Best Smart TVs for Smart Home Setups

The best smart TV for a smart-home setup in 2026 is the LG OLED evo C5, because it is one of the few sets that combines a Matter controller, Apple AirPlay 2/HomeKit, Google Assistant and LG ThinQ support in a single box while still offering four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs. If your house already runs on Samsung SmartThings, buy a Samsung S95F instead — it has a SmartThings hub and a Thread border router built into the television. Everything else is a question of which ecosystem you have already committed to, and the comparison below maps that decision to a model.

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Quick comparison: best smart TVs for smart home setups

Best overall: LG OLED evo C5

The C5 is the default answer for a mixed household because it does not force a choice. Per LG’s published specifications, the set supports Matter as a controller, works as an AirPlay 2 target and HomeKit accessory, and exposes its controls to Google Assistant and LG ThinQ. That means an iPhone user, a Google Nest speaker and a Matter-based light switch can all talk to the same panel without a bridge.

Who it suits: anyone who has accumulated devices from more than one brand, or who expects to change phone platforms before they change TVs. The four HDMI 2.1 ports are the practical bonus — a soundbar, a console and a PC can all run at full bandwidth without a switch.

Main trade-off: OLED brightness in a very bright, sun-facing room is lower than the best Mini LED sets, and the C5 is not a Thread border router, so Thread sensors still need a separate border router (a HomePod mini, an Apple TV 4K or a SmartThings hub will do).

Best for Samsung SmartThings homes: Samsung S95F

If your lights, locks and sensors are already paired to SmartThings, the S95F removes a device from your rack: Samsung builds the SmartThings hub and a Thread border router directly into its recent TVs, which the company documents in its TV spec sheets. You get Matter controller duties, a Zigbee/Thread-capable hub and the TV’s own automation engine in one chassis.

Who it suits: Galaxy phone owners, anyone with SmartThings buttons and leak sensors, and buyers who want one app for everything. QD-OLED also gives the strongest colour volume of the OLED group.

Main trade-off: Apple Home users get AirPlay 2 but a thinner HomeKit story, and the price sits at the top of the market. If you want the same hub features for less, the Neo QLED QN90F class carries the same smart-home stack with Mini LED instead of OLED.

Best for Google Home: Sony Bravia 8 II

Google TV is the most flexible platform for automations, and Sony’s implementation is the one to beat for picture processing. It supports Matter, AirPlay 2 and HomeKit alongside Google Assistant, so it is not a walled garden — but its natural home is a house full of Nest speakers and Android phones.

Who it suits: buyers who stream a lot of mixed-quality content (Sony’s upscaling is the reason to pay), and anyone who wants the TV to appear as a cast target for dashboards and photo screens.

Main trade-off: only two of the four HDMI inputs carry full 2.1 bandwidth, per Sony’s spec sheet. With a console, a PC and a soundbar you will be juggling ports. The TCL QM6K and Hisense U8QG class give you Google TV for a fraction of the money with fewer processing refinements.

Best budget: TCL QM6K

The QM6K is the value pick for smart-home buyers because the smart part costs nothing extra: Google TV with Matter, AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support, plus two HDMI 2.1 inputs and 144 Hz refresh. In a bedroom or a secondary room where automations matter more than black levels, it does 90% of the job.

Main trade-off: Mini LED blooming is visible in dark scenes, and the built-in Google TV interface slows down after a few years — most owners add a streaming stick and treat the TV as a display. Budget sets also tend to have weaker Wi-Fi radios, which matters if you are running several 4K streams.

Best for Roku households: Roku Pro Series

If your streaming life is already inside Roku OS and you use Roku’s own cameras and doorbells, the Pro Series keeps everything on one remote and one app. Roku added Matter support to its smart-home stack, and the Pro Series supports AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, so it is not isolated.

Main trade-off: the automation engine is thinner than Google TV’s or SmartThings’, and it is not a Thread border router. Buy it for convenience, not for hub duties.

Compatibility matrix: match the TV to the gear you already own

How to choose: the numbers that actually decide it

HDMI bandwidth: do the arithmetic before you pay for 2.1

A 4K signal at 120 Hz in 10-bit RGB (4:4:4) is 3840 × 2160 × 120 × 3 colour channels × 10 bits ≈ 29.9 Gbit/s of raw payload. Adding blanking and encoding overhead brings the link rate to roughly 37–40 Gbit/s, which is why HDMI 2.1’s 48 Gbit/s FRL mode exists and why HDMI 2.0’s 18 Gbit/s ceiling cannot carry it. Drop to 4K60 at 8-bit 4:4:4 and the payload is 3840 × 2160 × 60 × 3 × 8 ≈ 14.9 Gbit/s, which fits inside 18 Gbit/s with room for overhead. Practical rule: if you own a current console or a gaming PC, count how many devices need 4K120 and buy a TV with at least that many full-bandwidth inputs. Two is enough for a console plus a soundbar; three or four means you never touch a switch.

