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Make Which? a preferred sourceHisense vs TCL: who makes the best cheap TVs?
If you're looking for a bargain-priced TV, these are two brands to consider. Find out who has the edge in value and quality
Hisense and TCL are two brands that used to struggle in our TV tests, but improved performance combined with attractive prices could usher in a changing of the guard.
Panasonic and Sony led the pack for years. Then came the current frontrunners, LG and Samsung. And now Hisense and TCL are drawing ever closer in the rearview mirror.
These cheap alternatives are better than ever, but which brand is excelling more? We put them under the microscope to find out.
Take a look at our favourite TVs under £500 and £1,000 to see the Great Value sets we recommend.
Who are Hisense and TCL?
TCL is a Chinese electronics company and the third biggest TV brand globally, but it's made less of a dent in the UK market. Hisense is also a major Chinese manufacturer and its policy of sponsoring just about every sporting event going has made it a household name. It claims to have a '14% share of global TV shipments' in 2024, which would make it the second biggest brand globally, though not in the UK.
This success isn't just down to seeing Hisense on F1 cars and stadium hoardings, though. Both it and TCL have built their brands by offering cheaper alternatives to the established and historic names, and attempting to outmatch them on performance, too.
Hisense vs TCL: tied for average test score
To see how these brands compare on the performance front, we can look at their average scores.
Based on 54 Hisense and 20 TCL models tested in 2024 and 2025 that are still available to buy today, the two brands are tied with the same average score of 61%.
While it was only in 2025 that we started to test more of TCL's TVs, which makes comparison over time more difficult, one thing we do want to highlight is Hisense's incredible improvement.
In 2022, its TVs averaged a measly 52%, climbing to 54% in 2023, and 2024 was its best year where its TVs averaged 63% and it earned its first Best Buy – it's a brand on the up.
Hisense and TCL's top scoring sets
61% is a decent average score, and isn't a million miles away from LG's 2025 average of 67% and Samsung's 68%, but clearly there's room for improvement.
The majority of TCL and Hisense's ranges sit in the lower 60s, with few breaking through to 71% and earning a Best Buy score. Three Hisense models managed this in 2025, with its impressive top scorer managing 76% (just three percentage points away from the highest scoring TV of the year).
Only one of TCL's TVs is a Best Buy, with a top score of 72%. TCL has fewer stinkers though. 42% of its TVs score less than 60% but none drop below 50%. 37% of the Hisense TVs we tested in 2025 scored below 60% and three TVs scored less than 50%. Neither brand had any Don't Buys in 2025.
However, what we're really interested in here is how well the two brands fare when it comes to value – that unbeatable mix of low price, and good performance.
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Hisense vs TCL: Great Value frequency
These brands are synonymous with charging less than their competitors despite their TVs having feature parity. Having a wide range of cheaper TVs with high-end components should lead to an array of Great Value sets, which is a TV that scores at least 65% and costs 20% less than average for TVs in the same size bracket. We've compared TVs from both brands that are available to buy now.
Hisense's bigger range means it has far more Great Value models overall but a slightly smaller proportion of its TVs are good enough and cheap enough to be Great Value when compared to TCL.
A quarter of TCL TVs earn Great Value badges and one of them is also a Best Buy, which is a feat LG and Samsung have never managed.
Premium TVs from Hisense and TCL
Not all of the TVs released by these two can be considered cheap. Hisense in particular has released OLED TVs in the past and some of its mini LED TVs in 2025 cost well over £1,500, which puts them toe to toe with some of LG and Samsung's top-tier OLEDs on price.
TCL's top-end TVs don't typically cost as much as Hisense's, but it releases several that cost more than £1,000 each year. So, while these are budget brands, if we look at their entire ranges, particularly compared to LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, they still have costly, high-end models that are designed to compete with the best those brands can offer.
Typically, Hisense's are better. In 2025 its high-end models averaged 69% and there are more of them, but TCL ran it close with an average of 68%.
Hisense vs LG and Samsung - see how Hisense fares against the leading brands.
Do other brands make good cheap TVs?
LG is synonymous with its OLED ranges and deservedly so. Some of the best TVs ever made have LG's name embossed on the chassis, but it doesn't ignore its cheaper ranges either and it has more Great Value TVs that any other brand.
It has 12 Great Value sets overall, but its frequency (20%) is slightly lower than Hisense (21%). As you can see in the table however, LG is an outlier among leading brands.
Hisense - 11 Great Value TVs with a frequency of 21%. LG 12 Great Value TVs with a frequency of 20%. Panasonic - no Great Value TVs. Philips - no Great Value TVs. Samsung - 5 Great Value TVs with a frequency of 8%. Sony - 1 Great Value TV with a frequency of 4%. TCL - 5 Great Value TVs with a frequency of 25%.
So as you can see, Hisense in particular could be an excellent option in the value TV stakes, and we'll be keen to see how TCL does this year when we test more of its sets. While neither can claim to have overtaken the big brands in the UK just yet, time will tell if they have what it takes to become the first choice on the bargain hunter's wishlist.
See the best of the best with our guide to buying a TV.
