TCL Q3K Series 32Q3K 31.5"

A shockingly pretty 1080p QLED screen trapped in a budget TV body. Buy it for the picture, then immediately grab a soundbar and a universal remote to kill that standby light.

The QLED panel is the star here, and honestly, it's a little surprising at this price. Colors pop in a way that cheap TVs just don't do, and the Direct LED backlight keeps the screen evenly lit without the ugly clouding you get on edge-lit sets. The HVA panel tech sounds like marketing nonsense, but the contrast is genuinely solid for a non-OLED. Just don't expect any gaming heroics. The 60Hz panel and lack of VRR put it in the 17th percentile for gaming, which is a polite way of saying your PS5 will be bored. This is a movie and show machine, period.

The Hisense U6 Series is the obvious step-up if you want actual HDR performance and a bigger screen, but you'll pay for it. The Roku Plus Series gives you a simpler smart platform if Google TV's ad-heavy home screen bugs you, though the picture quality isn't quite as vibrant. For a pure budget 32-inch, the TCL outclasses most no-name brands on color and smart features, but if you're a gamer, just stop reading and go find something with at least a 120Hz panel.

Pricing on this thing is all over the map, with a spread from $109 to an absurd $55,459 across vendors. Ignore the outliers. At the low end around $109, this is a steal for a kitchen or bedroom. Even at a more typical $150, you're getting a screen that looks better than most 32-inch TVs have any right to. Just budget another $30 for a soundbar.

The TCL 32Q3K is the rare budget TV that doesn't feel like a compromise in the places you'll actually notice. You're getting a 1080p QLED panel with shockingly good color for the price, wrapped in a slick bezel-less design that looks way more expensive than it is. Google TV runs smoothly here, which isn't always a given on cheap sets. The catch? TCL clearly spent the budget on the screen and left the speakers as an afterthought, and that standby light is going to drive you nuts until you figure out how to turn it off.

If you're looking for a gaming TV, this isn't it. Go get something with a 120Hz panel and VRR instead. And if off-angle viewing matters because your room layout is wide, the HVA panel's viewing angles are mediocre, so you might want an IPS display instead.

If you need a small TV for a secondary room and care about picture quality, this is the one to get. The QLED panel delivers genuinely enjoyable colors for movies and shows, and Google TV makes finding something to watch painless. The audio is weak and the legs are annoying, but those are fixable problems. For the price, the core experience is rock solid.