Standby power: the cost of “always ready”

Televisions that keep microphones awake, maintain a Matter connection and use a quick-start mode typically draw 15–25 W in standby instead of the sub-0.5 W of a deep-standby set. Take 20 W: 20 W × 24 h = 0.48 kWh per day, or about 175 kWh per year. At a US average of roughly $0.17/kWh that is about $30 a year, per TV, versus under a dollar for deep standby. If you own three smart TVs, disabling always-listening wake words on two of them saves more than the price of a dedicated smart speaker every year. Keep quick-start enabled only on the TV that appears in your automations.

Network: budget the streams, not the resolution

A 4K HDR stream from the major services runs 15–25 Mbit/s. Three TVs streaming simultaneously is 45–75 Mbit/s of sustained traffic, plus whatever your phone backups and video calls use. Wi-Fi 6 handles that on paper, but a TV is a stationary device — run Ethernet if the wall is reachable, and if it is not, reserve a 5 GHz band for media devices and disable the TV’s Wi-Fi power-saving option, which is the usual reason a set disappears from automations overnight.

Settings to change on day one

• Pair the TV to your Matter fabric (Settings → Smart Home / Matter pairing). Reason: it lets the TV act as a controller for lights and plugs instead of buying another hub, and Matter supports multiple controllers, so your phone and the TV can both hold admin rights.
• Give the TV a DHCP reservation in your router. Reason: most automation rules and scripts target the TV by IP address, and a lease change breaks them silently.
• Turn off the always-on microphone if you already own a smart speaker in that room. Reason: it saves 10–20 W continuously and removes a second wake-word listener.
• Enable HDMI-CEC on the eARC port only, and label every input. Reason: CEC on non-eARC ports is the most common cause of a soundbar switching the TV on at 3 a.m.
• Switch off “auto picture mode” and ambient-light adjustment for a TV used as a dashboard or photo display. Reason: automations that turn the screen on should not also change brightness mid-morning.
• Disable the TV’s own “suggested content” row on the home screen. Reason: it is the main reason a five-year-old smart TV feels slow, and it does not affect app performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Matter controller inside the TV, or is a separate hub better?

A separate hub is more flexible because it survives a TV upgrade and usually supports more device types. A TV-based controller is better if you want fewer boxes and no extra app. Matter supports multi-admin, so the practical answer is to use whichever you already own and let the TV join the same fabric rather than creating a second one.

Which smart TVs act as a Thread border router?

Thread border routing requires a dedicated 802.15.4 radio, which only some sets include. Samsung’s recent TVs are the clearest example, and the company lists the Thread radio in its spec sheets; most other brands do not have one, so you need a separate border router such as a smart speaker or hub. Check the spec sheet for “802.15.4” or “Thread” before assuming it works.

Does a smart TV use more electricity when it is always listening?

Yes, noticeably. Always-listening microphones plus a quick-start standby mode typically draw 15–25 W around the clock, against under 0.5 W in deep standby. At 20 W that is roughly 175 kWh and about $30 a year per TV at typical US rates, so it is worth disabling on sets that are not part of your automations.

Can I control a smart TV from Google Home or Apple Home?

Yes, on most current models. Google TV sets appear in Google Home with basic power, volume and input controls, and LG, Sony, TCL and Roku models support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, which gives you power, input and playback control from the Apple Home app and Siri. What you rarely get is deep control such as changing picture modes or launching a specific app.

Is Wi-Fi 6 enough for several 4K TVs at once?

Usually yes. Each 4K HDR stream needs 15–25 Mbit/s, so three simultaneous streams sit between 45 and 75 Mbit/s — well within Wi-Fi 6 capacity in a normal home. The failure mode is not bandwidth but power saving: many TVs drop their Wi-Fi radio in standby and vanish from your smart-home app, which is why a wired connection or a disabled Wi-Fi power-save setting fixes most “unavailable” errors.

Should I buy a 2025 model or wait for 2026 sets?

Buy the current generation if you need it now — the 2025 sets that anchor most smart-home builds already support Matter, AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, and those standards change slowly compared with picture quality. Waiting makes sense only if you specifically want a newer panel technology or a Thread radio that a current model lacks. Either way, prioritise port count and hub support over peak brightness, because those are the specs your automations actually depend on.