The best 40- to 43-inch TVs are not to be underestimated. They might not have the gargantuan screen heft of larger TVs, but you can get some great-looking sets here that won't take over your room – and they’re exceptionally affordable at this size.
And don’t be fooled by their small form factor. Many of the best 40, 42 and 43-inch TVs don’t compromise on functionality compared to the best 65-inch TVs or the best 75-inch TVs even – they can give you 4K resolution and HDR (high dynamic range) – for ultra-crisp visuals and bright colors. Plus, just like their bigger siblings, you’ll get the same smart TV interfaces with streaming services built in for all your regular Netflix and Disney Plus binges.
You’ll even find a couple of the best gaming TVs below. If you want to plug in a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, LG's 43-inch C3 comes with HDMI 2.1 functionality for variable refresh rate and gaming in 4K at 120fps on all of its ports – it's basically a flagship TV in a smaller frame.
You might notice that there aren't very many of the best OLED TVs in the list below. That's because smaller OLED panels are still difficult for manufacturers to make without lots of waste, and that means they're still expensive to create. LG appears to have cracked the problem with its very impressive 42-inch C3, but you'll find that the bulk of the best TVs at this size don't yet use OLED.
We test these TVs just like everything else we review, looking at brightness, color accuracy and overall picture performance, as well as sound quality. We'll balance these with their price and features, to find the best 40- to 43-inch TVs to recommend.
Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team to watch the latest movies on gorgeous TVs as well as listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and has been writing about the latest TVs and soundbars since 2017. Matt is looking forward to following all of the latest updates from CES 2024, where all the major TV makers revealed their models for the next 12 months.
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Want to cut to the chase and find out which 40-43-inch TVs are the best? Below, you’ll find a roundup of our choices. You can also jump to a more detailed review of every pick and our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.
The best 40-43 inch TV overall
The 42-inch LG C4 is the best 40-43-inch TV you can buy, offering excellent picture quality and extensive gaming features, all at a fair price given the level of performance.
The best cheap 40-43 inch TV
The 43-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is the best budget TV in its size category, offering very good overall picture and gaming performance for the price.
The best 40-43 inch mini-LED TV
With its bright picture and superb motion handling, the Samsung QN90D is an excellent choice for watching sports and is also well-equipped for gaming.
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The best super-cheap 40-inch TV
If you want a cheap, decent TV in a 40-inch size, look no further. Aside from price, the Amazon Fire TV 40-inch 2-series' main draw is its built-in Fire TV streaming platform.
The best 40-43-inch TVs of 2024
Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best 40-43-inch TVs in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best 40 - 43-inch TV for most people
The LG C4 is a complete package – superb picture quality, an excellent array of gaming features, sleek design and an intuitive smart TV platform. LG's C series TVs have been the best 40-43-inch TVs on the market for some time now, and that continues with the C4.
Picture quality on the LG C4 is spectacular, thanks to its rich contrast levels, deep blacks and dynamic color. A new processor in the C4 increases brightness over its predecessor, the LG C3, and adds extra detail to the picture, giving textures a true-to-life look. Although the C4 isn't as bright as some LED sets in larger sizes, it will be on a more even playing field in the 40-43-inch size.
The C4 is equipped with an extensive range of gaming features across four HDMI 2.1 ports including Dolby Vision gaming, VRR (including AMD FreeSync and Nvidia GSync) and HGiG. For the first time, the C4 supports a 144Hz refresh rate, and at 42 inches, is an ideal size for PC gaming. It also comes with LG Game Optimizer, which is a useful tool for optimizing game settings.
All is not perfect with the C4, as it lacks HDR10+ HDR format support and has average built-in audio, but its features and improved performance over the LG C3 easily make it the best 40-43-inch TV available.
Find the best deals on LG products with our LG coupon codes.
The best budget 40 - 43-inch TV
The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is the definition of value for money. Great picture quality and gaming performance make this a TV with a lot of bank for its buck. Already at a cheap price on release, the Amazon Omni often finds itself with heavy discounts, particularly during Black Friday (with prices as low as $299/£299 for the 43-inch).
The picture quality of the Omni QLED was a real surprise when we viewed it. Yes, it's not the best picture by any stretch, because its black levels aren't particularly strong (and this 43-inch version lacks the local dimming of the larger models in this range), but the detail in movies, particularly in 4K HDR, is impressive. Colors pop from the screen and there's a certain natural quality to the image that can be lost in budget TVs.
