LG NU85 Series 98NU850BPUB 98"

The LG NU85 Series 98NU850BPUB is a 98-inch 4K LED TV that delivers massive screen size for around $1,500. It has strong smart features, excellent connectivity, and surprisingly good gaming support. But picture quality is below average, with no Dolby Vision and a Direct LED backlight that can't compete with Mini-LED or OLED alternatives.

Let's talk numbers. The NU85 has a 60Hz native refresh rate, which is a bit of a head-scratcher when LG also lists 120Hz and HDMI 2.1 support. What's happening is motion smoothing and backlight tricks to simulate higher refresh rates. For most content, 60Hz is fine, but serious gamers will notice the difference compared to a true 120Hz panel. The α8 AI Processor 4K Gen3 does decent upscaling work, and the Nano Detail Enhancer helps sharpen textures, but it can't overcome the fundamental limits of a Direct LED backlight without local dimming.

Gaming is actually a bright spot. AMD FreeSync Premium, ALLM, and Game Mode are all here, and our gaming score puts it at the 85th percentile, which is genuinely impressive for a TV in this price bracket. Input lag is low, and the HDMI 2.1 ports mean you can hook up a PS5 or Xbox Series X without issues. Just don't expect 4K at 120fps with full HDR, the panel can't really do that.

Audio is a 2.2 channel setup with eARC, which lands at the 60th percentile. It's fine for everyday TV watching, but you'll want a soundbar for anything cinematic. The speakers get loud enough for a big room, but they lack the depth and bass you'd expect from a 98-inch screen.

The Sony BRAVIA XR XR77A95L is a completely different animal. It's a 77-inch QD-OLED that costs significantly more but delivers reference-level picture quality. If you care about image quality at all, the Sony wins by a mile, but you're giving up 21 inches of screen real estate. The Samsung Neo QLED QN75QN990FFXZA is another premium option with Mini-LED and much better HDR performance, but again, it's smaller and pricier.

For a more direct comparison, the Hisense U8 Series 100U8QG is the closest competitor in terms of size. It's a 100-inch Mini-LED TV that costs more but offers dramatically better contrast, brightness, and HDR. The TCL QM8K Series 75QM8K is smaller but delivers superior picture quality at a competitive price. If you're willing to drop down to 75 inches, the TCL is the smarter buy for image quality. The Roku Plus Series 55R6C7 is in a totally different category, a budget 55-inch TV that's fine for bedrooms but not comparable to a 98-inch living room centerpiece.

At $1,425 to $1,500, the LG NU85 is one of the cheapest ways to get a 98-inch TV from a major brand. That's the whole pitch. You're paying for size, not picture quality. If you compare it to the Hisense U8 Series 100U8QG, which costs more but delivers Mini-LED backlighting and much better HDR, the value proposition gets murkier. The TCL QM8K Series is another alternative that offers better picture quality at a similar or slightly higher price. But if your budget is hard-capped around $1,500 and you want the biggest screen possible, this LG is hard to beat on pure inches per dollar.

The LG NU85 Series 98NU850BPUB is a massive 98-inch 4K LED TV that sits in a weird spot. It's priced around $1,425 to $1,500 in the US, which sounds like a steal for a screen this size, but you're making some real trade-offs to get there. This is a Direct LED panel, not the fancy OLED or Mini-LED tech you'll find in pricier sets, and the picture quality scores reflect that. Our database puts it at the 36th percentile for picture quality, which is a polite way of saying it's below average for a modern 4K TV.

But here's the thing: if you just want the biggest screen possible for a living room, a basement, or a corporate conference room, this thing delivers. The smart features are solid, connectivity is excellent, and gaming support is surprisingly capable for a budget-minded giant. It runs webOS 2026 with Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot built in, so voice control is actually useful here.

Is the LG NU85 good for movies? For casual viewing in a bright room, sure. But if you're a home theater enthusiast who cares about deep blacks and accurate HDR, this isn't the panel for you. The HDR support is limited to HDR10 and HLG, no Dolby Vision, and the HDR performance lands right around the middle of the pack at the 49th percentile.

Skip the LG NU85 if you're a home theater enthusiast who cares about picture quality, HDR performance, or deep blacks. The Direct LED backlight without local dimming means blacks look gray in dark rooms, and the lack of Dolby Vision is a real limitation. If you watch a lot of movies in a dark room, save up for the Hisense U8 100-inch or drop down to a 75-inch TCL QM8K. Also skip this if you need reliable Wi-Fi, multiple owners report reconnection issues every time the TV powers on. And if you're a competitive gamer who demands true 120Hz at 4K, this isn't the panel for you.

Should you buy the LG NU85 98NU850BPUB? If you want a 98-inch TV and your budget is around $1,500, yes, this is basically your only option from a major brand. The size is the feature, and everything else is secondary. The smart TV experience is genuinely good, gaming support is better than expected, and connectivity is excellent.

But if you care about picture quality, HDR performance, or deep blacks, you should either save up for the Hisense U8 100-inch or drop down in size to something like the TCL QM8K. The NU85's picture quality is its biggest weakness, and for a TV this large, those flaws become more visible, not less. It's a great value for size, but a mediocre TV for picture quality.