Black Friday 2020 is creeping closer, and that means that deals on some of the latest and greatest OLED TVs are on the way.
OLED TVs are some of the most in-demand gadgets to buy in these kinds of massive sales events, partially because of how slowly prices have been dropping in the past few years. Now, though, ramped up production and the introduction of a new 48-inch OLED panel size is bringing the premium TV tech to more people than ever, at prices ne’er before seen.
If you want the best experience possible, you’re going to be looking at a relatively new OLED TV, probably from 2020. That means sets like the LG CX OLED, Sony A8H, or Panasonic HZ2000 – to name but a few. The CX has already seen some tempting discounts ahead of Black Friday, and others will no doubt follow.
We often find that older models are those that see the biggest discounts, as retailers scramble to clear stock of their stores and warehouses. But that might not be the case this year.
For some reason – possibly due to the economic uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic – the biggest TV brands are flouting some massive discounts on brand new sets.
When the price is right
We’ve seen some very tempting OLED TV deals so far, as on the LG CX OLED, which seems to drop in price every few weeks at the moment – and the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period is barely underway.
But if we look back to older 2019 models we’d usually recommend you looking out for, they appear to be fully out of stock or not as heavily discounted as newer models.
The Philips OLED+934, for one, is a flagship OLED TV from 2019, which recently saw a £500 price cut to just £1,999 for its 65-inch size in the UK. But that price is far less tempting when you consider the latest OLED+935 iteration, which is already retailing for £1,999 for its 55-inch size – with an even cheaper 48-inch size that’s available for £1,799.
The LG BX OLED, too, is available for $1,299 / £1,199 / AU$2,800, with the odd promotion bringing that price down even further – and when the LG B9 is pretty much impossible to buy anywhere, and that price being just as tempting as the best TV deal days of the B9, buying the newer model is a win-win.
The more the merrier
Support for OLED as a TV panel tech has undoubtedly grown in the past few years. While Hisense may have ditched the technology after a brief attempt at the O8B OLED, the likes of Panasonic, LG and Sony are still ploughing ahead – and largely expanding their OLED TV ranges, both with new budget OLED models and a wider range of sizes. The new 48-inch OLED TV size is helping matters, as is greater consumer appetite for larger 77-inch and 88-inch screens.
We’ve seen a new trend for ‘mid-price premium’ sets in the past few months. There’s the Panasonic HZ980 OLED, a cheaper alternative to the HZ1000 without its Smooth Motion Pro tech or swivel stand, while Samsung announced a surprise fourth 8K TV for this year called the Q700T, which packs in 8K resolution at a far lower price than its higher-spec siblings.
All this contributes to a very healthy ecosystem of new TVs, with more options at more price points than ever. And if you’re thinking of buying a television – especially an OLED television – this Black Friday, you’ve got a lot of models to choose from.
