From WIRED · John Brandon · · 2m
LG's cheapest OLED can't match the competition
The LG B6 offers OLED quality at an entry-level price, but struggles with brightness and contrast against newer rivals.
In brief
The LG B6 offers OLED quality at an entry-level price, but struggles with brightness and contrast against newer rivals. The LG B6 is an affordable OLED TV with good blacks and gaming performance, but its brightness and contrast lag behind competing models at similar or only slightly higher prices. Originally reported…
LG's entry-level OLED faces stiff competition
The LG B6 is the cheapest LG OLED model, priced lower than the LG C6 and LG G6. But new art televisions and RGB models from LG, Samsung and Hisense offer brighter, more convincing alternatives.
Last year's B5 had an easier time
WIRED reviewed the LG B5 last year and ranked it a solid eight out of ten, but there was less competition.The B6 is still a good budget OLED TV, just beset by better, brighter options.
Incredibly thin design with solid ports
The B6 is just one point eight inches at the base and about a quarter inch at the top.
Easy setup with LG's WebOS interface
Setup uses LG's WebOS interface or ThinQ app, not built in Google TV or Fire TV.
Remote pointer is hard to control
The B6 is packed with features including gaming mode, AI picture enhancements and LG Gallery plus artwork mode.But the remote's pointer jumps around and cannot be disabled.
Blacks and grays look great
One win for the B6 is blacks and grays, which have great texture and clarity.Scenes from Awake and The Creator, very dark movies, were clear and detailed after tweaking picture quality settings to Vivid mode.
Brightness and contrast fall short
Contrast and brightness are a mixed bag. Watching House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones season eight episode three, the B6 struggled. Trees in background scenes appeared completely black where better TVs show detail.
Gaming performance is surprisingly strong
The one hundred twenty hertz refresh rate screen makes gaming crisp and responsive. Crimson Desert on PC played smoothly, and Resident Evil Requiem looked almost photo realistic with gleaming statues and good color quality.
Price advantage disappears quickly
At the time of writing, the LG B6 is on sale for one thousand three hundred dollars.The superior midrange LG C6 is also on sale for one thousand five hundred dollars.
Better value lies elsewhere
The main issue is that brightness and contrast could be better, and LG's WebOS is not the reviewer's favorite interface.
What it means
The LG B6 is an affordable OLED TV with good blacks and gaming performance, but its brightness and contrast lag behind competing models at similar or only slightly higher prices.
