One of the perks of living in a big house is having plenty of outdoor space that can really improve the quality of your time at home. From lounging in a pool and hanging out in a garden to having a weekend barbecue and drinking with friends at your backyard bar, it makes staying at home a pretty compelling proposition. You know what will make it even more compelling? Having an outdoor TV to enjoy live sports and your favorite shows while you bask in all that open sky.
Yes, you can probably take the 50-inch TV in the living room and bring it out for the party, but you’ll quickly realize it doesn’t make for the best viewing experience when exposed to that much sunlight. Not to mention, you’ll be leaving it at the mercy of the elements, none of which your living room TV has been reinforced to handle.
If you have the kind of house that can accommodate a bunch of nice outdoor amenities, chances are, you can afford an outdoor TV. Granted, it’s way more expensive than a standard indoor panel, but it’s also one of the simplest ways to really upgrade any outdoor space. If you’re ready to bring some TV viewing to your exterior living spaces, these are the best outdoor TVs to get that done.
Element Electronics 55-Inch Partial Sun Outdoor Roku Smart TV
Want the most affordable outdoor TV out there? It’s going to be hard to find anything that beats this 55-inch TV from Element, which gets you a sharp 4K display and Roku’s streaming system baked right in for a fraction of the price of other TVs in this list. At 700 nits, it’s also brighter than some more expensive TVs we’ve seen, all while delivering a really crisp picture with no glare even during daytime viewing. It’s IP55-rated, so it should shrug off water, dust, dirt, humidity, and snow, all while being able to run in temperatures between -4 degrees and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. They also use a tempered glass casing that’s supposedly four times stronger than that on standard TVs, just in case strong winds (or an angry wife) send any flying debris its way.
What are the tradeoffs? Mostly, it’s the large bezels and the bulky frame, which shouldn’t really bother you much unless you move the TV around once a week. It also doesn’t have the best contrast or color reproduction, so cinephiles attending your backyard party won’t be applauding the overall picture quality. Everyone else who isn’t so particular about those things, though, probably won’t even notice.
Neptune Shade Series Outdoor TV
While designed for the outdoors, this TV is strictly for shaded areas, as the 500 nits of brightness just isn’t bright enough to handle a good load of sunlight. If that’s the setup you had in mind, though, this just might be your ideal TV, as it strikes a great balance between picture quality and price. Its 4K display is clear and sharp, with wide viewing angles and vibrant colors. Seriously, it can give the best TVs a run for their money in terms of color reproduction alone.
Our favorite part of the TV is the integration of LG’s webOS platform, which, in our opinion, is even better than Samsung Tizen interface. Suffice to say, you have all the streaming apps you’ll ever need with the onboard system. We also appreciate the remote, which lets you navigate through the onscreen content using swipes and taps, as well as the dual 8W speakers that eliminate the need to hook up a separate sound system. It’s available in 55-, 65-, and 75-inch models.
Samsung The Terrace
Samsung makes some of the best indoor TVs, so it only makes sense they can translate that picture reproduction expertise into outdoor TVs, too. And they pulled no punches with this model, which rattles off top-of-the-line specs top to bottom. Naturally, Samsung brought in tech from their high-end TVs here, so you get a 4K quantum LED display with a 60Hz frame rate, precision-controlled full array backlighting, HDR 24x color reproduction, and 4K AI upscaling. They reinforced those familiar Samsung TV staples with an anti-glare coating and 1,500 nits of brightness, along with IP55 weather-resistance rating and a panel that can handle up to six straight hours of sunlight exposure without lowering the brightness (after that, it will decrease brightness to protect the panel).
It has, arguably, the best picture of all TVs here, with really deep blacks, highly distinct details, and a very life-like appearance. They also offer a special 120Hz mode that will minimize motion blur, making it an ideal mode for watching live sports. It performs really well in daylight, too, although direct sunlight can wash out the colors a little bit. Still, it offers plenty of brightness to handle all that light, so it still allows for an incredible viewing experience. It’s available in 65-, and 75-inch models.
Seura Full Sun Series 65”
If you plan to put your outdoor TV in the path of direct sunlight, you need a panel with the best sun performance you can find. This model brings that, with its matte screen and 2,000 nits of brightness allowing it to preserve color and detail like no other TV in this list. While the overall picture quality isn’t quite on the level as Samsung’s model above (few can beat Samsung on that end), it still produces a beautiful 4K HDR picture with incredible clarity, colors, and contrast that it manages to retain, regardless of the amount of sunlight directly on the screen.
Since it’s designed for full open-air exposure, it has onboard heating and cooling systems that actively protect the TV’s electronic components, allowing it to operate in temperatures between -40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also weatherproofed to an IP55 rating, with everything sealed to keep out rain, snow, dust, and dirt.
There are two big omissions on this TV, though. One, it has no smart UI, so you’ll have to hook up a streaming stick to make it do anything. Two, there’s no integrated speakers, so you’ll need to set up a separate outdoor sound system. You can, however, order it with the outfit’s weatherproof outdoor soundbar.