Gaming performance was another plus point for the Omni QLED. It did a great job of handling graphically intense moments, with smooth motion processing and minimal delay thanks to its low 10ms input lag time. The picture quality delivered was crisp as well, thanks to Dolby Vision gaming support. However, it sadly doesn't have 4K 120Hz support, but this is not something you get in TVs at this price range anyway.
There are plenty of TVs that top the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED in every area, especially when it comes to sound and design, but combining what it does have in to one set at this price, the Omni QLED is unbeatable value.
Read our full Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED review
The best 40 - 43-inch mini-LED TV
The Samsung QN90D is an excellent all-around TV. Its bright, mini-LED-backlit display panel and superb motion handling make it great for watching sports, and it also has extensive gaming features and brilliant gaming performance.
In our review of the QN90D, we praised it for having "wonderfully refined and lifelike" detail thanks to Samsung’s clever processing. Combined with its vivid color and refined local dimming, the QN90D delivers brilliantly on the picture quality front and its anti-reflection screen also makes it ideal for watching in bright rooms.
The QN90D is equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K144Hz, VRR (AMD FreeSync Premium Pro included), and ALLM. It also comes with Samsung's Gaming Hub, which is a central space for all things gaming and provides access to cloud-based gaming apps. Samsung TVs typically earn five out of five stars from us for gaming, and the QN90D is no exception.
While it doesn't quite beat the LG C4 OLED, our top choice on this list, the QN90D is an excellent mini-LED alternative and a great TV for viewing in a bright room.
Read our full Samsung QN90D review
The best super-cheap 40-inch TV
Unlike the other entries on this list, the Amazon Fire TV 40-inch 2-series uses a Full HD panel rather than a 4K panel, which means it won't be compatible with 4K Blu-rays or 4K streaming. But it does provide a strikingly cheap 40-inch TV option, as we've seen it priced as low as $178 / £239.
While we haven't tested the 40-inch 2-series, we have tested the 32-inch 2-series and have formulated our opinions. The 2-series we tested doesn't have the most consistent picture, with sub-par contrast and black levels, but its colors are still vibrant and dynamic enough. Another area where it succeeds is in its built-in audio, which made dialogue sound clear and had a good enough balance. With larger speakers provided in the 40-inch version, this is likely to carry across.
The 2-series also comes with Fire TV as its smart TV platform and it's unlikely you'll get a different 40-inch TV at this price with smart TV features such as Alexa voice control. Navigation can be sluggish and clunky at times, but Fire TV is still one of the more comprehensive smart TV platforms available.
Where the 2-series is unmatched is its value. It may only have a Full HD panel, but the price is hard to argue against for a 40-inch TV. No, it doesn't have the same quality level as the sets above and the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED remains the best overall budget option. But if you're looking for a super-cheap TV and are happy to compromise, the Amazon 2-series fulfills that purpose.
Best 40-, 42- and 43-inch TV FAQ
Is a 40-inch TV big enough?
It's worth remembering that 40-inch screens, while once the pinnacle of high-end TV tech, are now considered a small size compared to many other TV displays.
Manufacturers can make bigger screens than ever before and, these days, 55-inch 4K TVs are standard, with 65-inch 4K TVs quickly growing in popularity.
A 40-inch TV should come with 4K resolution, but you'll be able to see the benefits more clearly on a larger size. We find that a 40-inch TV is a pretty decent size for a single viewer not sitting too far away, but for a family or group of flatmates it's not ideal.
To make sure if a 40-inch TV is right for you, measure the space you'd like to put it in and consider how much your budget can stretch.
In this guide, we've also included several 42-inch and 43-inch TVs, which might give you a bit of extra screen space if the best 40-inch TVs seem a touch too small.
What about 42-inch TVs and 43-inch TVs?
For ease, we've included 40-inch TVs as well as the best 42-inch TVs and 43-inch TVs in this guide.
Of course, many things affect the size and scale of a TV screen beyond simply the diagonal length of the panel, including the width of the bezel (the black strip around the screen's edges), built-in speakers, HDMI inputs and connections, as well as the depth of the casing (which often varies in different places). What this means is you may not notice the difference between a 40-inch TV and a 43-inch TV due to all of these factors.
