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Buying a 65-inch TV today is really a question of how you play games and watch movies in the dark. The single biggest upgrade you can make is choosing a set with HDMI 2.1 ports, because those are what open up smooth 4K at 120Hz or higher on your PS5, Xbox, or gaming PC. This guide sorts through the best models by what you actually get for your money, from budget mini-LEDs to flagship OLEDs.
I’m Mo Maruf — the founder and writer behind The Tools Trunk. This guide is built by comparing the manufacturers’ published specifications and the patterns across verified customer reviews, so you get each pick’s real strengths and trade-offs instead of marketing spin.
Every pick below is a genuine 65-inch model with at least one HDMI 2.1 input, and we’ve ranked them by real-world value and performance so you can find the best 65 inch tv with hdmi 2.1 for your living room and your budget without second-guessing the spec sheet.
Our Picks at a Glance
How To Choose The Best 65 Inch TV With HDMI 2.1
When you’re staring at a wall of 65-inch screens, the price difference usually depends on two things: how the TV lights up its pixels and how many fast ports it gives you. Understanding those two choices will guide you to the right set without overpaying for features you’ll never use.
Check the ports, not just the label
Not every HDMI port on a TV runs at the full speed you need for next-gen gaming. Many budget and mid-range sets reserve the full 4K at 120Hz or faster bandwidth for just one or two of their ports, while the rest stick to standard 4K at 60Hz. Before you buy, count how many of your devices need that fast connection — a console and a soundbar can quickly eat up your premium slots.
Match the panel tech to your room
OLED screens light up each pixel individually, which is why they deliver those perfect blacks and stunning contrast in a dark room. Mini-LED sets use thousands of tiny backlights behind an LCD panel to get close to that contrast while pushing far higher brightness for sunny living rooms. If you watch mostly at night, OLED wins; if your TV sits opposite a big window, a bright mini-LED often looks better during the day.
Quick Comparison
| Model | Best For | Panel Type | Max Refresh | HDMI 2.1 Ports | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG C4 OLED★ Best Overall | Cinema purists & console gamers | OLED evo | 144Hz | 4 ports | Amazon |
| TCL T7 QLEDMoney Saver | Budget gamers wanting smooth 144Hz | QLED | 144Hz | 3 ports (1 eARC) | Amazon |
| Hisense U6Deep Blacks | Value seekers wanting deep blacks | Mini-LED QLED | 144Hz | 2 ports (144Hz) | Amazon |
| iFFALCON U85 | Hotel & multi-device setups | Mini-LED | 144Hz (VRR 288) | 4 ports | Amazon |
| TCL QM6K | Bright-room viewers on a budget | QD-Mini LED | 144Hz | 2 ports (144Hz) | Amazon |
| Toshiba Z670R | Design-conscious premium buyers | Mini-LED QLED | 144Hz | — | Amazon |
| Sony BRAVIA 3 II | PS5 players wanting Sony tuning | Direct LED | 120Hz | 4 ports | Amazon |
| Hisense U8 | Bright rooms & HDR power users | Mini-LED ULED | 165Hz (VRR 288) | — | Amazon |
| LG G5 OLED | Wall-mounted flagship luxury | OLED evo | 120Hz | 4 ports | Amazon |
In‑Depth Reviews
1. LG 65-Inch Class OLED evo C4 Series Smart TV
Our pick — 4.5★ from 1,500+ verified ratings; the strongest balance of quality and price.
The crowd favorite that nails perfect blacks and keeps every console plugged in at full speed.
If your living room doubles as a private cinema, the C4 is the set owners consistently call one of the best TVs they’ve owned — and the picture quality is the thing everyone raves about. Its 8 million self-lit pixels switch off individually for perfect blacks in dark scenes. LG’s Brightness Booster magnifies each pixel for luminous highlights, and Dolby Vision plus Filmmaker Mode lets you watch exactly as the director intended.
All four HDMI 2.1 ports run at full 144Hz with a 0.1ms response time. That means your PS5, Xbox, soundbar, and streaming box can all stay connected without you swapping cables. Gaming is where it shines: NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium, and VRR work together to kill screen tearing, while the Game Optimizer dashboard keeps every tweak in one place. Owners love how intuitive it is for PS5 play, and the Alpha 9 processor rivals Sony’s best for upscaling older content so 1080p shows look sharp.
