What are the best cheap budget 4K TVs to enjoy 4K Ultra HD movies, shows and games at home? Here we round up the very best 4K televisions that you can pick up on sale, usually for under £500 or under £1000, here in the UK.
Telly addicts now have access to a massive selection of gorgeous 4K content to stream and watch at home. Services like Sky and Netflix already offer an impressive catalogue of Ultra HD movies and shows – check out our complete guide to the best 4K services to see how to get stuck in.
To get started, you’ll need to sort out two things. First, you’ll need to check your home broadband is 4K ready. And second, you’ll need a 4K TV.
Thankfully, you’ll no longer have to splash out thousands of pounds to get your new Ultra HD television. Check out our handy guide to the best budget 4K TVs, to enjoy super-sharp telly on the cheap. We’ve split the TVs into those under £500 and those under £1000, to suit your particular budget.
Best budget 4K TVs under £500: Philips 43PUS6401
Argos is offering the Philips 43PUS6401 for a third less than its RRP, slicing a whopping £200 off its standard price. This makes it the cheapest 4K TV we could find at this size. That’s doubly astounding as the screen has Smart technology that lets you watch movies, games and TV shows from YouTube, Google Play, iPlayer and other Internet services. There are a few missing, however, notably ITV Hub, 4OD and Demand5.
This TV’s only real drawback is its relatively small screen. At 43 inches, it’s positively dwarfed by some of its rivals in this group. That said, the addition of Ambilight technology (which beams the predominant colour of a particular scene to the far right and left of the screen) makes you feel as if the panel is bigger than it actually is. Sort of.
Size: 43 inches
Price: £399
Where to buy: Argos
Best budget 4K TVs under £500: Hisense H50M3300
Hisense seems to be the value king these days, when it comes to TV tech.
If you haven’t heard the name, Hisense is a Chinese manufacturer that manages to impressively undercut the competition, while still offering high quality televisions. As a result it’s been getting a lot of attention and, more importantly, a lot of critic love.
HiSense is offering this 50-inch 4K TV for the low, low price of £429, giving impressive value for money. And despite that rock-bottom price, this is actually a solid telly.
Not only do you get crisp 4K visuals, but the H50M3300 also packs upscaling technology, which converts ordinary footage (including stuff streamed via the built-in Freeview HD service) to a higher resolution. You can record footage onto a USB memory stick, wirelessly play content from your phone on the display and browse the Web. Oh, and did we mention it’s ridiculously cheap?
Size: 50 inch
Price: £429
Where to buy: Argos
Best budget 4K TVs under £500: Panasonic TX-48CX400B
Those wanting a slightly larger display (probably all of you) for not much more money should probably look into the Panasonic TX-48CX400B.
With a 48-inch panel, this 4K TV has a five-inch advantage over the Philips, which should go a long way to making your films more immersive, especially in larger rooms. Like the smaller Philips, it comes with an array of Smart services thanks to its use of Firefox OS. These include the Firefox browser, Netflix, YouTube, Skype and more. FireFox OS allows you to take your favourite apps, TV channels, Websites and ‘pin’ them to a handy home screen for easy access.
Size: 48 inches
Price: £419
Where to buy: Tesco
Best budget 4K TVs under £500: Philips 49PUS6401
Yes, eagle-eyed readers, this is a larger version of the 43-inch 43PUS6401 we already covered. These two 4K TVs are identical in every way apart from the size of the panel. That means you get the same Ambilight technology, the same on-demand Smart TV functionality and, of course, a bunch of Android-based extras owing to its basis on the Android 5.0 Jellybean operating system.
In other words, you have a built-in web browser, the ability to play Android games (although even basic titles can be quite sluggish), and the ability to Cast video to the TV from other devices, Chromecast-style.
Size: 49 inches
Price: £499
Where to buy: Argos
Best budget 4K TVs under £500: Hisense 40M3300
To make £350 stretch to a full 4K resolution TV, with 40-inch LED backlit display, might seem rather tough. In fact, until recently we’d have laughed if you’d even suggested it would happen any time soon. But HiSense has once again proved that Ultra HD panels don’t have to cost the Earth.
There’s a Freeview HD tuner built-in for high quality instant content over the aerial. But this television also packs 4K streaming smarts in the form of apps like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Video so you can enjoy high-res content right out of the box. You get full support for Anyview Cast and Anyview Stream, so you can even fling media from your phone or tablet to the big screen.
Size: 40 inches
Price: £350
Best budget 4K TVs under £500: Panasonic TX-40DX600B
Panasonic is a veteran TV manufacturer that manages to give most other companies a run for their money, while still offering solid quality. Sitting right on that mark between cheap and top-end is Panasonic’s TX-40DX600B.
As the name suggests, this is a rather compact 40-inch screen, which might not be enough for some in an age of 55-inch and above screen possibilities. But the backlit LED display’s 4K resolution saves on power, while the 800 Hz motion interpolation offers lag-free smoothness. Plus there’s Freeview HD content and streaming 4K apps like Netflix built-in, making that £500 price point really impressive.
Size: 55 inches
Price: £500
Best budget 4K TVs under £1000: Samsung UE49K6300
Fancy going the curved 4K TV route? Well this is among the cheapest you’ll encounter. You’ll lose an inch in size compared to most of the others in our line-up, and have to spend an extra £100 at least, but for that you get a display that bends in subtly at the edges, giving you extra immersion, a wider field of view and… a telly that just looks cooler.
Size: 49 inches curved
Price: £599
Where to buy: Argos
Best budget 4K TVs under £1000: LG 58 Inch 58UH635V
If you want to go big, you need a 4K TV that’s closer to the sixty inch mark. The 58-inch LG here costs more than double the 50 inchers in this group, and only gives you a mere eight inches more, but it’s a no-brainer if size is important. It’s best suited to large rooms, obviously, and should provide a more cinematic experience for those willing to part with the cash.
Size: 58 inch
Price: £999
Where to buy: Argos
Best budget 4K TVs under £1000: Samsung UE55KS7000
With a respectable asking price of £1,000, this is a staggeringly good buy from Samsung and one of the best deals out there right now, even if it sits at the top end of what can be called cheap.
The Samsung UE55KS7000 is a really great bit of hardware to show off just how great the colours and contrast range of HDR can be. It uses Samsung’s Quantum Dot tech which is its alternative to OLED offering super bright images and rich colours. Of course it’s also 4K so the resolution on that 55-inch panel is tip-top and with four HDMI ports, plenty of smarts app like 4K HDR Netflix and Amazon Video you’ll be getting your money’s worth for plenty of hours.
Size: 55 inch
Price: £999
Where to buy: Amazon
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