The best way to watch most content is to turn the lights off. However, this isn't very practical during the day when watching sports with the curtains open or if you simply like to leave the lights on while watching your favorite shows. You don't want to see distracting reflections on your screen, so if you plan on placing your TV in a bright room, there are certain criteria you should consider before purchasing.
The most important aspects a TV needs to fight glare in a bright room are SDR peak brightness and HDR peak brightness. During our rigorous testing process, we see how bright a TV can get. Generally speaking, the brighter the TV, the better it overcomes glare. However, reflection handling is also a very important factor to consider. Even if a certain TV can get very bright, you may still see reflections caused by indirect and direct light sources if it has poor reflection handling. This becomes especially important if you're in a smaller space with a lamp positioned in front of the screen. The lamp's reflection will be distracting if your TV doesn't do a good job of reducing the intensity of the light.
Even if a TV is very bright and has good reflection handling, you still want it to provide solid overall picture quality, so our recommendations below also consider that. You can also see our picks for the best TVs for watching movies, the best TVs for watching sports, and the best outdoor TVs. Additionally, you can vote on which ones you want us to buy and test. To learn more about the 2024 models, check out our 2024 TV lineup page.
The Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED is the best TV for bright rooms we've tested. Its superb reflection handling and SDR brightness means it easily overcomes glare in the brightest of rooms, so you aren't distracted by reflections on your TV screen. As impressive as this TV is in a bright room, it also looks spectacular in a dark room. It has exceptional black levels with almost no blooming, thanks to its highly effective local dimming control. It's also a great option for 4k Blu-ray collectors or those looking to get the most out of high-quality streaming services due to its support for Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats.
The TV's image processing is excellent for upscaling and smoothing out low-quality content. It's also very accurate in both SDR and HDR, so it delivers an image that respects the content creator's intent. Unfortunately, its viewing angle is mediocre. It's not the best option if you regularly watch shows or movies with a big group of friends since the image degrades when viewed from the sides of the screen. However, it's a great option if you need a TV that pairs well with modern consoles. It has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on two ports for up to 4k @ 120Hz with VRR, so it's fully compatible with the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Additionally, it has a quick response time for clear motion and low input lag for a responsive gaming experience.
Although most of these picks focus on TVs for bright indoor rooms, what if you want to watch TV outside? Enter the Samsung The Terrace, the best outdoor TV we've tested. Even if you want to use your TV in an enclosure outside, it's easy for light to get through, so you'll want something that gets bright enough and minimizes reflections well. Samsung designed this TV explicitly for outdoor use, so it's made to handle direct sunlight, making it one of the brightest TVs we've tested. Plus, it has an IP55 rating for water protection, so you won't have to worry too much if it rains. The reflection handling is fantastic, meaning it looks amazing in any outdoor setup.
It's also a great gaming TV, with HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on one port and low input lag. However, it doesn't support any variable refresh rate (VRR) technologies. Unfortunately, it has only one HDMI 2.1 port, so you can't connect multiple recent consoles to the TV, but it's a great TV to hook up your Nintendo Switch to at your BBQ parties. Thanks to the built-in Tizen smart platform, you won't have to get an extra box to stream your favorite content, and the built-in speakers are decent enough to use without a soundbar. It's also a lot more expensive than the better overall Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED, so the Sony is the better choice unless you plan on using it outdoors.
The best mid-range TV for bright rooms we've tested is the Hisense U8/U8N. It's a great TV for watching shows or sports during the day. Like the Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED, it uses Mini LED technology to get exceptionally bright and overcome glare. It edges out the Sony and the Samsung The Terrace when it comes to reflection handling, so it's the best anti-glare TV on this list. The TV has surprisingly good image processing capabilities, so movies and shows look good no matter their source, even if it isn't quite as good as the Sony TV. Due its very effective local dimming, the TV displays very deep blacks with only slightly more blooming than the Sony, so it also looks great in a dark room.
The TV's viewing angle is even narrower than that of the Sony, so it's not as good overall if you have a wide seating arrangement, as the image isn't consistent when viewed from the sides. Still, it's an excellent TV for gaming thanks to its low input lag and fast response time. The TV has great gaming features, including HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four HDMI ports for up to 4k @ 144Hz gaming, so it's fully compatible with recent consoles.