The honest trade-off: the built-in speakers are decent but not room-shaking, so most buyers pair this with a soundbar or the eARC connection to a receiver for big audio. The webOS menu is also a touch sluggish at first, and the pointer-style Magic Remote takes a day to get used to. None of that stops it from being the single most complete package here — for movies at night and gaming at 144Hz, it beats the TCL QM6K on contrast and the Sony BRAVIA on raw refresh rate, even if the Sony offers better anti-glare.
What wins people over
- Four genuine HDMI 2.1 ports at full 144Hz speed
- Perfect black levels and rich, accurate color from self-lit pixels
- Five years of software updates through webOS Re:New
- Excellent upscaling of older HD content for a 65-inch screen
Where it asks a compromise
- Built-in speakers sound thin for the price point
- Smart platform can feel slow when navigating menus
Choose this one if: you want the best-looking movie and game picture at this size, with every HDMI port running at top speed.
Look elsewhere if: your room is very bright all day, because a mini-LED will get brighter without washing out.
2. TCL 65″ T7 4K QLED Google TV
A 144Hz QLED that gives you the smooth motion without the OLED price tag.
For the buyer who wants a fast, vibrant panel without spending flagship money, the T7 delivers a stunningly bright and colorful picture that owners describe as crisp with no lag or blur. The QLED layer covers nearly the full DCI-P3 color space for vivid, punchy colors. The TCL AIPQ Pro processor intelligently boosts color, contrast, and clarity for a strong 4K HDR experience.
The standout spec is the 144Hz panel refresh rate, which makes action-packed movies, fast video games, and live sports stay ultra-smooth with no motion blur. Motion Rate 480 with MEMC frame insertion pushes motion clarity even further. On the gaming side, buyers report it works great with PS5 and PC, and the Variable Gaming Refresh Rate hits 288Hz. You get three high-speed HDMI inputs including one with eARC, so your soundbar and console can both connect cleanly.
Where it keeps the budget honest: the built-in speakers are okay but a little weak for big rooms, which is why several owners pair it with a soundbar like the Bose they already owned. The FullView 360 bezel-less design with height-adjustable feet gives it a premium edge-to-edge glass look that costs more elsewhere. It’s the pick that delivers hundreds less than comparable sets, and it supports all the major HDR formats — Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG — so streaming looks its best.
Smart-buy read: The T7 is the balance for a first-time 65-inch buyer who games and streams in a normal living room. The biggest ask is the weak audio; a soundbar fixes it fast.
Reach for this if: you want a fast 144Hz panel and vivid QLED color at a price that leaves room in your budget.
Think twice if: you watch in a very bright room, since a few owners note some glare in direct light.
3. Hisense 65″ Class U6 Series Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV
The mini-LED that brings deep blacks and punchy brightness to a budget price point.
The U6 pairs Mini-LED backlighting with up to 600 local dimming zones for deep shadows and minimal halos. Owners praise the vivid colors, contrast, and brightness without glowing edges — and the picture quality is the top praise by a wide margin. Its 1000-nit peak brightness handles rooms with moderate ambient light.
For gamers, the Native 144Hz panel with Game Mode Pro supports a Variable Refresh Rate of 48Hz to 144Hz, which feels like an extra life in fast action, adventure, and multiplayer titles. AMD FreeSync Premium keeps things tear-free, and ALLM drops you into game mode instantly. It also runs the Full Array Local Dimming to virtually eliminate halos during dark scenes. The built-in subwoofer is a genuine surprise — it delivers rumbling lows without external speakers, though a few owners note the bass can be a bit much in an apartment (you can turn it off in settings).
The catch to know before buying: only two of the four HDMI ports run at the full 144Hz 2.1 speed, so make sure your console goes into the right one. The Fire TV interface is snappy and works offline without a forced Amazon account, which owners appreciate compared to some rivals. It’s the rare set that delivers many features for its price point, from Dolby Vision IQ to HDR10+ Adaptive, making it a value standout alongside the iFFALCON U85.
Contrast king for the money: The U6 gives you mini-LED dimming zones and a built-in subwoofer for less than most rivals charge for a basic 4K set. The port layout asks you to pay attention at setup.
Best for: the budget buyer who wants deep blacks and punchy brightness for both movies and PS5 gaming.
skip it if: you need all four HDMI ports at full speed for multiple consoles at once.
4. iFFALCON 65″ 4K MiniLED Smart TV
The mini-LED with four full-speed 2.1 ports and a hotel mode tucked inside.
