LED, LCD and plasma TV reviews: Reliability
To find out which tech brands are the UK’s favourites, every year we ask almost 10,000 Which? members to tell us about the technology products they own – from how happy they are to recommend a brand, to how reliable the products are once they’re home.
Best TVs for reliability
As a new TV is a major purchase that could cost you over £1,000, so it's important for these products to work well, give good value for money and not breakdown.
Every year we survey thousands of Which? members about any problems they’ve had with their TVs, in order to find out what the most common problems and which brands are affected by them.
Which? members can log in to see the full results. Or you can try Which? today for just £1 and find out how well known brands, including Panasonic, Sony, and Toshiba, have fared in our survey.
| TV Which? reliability index | ||
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Rating | Score |
| LG |  | |
| Panasonic | | |
| Samsung | | |
| Sony | | |
| Toshiba | | |
Common TV problems
The top reasons given for TVs breaking down were:
- General picture problem (7%) - Picture quality is the most important factor in a TV, and problems can include fading colours or definition.
- Remote control problems (2%) - Remote controls can be poorly designed and confusing, either with too many buttons or too few that work effectively.
- Problems with sound (2%) - As TVs become thinner, their sound can often seem weak and lacking definition; but sometimes speakers just fail entirely.
TV reviews
Our reliability surveys are designed to uncover the most common problems that can affect TVs as they are being used. This is combined with our extensive testing in the lab, involving TVs being assessed by experts for their picture quality, sound quality, ease of use and energy consumption, among other factors. A TV can only qualify as a Best Buy if the brand has scored at least three out of five stars for reliability. All this together gives you a clear picture of how a TV performs and whether it is right for you.
Which? is independent - we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We don't take advertising and we buy all the products that we test, so our advice helps you to make the right choice and avoid costly mistakes.
- TV buying guide - what to look for when buying a new TV
- TV best buys - find out more about the TVs that perform best in our tests
- How we test TVs - details on how we test televisions