The best TV for bright room viewing in the budget category we've tested is the Hisense U6/U6N. It's a good TV for a bright room, with very good SDR peak brightness and decent reflection handling, so it overcomes glare in a moderately lit room. Its semi-gloss coating reduces the intensity of ambient light well, but it doesn't deal as well with reflections from lights directly opposite the TV, so it's not as good as the Hisense U8/U8N for a room with many windows. If you also turn the lights off to watch movies or shows, the TV's local dimming delivers deep blacks that are quite impressive for a TV in this price range. It's even bright enough in HDR to make some highlights pop out against darker backgrounds.
Of course, you lose something by going with a cheaper model, and in this case, the TV doesn't get as bright as the more expensive models above, has worse contrast, doesn't remove artifacts very well from low-quality content, and is limited to 4k @ 60Hz. However, you can choose to drop your resolution to play games up to 1440p @ 120Hz, which is a great feature for a budget model. Additionally, it has fantastic low input lag, a good response time, and VRR support, so it's a good budget gaming TV.
The Hisense A7N is the best cheap television overall for bright rooms. It's not the brightest TV, but it does have very good reflection handling, meaning it fights glare in rooms with the lights on. It delivers decent overall picture quality, with good black uniformity, but lacks advanced features like local dimming. HDR content looks acceptable, with visually appealing saturated colors, but it's not quite bright enough to make most highlights stand out.
It's still a cheap TV, though, and its low-quality content smoothing is quite bad. Fortunately, it has the same good upscaling capabilities as the more expensive Hisense models, and it still supports HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and DTS audio formats, which is great for a TV this affordable. This cheap TV offers gamers a few features: a good response time, extremely low input lag, and VRR support. However, you are limited to a 60Hz refresh rate across all resolutions.
The Roku Select Series is a good alternative to the Hisense A7N. The Roku gets brighter than the Hisense in SDR, but the Hisense has better reflection handling, so they perform very similarly in bright rooms. However, the Hisense gets brighter in HDR, displays a much wider range of colors, and has better upscaling capabilities, making it the better TV for most people.
See our reviewThe Samsung S95D OLED is the only OLED on the market that uses a matte screen coating. The screen coating does an amazing job of eliminating reflections caused by glare, but it does so at the cost of picture quality in a bright room, making it lose the impact an OLED typically has. Unless you also regularly use your TV in a dark room, where the impact of an OLED is really seen, you're better off getting a TV like the Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED or the Hisense U8/U8N.
See our reviewWe added the Samsung S95D OLED to the Notable Mentions and reviewed the text for accuracy.
Sep 27, 2024: Replaced the Hisense U8/U8K with the Hisense U8/U8N in the 'Best Mid-Range TV For Bright Rooms' category and replaced the Hisense U6/U6K with the Hisense U6/U6N in the 'Best Budget TV For Bright Rooms' category. We also updated the Notable Mentions section.
Jul 05, 2024: We swapped the Sony X93L/X93CL with the Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED in the 'Best TV For Bright Rooms' category. We also refreshed some text throughout the article for clarity.
May 09, 2024: Added mentions of the Hisense U6N and the Hisense U8N in the 'Best Budget TV For Bright Rooms' and the 'Best Mid-Range TV For Bright Rooms' categories.
Mar 12, 2024: Ensured the availability and accuracy of our current picks.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best TVs for bright rooms for most people in each price range. We factor in the price (a cheaper TV wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no TVs that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our reviews of TVs. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no TV is perfect, most TVs are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.
What do you think of our picks? Let us know below.
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We’ve just released a new video that mentions the Shark Stratos Cordless here.
I m wondering, how your picks are really made because ive been cleaning residential and commercial over
20 years and im damn near laughing at the picks. Except for the cordless Dyson, it is the best in cordless vacuums but you see, corded, cordless, and robotic vacuums should not even be rated together, period! They are vacuums for different types of homes . For instance, a bachelor with no pets would more than likely be ok with a robotic vacuum. Now, the family of 6 down the road who also have 3 dogs and a cat … no way! They should have a corded vacuum and a cordless one (for light cleaning up after children and in between regular cleans) … Shark has a few good vacuums too but personally i love my Riccar and i will always shout that out and on top of it all Made in the USA!!!! I will and have also preferred bagged to bagless. Bagless vacuums seem to get clogged 80% more as well. Ps. So with my Riccar that ive had for 15 years will put any dyson to shame on a one swipe…. no going back and forth ….
Hey there, sorry to hear that you disagree with our pick selection - this article is essentially an overview of what the best offerings are from the different manufacturers of specific vacuums that we’ve tested, and that means there’s a lot of variation in terms of product selection here.
