Best Buy and Amazon.
At those price points, you can't expect every bell and whistle, with the main relative sacrifices being that the QLED-based Q6 series has a 60Hz refresh rate. As well, despite being a direct-lit panel, the set doesn't have local dimming — which is a step down from the 5-Series that the Q6 line replaced.
Having said that, the professional reviews for the Q6 TVs are excellent. "It's bright, affordable, looks great, and is easy to mount and use," reads the sub-headline of Wired's review. At CNN Underscored, it's an Editors' Pick, with the review saying the Q6 series offers "a good overall viewing experience without spending a lot," while Tom's Guide assessed it as having "well-rounded performance" overall.
Hisense U6 series: a budget pick with local dimming
If that note about the TCL Q6 series not having local dimming disappointed you, have no fear: Hisense has an alternative with local dimming that only costs a bit more. That's the U6 series, which Amazon and Best Buy both have starting at about $450 for the 55-inch model — while it will set you back roughly $600 for the 65-inch version at both Amazon and Best Buy, or around $750 for the 75-inch SKU at Amazon and Best Buy.
On the professional review front, the most notable endorsement of the Hisense U6 model line comes from The Wirecutter, which named it "The Best 4K TV on a Budget" as of January 17, 2024. Given Wirecutter's model of testing as many options as possible and recommending the best one for most people, that says a lot.
"The Hisense U6K Series stands out in 2023 as the only budget TV sporting a mini-LED backlight and full-array local dimming—technologies usually reserved for premium LCD TVs to improve contrast and black-level performance," reads the recommendation. And though it, like the TCL Q6, has a 60Hz refresh rate, it has very strong gaming performance — including variable refresh rate compatibility.
PC Mag, Tom's Guide, and Reviewed, meanwhile, gave the U6 an Editors' Choice recommendation, with PC Mag saying that "For the price, you'll have a hard time finding a television with a better picture or more features."