3 reasons to buy an 8K TV in 2022 – and 2 not to

If you're looking at buying one of the best 8K TVs – or even one of the best TVs in general – then we thought it would be a good idea to have a look at some of the pros and cons. 

For some people, especially those who love streaming services or own a PlayStation 5, getting the very best TV is an absolute must; the living room (or bedroom) feels wrong without it. 

Most people will probably be happy with the best 4K TVs, or the best OLED TVs, and that's fine: TV technology has progressed so much in the past few years that even a relatively cheap TV, like the Samsung AU9000, is still pretty phenomenal. 

But for some, only the best will suffice and that's where exemplary 8K TVs come into play, with Samsung, LG, Sony, and TCL offering some pretty great options. 

In our testing, the best 8K TV is the Samsung QN900B Neo, available in 65-inch, 75-inch, and 85-inch configurations. While it's very, very expensive – you're looking at around £7,000 for the 75-inch model – that price is worth it in other ways. 

A quick primer on 8K TVs 

Before we get into the pros and cons, it's worth spending a moment having a look at the basics for an 8K TV. 

As you might guess, 8K means around 8,000 pixels across the TV (horizontally), giving a resolution like 7680 x 4320. In effect, this quadruples the resolutions you can expect from a 4K TV.

The above example will offer around 33 million pixels, an absolutely stunning amount and way beyond the resolution of most cameras, even professional ones. 

35mm film is considered to be around 6K resolution while IMAX's 70mm film is around 12K, so 8K fits somewhere between the two. In essence, having an 8K TV is basically like having an IMAX screen in your living room. 

With that out of the way, let's jump into our three reasons to buy an 8K TV and two reasons against. 

Reason to buy 1: You want the absolute best 

The first, and perhaps most obvious reason, reason is simple: you're looking for a new TV and you want the very best one that's available right now. 

Beyond OLED TVs, there is pretty much only one thing better and that's having an 8K TV. You'll also be able to get a pretty massive TV on the go, with some models extending into the 90-inch range. 

While spending over £5,000 on a TV might seem excessive to some, you're likely to get an awful lot of use out it and therefore the cost can be divided over time. (Finance options are likely also available.) 

In our extensive TV testing, 8K TVs are consistently the best for pretty much everything: size, resolution, colour, accuracy, refresh rate, and so on. 

Reason to buy 2: Money is no object 

As we just alluded to, your new 8K TV is going to be expensive, perhaps punishingly expensive. With the cost of living crisis in the background, being able to expend thousands on a TV is a serious luxury.

Even the cheapest 8K TVs, like the excellent Samsung QN800A, start at around £1,700 for one of the smaller models and can rise to well over £2,000. 

Chances are, if you're seriously considering an 8K TV then the overall cost isn't a major factor in your decision making – and if it is, then we recommend getting a mire affordable 4K TV. 

Reason to buy 3: Why not? 

Finally, why not? 

It's a pretty self-explanatory reason, at least for us: 8K TVs exist and are available in most major retailers and you want one, so why not just go for it. 

It's perhaps not the most complex of reasons but ultimately, in the world we live in, buying things is one of the quickest and easiest ways to feel better about everything. 

If an 8K TV is on your wish list, finding a good deal and snapping one up makes sense. As we noted above, you can get a great 8K TV for around the same price as a second hand car. 

Reason not to buy 1: Not much content is available in 8K 

Okay, fun's over. Now we look at a couple of reasons why you shouldn't get an 8K TV. 

Crucially, at least from a practicality standpoint, there isn't an awful lot of content that is available in 8K, mainly because not many people have the tools to play it. 

Unlike 4K, which has become very mainstream, 8K is still in its infancy and until we get cheaper 8K TVs, that's unlikely to change. 

Major streaming services offer some 4K content (and even more UHD content) but very little is on offer in the 8K department. 

The same applies to games. Even thought the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can technically handle 8K, you're unlikely to be able to play any AAA titles in 8K right now. 

Reason not to buy 2: Cheaper TVs are basically as good 

And finally, as we've mentioned before, the best 4K TVs, like the Samsung QN95B, are just as good as the best 8K TVs and don't cost nearly as much. You can get them in most of the same sizes, too. 

If money is no object, it might be worth saving slightly and getting a larger 4K TV than the 8K equivalent and rejoice in being able to watch content at its native resolution. 

There are other minor annoyances, too, like the fact that most HDMI cables can't support 8K resolution unless you have HDMI 2.1, a relatively recent introduction.

Conclusion 

So there you have it. 

If you want to buy an 8K TV, and don't mind paying a pretty hefty price, then go ahead, the options are there and available. You'll have something that almost no one else has right now. 

But perhaps the more realistic option is to spend a chunk on the best 4Ks, which are still incredible, and go from there. 

• The best TV deals: cheap 4K TVs in all sizes