Unfortunately, this does result in some awkwardness, since as you said, that means we’ll be mentioning vacuums with completely different intended use cases and designs within the span of a few sentences. I should mention that we do have more focused recommendations for specific vacuum types, like the best corded vacuums, the best cordless vacuums, and the best robot vacuums.
Also completely agree that bagged vacuums usually require a lot less in the way of maintenance; we’re big fans of the SEBO Airbelt D4 and Miele Complete C3 around the office. We’d also love to put a Riccar vacuum through its paces on our test bench, especially since we haven’t had the opportunity to test that many higher-end bagged vacuums. If there’s a specific model you’d like for us to test that isn’t among the list of vacuums that folks can vote on for us to buy, you can submit it as a suggestion, and from there we can check if it fits our buying criteria.
We always appreciate hearing from our readers, so please don’t hesitate to reach out again if you have more feedback for us!
I m wondering, how your picks are really made because ive been cleaning residential and commercial over
20 years and im damn near laughing at the picks. Except for the cordless Dyson, it is the best in cordless vacuums but you see, corded, cordless, and robotic vacuums should not even be rated together, period! They are vacuums for different types of homes . For instance, a bachelor with no pets would more than likely be ok with a robotic vacuum. Now, the family of 6 down the road who also have 3 dogs and a cat … no way! They should have a corded vacuum and a cordless one (for light cleaning up after children and in between regular cleans) …
Shark has a few good vacuums too but personally i love my Riccar and i will always shout that out and on top of it all Made in the USA!!!! I will and have also preferred bagged to bagless. Bagless vacuums seem to get clogged 80% more as well. Ps. So with my Riccar that ive had for 15 years will put any dyson to shame on a one swipe…. no going back and forth ….
Update: Made slight in-text adjustments to further clarify product information.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know
I m wondering, how your picks are really made because ive been cleaning residential and commercial over
20 years and im damn near laughing at the picks. Except for the cordless Dyson, it is the best in cordless vacuums but you see, corded, cordless, and robotic vacuums should not even be rated together, period! They are vacuums for different types of homes . For instance, a bachelor with no pets would more than likely be ok with a robotic vacuum. Now, the family of 6 down the road who also have 3 dogs and a cat … no way! They should have a corded vacuum and a cordless one (for light cleaning up after children and in between regular cleans) … Shark has a few good vacuums too but personally i love my Riccar and i will always shout that out and on top of it all Made in the USA!!!! I will and have also preferred bagged to bagless. Bagless vacuums seem to get clogged 80% more as well. Ps. So with my Riccar that ive had for 15 years will put any dyson to shame on a one swipe…. no going back and forth ….
Hey there, sorry to hear that you disagree with our pick selection - this article is essentially an overview of what the best offerings are from the different manufacturers of specific vacuums that we’ve tested, and that means there’s a lot of variation in terms of product selection here.
Unfortunately, this does result in some awkwardness, since as you said, that means we’ll be mentioning vacuums with completely different intended use cases and designs within the span of a few sentences. I should mention that we do have more focused recommendations for specific vacuum types, like the best corded vacuums, the best cordless vacuums, and the best robot vacuums.
Also completely agree that bagged vacuums usually require a lot less in the way of maintenance; we’re big fans of the SEBO Airbelt D4 and Miele Complete C3 around the office. We’d also love to put a Riccar vacuum through its paces on our test bench, especially since we haven’t had the opportunity to test that many higher-end bagged vacuums. If there’s a specific model you’d like for us to test that isn’t among the list of vacuums that folks can vote on for us to buy, you can submit it as a suggestion, and from there we can check if it fits our buying criteria.
We always appreciate hearing from our readers, so please don’t hesitate to reach out again if you have more feedback for us!
I m wondering, how your picks are really made because ive been cleaning residential and commercial over
20 years and im damn near laughing at the picks. Except for the cordless Dyson, it is the best in cordless vacuums but you see, corded, cordless, and robotic vacuums should not even be rated together, period! They are vacuums for different types of homes . For instance, a bachelor with no pets would more than likely be ok with a robotic vacuum. Now, the family of 6 down the road who also have 3 dogs and a cat … no way! They should have a corded vacuum and a cordless one (for light cleaning up after children and in between regular cleans) …
Shark has a few good vacuums too but personally i love my Riccar and i will always shout that out and on top of it all Made in the USA!!!! I will and have also preferred bagged to bagless. Bagless vacuums seem to get clogged 80% more as well. Ps. So with my Riccar that ive had for 15 years will put any dyson to shame on a one swipe…. no going back and forth ….
Update: Made slight in-text adjustments to further clarify product information.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know