LG NanoCell 55in TV Review: NanoCell’s final form?

8.0 Budget 4K

There’s more going for this sub-R15k TV than we expected out-of-the-box. You get brilliant colour reproduction, some eye-catching sharpness and LG’s great OS to top it all off. There are enough HDMIs to connect just about any peripheral you need, and LG’s software makes it easy to cast directly from another LG device. Top it off with that 100Hz refresh rate, and you’re even set for next-gen gaming. If you will excuse us, we have a date with this panel and the PlayStation 5.

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LG’s proposition of ‘as close to OLED without the price tag’ is a tempting one. Does the Nanocell 55in live up to the promise?

If you’ve been keeping up with TV tech, we’ve moved on from good old backlit LED panels. Samsung calls it QLED while LG’s going with something fancier: NanoCell. This time you’re getting a coating of nanocrystals between the screen and backlight that has phosphorus properties. That’s the key ingredient for crisp colours – who knew?

We get it though. LG’s NanoCell tech keeps to its word on bringing glamorous 4K content to life (you bet we watched 4K footage of Tokyo city on YouTube with this baby fresh out of the box). Colours are brilliant and saturated to just the right degree, while there’s no fogginess and picture looks as sharp as the knife we broke the seal with. It’s pretty much indistinguishable from an OLED set. 

Super Saiyans ain’t got nothing on this NanoCell

Coming in at under R15k for the larger-than-life 55in panel, you would be excused for thinking the 4K-capability is a fluke. It really isn’t. Combine it with LGs phenomenal smart-TV interface and smart controller, and you’re set. Sound’s also lekker, but we paired it with the Sonos Soundbar and… these two were clearly meant to be together. 

It may be one of the best looking TVs in the price range. Especially when watching brightly-lit stuff. However, once you have black borders (we watched Endgame on it) or darker scenes, you get visible blooming around lit-up objects. It gets annoying to the point where it draws attention all the time, but considering the price, we’ll let that slide. 

LG’s brilliant Magic remote is just the perfect partner in viewing crime documentaries. And anything else, really. The gesture control remote works like a wand and the webOS supports Netflix and Prime Video previews when you hover your cursor on the icons.

The biggest thumbs up from us is the inclusion of AI that doesn’t stick its nose where it shouldn’t. LG’s AI features are smart enough to be useful, and subtle enough not to intrude your personal screening of Endgame.

LG NanoCell 55in Final Verdict

There’s more going for this sub-R15k TV than we expected out-of-the-box. You get brilliant colour reproduction, some eye-catching sharpness and LG’s great OS to top it all off. There are enough HDMIs to connect just about any peripheral you need, and LG’s software makes it easy to cast directly from another LG device. Top it off with that 100Hz refresh rate, and you’re even set for next-gen gaming. If you will excuse us, we have a date with this panel and the PlayStation 5.