If you’ve ever run out of fast HDMI ports, this is the set that solves it. The iFFALCON U85 gives you four HDMI 2.1 inputs, with two running 4K at 144Hz for next-gen consoles and gaming PCs while the other two handle 4K at 60Hz for streaming boxes and Blu-ray players. Owners describe the picture quality as the best they’ve seen, with vivid colors and very dark blacks, and the high performance-to-price ratio is a recurring theme.
The native 144Hz MiniLED panel with VRR up to 288Hz and FreeSync Premium Pro cuts screen tearing and input lag. Its 1000-nit HDR luminance, local dimming, and 7000:1 contrast ratio make neon-lit games like Cyberpunk pop. The built-in 50W audio system uses a 2.1-channel setup with two 15W tweeters and a 20W woofer, plus Dolby Atmos passthrough and DTS Virtual:X for a real home-theater feel.
The differentiator is its built-in hotel mode with IP/IR control — features consumer TVs at this price rarely include, making it ideal for Airbnb properties, hotel rooms, and offices. Google TV with Alexa and Google Assistant built in means hands-free searching, and AirPlay 2 plus Chromecast lets both iPhone and Android users cast without extra hardware. The main risk is the occasional defective unit and a support experience that some owners found frustrating, so buy from a return-friendly seller. It’s essentially a TCL subsidiary product with specs matching a pricier TCL model at a lower price.
Plug everything in
- All four HDMI ports are full 2.1, two at 144Hz
- 50W 2.1-channel audio with a real woofer
- Hotel mode and IP control for commercial use
- AirPlay 2 and Chromecast built in
Check before you leap
- Support can be slow if you get a defective unit
- Slightly thicker chassis than premium rivals
Grab this for: a multiple-device setup or a rental property that needs remote management.
Hold off if: you want top-tier brand support and a paper-thin profile — this one is built for function first.
5. Hisense 65″ E7 Cinema Series Hi-QLED Mini-LED
The high-brightness QD-Mini LED that fights glare and shines in sunny rooms.
The QM6K is the answer if your TV sits opposite a window. It combines ultra-precise Mini LEDs with Quantum Dot technology for incredible brightness, bold contrast, and over a billion vibrant colors, and owners specifically praise the anti-reflective screen as amazing for bright rooms. The TCL Halo Control System uses advanced local dimming to eliminate haloing, enhance shadow detail, and improve picture accuracy — so dark scenes look deeper and bright scenes stay crisp.
It’s a strong gaming value too: the Native 144Hz refresh rate with Motion Rate 480 keeps fast action clear, and the Variable Gaming Refresh Rate hits 288Hz. Customers note it works great with an Xbox Series X at 120Hz, and the on-screen display even shows your refresh rate during game mode. The audio is a step above the T7, with an Onkyo audio system and Dolby Atmos support, though two owners note a soundbar still helps in larger rooms.
The comparison with the T7 above depends on price and brightness: the QM6K costs more but delivers noticeably higher brightness, an anti-glare screen, and better built-in audio. It runs Google TV with Alexa built in and Chromecast support, so the interface is snappy and app-friendly. The most common complaint is that some streaming apps work inconsistently, which is minor next to the picture quality, and with 144Hz on two HDMI ports, it’s an easy recommendation for bright-room viewers.
Bright-room value: The QM6K’s anti-reflective, high-brightness panel is its defining edge, with Onkyo audio lifting it above the T7.
Best for: daytime viewers who want a bright, colorful picture that fights glare without paying OLED money.
Not ideal if: you expect the deepest possible blacks in a fully dark room — mini-LED gets close, but OLED wins there.
6. Toshiba 65″ Class Z670R Series Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV
Japanese-engineered mini-LED with bass that shakes the room and a matte screen for bright spaces.
The Z670R is where design and audio meet. Toshiba’s REGZA Engine ZRi Gen3, fine-tuned by engineers in Japan, tune clarity, contrast, and audio performance scene by scene for a natural picture. Owners call the picture quality stunning with excellent resolution for both movies and video games, and the QLED color delivers over a billion realistic shades. The minimalist, Japanese-aesthetic design with clean lines blends into a modern living space.
The big differentiator is REGZA Power Audio Pro with a Bass Woofer — the deep, resonant bass genuinely shakes the room while dual clear direct speakers keep vocals perfectly clear. One owner described the sound as better than expected, and the anti-glare matte finish makes it ideal for bright rooms. For gaming, the Native 144Hz refresh rate with AMD FreeSync Premium, VRR 144Hz, and ALLM delivers responsive, tear-free play on PS5, with Game Mode Pro keeping input lag low.
