LG Gallery TV LX7B 55.3"

The LG LX7B's picture quality sits in a disappointing 36th percentile, but its smart features are a standout in the 80th percentile. This is a lifestyle TV that prioritizes looking like art on your wall over delivering a stunning cinematic experience. The matte screen and included frame are fantastic, but you're paying a premium for aesthetics over performance.

This is where the 'Gallery' concept starts to show its trade-offs. The Mini-LED backlighting should deliver deep contrast, but the overall picture quality score is underwhelming, landing well below average. The α7 AI Processor 4K Gen9 does a decent job upscaling lower-resolution content, but it can't work miracles. HDR performance is just okay, with support for HDR10 and HLG but no Dolby Vision to be found. Brightness and color volume don't compete with other Mini-LED sets in this price bracket.

Gaming is a mixed bag. You get VRR and ALLM support through the HDMI 2.1 ports, which is great for smooth console play, but the panel is capped at 60Hz. That puts it in the 56th percentile for gaming, which is fine for casual play but a non-starter if you own a PS5 or Xbox Series X and want to push past 60fps. The 2.0 channel audio is also just average, so you'll almost certainly want a soundbar to match the premium look with premium sound.

Stacked against the Samsung QN85D, the LG gives up a lot in picture quality and gaming prowess, as the Samsung offers a higher refresh rate and better HDR. The Sony BRAVIA 5 K55XR50 will walk all over this LG in terms of processing and motion handling for movies. Where the LX7B fights back is purely on aesthetics. The TCL QM7K and Hisense U7 Series are both significantly better values for pure picture quality, with brighter panels and better contrast, but they look like traditional TVs. You're choosing between a TV that performs well and one that looks good in your living room, and the LG is unapologetically the latter.

Pricing on this set is all over the map, with a spread of $1451 across different vendors. That kind of range means you absolutely need to shop around before buying. The value proposition hinges entirely on how much you care about the Gallery design. If you just want the best picture for your dollar, you can get a much better panel for less. But if you're comparing it to Samsung's The Frame, the LG undercuts it at the low end of that price range while offering Mini-LED instead of a standard QLED. At the lower end of the price spectrum, it's a compelling design piece. At the high end, it's a tough sell.

The LG Gallery TV LX7B is a TV that's more about what it does when it's off than when it's on. Its smart features land in the 80th percentile, making it a genuinely slick hub for streaming and art display. The matte screen and included magnetic frame are the real stars here, letting it blend into a room instead of dominating it with a big black void. But for a Mini-LED set, the picture quality is a letdown, sitting in the 36th percentile. You're paying a premium for the design, not the panel performance.

Connectivity is solid at the 73rd percentile, with three HDMI 2.1 ports and solid wireless options. The 60Hz panel and middling HDR performance, stuck at the 47th percentile, mean this isn't a TV for cinephiles or serious gamers. It's a lifestyle screen first. If you want a TV that looks like a piece of art on your wall and handles casual streaming with ease, it nails that brief. Just don't expect it to blow you away during movie night.

Gamers and home theater enthusiasts should look elsewhere. The 60Hz panel is a hard limit for anyone with a current-gen console or gaming PC, and the 36th percentile picture quality means movies won't have the pop or contrast you'd expect from a Mini-LED set. If you don't care about the Gallery Mode and just want the best image for your money, the TCL QM7K or Hisense U7 will give you a massively better picture, often for less cash. This TV is for people who want to hide their TV, not show it off.

The LG Gallery TV LX7B is a one-trick pony, but it's a really good trick. If your primary goal is to eliminate the ugly black rectangle from your living space and you mostly watch casual streaming content, this is one of the best options on the market. The matte screen and art mode are genuinely impressive. But if you care about movie nights, gaming above 60fps, or getting the most picture quality for your money, the 36th percentile picture score is a dealbreaker. Buy it for the design, not the display.