ZDNET's key takeaways
- The LG C5 OLED boosts dazzling brightness and color.
- It features an ultra-slim body, with material choices that evoke premium.
- It's priced relatively high for the nominal upgrades over last year's model.
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I would argue that the most crucial aspect of any television set is its picture quality. Never mind its smart capabilities, brand prestige, or super-high refresh rate. For human beings, at first glance anyway, the visual stimulus overrides all else.
This is why when you walk into Costco, you are arrested by the exquisite images flashing on a bunch of big-screen TVs set to “Retail Mode,” peacocking their 4K beauty. First impressions are always based on appearance.
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By that criterion alone — picture quality — LG's 2025 C5 OLED ranks among the best OLED TVs you can buy today. That sounds like a matter-of-fact statement, but I stand behind it because as soon as I fired up our review unit for testing, I knew it was a win. It's that good this year. (And if you're in the market for one this season, chances are high that you'll be able to pick one up for more than $1,300 off.)
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The C5 has a unique construction and a futuristic aesthetic. For one thing, it has one of the thinnest screens I've ever seen — at a mere 0.25 inches thick. When lifting it out of the box, my colleague and I were wary of handling the edges of the screen because they seemed so delicate. The lower section of the panel is more substantial, something to grab onto while setting it up.
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It's as if LG's engineers were shooting for “more screen, less panel” in this year's design, an angle they pulled…