LG 55NU850BP

Great smart TV software and upscaling trapped in a body with a mediocre picture. Get it cheap for a bright living room, but movie buffs should look at Mini-LED alternatives.

The Nano Detail Enhancer and 4K upscaling are the real heroes here. Watching 1080p streams, the processor cleans up the image surprisingly well, adding sharpness without making things look artificial. But the direct-lit backlight is the bottleneck. HDR content feels a bit flat, and the picture quality sits in a disappointing 37th percentile in our database. It's fine for a bright room, but movie night in the dark reveals its limits with uneven blacks and no local dimming to speak of.

The Hisense U7 Series and TCL QM8K are the elephants in the room. Both offer Mini-LED backlights and quantum dot color at similar or slightly higher prices, which translates to a much more impactful HDR experience and better picture quality scores. The Sony BRAVIA 8 is in a different league for picture processing and upscaling, but it costs a lot more. The NU85's main advantage over those budget champs is the polished webOS experience and LG's brand reliability, but it's a tough sell when the TCL's picture is so much better.

With a price spread from $400 to $550 across vendors, the value proposition shifts a lot. At $400, it's a fair deal for a feature-rich smart TV. At $550, you're dangerously close to better-performing Mini-LED options from Hisense and TCL. If you can snag it at the low end from Best Buy, it's a reasonable buy for a secondary room.

The LG NU85 is a solid mid-range 4K TV that gets the smart platform right, but its picture quality holds it back from being a true standout. If you're deep in LG's webOS ecosystem and want a reliable 55-inch screen for everyday streaming, it's a decent pick. Just don't expect it to blow you away with deep blacks or vibrant HDR pop. The α7 AI Processor Gen9 does some heavy lifting to make lower-res content look crisp, which is its best trick.

If you're looking for a cinematic experience with deep blacks and punchy HDR highlights, this isn't it. Go get a Hisense U7 Series or a TCL QM8K instead. Their Mini-LED panels will make a night-and-day difference for movie watching in a dark room.

The LG NU85 is a smart TV that's smarter than its picture. Buy it for the excellent webOS platform, the solid upscaling, and the gaming features if you find it for around $400. If picture quality is your top priority, and you're willing to spend a bit more, the Hisense U7 will give you a visibly better image. This LG is a convenience pick, not a performance pick.