OLED vs Mini LED TVs: which should you buy in 2026?

The B6 is LG's entry OLED and the natural rival to the Samsung QN80H. Put side by side, they show the OLED versus Mini LED trade-off in its simplest form.

The B6 wins on contrast. Each pixel switches off completely, so black bars, night skies and space scenes are truly black and there is no halo around subtitles. Viewing angles are excellent, which matters if your family spreads across a wide sofa. LG's UK page confirms four HDMI 2.1 inputs with 4K 120Hz, VRR, ALLM, G-Sync and FreeSync, the same number of full-speed inputs as the Samsung.

It gives ground on brightness. It has a standard panel and the Alpha 8 processor rather than the C6's evo panel and Alpha 11, and the Mini LED rivals claim far higher peak figures. In a sunny room, HDR highlights will look less dazzling and the glossy screen shows reflections.

As with every OLED, there is a small risk of burn-in from static images watched for many hours a day, such as a news channel ticker. LG's screen-protection features reduce it and normal mixed viewing is unlikely to cause problems, but if your TV shows one channel all day, the QN80H is the safer choice.

For evening film watching on a budget, this is the OLED to buy.

The QN80H is Samsung's most affordable Mini LED with full gaming connectivity, and at 65 inches it competes directly with the LG B6 on price. The two show what each technology does best.

The QN80H's Mini LED backlight is much brighter than an entry OLED, so it suits a south-facing Irish or British living room, daytime sport and news. Because it is an LCD, static channel logos and news tickers carry no risk of burn-in. Samsung's UK page lists four HDMI inputs that all accept 4K 144Hz from a PC and 4K 120Hz with VRR from consoles, plus ALLM, HGiG and FreeSync Premium Pro.

The downsides are the usual ones for an LCD. Samsung does not publish its zone count, and any Mini LED will show some blooming, a faint glow around bright objects on dark backgrounds, which is most visible with subtitles in a dark room. Colours and contrast also fade more than OLED when you sit well off to the side. There is no Dolby Vision, only HDR10+.

Samsung rates the 65-inch QN80H energy class E with typical power of 85W, almost the same as LG's figure for its 65-inch C6 OLED in SDR. Choose this over the B6 if your room is bright or the TV is on for many hours a day.

The C6 is the OLED most people should buy, and its natural Mini LED rival is the TCL C8L, which sits in a similar price bracket at 65 inches.

As an OLED, the C6 gives you perfect blacks with no blooming at all, and colours and contrast stay accurate from any seat. LG's UK page lists four HDMI 2.1 inputs with VRR up to 165Hz, G-Sync, FreeSync and Dolby Vision gaming, which makes it the strongest gaming TV in this comparison.

At 65 inches the C6 uses LG's standard OLED EX panel rather than the brighter tandem panel in the 77 and 83-inch sizes, so it lacks the brightness edge of those bigger models. Against the C8L, which TCL claims can reach 5,000 nits or more, it will look less dazzling in strong daylight, and the screen is fairly reflective.

Energy use is close to a Mini LED in SDR: the EU label for the 65-inch C6 (OLED65C61LA version) shows 84.6W in SDR, rising to 232W in HDR.

Burn-in is unlikely with mixed viewing. If you game for hours on one title with a fixed HUD, use LG's screen-protection features. For most evening viewers it is the better picture.

TCL's C8L is the Mini LED to compare with the LG C6. At 65 inches TCL's UK page lists 2,040 dimming zones and claimed peak brightness in the 5,000-nit range, several times what any OLED here is rated for. TCL positions it as its premium picture set, with a Super Quantum Dot colour layer.

That brightness is the reason to choose it. In a sunny room, or for HDR sport and nature documentaries, the C8L should deliver more punch than the C6. It supports both Dolby Vision (including IQ) and HDR10+, and TCL's spec sheets list four 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 inputs with 4K 144Hz, VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming. As an LCD it has no burn-in risk.

The weaknesses are typical of Mini LED. Blooming can become visible when you sit well off to the side, and TCL does not market an anti-glare coating, so lamps and windows will reflect. In a dark room with subtitles, the C6's pixel-level control is cleaner.

In the US the C8L is sold as the QM8L. If your room is bright and you want maximum HDR impact at a C6-like price, this is the one.

The Bravia 8 II is Sony's flagship OLED and the obvious comparison with Sony's own Bravia 7 II Mini LED, since both share the same processing, Google TV and remote. It is the easiest way to see what OLED adds when everything else is equal.

Its QD-OLED panel combines perfect blacks with rich, saturated colour, and Sony tunes its XR processing for natural colour, convincing skin tones and clean handling of lower-quality sources. Viewing angles are excellent, and there is no blooming, so dark films and subtitles look cleaner than on any LCD.

Gaming is not its strength. Only two of the four HDMI inputs are full HDMI 2.1, and one of them is the eARC port, so a soundbar plus two consoles is awkward. It supports 4K 120Hz, VRR and ALLM, but tops out at 120Hz.

Like any OLED it is likely to be less bright than the Mini LEDs here, so it is happiest where you can control the light. Burn-in risk is low with mixed viewing, but it is an OLED, so avoid leaving static images on screen for hours.

The Bravia 8 II is usually dearer than the Bravia 7 II at 65 inches. Pay the extra if films in the evening are your priority. In the US the same TV is the K-65XR80M2.

The Bravia 7 II is Sony's first mid-range TV with a True RGB Mini LED backlight, which uses separate red, green and blue LEDs instead of white or blue ones. It pairs naturally with the Bravia 8 II OLED because the two share Sony's XR Processor, Google TV and much of the same feature set.

Sony pitches it as a lower-priced route to rich colour than OLED. Its strength over the Bravia 8 II is brightness and peace of mind: as an LCD it handles daytime viewing better and has no burn-in risk, which suits households that leave news or children's channels on for hours.

Where the OLED wins is contrast and viewing angles. The screen is a fairly reflective glossy type, viewing angles are typical of an LCD, and like every Mini LED it can show some blooming around bright objects on dark backgrounds. Sony does not publish a dimming zone count.

Connectivity matches its OLED sibling, with the same weakness: just two full HDMI 2.1 inputs, one shared with eARC, and VRR only on HDMI 3 and 4. HDR covers Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but not HDR10+.

In North America it is sold as the XR70M2 series. If you like Sony's natural picture but watch mostly in daylight, choose this over the Bravia 8 II.