This is a set for someone who doesn’t want a separate soundbar and values a refined, premium look. The adjustable legs fit smaller stands at either 36″ or 70″ wide, and the fast Fire TV boots in about 2 seconds. The trade-off: if you don’t like Fire OS, the interface with its promotions and the hard-to-reach “Recents” remote button can be frustrating. But for the money, buyers feel it’s a good buy with genuinely impressive built-in audio that beats most rivals in this tier.
Audio-first premium pick: The REGZA-designed bass woofer and matte anti-glare screen give the Z670R a distinct identity. Fire OS is the only asterisk.
Reach for this if: you want a premium-looking TV with room-filling bass and a matte screen without buying a soundbar.
Look past it if: Fire TV’s interface annoys you more than great built-in audio pleases you.
7. Sony 65 Inch BRAVIA 3 II LED 4K HDR Smart Google TV
The Sony with AI scene recognition and anti-glare that one viewer calls a category of its own.
The BRAVIA 3 II is for the PS5 owner who wants Sony’s exclusive tuning and a picture that fights glare. The XR Processor uses AI scene recognition to tune color, contrast, and clarity in every frame, while XR Clear Image restores lost detail and reduces noise in your content. One long-time viewer, at 69 years old, wrote that they’ve never had a better TV in all those years and called it a category of its own.
The Anti-Glare screen minimizes reflections from windows and ambient lighting, available on this 65-inch size, making it great for bright rooms. For PlayStation 5, it’s the natural pairing: Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode tune picture quality automatically, while 4K/120 with VRR and ALLM deliver smooth, responsive gameplay. The XR Triluminos Pro reproduces over a billion vivid colors with natural shades, and Dolby Vision plus Dolby Atmos plus DTS:X create cinema-like audio.
What you gain vs the LG C4 is Sony’s superior anti-glare and AI processing for a lower price; what you give up is the OLED perfect-black contrast and the 144Hz refresh rate — this runs at 120Hz. The Google TV with Gemini lets you browse 700,000 movies and chat naturally to find shows, and it includes Sony Pictures CORE with 5 movie credits and 12 months of streaming on hundreds of classics. The downsides are real but isolated: some owners hit buggy software quirks, like the audio resetting to TV speakers after hours off, and one got a defective unit that Amazon replaced easily.
Sony’s strengths
- AI scene recognition processor for real-time picture tuning
- Anti-glare screen ideal for bright rooms
- Perfect for PS5 with exclusive auto-tuning modes
- Sony Pictures CORE with 5 movie credits included
The honest trade-offs
- Direct LED panel lacks OLED’s perfect blacks
- Software can be buggy, like audio reverting to TV speakers
Pick this for: a PS5-first setup in a bright room where Sony’s picture tuning and anti-glare shine.
Choose another if: you want the highest refresh rate and perfect blacks — the LG C4 beats it on both.
8. Hisense 65″ U8 Series ULED Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Google TV
The brightest TV here at up to 5000 nits, with a 165Hz panel for buttery-smooth gaming.
If your only complaint with most TVs is that they’re not bright enough, the U8 is your answer. With up to 5000 nits of peak brightness and up to 5600 local dimming zones, this Mini-LED ULED creates such realistic shadows and highlights that owners describe handling bright rooms with ease and rivaling far pricier OLEDs after a quick calibration. The QLED color is Pantone Validated, so every frame renders rich, vibrant, and realistic color.
Gaming here is a step beyond the rest of the list: the Native 165Hz panel with a Variable Refresh Rate of 48Hz to 165Hz, plus AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and a Game Booster 288, eliminates screen tearing and controller lag. Reviewers point out PS5 gaming is superb with low input lag and smooth motion, and the Enhanced Game Bar lets you manage performance right from the remote. The 4.1.2 channel audio system with Dolby Atmos includes a built-in subwoofer and two up-firing speakers that project sound above you, with room acoustics tuning via a microphone.
This is the set that makes the LG C4 look dimmer in bright rooms, but the trade-off is that no LCD can match OLED’s per-pixel blacks in a dark theater room. The Anti-Reflection Pro coating minimizes glare so you see it in all its vibrancy, and the Google TV runs on Android 14 with snappy performance and 20GB of storage. It’s the value king of high-end HDR brightness, and buyers who chose it over a Sony Bravia feel they got half the price for equal or better picture quality — just know the recurring complaint is some units periodically quit working, so a good return policy matters.
