2024 vs 2025 TVs: is it worth spending more?

TVs are replaced annually, and new 2025 sets are now adorning the shelves in online and high-street stores boasting cutting edge performance, and premium prices.

That also means there are dozens of ranges (many of which aced our tests) that are being put out to pasture. Retailers are selling them off for far less than the cost of their replacements, which may leave you wondering whether the new version has seen enough of an improvement to justify the extra cost. 

We've put two of LG and Samsung's most popular sets from this year and last head to head to see what's changed, and also take a look at what brands say the improvements are with this year's sets.

Discover which TVs come out on top in our tough lab tests in the best TVs for 2025.

What TV upgrades can you expect on 2025 models?

Tempted by a brand new set? You can effectively sum up what everyone is bringing to the table in one acronym: AI. 

Every brand is talking about how it will boost picture and sound by analysing what you're watching and enhancing it accordingly. It might make a outdoor scene brighter, or sharpen the edges on a fast moving object, or increase the darkness around an unblinking pair of red eyes in a zombie film. TVs have actually done this for ages, but the difference in 2025 is that many TVs are releasing with a dedicated AI picture mode, so you can turn AI on and off and actually see what difference it's making to the picture.

Otherwise, the claims are more of the same but enhanced. More vivid colours, deeper blacks, brighter whites and crisper detail. Brands achieve this with a mixture of hardware and software tweaks, and it's rare that you'll see the likes of Hisense, LG, Samsung or Sony announce a new type of screen, processor or backlight. 

That's why our testing is so important. We spend five weeks with each TV to see if the tweaks a brand has made to its tech actually makes much of a difference. And we can tell you honestly, it rarely does. If a TV was good last year, then the likeilihood is that its successor will be very similar.

There are plenty more TVs to test in 2025, but we've picked two of the most popular high-end models from LG and Samsung to compare to their predecessors from 2024. The price difference between models released just one year apart is often enormous, but the models from 2024 won't be available for much longer.

Look no further than our guide to the best TV deals to make sure you're getting a true bargain on a new set.

LG OLED55C54LA vs LG OLED55C44LA

There's not much difference in name (the 2025 version is C5 and the 2024 model is C4) but what about spec? Considering the 2025 model costs around £700 more than the 2024 model you'd expect it to be packed with goodies that set it apart. Here's what's new:

• AI picture mode - artificial intelligence is coming to just about everything with a plug, but it's actually been around in TVs for years. What's different now is a dedicated AI picture mode, which you can turn on and off. Previously AI was used behind the scenes to make tweaks to everything you watch. Having a dedicated mode makes the differences more obvious as it changes the picture based on the type of content you're watching and you can flick between modes to see exactly what's changing.
• AI sound mode - it's not just the picture that AI can tinker with, in fact just about every aspect of the TV has been touched by AI; there's even an 'AI concierge' which recommends content to you. The AI sound mode works like the picture one, but it should make more of the audio and emphasise the right parts of the mix based on what's going on in the scene.
• Higher peak brightness - LG's G range OLEDs have done away with evo, a technology LG produced to boost OLED brightness without causing burn-in, but the C ranges still have it and it's still providing incremental brightness increases every year. Across our two tests of HDR peak brightness we saw an average increase of 113 nits. This makes the most difference in brighter scenes (rather than dark scenes with one smaller bright point) where the screen is up to 15% brighter.

That doesn't sound like much, but specs never tell the whole story on TVs. There's a lot going on behind the scenes as engineers make tweaks to speakers and screens to get more from them. 

It's here that our testing steps in. We study each TV for more than a month, so we can say for certain if the incremental adjustments made by LG has made a big enough impact to recommend choosing a 2025 TV over its 2024 predecessor.

To learn more about these TVs and see if one is really better than the other then check out our 2025 LG OLED55C54LA review and 2024 LG OLED55C44LA review. Which? members can also see our expert's pick below.

Join Which? to see our verdict on the best set. Already a member? Log in here.

Samsung QE55S90F vs Samsung QE55S90D

The designs are pretty much indentical and the names are easy enough to tell apart. The model ending in D is from 2024 and the F model is 2025, and no, we don't know why Samsung skipped E.

The prices are very different though. You'll pay at least £1,699 for the QE55S90F, while the QE55S90D is £999 from Richer Sounds and we've seen it for £799 at some smaller local retailers. Can the S90F possibly be worth £1,000 more? Lets see what extras you're getting.

• AI picture mode - we told you it was the new hotness, and it's in just about every TV in some form or another. Just like the LG OLEDs, you're getting a dedicated AI picture mode here, so you can see exactly what changes it makes to the picture.
• AI sound pro - if you've made it this far then you know what this does. If you've skipped ahead then here's what it does: it adjusts audio based on the content coming from the speakers, so it should better emphasise the most important parts, like a roaring engine in a car chase or whispered dialogue in tense thriller. 
• NQ4 AI Gen3 processor - there's that AI again, but we're to leave the lid on that and talk about upscaling instead. The dream for any TV is to make SD and HD content look indistinguishable from 4K. It's something no TV has achieved, but we've seen some close, particularly with HD content that can look scalpel-sharp. Samsung's latest processor is devoted to upscaling , so we should see SD and HD look better than ever.

As with LG's OLEDs there's no meteoric advancement here and nothing that we haven't seen before in some way or another. With AI operating behind the scenes to improve picture for years it's difficult to get too excited about these now being split out into a separate optional picture mode. 

You can read more about these TVs and see exactly how they scored by reading the 2025 Samsung QE55S90F review and the 2024 Samsung QE55S90D review. Which? members can also see our expert's pick below.

Join Which? to see our verdict on the best set. Already a member? Log in here.

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