TL;DR - Judged on streaming alone, the decision is mostly about HDR format support and which platform still gets app updates, not about picture quality. LG C4 OLED (1,399 GBP) and TCL C855 (649 GBP) both carry Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos; the TCL is the value pick by a wide margin. Sony Bravia 7 (999 GBP) buys the deepest app catalogue through Google TV. Samsung QN85D (1,099 GBP) is the bright-room set and the one that will never play Dolby Vision. Hisense U7N (549 GBP) is cheap and runs VIDAA, which is the weakest platform here for app breadth.
Scope note: This post covers streaming-specific ground only, HDR and audio format support, platform and app catalogue, and the network hardware each set ships with. For overall picks scored across picture, gaming and sound, see the hub best smart TVs 2025. For deciding between Tizen, webOS and Google TV themselves, see smart TV OS comparison.
Where these figures come from
This is a desk comparison, not a lab test. Every specification below comes from the manufacturer's own published sheet for the model named, and where a judgement about picture or platform behaviour is quoted, it is attributed to the outlet that measured it: RTINGS and Tom's Guide both maintain rolling test data on these sets. Prices are UK market prices at the time of writing and move constantly.
What you will not find here is a number for how many seconds Netflix takes to open, or how many megabits a set pulls at ten metres. Both are real differences between televisions. Both also depend on your router, your broadband, the firmware version shipped that month and where the TV sits in the room, and a single figure quoted without that context tells you nothing you can act on. Where app responsiveness matters below, it is described as the platform-level fact it is: how much memory the set carries, and whether the manufacturer is still shipping updates for it.
Why format support decides more than panel quality
Here is the thing most buying guides get backwards. Two televisions in this list can play a Dolby Vision stream from Netflix and one of them cannot, and no amount of contrast ratio closes that gap. A set that lacks the format falls back to plain HDR10, and you watch a different, flatter grade of the same film for as long as you own it.
That divide is not shrinking. In August 2026 Samsung began rolling out HDR10+ Advanced on some of its 2026 models, with Amazon Prime Video as the launch service, adding six features including HDR10+ Bright, genre-specific optimisation, local tone mapping and intelligent frame-rate control (HDTVTest). It is Samsung's answer to Dolby Vision 2, and HDTVTest's read is blunt: it is "almost a given" that Samsung keeps rejecting Dolby, so its sets will not get Dolby Vision 2 either.
So the format question is now a fork with two branches rather than one gap, and the branch you pick is effectively permanent. Which is the honest reason to think about it before you think about nits.
LG C4 65-inch OLED, the safe premium choice
Around 1,399 GBP (65-inch)
WebOS 24 on 3 GB of memory, an OLED panel, and the full Dolby stack: Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos passthrough to a soundbar over eARC. No HDR10+, which is LG's mirror image of Samsung's position and matters far less, because the services that use HDR10+ heavily are fewer than those using Dolby Vision.
OLED is still the reason to spend this money. Per-pixel dimming means dark scenes in streamed content hold detail that no backlit panel reproduces, and streaming is where compression makes crushed blacks most visible.
The platform caveat is real but modest: webOS has historically been later than Google TV and Tizen to receive newly launched apps. If a service you watch launches next year, you may wait for it.
Samsung QN85D 65-inch, the bright-room set
Around 1,099 GBP (65-inch)
Mini-LED, Tizen, and the widest UK app coverage of the four platforms including ITVX, Channel 4 and STV Player. It supports HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Atmos, and it is the only set here on WiFi 6E, which is worth something in a flat where the 5 GHz band is congested.
It does not support Dolby Vision and it is not going to. That is a deliberate corporate position, now roughly a decade old, and the HDR10+ Advanced launch is Samsung doubling down on it rather than hedging.
Is that disqualifying? Only if you care. Dolby Vision content on a set without it still plays, in HDR10. If Prime Video is your main service, Samsung's new format arrives there first, and the argument inverts.
Sony Bravia 7 55-inch, the platform pick
Around 999 GBP (55-inch)
Google TV, which carries the deepest app catalogue of any built-in television platform, plus Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos across Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+. Sony's XR processor has the strongest reputation in this group for upscaling, which matters more on streamed 1080p than on anything you own on disc.
Buy this one if the thing you fear is a service you want not being available. Everything else here is a compromise on that axis, and Google TV is the platform least likely to leave you stuck.
TCL C855 65-inch, the one that undercuts everything
Around 649 GBP (65-inch)
Google TV with 3 GB of memory, Mini-LED, and every format that matters: Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos. That combination at this price is the single most interesting fact in this comparison, because it is the set that makes the format question stop mattering.
The trade is build quality. The chassis, the stand and the remote all feel like the price, and the panel does not match the LG in a dark room. For streaming specifically, you give up very little.
Hisense U7N 65-inch, cheap with a platform cost
Around 549 GBP (65-inch)
Strong panel for the money, with Dolby Vision and full-array local dimming, and VIDAA underneath it. VIDAA covers Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+ and the main UK catch-up services, which is most of what most households watch. Niche and newly launched apps are where it falls behind.
It is also WiFi 5 rather than WiFi 6, which is a strange corner to cut in 2026. Netflix asks for 15 Mbps or higher for an Ultra HD stream, so WiFi 5 is nowhere near a barrier on its own. What it costs you is headroom when the whole household is online at once, which is exactly when anyone notices.
Which streaming TV should you actually buy?
| Model | Price | OS | Dolby Vision | HDR10+ | WiFi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG C4 OLED 65" | 1,399 GBP | webOS 24 | Yes | No | WiFi 6 |
| Samsung QN85D 65" | 1,099 GBP | Tizen | No | Yes | WiFi 6E |
| Sony Bravia 7 55" | 999 GBP | Google TV | Yes | No | WiFi 6 |
| TCL C855 65" | 649 GBP | Google TV | Yes | Yes | WiFi 6 |
| Hisense U7N 65" | 549 GBP | VIDAA | Yes | Yes | WiFi 5 |
Read that table as a decision tree rather than a ranking. If you want the best picture a streamed film can look like, the LG C4 OLED is still the answer and the price is the price. If your living room is bright and Prime Video is what you actually watch, the Samsung QN85D is the set the new format lands on first. If your worry is app availability three years from now, take the Sony Bravia 7 and the Google TV catalogue.
And if you want to stop thinking about any of this, the TCL C855 at 649 GBP supports every format in the table and runs the same platform as the Sony. It is not as well built. It is also half the price of the LG, which buys a lot of forgiveness.
I would skip the Hisense U7N unless the budget genuinely will not stretch to the TCL, and the reason is the platform rather than the panel. Hisense's step-up model is a different conversation: the U8N runs Google TV instead of VIDAA, which removes the objection entirely.
One last thing worth carrying into the shop. A television's memory and its manufacturer's update commitment decide how long it stays usable, and neither is on the shelf label. A set with under 3 GB of RAM will feel slow long before the panel gives up, and a platform that has stopped receiving updates will lose apps one at a time. Buy for the years, not for the demo loop.
My own bias, for what it's worth: I'd rather have a mid-range panel on a platform that's still supported in five years than a better screen running software nobody maintains. You can hang a fifty-pound streaming stick off a dumb TV. You can't retrofit a panel.