Brightness champion: At up to 5000 nits with a 165Hz panel, the U8 is an HDR and gaming powerhouse. The built-in audio is a full 4.1.2 setup with up-firing speakers.
Choose it if: you watch in bright rooms and want the most intense HDR highlights and smoothest gaming refresh rate possible.
Think twice if: a perfectly dark home theater and reference-grade blacks are your priority — OLED still owns that space.
9. LG 65-Inch Class OLED evo AI Super Upscaling 4K G5 Series Smart TV
The gallery-grade OLED that hangs like art and stays bright enough for daytime viewing.
The G5 is the flagship statement — the one owners describe as looking like a painting hanging on the wall, with unbelievable display clarity. The Brightness Booster Max magnifies each individual pixel for luminous quality that shines with every detail, and it’s verified by UL for Discomfort Glare Free performance with a UGR under 22, so it performs great even in bright rooms. With over 8.3 million self-lit smart pixels, Perfect Black and Perfect Color deliver stunning picture quality other brands can’t match.
The Alpha 11 AI Processor Gen2 provides personalized, crisp picture and sound with AI Picture Pro, AI Super Upscaling, and AI Director Processing so you see movies in perfect tone. For gaming, the 0.1ms response time and up to 120Hz refresh rate let you game at blinding speed with no blur or tearing, backed by NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium, and VRR. Four HDMI 2.1 inputs connect all your devices, and the Game Dashboard plus Game Optimizer put all the control at your fingertips.
The One Wall Design leaves virtually no gap when hung, and the included wall bracket means you don’t need to buy one separately. It includes Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, Filmmaker Mode, and webOS with up to 5 years of software updates and over 350 free LG Channels. The main complaints: it doesn’t come with a TV stand (wall mount only per most owners), and the air-mouse style remote lacks backlit buttons for dark rooms. At 78 lbs, it needs two or three people to mount. For those who want the best-looking OLED that doubles as wall art, this is the top of the range.
Flagship art piece: The G5’s Brightness Booster Max and One Wall Design make it the premium wall-mounted OLED. The remote button layout and wall-mount-only setup are the catches.
Buy this for: the absolute best OLED picture in a bright room with a flush, art-like wall mount.
Look at the C4 if: you want a table stand included and a lower price without giving up OLED quality.
Understanding the Specs
HDMI 2.1 Ports
HDMI 2.1 is the connection standard that carries the high data rate needed for 4K at 120Hz or higher refresh rates. On a 65-inch TV, it matters because that’s the difference between a game running at a smooth, blur-free 120 or 144 frames per second versus being capped at 60. Just check how many ports actually run at that full speed — budget sets often give you full bandwidth on only one or two ports.
Refresh Rate and VRR
The refresh rate, measured in hertz (Hz), tells you how many times per second the screen redraws the image. A 144Hz panel redraws 144 times per second, which makes fast motion look fluid. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) lets the TV match its refresh rate to your console or PC’s frame output, which eliminates screen tearing and stuttering. For a gaming-first buyer, these two specs matter more than just about anything else.
FAQ
Does a 65 inch TV with HDMI 2.1 really make a difference for PS5 and Xbox?
Are all HDMI 2.1 ports on a TV the same speed?
Can I use an HDMI 2.1 cable with a regular HDMI port?
What is the difference between OLED and Mini-LED for a 65 inch TV?
Does Dolby Vision IQ work differently from regular Dolby Vision?
Is a 144Hz refresh rate noticeably better than 120Hz?
Do I need to buy a soundbar for a TV with good built-in speakers?
What does a 4K upscaler do for older movies and shows?
Final Thoughts: The Verdict
For most buyers, the 65 inch tv with hdmi 2.1 winner is the LG C4 OLED because its combination of a 144Hz refresh rate, four full-speed HDMI 2.1 ports, and perfect blacks covers both movie night and competitive gaming flawlessly. If you want the best brightness for a sunny room at a more moderate price, grab the TCL QM6K. And for the buyer who wants the brightest, fastest panel money can buy, the Hisense U8 is the one to reach for.
How We Picked
We do not accept paid placement. Every pick is matched to a real buyer and a real use-case; we do not hands-on test units.
Sources & Methodology
Specifications: manufacturer listings and product documentation. Review insights: verified customer reviews, as of August 2026. Pricing: not shown on this page (it changes often); check the current price via the retailer link.
As an Amazon Associate, The Tools Trunk earns from qualifying purchases. This does not affect which products we feature.