We've also seen increased production of 42-inch TVs in recent years, with TV brand LG bringing out 42-inch OLED TVs, like the LG OLED42C4 at the top of this guide.
Many people find 42-inch and 43-inch TVs are perfect for smaller rooms, like studies, kitchens and any other space in your home where you don't need a huge, cinematic display. Even for smaller living rooms, 43-inch TVs are the perfect sweet spot.
How to choose
How do I pick out a 40-inch, 42-inch or 43-inch TV?
Not sure how to choose what 40-inch, 42-inch or 43-inch TV is for you? While the options might feel overwhelming, it's worth considering what we think about when recommending TVs here on TechRadar.
Ultra HD vs Full HD: It's a common misconception that you can't see the difference between full HD and Ultra HD/4K on a screen smaller than 55 inches. You can. We recommend picking a TV with 4K Ultra-HD and HDR if you can find one. It makes a big difference.
Operating system: 40-inch, 42-inch and 43-inch TVs didn't always come with a smart TV operating system in the past but they often do now. What you're looking for, ideally, is a well-maintained operating system like Roku TV, LG's webOS or Samsung's Tizen operating system. If you go with a TV that uses a proprietary operating system (basically an operating system exclusive to that one TV) you might have some serious issues down the road.
Inputs and outputs: Multiple HDMI ports are important if you have many devices to hook up to your TV but you may find less on a TV that's smaller than 43-inches. We recommend choosing a TV with more one HDMI port. You'll find yourself swapping cables far too often if you do.
How we test the best 40, 42 and 43-inch TVs
We test the best 40, 42 and 43-inch TVs using a combination of subjective and objective testing. For subjective tests, we focus on picture and audio quality, gaming performance and features. For our objective tests, we measure brightness, color gamut coverage, color and grayscale accuracy and input lag for gaming. For a complete guide, read how we test TVs at TechRadar or a summary version below.
Starting with subjective testing, we will evaluate picture quality using broadcast TV, 4K Blu-ray and streaming sources. We also use this time to check the picture presets such as Movie, Filmmaker, and Standard to determine the most accurate picture mode.
When testing the best 40, 42 and 43-inch TVs, we're looking at how the TV handles HD and 4K images, but also lower-resolution sources such as broadcast TV, even though upscaling isn't as important on smaller screens as on larger screens such as 65 and 75-inch. We also look at the TV's contrast, black levels, color accuracy, motion handling, and detail.
Gaming is another important area, and we look at features that will benefit gaming with a PS5 and Xbox Series X such as number of HDMI 2.1 ports, 120Hz refresh rate, VRR, ALLM and more. 40-43 inch TVs may not provide all these features, but some sets will support them.
Once subjective testing is completed, we'll use specialized equipment including a colorimeter and test pattern generator to conduct a series of objective tests, with the results recorded by Portrait Displays' Calman calibration software. We'll also use a Leo Bodnar 4K HDMI input lag tester to record input latency with the TV in Game mode.
To test brightness, we'll set the TV to its most accurate picture mode (typically Movie or Filmmaker) and use various standard dynamic range (SDR) white window test patterns to measure brightness in nits. The two most important patterns are 10%, which tells us the peak brightness we can realistically expect, and 100% which indicates how well a TV will handle reflections and sustain a bright image over the full screen - useful for watching sports. We will then repeat those measurements with the TV in Standard mode, and do the same in both modes using high dynamic range (HDR) test patterns.
We also test color and grayscale accuracy by measuring color, black, white, and gray test patterns. Overall accuracy in these tests is cited as an average Delta-E value, which tells us the margin of error between the test pattern and what the TV displays. The TV's color gamut coverage with HDR sources is also measured, and the closer the number to 100%, the better.
Finally, we use a Leo Bodnar 4K HDMI input lag tester to measure input latency, which is important for gaming. The lower the input lag time the better, but realistically, under 20ms is fine for most people. (Today's best gaming TVs all score under 15ms on this test.)
Latest updates to this guide
10 October 2024
Replaced the Samsung QN90C with the Samsung QN90D for 'best mini-LED'.
9 August 2024
Added quick links at top of guide for improved navigation.
2 April 2024
Added the Amazon 2-series as the 'best super-cheap 40-inch TV'. Added this latest updates section. Added a 'How we test' section to explain our testing methods and practices.
